noirish Los Angeles

[Handsome Stranger]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Hyperion Treatment Plant, aka 'Sewage Pier', in the early 1920s.

Fascinating...I didn't know Hyperion dated back that far!

From the mid-1970s 'til now, the city of Manhattan Beach (just to the south of El Segundo and the sewage treatment plant) has had a semi-official city band known as The Hyperion Outfall Serenaders.

[BDiH]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

TooMuchFire

This great sign is obviously in need of restoration. Interestingly, it hasn't been fading away on top of a long-empty building. Safety
Cycles has continued in business since the '40s, according to its website here--at least since early 1948 at its current location.
GoogleSV

I got a Schwinn bicycle there in junior high school. I hope they preserve the sign, but do not restore it.

[3940dxer]

e_r, vaguely in sync with your recent water and sewer posts, here are some shots from my recent visit to the L.A. County Coroner's Office, at 1104 N. Mission Road. Has it been covered here before?

The main building is very striking and is one of those places that seems very familiar, but is hard to immediately recognize. Incredibly, it dates to 1878 and was the original site of L.A. General Hospital. It was damaged in the 1987 Whittier earthquake and was nearly demolished but was saved by a last minute reprieve, and became home to the County Coroner. It claims to be the only coroner's office in the country with a gift shop.

The first L.A. coroner's office was established in 1850. In those days there was about one murder a day. The most violent area was "Calle de los Negros", but the Bella Union Hotel was a rough place too. An "H. Nadeau" became coroner in the later 1800's, holding that position until 1883. I wonder if this was the owner of the Hotel Nadeau, or perhaps a relative?

The original building, from 1878.




Another view.




Main lobby and stairway. (This grand old building only contains offices. Autopsies are performed and bodies are stored in a newer building next door.)




"Please be considerate".




Part of the gift shop.




Casket couch? Someone here has a sense of humor!


(Will add some older images soon...)

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

Here is a photo from my recent visit to the L.A. County Coroner's Office, at 1104 N. Mission Road.

I didn't know this building even existed 3940dxer/David.
Great discovery!!

[ethereal_reality]

La.curbed featured an article about the 'Dutch Chocolate Shop yesterday.



Here's the link...
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/0...ng_to_life.php

___

[ethereal_reality]

The Dutch Chocolate Shop during it's time as a flea market (courtesy of Floyd. B. Bariscale).




http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...cafeteria.html






http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...cafeteria.html






http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...cafeteria.html





It's pretty startling to see the priceless Ernest Batchelder Tile work covered up by all that 'junk'.


http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...cafeteria.html

[ethereal_reality]

Two mansion 'hold outs' at Olympic Boulevard and Beacon Avenue.


google aerial





google street view







google street view





below: The mansion...it's neighbor...and the Rosemary Apartments.


google street view









below: The Rosemary apartments. I like whats going on along the roof line.


google street view






below: The understated entrance to the Rosemary Apartments (despite the banner).


google street detail




google street detail


____

[ethereal_reality]

The Balloon Route Excursion stops at the Old Soldier's Home for a photo.



ebay





reverse side

[KevinW]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks sopas_ej.
___


Dick Powell rolls the dice in this wonderfully 'noirish' still from Johnny O'Clock, circa 1947.


http://wehadfacesthen.tumblr.com/

Anyone recognize the woman?

___

That would be Ellen Drew, a star for Paramount and later, RKO.


Rottten Tomatoes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Drew

[ethereal_reality]

Thx for the info. KevinW. She's pretty.
___



Power house for Electric R.R., Los Angeles.


found on ebay

I know each rail line had their own power house...where was this one located?

[ethereal_reality]

The information on this was "Looking north on Main Street from post office."


ebay





below: Here is a fantastic closer view of the buildings. Down the block is the oft-mentioned Westminster Hotel (sign on roof line).


detail






below: Mid-range view..showing more of the building at far right.


detail

[malumot]

Wow......not many places I can say "Been there - done that"......but Safety is one of them.

Bought a nice rebuilt Raleigh from them for about $175 if I recall @ 1985. Had it over 15 years. Took it with me to Jersey and back.

I was living in PDR at the time, and working on Wilshire between Rimpau and Crenshaw. Think I saw a small ad in the LA Times, or maybe the Weekly.

Originally Posted by BDiH

I got a Schwinn bicycle there in junior high school. I hope they preserve the sign, but do not restore it.

[MichaelRyerson]

Overell's

I caught the blackjack right behind my ear. A black pool opened up at my feet. I dived in. It had no bottom.

Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely


Overell family monument Forest Lawn, Glendale
image from findagrave

Walter and Beulah J. Overell lived in a spacious, well-known manse in Flintridge with their daughter Beulah Louise, the sole heir to their part of the Overell furniture fortune. Beulah Louise had a boyfriend, George 'Bud' Gollum late of the U.S. Navy and, by the parents lights, a poor match for their headstrong but woefully naive seventeen year old daughter. A mid-March trip to the family yacht, the 47 foot Mary E., anchored in Newport harbor was planned. Perhaps to dissuade the young couple from their planned wedding or perhaps to simply become better acquainted with the boy.


BudBeulah
Beulah gazes at Bud in an apparently happy moment.
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/st...e_affair/8353/


On March the 14th, Bud and Beulah drove to Chatsworth and purchased more than a hundred sticks of dynamite. Bud signed the reciept with an alias. On the evening of the 15th, now aboard the Mary E. in Newport, Mr. Overell suggested the 'kids' go down to a local burger joint and bring a midnight snack back to the boat. The Burger joint was next to a bowling alley and that is why, Beulah Louise would later testify, they didn't hear the explosion. Back on the dock, presumably still holding a bag of burgers and fries, Bud and Beulah watched as the Harbor Patrol and other boaters tried to pull her parents from the burning wreckage. The Mary E. sank in 18 feet of water. There were no survivors. They would be charged with murder.


Beulah Overell is introduced to the business end of the Speed-Graphic

May 28, 1947: Newspaper photographers grab photos of Bud Gollum and Miss Overell during morning recess of their murder trial in Santa Ana. Photo published in the May 29, 1947 LA Times.


Remains of a time bomb were found by investigators of the yacht explosion.

One imagines the guy smoking the pipe while handling dynamite was known on the force as a competent guy who laughed in the face of danger. photo by L.A.Times


Cameras (and reporters) ordered out of courtroom in Overell-Gollum trial

Aug. 12, 1947: Attorneys during the Overell trial battled over admissibility of Overall-Gollum correspondence in court, but reporters and photographers were barred at request of Otto Jacobs, Miss Overell's lawyer. Police officer explains the court order in Courthouse corridor. Beulah Overell and her boyfriend George "Bud" Gollum were accused of killing Overell's parents. Photo appeared in the Aug 13, 1947, Los Angeles Times

The trial dragged on through the summer with much damning evidence of a time bomb and a hoped for secondary explosion, mysterious clocklike parts and more dynamite in the trunk of Bud Gollum's car. A series of graphic, lurid love letters exchanged from their jail cells found their way into the press and when the closing arguments had ended and the trial was turned over to the jury, no one could say for sure how it would turn out. But after two days of deliberation, they were found 'not guilty', the verdict raising cheers in the coutroom and on the crowded sidewalk outside.


Walter and Beulah J.'s final rest

Walter and Beulah J. find peace at last in a bucolic corner of Glendale, California. photo from findagrave

In the end, the kids didn't get married. Asked after the trial if they would go forward with their wedding plans, Beulah answered with a terse, 'No!' Bud drifted off, stole a car and did time on a Georgia work farm, then faded from sight. Beulah went to UCLA and perhaps ironically married a Los Angeles police officer, Robert Cannon. But the marriage only lasted two years. After the divorce, she began to drift too, finally settling in Las Vegas and marrying a bartender, Joe Kooyman. She battled alcoholism until finally, her bruised nude body was found in bed with two empty vodka bottles and a loaded rifle. She was 36. Bud Gollum died in February 2009 in Wasilla, Alaska. He was 83.

[malumot]

Yeah those roll-up doors are a nice touch.

I keep tellin' you guys but you don't wanna listen...were about this far (holds thumb and forefinger close together) from seeing Snake Plisskin walking down the street.

Now obviously that doesn't hold for ALL of LA...........

But for much of it - it does.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Dutch Chocolate Shop during it's time as a flea market (courtesy of Floyd. B. Bariscale).



http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...cafeteria.html





It's pretty startling to see the priceless Ernest Batchelder Tile work covered up by all that 'junk'.


http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...cafeteria.html

[3940dxer]

Below are pictures I took of some historical items that are in a display case in the Coroner's Office building. At the time the older photos were taken, the building was Los Angeles General Hospital.

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent photogrpahs of the old L.A. County Hospital 3940dexer/David.

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

Walter and Beulah J. Overell lived in a spacious, well-known manse in Flintridge with their daughter Beulah Louise, the sole heir to their part of the Overell furniture fortune. Beulah Louise had a boyfriend, George 'Bud' Gollum late of the U.S. Navy and, by the parents lights, a poor match for their headstrong but woefully naive seventeen year old daughter. A trip to the family yacht, the 47 foot Mary E., anchored in Newport harbor was planned. Perhaps to disuade the young couple or perhaps to become better acquainted with the boy.

But Bud Gollum and Beulah L. Overell drove to Chatsworth and purchased more than a hundred sticks of dynamite. Bud signed the receipt with an alias. On the evening of the 15th, now aboard the Mary E. in Newport, Mr. Overell suggested the 'kids' go down to a local burger joint and bring back a midnight snack for the four of them. The Burger joint was next to a bowling alley and that is why, Beulah Louise would later testify, they didn't hear the explosion. Back on the dock, presumably still holding a bag of burgers and fries, Bud and Beulah watched as the Harbor Patrol and other boaters tried to pull her parents from the burning wreckage. They would be charged with murder.


The trial drug on through the summer with much damning evidence of a time bomb and a hoped for secondary explosion, mysterious clocklike parts and more dynamite in the trunk of Bud Gollum's car, a series of graphic, lurid love letters exchanged from their jail cells found thier way into the press and when the closing arguments had ended and the trial was turned over to the jury, no one could say for sure how it would turn out. After two days of deliberation, they were found 'not guilty', the verdict raising cheers in the coutroom and on the sidewalk outside awash in spectators.


After being found 'not guilty' Beulah Louise Overell began to drift, finally settling in Las Vegas and marrying a bartender, Joe Kooyman. She battled alcoholism until finally, her nude body was found in bed with two empty vodka bottles and a loaded rifle. She was 36.

This whole tale is amazingly sordid MichaelRyerson.
Beaulah L.'s actions after the trial scream 'guilty conscience' to me.

[MichaelRyerson]

Engstrom and Edison, on Hope Place?

[alanlutz]

Nostalgie,

I just found your quote on page 190 today, June 7, 2012. Got a chuckle out of your post from May 10, 2011. I myself just joined this thread the end of February, 2012, and have been nibbling away a couple pages a night. Any more than that is information overload. I'm also saving (right-click, save image as...) on my hard drive as many great photos as I can with labels for future studying. I also note that today's current page is 407 so I am only about half way through. I have been posting some recent photos and pages since this thread excited me enough to go back and look for some of these classic buildings that are still around. Looking forward to truly catching up to current page, someday, but in the meantime, enjoying the RIDE! Alan Lutz

Originally Posted by nostalgie

WOW!

Have just reached the last page of this incredible thread. Each day for the past few weeks I've nibbled on ten or so pages & been completely blown away by the quality AND quantity of research.

Some pages have brought floods of memories (I've lived in L.A.since 1955), others have brought me to the brink of tears; all of the material is spectacular. Thanks to all of you for putting it out there for L.A. junkies like me to feast upon...I'll be looking for more.

[ethereal_reality]

"Here's a better shot of your mystery street."


originally posted by MichaelRyerson.



Thanks MR, I guess the curvature in the earlier snapshot was indeed, an optical illusion.




below: The earlier photograph that seemed to show a slight 'curvature' (lower right).


ebay






below: So the 'mystery' street ascends up to the Sunkist Building (I know we've covered this before...but my memory stinks).


slide found on ebay

I take it that stairways are located within the five archways?

_____

[MichaelRyerson]

Yeah, an optical illusion. Happens to me all the time. And yes, the arches lead to the stairwells at 5th Street level and then up to the arches halfway up and back out to the exterior stair cases. I remember my father taking my brother and I someplace downtown with some regularity (I don't remember exactly where) and he would make a point of parking up above so we could come down through the sort of ornate stairwells. I think there must have been several such configurations around downtown. Now, of course, street crime would discourage most people from using them. More's the pity.