While on the topic of Japanese internment and Little Tokyo…
After the Japanese were removed from Little Tokyo, the area more or less became a ghost town. African Americans moved into the area, which was then dubbed
Bronzeville, and the Miyako Hotel (SW corner of San Pedro and First Street) became the
Civic Hotel.
A famous tenant of the Civic Hotel during the Bronzeville era was bebop jazz legend Charlie “Bird" Parker.
LINK
Most fans of Bird probably already know the following unfortunate story, but like me until recently, they might not know where it happened:
Quote:
A few hours later, Parker was back at the Civic Hotel. In the early morning hours he wandered, dazed, into the lobby, oblivious to his nudity. Later, a hotel guest smelled smoke; Parker had set his mattress on fire. He left the hotel in handcuffs, blackjacked unconscious by the police and wrapped in a blanket. Parker spent the next seven months in Camarillo State Hospital, and narrowly avoided shock therapy.
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/b...5a136c228.html
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A real genius, but all the drugs and alcohol he indulged in never did him any favors. Here’s where the unfortunate incident occurred:
Looking south/east from the corner of First Street and San Pedro:
Water and Power
Weller Street, far left; San Pedro Street, foreground; Civic Hotel in rear:
LINK
Only the green buildings survive to this day, everything else in the photo has been torn down:
USC
As
ER mentioned way back on page 445, after the war the hotel was re-named the Miyako Hotel. In 1921, it was apparently called the Argonaut:
LINK
The new Miyako Hotel is located about a half-block away on First Street,
seen here on Google Street View.