noirish Los Angeles

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by Lwize

I've always been fascinated by the creepy, gothic (?) style of the roof.
Can anyone upload some interior shots of the top floor? Were there just high ceilings? Frescos? Vampires hanging in there?

Bird in office of Hall of Records, 1951

Rare opportunity to see the interior of the Hall of Records. And an unscheduled visitor.

USC digital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Collection, 1920-1961


Bird in office of Hall of Records, 1951 (2)

English sparrow? Nice shot of the detail work, crown moldings and the unfortunate placement of a retrofitted pipe.

USC digital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Collection, 1920-1961

[HossC]

Originally Posted by MartinTurnbull

I still haven't worked out how to effectively search this thread to make sure I'm not posting photos we haven't already seen. Is there one?!?!?

I posted the Google search method which I use back in post #19611. What I forgot to say is that you can also click on the "Images" tab near the top of the page. The results will include many other images which were posted on the same page as the words you're searching for, but it has proved effective enough to stop me from making reposts on a number of occasions. PM me if you want more help.

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by HossC

I posted the Google search method which I use back in post #19611. What I forgot to say is that you can also click on the "Images" tab near the top of the page. The results will include many other images which were posted on the same page as the words you're searching for, but it has proved effective enough to stop me from making reposts on a number of occasions. PM me if you want more help.

And how do you allow for missing images? The search function (even using the famous Google finesse) can indicate an image has been posted but without pulling up every referenced post and looking you can no longer be sure the image still exists. There are some stretches of the thread where upwards of 40% of the images on a page are missing. I say, if it hasn't been posted in the last 400-500 pages and you have something interesting to say, post it.

[HossC]

There's no perfect search method, especially when you're looking for images. Even when I have searched before posting, I know that I've posted several images which I subsequently discovered had been posted previously. No one is going to get castigated for reposts, although Tourmaline does a good job of pointing them out .

Where an image no longer exists, you may find that Google has cached a lo-res version which at least allows you to see what's missing. This also reinforces the point I made yesterday about including descriptions with images. We lost a load of images when USC changed their storage method, but I've managed to track down many of them either through the accompanying description, or by using reference numbers in the links. When a member-hosted picture disappears, the accompanying direct link to the original image can be vital. I know it can be a pain including a direct link for every image (I admit to being lazy myself when I'm referencing the City Directories and Google Street View), but it's just one more thing that can help to preserve the cohesion of this thread.

With reference to MichaelRyerson's point about un-hosted images, I entirely agree. Please use an image host such as Flickr, ImageShack, Photobucket etc. when you're posting pictures, and especially avoid hotlinking to eBay images - they disappear very quickly. If the idea of using an image host sounds scary, it's really not. You can set one up in minutes, and there's bound to be someone here who can help you out.

[ethereal_reality]

All terrific points.




old file

Members of Los Angeles County's Dry Squad, Constable Jack Pilcher (left), Deputy Constable Ed Brown (center)
and another officer bust up a still in one of Newhall's local canyons during prohibition in 1924.
___

I wonder how many stills were confiscated in the county during prohibition? Obviously the many canyons and mountains made for excellent hiding places.
I bet there are remnants of old stills yet to be found.

__

[ethereal_reality]

from 1946 pamphlet


I found this photograph of Firestone Station, Nov. 1932



pinterest at http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/or...1c6caea77d.jpg

I wonder what building is being reflected in the window?
__

[WS1911]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's a vertiginous look at one of our favorite buildings.

The Hall of Records, 1962.

detail/ebay





-complete photo.

ebay


__

There was a fixture and furnishings sale before the demolition of the Hall of Records building. I’m not sure how long this sale lasted, but I was downtown one day and paid a visit to the building.

I took an elevator to the end of its run a couple floors from the top and then went up a few small staircases to the top floor. The rooms had average height ceilings (maybe 8 feet). The ceilings in the rooms were lower because of the slanted roof. I remember peering out of several of the top floor windows and seeing the people and traffic below.

Too bad I didn’t make a more thorough visit and taken a camera. Hindsight is great. My visit was brief because I was wary of being seen by someone in authority. I don’t think people were allowed up there snooping around at that time.

_______

[ethereal_reality]

...and here's station #3


1946 pamphlet


Vermont Station (no date) -the street number is above the door, but I can't make out all the numerals.


http://www.pinterest.com/lacountyshe...al-since-1850/


Vermont motorcycle unit (but it looks like they're posing in front of a different building)


http://www.pinterest.com/lacountyshe...al-since-1850/

__

[ethereal_reality]

-labeled L.A. County Criminal Department, 1932


http://www.badgehistory.com/index.html

I have no idea where this photograph was taken, but I believe the sign above the door says Carpenter Mill.-notice the odd brick thingy that resembles a kiln.
(there's also a large refrigeration unit in the distance with 'oxygen' written across the top)
__

[HossC]

I haven't found any trace of Carpenter Mill yet, but I believe the other sign says "Linde Oxygen". The 1932 CD lists the Linde Air Products Co (listed under oxygen producers) at 1310 Santee Street, and the 1936 CD lists them at 1405 N Mission Road. I'll have to see if I can find aerial shots of either location.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A non-specific slide from 1971.


ebay

I"m pretty sure the street sign says Hollywood Boulevard....now can we identify this cross street?

(is that an El Camino or Ranchero turning right onto Hollywood Blvd?)
__

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

We're looking north across Hollywood Boulevard on N. Fairfax Avenue. And that's a Ford Ranchero, about a '66.

Originally Posted by ProphetM

That's Hollywood Blvd. at Fairfax. The highest buildings up the hill are along Fareholm Drive.

Forty years ago is a long time. If I'm not mistaken right NOW that traffic island (where the right turn is) isn't there anymore. There is a high hedge all around that corner across the street so you cannot even see the house there on the right--lots more greenery all up that street. Anyone want to fire up the googlemobile? Speaking of fire, there was a fire up on the hill to the right on January 1st around midnight. I was once told the house on the left in the picture, on the corner, used to belong to Peter Lorre.

[HossC]

Here you go. I think I had to go back to 2011 to get the Googlemobile on the same side of Fairfax as the original picture, but everything on Hollywood Boulevard is as you described it.


GSV

[Tourmaline]

I have often wondered about the Hall of Records' seeming diagonal placement compared with its "newer" neighboring structures. Contemporary images make clear that the HOR's placement was in conformity with earlier preexisting buildings and streets. But was there ever any serious public debate concerning how later construction placement might have unnecessarily drawn attention to the HOR or vice versa? (Eminent Domain was hardly an unused secret and it was not as though LA did not consider its future, e.g., LA's various Master Plans) . Or maybe it was understood (early on) that the Hall of Records was obsolete before its time and destined for replacement. (By the '40s or '50s?).

Any other noteworthy NLA buildings that sit/sat on the bias excepting the old Brownstone County Courthouse?




_______________________

Since USC's format change, I have found it beneficial to revisit many of this thread's earlier posts. Strange as it may seem, I toyed with the idea of trying to revise those posts with mostly missing USC images, but found the task too time consuming to be practical. I am guessing that because I have revisited many of the earlier pages, some of those posts stand out in my mind when I have seen them reposted. When I recognize an earlier posted image, it is not a criticism, none of the search engines is perfect and indexing or individual descriptions (or mislabeling) are only as good as the original labeling or non-labeling. Often reposts are superior to the original posts. Sometimes not. Earlier posts often have other similar or related images too. -- There have been times where I have had to stop myself short from reposting an image I did not remember posting.


Regarding recent Hall of Records images, ER posted some of the same way back when: http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=9264 ; http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=9263

_______________________

Yes, some of the following have been seen on NLA before.

1910 Hall of Records Postcard




1907 (per source?) - County Courthouse and Hall of Records

http://digitalcollections.lmu.edu/cd...e/id/576/rec/7



1934 - Civic Center

http://digitalcollections.lmu.edu/cd.../id/572/rec/17




http://imgzoom.cdlib.org/Converter?i...=0&w=747&h=474



1971 - Hall of Records entrance
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...9DQGK51E2K.jpg


http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...F1QCU9N6J4.jpg


Hall of Records
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...NDFLVUYUQU.jpg



1953
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...36ND6RM4GX.jpg




1960 -
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...RRIMHC64J7.jpg



1914 -
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...4HYDI6HGI2.jpg


Undated interior shot, Hall of Records (Have to wonder whether the identified interiors couldn't be easily confused with the "newer" Hall of Justice?)
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...4DQ12IQ27T.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

The ceiling looks like its been dropped in that last photograph.

Originally Posted by HossC

I haven't found any trace of Carpenter Mill yet, but I believe the other sign says "Linde Oxygen". The 1932 CD lists the Linde Air Products Co (listed under oxygen producers) at 1310 Santee Street, and the 1936 CD lists them at 1405 N Mission Road. I'll have to see if I can find aerial shots of either location.

Thanks for your effort HossC. I couldn't make out the word 'Linde' before 'Oxygen'...even though I stared at the photo for quite some time.
__

[ethereal_reality]

originally posted by MartinTurnbill


I couldn't help but notice this...it reminds me of the one in front of the Los Angeles Times building we discussed a few weeks ago.
This one appears to have an eagle on top.
__

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

I have often wondered about the Hall of Records' seeming diagonal placement compared with its "newer" neighboring structures. Contemporary images make clear that the HOR's placement was in conformity with earlier preexisting buildings and streets. But was there ever any serious public debate concerning how later construction placement might have unnecessarily drawn attention to the HOR or vice versa? (Eminent Domain was hardly an unused secret and it was not as though LA did not consider its future, e.g., LA's various Master Plans) . Or maybe it was understood (early on) that the Hall of Records was obsolete before its time and destined for replacement. (By the '40s or '50s?).

Any other noteworthy NLA buildings that sit/sat on the bias excepting the old Brownstone County Courthouse?




_______________________

Might the odd angle placement of the HOR have to do with the old Mexican Land Grant plat of downdown Los Angeles? We've reported here on NLA about the 48 degrees and sunlight.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

old file

Members of Los Angeles County's Dry Squad, Constable Jack Pilcher (left), Deputy Constable Ed Brown (center)
and another officer bust up a still in one of Newhall's local canyons during prohibition in 1924.
___

I wonder how many stills were confiscated in the county during prohibition? Obviously the many canyons and mountains made for excellent hiding places.
I bet there are remnants of old stills yet to be found.

I'm currently reading a biography of Jerry Rushing, a real-life moonshiner whose experiences in the '50s and '60s inspired the 1975 movie 'Moonrunners' and then the TV show 'The Dukes of Hazzard'. Although he was based in the hills of North Carolina, I'm sure his story isn't too far removed from his earlier counterparts in California.

The picture above reminded me of a passage in the book about what happened when stills were discovered. Initially, the revenue agents used to sell the stills to a local junkyard where the owner would hide them in a barn until he could contact the moonshiner and sell them back to him. Apparently, this happened several times before the agents got wise and started destoying the stills, often with dynamite. It was a similar story with 'shine-running cars. Any that were confiscated were usually bought back from police auctions by someone acting on behalf of the moonshiner.

I apologize for going off-topic, but I felt that a short comic aside wouldn't hurt .

BTW, the book is 'The Real Duke of Hazzard: The Jerry Rushing Story' for anyone who's interested.

[ethereal_reality]

badge/history

The L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. held an annual BBQ from 1921 until the beginning of the war (1941). I initially thought the BBQs were located at various locations around the county, but this undated photograph with the in-ground brick BBQ pits makes me think there might have been a permanent location. This site appears to be at the foot of a pretty good size hill, if you look closely you can see a fence row above the chimney on the building in the top left corner.
(I just noticed they're offering Eastside Beer)

Anyone have an idea where this might have been located?


__

[ethereal_reality]

We've seen many images of The Plaza over the years on NLA. I think there's a possibility we haven't seen this one before.


ebay

I should know that impressive residence in the background (behind the Plaza Church on the left)....but I don't.
__

postscript: Well the photograph isn't as rare as I first thought.
I just found a black and white version of this stereoview at http://waterandpower.org/museum/Earl...20(1800s).html
They name one of the buildings as the Cape House Restaurant, but i don't know if they mean the small building to the left of the Plaza Church
or the impressive building I mentioned earlier.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found this photograph of Firestone Station, Nov. 1932


pinterest at http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/or...1c6caea77d.jpg

I wonder what building is being reflected in the window?

I found an article about the history of the Firestone Park Sheriff's Station which includes the details below:

"In the early 1920’s, a decision was made to open the first real Sheriff’s Station in the Florence/Firestone Park area and this flagship effort, Station #1, had its beginnings in a leased storefront facility in the 1600 block of Florence Avenue near Maie Avenue. The First Station had an authorized complement of 25 Deputies: they fielded two patrol cars and two motorcycles and provided a small detective unit to investigate crimes. This was actually the catalyst for the planning of additional stations throughout the County.

The first facility, housing Station #1, on Florence Avenue was soon outgrown and a second leased building at 2201 Firestone Blvd. was opened in 1938. It served the Department's needs until the third and last Firestone Station, at 7901 S. Compton Avenue, was dedicated in 1955.

In its heyday, this station, with over 300 sworn and civilian personnel, served a racially diverse population approaching 250,000 in a patchwork area that covered over 40 square miles. Its jurisdiction was bounded on the north by Slauson Avenue, on the south by Lomita Blvd., on the west by Normandie Avenue and by the Los Angeles River on the east."

That means that the picture above shows the first Florence/Firestone Station which was on Florence Avenue. I'm pretty sure that the current building at that location isn't the one pictured here, and the building reflected in the window (whatever it was) has been replaced by a parking lot. By the time the pamphlet in e_r's original post was published (1946), the sheriff's station had moved to Firestone Boulevard address. Wikipedia says that the Florence and the East Los Angeles stations were the first sub-stations to open in 1924. It also says that the Florence station became the Firestone Park station in 1955 (which is when they moved to their third location at 7901 S. Compton Avenue), yet the picture below clearly shows the 2201 Firestone location with a "Firestone Park" sign.


www.pinterest.com

The lamps have gone, and the windows are a different design, but this building still stands.


GSV

I also found a 1993 LA Times article about the closing of the Firestone Park station on S Compton Avenue. It was designed by James H Garrott Jr, a prominent African American architect, was the first station in the county to be commanded by an African American captain, and the first sheriff's station in the county where African American deputies were allowed to ride in patrol cars. The building is now the Century Station Youth Activities League (YAL). The StreetView image below is from a couple of years ago (the latest image is quite blurry).


GSV