Category Archives: Downtown

Crude Oil Floods Figueroa Street!

Posted on June 23, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 23, 1899: Crude oil floods Figueroa Street. A city inspector discovered that workers dismantling a storage tank on a triangular lot at 1st and 2nd streets (recall that several downtown streets have been realigned since 1899) directed about 200 … Continue reading →

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Found on EBay — First Methodist Episcopal Church

Posted on June 22, 2009 by lmharnisch

Aug. 20, 1899: The cornerstone is laid for First M.E. Church This postcard showing First M.E. Church has been listed on EBay. The church was designed by Austin and Skilling and built on the northeast corner of  6th and Hill … Continue reading →

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Drunks and Small Boys in Trouble!

Posted on June 20, 2009 by lmharnisch
Posted in #courts, Downtown, LAPD | Comments Off on Drunks and Small Boys in Trouble!

Officer Rescues Girl From Streetcar Tracks!

Posted on June 20, 2009 by lmharnisch

Siegel the Hatter at 1st and Spring. June 20, 1889: Police Officer Church saves a life.

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Council Debates Cow Ordinance

Posted on June 18, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 18, 1889: The City Council debates measures on keeping cows and chickens in downtown Los Angeles. 

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A Kinder, Simpler Time: Your Rights

Posted on June 17, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 18, 1953: Irwin Edelman, Pershing Square orator, is enmeshed in the Rosenberg case. He was convicted in 1949 as a "vagrant dissolute person" in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1953, he sought refuge in … Continue reading →

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Chinese Opium Dens of Los Angeles

Posted on June 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 16, 1889: After quite a long rant on the degenerate nature of the Chinese — the maids and cooks are corrupting the good white homes of Los Angeles by providing narcotics to young, idle society men and women — … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown | 1 Comment

Man Kills Wife, Attempts Suicide

Posted on June 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 15, 1899: Earl Hanchett kills his wife and attempts suicide. The nurse who was hired to tend their baby says: "Why didn't you do as good a job on yourself as you did on her?" Hanchett lived to stand … Continue reading →

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All-Night Bakery

Posted on June 13, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 13, 1889: The Vienna Bakery, 1st and Spring streets, open all night.

Posted in Downtown, Food and Drink | 1 Comment

Nuestro Pueblo: Weller Street

Posted on June 12, 2009 by lmharnisch

Today, we know Weller Street as Little Tokyo's Onizuka Street, named for the astronaut who was killed in the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986.

Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo | 1 Comment

Found on EBay — Oriental Cafe

Posted on June 9, 2009 by lmharnisch

This postcard showing the interior of the Oriental Cafe, 445-447 S. Main St., has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $9.99, a little steep for my blood.  Look what else you could get at 447 S. Main in 1903! … Continue reading →

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The Pershing Square Mystery, Part II

Posted on June 9, 2009 by lmharnisch

Photograph by Boris Yaro / Los Angeles Times Dec., 11, 1975: "The Last Argument of Kings" cannon is at Travel Town. Note that the plaque is missing from the base. I went to Travel Town on Sunday in search of … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo, Parks and Recreation | 2 Comments

Nuestro Pueblo: The Pershing Square Mystery

Posted on June 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

"The Last Argument of Kings" Sept. 20, 1953: The cannon was moved to Travel Town in Griffith Park. This simple post about a cannon at Pershing Square has become ridiculously complicated. All I want to know is what became of … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Parks and Recreation, San Fernando Valley | 1 Comment

Minstrels and the Salvation Army — Charles Ives Would Love It

Posted on June 7, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 7, 1889 Pairing a minstrel show and a Salvation Army band sounds like something Charles Ives might have liked. June 7, 1899: A jail inmate says a trusty beat him with a heavy set of keys.

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Homeless Sleep in All-Night Theaters!

Posted on June 5, 2009 by lmharnisch

  "Norda Noll Slain" The Lugo Adobe on Gage Avenue. The Police Commission wanted to close all-night theaters but the council rejected the action amid debate over whether the city, county or state should care for the homeless who would … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Comics, Downtown, Film, Front Pages, health, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Nuestro Pueblo, Obituaries, Religion, Robberies, Sports | Comments Off on Homeless Sleep in All-Night Theaters!

Libelous Mail … Mortality Report … Property Dispute

Posted on June 5, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 5, 1889

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Found on EBay — Security Savings Bank

Posted on June 4, 2009 by lmharnisch

This postcard of the boardroom at Security Savings Bank has been listed on EBay. This is a bit of Victorian opulence — take a look at the marble fireplace. Bidding starts at $3.25.

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Boxing Promoter Beaten; Dodgers Sign Chavez Ravine Deal

Posted on June 4, 2009 by lmharnisch

"R-R-R-ING!" Life on Mars! Boxing promoter Jackie Leonard had testified before the State Athletic Commission about mob influence in prizefighting. View this page  American jazz?  Nyet! Charles Hillinger interviews Nicaragua's Luis Somoza. Carole Baker … Jeffrey Hunter … Richard Nixon … Continue reading →

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Total Depravity … Severed Finger … Attempted Rape

Posted on June 4, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 4, 1889

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Found on EBay — Philharmonic Auditorium

Posted on June 3, 2009 by lmharnisch

This postcard of Philharmonic Auditorium, at Olive and 5th streets in downtown Los Angeles, has been listed on EBay. The auditorium was eventually given a modernized facade and finally torn down by a developer, leaving a vacant lot. Bidding starts … Continue reading →

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