Tag Archives: #Traffic

Sept. 19, 1947: L.A. OKs Right Turn on Red Light!

Posted on September 19, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Adopted across the country and lampooned by Woody Allen, Los Angeles’ right turn on a red light was born in obscurity. Although the city used traffic … Continue reading →

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Sept. 11, 1947: Driver of Beer Wagon Gets Revenge on Streetcars

Posted on September 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. “Big Bill,” driver for Maier & Zobelein, blockaded a procession of cars on Spring Street yesterday afternoon because he was insulted and angry. He had driven … Continue reading →

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Sept. 5, 1947: L.A. Turns 166, Becomes Third-Largest City in America

Posted on September 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Los Angeles mounted a festive reenactment of its founding, with people taking the roles of padres, soldiers and settlers. On the gaily decorated steps of City … Continue reading →

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Aug. 10, 1947: North Broadway Tunnel, Doomed Downtown Landmark

Posted on August 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Building contractor Robert Beryle regarded the 762-foot Broadway tunnel, excavated in 1901 through Fort Moore Hill, as his masterpiece. Another crew was building the 1,045-foot 3rd … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood’s ‘Five-Finger Plan’ Aids Traffic in the 1920s-30s

Posted on July 17, 2017 by lmharnisch

  A postcard of the Cahuenga Pass showing the cross erected in 1923 in memory of Christine Witherill Stevenson, one of the prime movers in establishing the Hollywood Bowl. Listed on EBay for $6.50. Throughout the history of Los Angeles, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1923, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rediscovering Los Angeles: Why Are L.A. Streets So Narrow?

Posted on February 11, 2016 by lmharnisch

Nov. 14, 1924: This is the second of two articles I have from the Los Angeles Examiner titled “Rediscovering Los Angeles.” Notice that even in 1924 people were complaining about traffic and congested streets. Reporter W.W. Kane notes:

Posted in 1924, Downtown, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Antisocial Parking

Posted on October 21, 2014 by lmharnisch

Well-behaved women seldom make history, but they also don’t take two parking spaces.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

L.A. Traffic, 1915 Edition

Posted on October 21, 2013 by lmharnisch

My Los Angeles Times colleague Scott Harrison does wonderful work going through The Times photo archives. Here’s his latest post on a “new”method of directing traffic in which police stopped using whistles. This is Officer F.M. Wilson at Broadway and … Continue reading →

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Downtown Los Angeles: Broadway

Posted on October 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

This postcard, marked 1909, showing Broadway, looking north just below 4th Street, has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $8.95. And for comparison, here’s what it looks like on Google Street View. Let’s take a closer look.

Posted in Broadway, City Hall, Downtown, Found on EBay, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Getting L.A. Traffic Wrong

Posted on July 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

Zocalo repeats the old bromide that “once upon a time” the streets of Los Angeles were empty and getting around was simple. Nothing could be further from the truth. After years of reading old newspapers, I can say with authority … Continue reading →

Posted in A Kinder, Simpler Time, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

LAPD Chief Wants More Police; Terrible Traffic – 1913

Posted on April 3, 2013 by lmharnisch

April 3, 1913: That is author L. Frank Baum and composer Louis F. Gottschalk, the team behind “The Tik-Tok Man of Oz,” which was a blockbuster in Los Angeles. The Times said it “is the reigning sensation of the local … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, Books and Authors, City Hall, LAPD, Stage, Streetcars, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

L.A.’s Traffic Nightmare Threatens Downtown’s Future! Oct. 28, 1941

Posted on October 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

Oct. 28, 1941: Lee Shippey writes about Los Angeles’ congested streets (no, traffic is not a new problem – it’s a very old one that we are still trying to solve). Notice that Shippey says streetcars and automobiles do not … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Obituaries, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Woman Jailed for Driving Too Slowly

Posted on October 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

Oct. 7, 1941: You’re probably wondering how fast Blanche Roberts was driving. The story doesn’t say anything more specific than “an exceedingly low rate of speed” on the Calabasas Grade. Apparently no one thought to query the reporter — the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Dodgers, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spring Street revisited

Posted on August 1, 2008 by lmharnisch

  Moss Photographer, 315 W. Pico St. WE stmore 2301, Los Angeles, Cal. Unfortunately, The Times’ Spring Street photo file has nothing that shows the transition at 1st Street in the critical period of the 1900s to the 1920s. Suddenly, … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, City Hall, Downtown, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Spring Street

Posted on July 20, 2008 by lmharnisch

Photograph by Munsey StudiosThe Hotel Ramona was on the southwest corner of Spring and 3rd streets (305 1/2 S. Spring) on the Ramona Block. It apparently went out of business in 1912, when its furnishings were auctioned off. By 1917 … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pasadena Freeway

Posted on July 18, 2008 by lmharnisch

  A map from 1912 shows the plans for the Arroyo Seco Parkway. Note the Silver Lake Parkway, which was not built. The Arroyo Seco Parkway was actually proposed even earlier, as part of Charles Mulford Robinson’s "City Beautiful" project … Continue reading →

Posted in Freeways, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

July 10, 1908

Posted on July 10, 2008 by lmharnisch

A meeting of ranchers from the Los Nietos and La Habra valleys. Although the image is murky, it’s possible to make out one wagon and one automobile. arning: Some readers aren’t going to like this post because it contradicts today’s … Continue reading →

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June 27, 1908

Posted on June 27, 2008 by lmharnisch

ong ago, I lost track of how many highway maps The Times has run over the years. Here is yet another one, giving us a trifecta with the map from Ed Ainsworth’s traffic series of 1938 and the one that … Continue reading →

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Los Angeles traffic

Posted on June 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

Page 26 Page 27 f only Ray Hebert had asked the right question. But how was he to know? Twenty years after Ed Ainsworth focused on a "motorway" system in his series on Los Angeles traffic, Ray Hebert examines the … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Freeways, Front Pages, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

June 18, 1938

Posted on June 18, 2008 by lmharnisch

irst, we have tragic news from Berlin: Panicked Jews wander the streets in hopes of avoiding mass arrests in which entire families are hauled away in the middle of the night. "…officials explained that the anti-Jewish activities were necessary because … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, City Hall, Film, Freeways, Front Pages, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment