Category Archives: Downtown

Rediscovering Los Angeles — The Hotel Bella Union/St. Charles Hotel

Posted on February 4, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 16, 1936: Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit the St. Charles Hotel at 314 N. Main, which was formerly the Bella Union Hotel. “This was one of the two best hotels in Los Angeles not so … Continue reading →

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Rediscovering Los Angeles — The Melrose

Posted on January 28, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 9, 1936: Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit the Melrose tourist hotel on Grand between 1st and 2nd streets, which was connected to the old Rowan mansion. Turner paints wonderful portraits of life in Los Angeles … Continue reading →

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Rediscovering Los Angeles — The Baker Block’s Grand Staircase

Posted on January 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 2, 1936: Here’s a treasure — a drawing of the grand staircase in the Baker Block. I have seen pictures of the exterior before, but never anything of the interior. Columnist Timothy Turner writes that the staircase is worn … Continue reading →

Posted in 1936, Architecture, Art & Artists, Columnists, Downtown, Main Street, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rediscovering Los Angeles — The Baker Block

Posted on January 7, 2014 by lmharnisch

Feb. 27, 1936: This week, Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit the Baker Block, one of the huge gingerbread buildings that flourished in downtown Los Angeles, like the Hall of Records. The Baker Block, at Main and … Continue reading →

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What Happened to the Lindbergh Beacon on L.A. City Hall?

Posted on January 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

Joining us in our question,  blogger Militant Angeleno also asks “What happened to the Lindbergh Beacon on City Hall?” The Militant says: “Leaving the Lindbergh Beacon off during the holiday season makes Huell Howser’s angel cry.” Here’s video.

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Rediscovering Los Angeles — A Japanese Garden

Posted on January 1, 2014 by lmharnisch

Feb. 17, 1936: I think this may be my favorite entry so far. Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit a Japanese flower shop on San Pedro Street north of 1st Street, which was converted by Toyo Y. … Continue reading →

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Nothing Says ‘I Love You’ Like Hollywood Deaths and Scandals

Posted on December 24, 2013 by lmharnisch

I found this inscription last night at the Last Book Store in a copy of “Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites” by our old nonsense-slinging friend E.J. Fleming of “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death in the parking lot of … Continue reading →

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Rediscovering Los Angeles — A Home on Flower Street

Posted on December 24, 2013 by lmharnisch

Feb. 10, 1936: Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit Miss Abegale Stark, 72, who lives in the back of a house built for her father in the 1880s. She says the family came to California in a … Continue reading →

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Mason Opera House

Posted on December 21, 2013 by lmharnisch

This program from the Mason Opera House for a 1920 performance of “The Mikado” has been listed on EBay, with bids starting at $5.50. The Mason was one of the leading theaters on Broadway. It was demolished in the 1950s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1920, Architecture, Broadway, Downtown, Food and Drink, Found on EBay, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘I Took the Gun and Shot Him Once in the Leg, Just for Fun’

Posted on December 20, 2013 by lmharnisch

Maybe it was murder. Maybe it never happened at all. Was she telling the truth or was it all a lie? Early on the morning of Nov. 20, 1953, acting on a tip, LAPD Detectives John Olsen and P.R. Brooks … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rediscovering Los Angeles — Tortilleria Jalisco

Posted on December 17, 2013 by lmharnisch

In case you just tuned in, Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner did a weekly series on some of the old landmarks in Los Angeles, many of them doomed by the impending construction of Union Station. Unlike the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1936, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Food and Drink, Main Street, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Relic of the Past: Horse Flop Found in Downtown Los Angeles!

Posted on December 14, 2013 by lmharnisch

In the 21st century, one can still find horse flop on Spring Street near City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. So much for the predictions of yesteryear,  in which we would be living in domed cities, get our power from … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, City Hall, Downtown, History, Spring Street | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Christmas in Los Angeles, 1913

Posted on December 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

Dec. 13, 1913: Santa Claus visits the 400 students at Castelar Street School and “spoke six languages,” according to The Times. Several little girls who had never possessed dollies before in their short lives were the recipients of lovely ones, … Continue reading →

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Rediscovering Los Angeles — The Hopperstead House

Posted on December 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 27, 1936: Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit the Hopperstead home, which was built at Hill and Court streets in 1880. When Turner wrote this column, family members were still living in a portion of the … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Einar Petersen and His ‘Aladdin and His Lamp’ Murals

Posted on December 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

One of Einar Petersen’s murals at the Spring Street Guaranty Building and Loan Assn., courtesy of Mary Mallory Fame is fleeting. An individual might go unrecognized while creating great art while alive, only for the works to be considered masterpieces … Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Spring Street | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mary Pickford Warns Aspiring Actresses: Bring Your Mothers!

Posted on December 7, 2013 by lmharnisch

Dec. 4, 1923: Los Angeles celebrates Mary Pickford Day with an appearance by the silent screen star, her mother, Charlotte, and her husband,  Douglas Fairbanks, before a crowd of fans (mostly women, The Times noted) at Pershing Square. Speaking to … Continue reading →

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Farewell to Old Los Angeles

Posted on December 6, 2013 by lmharnisch

The old Plaza area as drawn by Times artist Charles Owens. Along with the demolition to make way for Union Station, historic buildings between the Plaza and Union Station were torn down in February 1951. Oct. 22, 1933: I came … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, 1951, Downtown, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

PROHIBITION ENDS!

Posted on December 5, 2013 by lmharnisch

The Times marks the end of Prohibition with a front page cartoon by Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale, who  quit in 1934 and went to the Examiner in a dispute over The Times’ editorial policies. Dec. 5, 1933: With the passage … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Rediscovering Los Angeles — Sam Kee Laundry

Posted on December 3, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 20, 1936: For this installment of Rediscovering Los Angeles, Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit a Chinese laundry on Figueroa near Temple. Turner writes: It was a busy hive before John Chinaman cut off his pigtail, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1936, Architecture, Art & Artists, Columnists, Downtown, Film, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Matzo Brawl!

Posted on November 29, 2013 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project and I’m reposting it for newer readers. Nov. 29, 1907 Oh Those Shriners: Recall, if you will, the grisly train wreck that killed a large number of Shriners … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Food and Drink, LAPD, Religion, Streetcars | Tagged , , | 1 Comment