Jan. 13, 1936: One look and I knew this gem was gone. In fact, even the cross street has been obliterated. The U.S. Hotel was at Main and Market, across from City Hall.
Times columnist Timothy Turner writes:
“Rapid change and disregard of traditions is considered the rule in Los Angeles. Yet we have the U.S. Hotel, which was built in the 1860s by Louis Mesmer, remodeled in the 1880s and is still owned and operated by his son, Joseph Mesmer, in the 1930s.
Main and Market from the 1945 Thomas Bros. Street Guide of Los Angeles.
ladailymirror.com 
You know, I don’t want to be one of those people who say no old building should ever be demolished and all new buildings are crap, but . . . wait! Yes, I do! NO OLD BUILDING SHOULD EVER BE DEMOLISHED! ALL NEW BUILDINGS ARE CRAP!
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Our daughter goes to school in Kansas City, MO. Driving around downtown, hubs & I marveled at how many historic buildings had been preserved & re-purposed, in the city core. We remarked to one another a profound wonder & delight at this, coupled with a great sadness that this was not done in our hometown, to the same degree. The more I see of formulaic, bland McMansions, boxy apartment towers, & the like, the more I echo Eve’s sentiment. Losing architecture that has style & grace, in favor of what is indeed crap, is almost like losing a part of ourselves, as city dwellers. How sad it is, though, that many will never give it a second thought.
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When I left my hometown, Philadelphia, in 1975, it still looked like it did for much of the century–no building taller than City Hall, by gentleman’s agreement. As soon as they saw I was gone, they slapped up a dozen or so hideous glass skyscrapers, and now Philadelphia looks just like Dallas or L.A. or New York or any other big anonymous city.
The first one to go up, I think, is One Liberty Place, or The Jesus H. Chrysler Building, as I call it.
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