Lost L.A.--we talk about it a lot here. Historic houses and buildings, in fact whole neighborhoods, have fallen to wrecking balls and bulldozers, and sometimes whole streets are made to vanish to such an extent that we can't even remember where certain landmarks used to be.
Then there's Forgotten L.A., which we also discuss frequently. This comprises historic areas and buildings which, fortunately, were forgotten when the city fathers, in the post-World-War-II era, were deciding on which areas to impose their bland suburbanophile aesthetic. A day or two ago I was taking a virtual walk, courtesy of Google Earth, in the 1600 and 1700 blocks of North Spring--just west of the river. I don't normally like to use screen captures in my posts, and I fully intend to go there in person and get better pictures. But I think this is just too good to hold back. This picture is looking "north", as the street numbers go, but really more towards the east, facing the river.
The buildings seen here are interesting in their own right. The one on the left occupies the gore-shaped lot where Baker and North Spring meet, and goes back to 1890 according to public records; the one on the right, now occupied by an art studio, goes back to 1925 according to the same records. I'm surprised it isn't a lot older.
But check out those vintage street lamps! I don't mean the taller ones that have an armature extending over the street with a clearly visible globe, because I think those are new. I've seen them on Santa Monica Boulevard near the 405, and those were put there in the last decade or so. Rather, I'm referring to the smaller ones of which you can see two on the left. I didn't think there were any such lampposts left, and these must be among the oldest in the city.
Oddly enough, it seems that on all of the few occasions I've ever been in this neighborhood, it was gloomy and overcast every time.
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Parenthetically, I wonder if the original building was on a hill or slightly elevated when compared to whatever is to the viewer's left of the building? (Could be time to look toward Maywood.)
Google Earth
Very cooool....fantastic job Tourmaline!
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