Category Archives: Architecture

December 15, 1907: Architectural Rambling to South Pasadena

Posted on December 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 15, 1907: The Times real estate section visits South Pasadena and remarks on a new brick building (still standing in 2025), a bank and the Carnegie library. Continue reading →

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December 12, 1907: Recreation Center to Be Built in Heart of Industrial District

Posted on December 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 12, 1907: In the gritty, industrial heart of the 8th Ward at Holly Street and St. John, officials are planning a large recreation facility “as an oasis in the wilderness,” The Times says. The building, designed by the firm of Hunt, Eager and Burns, will offer an alternative to “those who have no pleasure grounds but the streets and the saloons,” The Times says, noting: “Happy people are nearly always good people.” Continue reading →

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November 30, 2006: Architectural Rambling

Posted on November 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

Some “architectural rambling” photos I took in 2006 for a blog post on historic structures. Continue reading →

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Black L.A. November 13, 1947: Little Miss Cornshucks; St. Paul Baptist Church Plans a New Building

Posted on November 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 13, 1947: Little Miss Cornshucks is at the Last Word, 4206 Central Ave. Continue reading →

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November 10, 1907: Story of L.A. Real Estate Is Dislocation, Dislocation, Dislocation

Posted on November 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 10, 1907: What sort of monument do we leave for real estate developers? For John B. Althouse, who built hundreds of homes in the Wilshire district, as well as the West Adams district and the San Gabriel Valley, the answer might be nondescript offices and vacant lots. Continue reading →

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November 9, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on November 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 9, 1959: Comedian Doodles Weaver, who once headlined in played Las Vegas, can’t get a job, Paul Coates says. (Also a proposed union bus terminal for L.A.). Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Columnists, Paul Coates, Transportation | 1 Comment

November 3, 1907: A House With Curb Appeal

Posted on November 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 3, 1907: Mrs. E.N. Eskey is building this 10-room house in Pico Heights, on Van Ness just south of Pico. Continue reading →

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October 19, 1938: Stolen statue — Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on October 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 19, 1938: Writer Joe Seewerker and artist Charles Owens visit the statue of a miner at Carthay Center, later stolen and cut up by thieves. And yes, they were caught. By Stephanie Lazarus. Continue reading →

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October 12, 1938: An early RV, Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on October 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 12, 1938: Reporter Joe Seewerker and artist Charles Owens visit a house on wheels in this installment of Nuestro Pueblo. Drawing of a broken-down truck with a house for a body. Continue reading →

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October 9, 1994: Julius Shulman Q & A

Posted on October 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 9, 1994: A Q&A with photographer Julius Shulman, about to turn 84. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: It All Began With a Barn

Posted on September 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

In Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory looks at the history of Hollywood Heritage Museum, which began as a barn that served as the first moving picture studio. Continue reading →

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September 20, 1907: Suicide Note — ‘Everything Is Boiling’

Posted on September 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 20, 1907: For weeks, Colorado mining investor John Geisel, 57, had confided in his diary as he felt his mind and his life coming unraveled “Good God,” he wrote, “for the first time today I began to fear that I could not control my thoughts.” Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Olvera Street, Salute to Los Angeles’ Spanish Past

Posted on September 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory looks at the history of the Avila Adobe and Olvera Street in an encore post from 2019. Continue reading →

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September 15, 1947: On Rosh Hashanah, a Call to Mobilize for Peace

Posted on September 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 15, 1947: For Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Ernest Trattner tells the congregation that “New beginnings come, not in new seasons, but in new attitudes. Solutions of life’s problems come, not in the passing of time, but in self-discipline and self-dedication.” Continue reading →

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Schaber’s Cafeteria and Einar Petersen

Posted on September 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory profiles Schaber’s Cafeteria in downtown Los Angeles, which featured murals by Einar Petersen. An encore post from 2012. Continue reading →

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July 22, 1947: TV, Jet Engine, Tucker Car on Display at World Inventors Expo

Posted on July 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

The Tucker is on display at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium as part of an inventors’ exposition. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Longest-Running Movie Studio in Los Angeles

Posted on July 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory looks at the history of Occidental Studios, longest-running movie studio in Los Angeles Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Architectural Rambling: Julian Eltinge Home – 1921

Posted on June 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

A visit to the home of Julian Eltinge, in an encore post from 2011. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The Three Lives Of Villa Aurora

Posted on January 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Cats have nine lives. People often experience second or third acts in their lives or careers. Some homes have multiple lives as well, like Villa Aurora, which has experienced three diverse lives, … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 8, 2024 by lmharnisch

The Retro Holiday Shopping Guide: Melba Levick’s “The Big Picture: Murals of Los Angeles.” Wonderful paintings, most of them lost. One of my favorite’s is Kent Twitchell’s “Old Woman of the Freeway” featuring actress Lillian Bronson. Continue reading →

Posted in 1988, Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Latinos, Photography, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Sports, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide