Los Angeles Times file photo

Here’s a photo of South Main at 4th Street looking north. The theater on the right is the Hippodrome and the title "Shifting Sands" on the marquee allows us to date the image to February 1924.

The Times reported that when it was built in 1913, the Hippodrome had the largest stage on the West Coast. It was torn down in 1952 to make way for, yes, a parking lot.