Larry Underhill
What's not to love about old real estate and insurance maps, especially when they're of Los Angeles? It's a pleasure to scroll,
gs.
LAPL
Above I've taken a fragment of the '21 Baist map, placing at center a structure that has always intrigued
me and that I was reminded of by your post. Sitting at an unconventional angle at the SW corner of Witmer
and Orange streets (Orange later to become part of Wilshire Boulevard), catty-corner to Good Samaritan
and just above the Prince Ruppert, is what must be among the oldest buildings left in these parts. There
might be another I'm not thinking of, but this is surely the last Victorian house left on Wilshire--its answer
to the Janes house on Hollywood Boulevard, you might say. I can find no vintage shots of it, but it has an
interesting and somewhat amusing history. Apparently it was once the home of Charles C. Chapman, of the
Chapman Market, the Chapman Building on Broadway, and of Chapman College in Orange--quite the
SoCal muckety-muck. I have no idea who lived here after Chapman (who decamped to Fullerton sometime
before 1909) or what other businesses might have occupied it since, but a branch of the La Parrilla Mexican
restaurant has been on the corner since 1978. Whether it was the owners of La Parrilla or a previous occupant
who mistook "Chapman" for "Chaplin" I don't know, but there is said to be a good deal of Little Tramp
memorabilia on the walls. (I have not actually been there--
sopas, perhaps you'll might swing by
after calling on Veda and Mildred.)
Google Street View
The Prince Ruppert (spelled elsewhere as "Rupert") is still there too, far left, at 1305 Ingraham St.
Ingraham is full of small-to-medium apartment buildings--oh the
noir I imagine for the street ca. 1940.
Google Street View
Complete with Wilshire Special