Times Bombing Revisited

Posted on June 29, 2010 by lmharnisch
1st and Broadway, Los Angeles
 
Unless you have lived in Los Angeles quite a while, you probably only remember the northeast corner of 1st and Broadway as a deserted moonscape where a state building was once located. I’ve spent some time combining an 1890 Sanborn map and a satellite picture to show the precise location of Times Building No. 2, which was constructed in the 1880s and destroyed in the 1910 bombing.  (Note: I may be a little off in my calculations as to scale. This is my first attempt to combine layers of images this way).

As you can tell, the state structure was wedged onto the property next to Times Building No. 3, which was constructed to replace Times Building No. 2.  If you think it must have looked strange to have the building shoehorned in like that, you’re right. It did look really, really strange.

Times Building, 1937
Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

The Times Building No. 3 and the state building as seen from Main and 1st streets in 1937.

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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2 Responses to Times Bombing Revisited

  1. benito's avatar benito says:
    June 30, 2010 at 2:41 pm

    I forget – was it a labor or anarchist thing? The L.A. Times was conservative back then. More information please!

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  2. DarrellKuni's avatar DarrellKuni says:
    July 7, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    B, you might say it was both. At the time, in U.S. history, the union movement was strong (it had to be) and there were incidents of anarchy too.
    The Times was conservative “back then” as you say, up to the modern era when it changed under the leadership of Otis Chandler. Find some history on how newspapers of previous eras were pro this or anti that: re labor, poitical parties, railroads too. Fascinating stuff. I’m glad you’ve taken an interest in the Times bombing — it isn’t a well-known L.A. story, and it should be.

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