Category Archives: Downtown

March 1, 1907: L.A. Businesses Running Out of Space to Dump Garbage

Posted on March 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 1, 1907: Downtown businessmen are at a complete loss over what to do with the garbage from their operations and want the city to either take it or designate a dump they can use. Continue reading →

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February 28, 1959: Dodger Dome?

Posted on February 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 29, 1959: Could Dodger Stadium be renamed the Dodger Dome? Keith Thursby takes a look. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Architecture, Dodgers, Downtown, Front Pages, Obituaries, Sports | Leave a comment

February 28, 1959: Ex-Teamsters Boss Sentenced to Prison

Posted on February 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 28, 1959: Former Teamsters boss Dave Beck is sentenced to five years in prison. Beck died in 1993 at the age of 99. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Architecture, Dodgers, Downtown, Front Pages, Obituaries, Sports | Leave a comment

Feb. 26, 1938: ‘Snow White’ Inspires ‘Dopey’ Dance

Posted on February 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 26, 1938: ‘Snow White’ inspires the ballroom craze: The ‘Dopey’ Dance! Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Downtown, Front Pages, LAPD, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

January 29, 1934: Did Ancient Lizard Cult Hide Gold Tablets in Tunnels Under L.A.?

Posted on January 29, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 29, 1934: In one of my favorite goofball stories about L.A., an engineer says his radio X-rays reveal massive gold tablets buried under the city in an elaborate network of tunnels dug by the Lizard People, The Times says. Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Downtown | 1 Comment

January 27, 1907: L.A. Studies Elevated Trolley Line to Ease Traffic

Posted on January 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 27, 1907: Pacific Electric experiments with an elevated railway system to ease traffic. The city is faced with bad traffic, “which causes blockades, loss of time to thousands, loss of business to merchants and discomfort to the public,” The Times says. Continue reading →

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January 10, 1909: Addicted to Gambling

Posted on January 10, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 10, 1909: Wrecked on the rocks of the betting game! Of how many young men of Los Angeles, who but a few months ago held positions of honor or trust, and are now serving time on the chain gang, is this true? Continue reading →

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January 9, 1913: The Day’s News – Pestilence and Starvation

Posted on January 9, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 9, 1908: The Times publishes a map of places in the news, showing “troops arriving at the front,” “ship in distress,” “burning building,” “land battle,” “earthquake,” “execution” and “volcano eruption.” The past was definitely not a “kinder, simpler time.” Continue reading →

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January 9, 1907: The Floods

Posted on January 9, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 9-10, 1907: The worst storm in 23 years blows across Southern California with the force of a gale, dumping more than an inch of rain in Pasadena, killing an Orange County rancher, washing out railroad tracks and collapsing tunnels, and leaving nearly every small ship in Santa Barbara sunk, driven ashore or pounded to pieces. Continue reading →

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January 1, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on January 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 1, 1959: Matt Weinstock looks at the origins of the “little old lady from Pasadena.” Continue reading →

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December 30, 1907: Old Soldiers of the Civil War, Held as Drunks, Get Free Run of Jail

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1907: Six Civil War veterans are jailed on charges of being drunk and rowdy in Sawtelle, the settlement outside the gates of the veterans home. 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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December 4, 1907: Shooting on Baldwin Ranch Raises Tensions Between Chinese, Latino Workers

Posted on December 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 4, 1907: Shooting on Lucky Baldwin’s ranch raises tensions between Chinese and Latino workers. Continue reading →

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November 19, 1960: Gene Autry a Contender in American League Expansion Team

Posted on November 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 19, 1960: Gene Autry is a potential bidder for an American League baseball team hoping to start in Los Angeles in 1961. Continue reading →

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November 18, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on November 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 18, 1959: Sen. Everett Dirksen (R-Ill) responds to taxpayers’ fury over a resolution to take all 100 senators to Hawaii for its statehood ceremonies, Paul Coates writes. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Downtown, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Parks and Recreation, Paul Coates | Comments Off on November 18, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

November 15, 1907: Charles Mulford Robinson Drafts a Los Angeles of the Future

Posted on November 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 15, 1907: Charles Mulford Robinson proposes a grand boulevard for downtown Los Angeles, from a proposed Union Station ending at a new public library and art gallery. And a new City Hall. Continue reading →

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November 14, 1909: Nude Man Prances on Bunker Hill

Posted on November 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 14, 1909: Women call police to report a nude man prancing on Bunker Hill — around Angels Flight. But none of them got a good look at him (ahem) and can’t identify him. Continue reading →

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Rediscovering Los Angeles: Pennies Arrive in L.A., 1881

Posted on November 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

As some (perhaps only collectors) mourn the passing of the penny, here’s a story about the introduction of the 1-cent coin in 1881. From the Los Angeles Examiner’s ‘Rediscovering Los Angeles,” November 13, 1924, Continue reading →

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November 12, 1941: Crowds Line Broadway for Armistice Day Parade

Posted on November 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 12, 1941: Crowds line Broadway in downtown Los Angeles for the annual Armistice Day parade, which marked the end of what used to be called the Great War or the World War – until we had another one. Continue reading →

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November 9, 1941: Roosevelt Declares Early Thanksgiving

Posted on November 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 9, 1941: President Roosevelt moves up the date of Thanksgiving to add an extra week of Christmas shopping. Continue reading →

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