Third Street, Then and Now

Third Street looking west from Spring Street, circa 1888:

Courtesy Water and Power Associates.

Up on Bunker Hill stands the ornate victorian Crocker Mansion, built in 1886. Next to it, in 1901, another old L.A. landmark would be constructed: the Angels Flight funicular railway.

 

The same view today:

Google Maps Street View.

The famous Bradbury Building, left, was constructed in 1893, and is now the oldest office building in Los Angeles.

 

View from atop Angels Flight, 100 years ago

A panoramic postcard view of Downtown Los Angeles from atop the observation deck of Angels Flight, just over 100 years ago.


Click image for a nice 2592x503 enlargement.


I believe this photo can be dated fairly precisely to late summer 1910, as the second Los Angeles Times Building has not yet been bombed, and the Hall Of Records behind it is in the earliest stage of its construction. Quite a remarkable view, in my layman's opinion!

 

South from 250 Spring, in the "Aughts"

Here's an interesting pair of postcards from the "aught" years of the 20th century. Both were taken from approximately the middle of the 200 block of Spring Street toward its intersection with Third Street. The top one faces the east side of Spring; the bottom one, the corresponding west side.






Note, in the one at top, the caption says, "...South from Elk's Hall..." Now, at far right in the bottom postcard, see the balcony with the mounted deer's head in the archway? (You may have to enlarge the pic to see it.) Logically, that must be the Elk's Hall! Curiously, the balcony and archway are both hung with black crepe, indicating mourning, and there's a portrait of the deceased in the center of the balcony's railing. I wonder who that could have been...

The bottom image is definitely older. I can maybe see one automobile among all those carriages and trolleys, so the photo was probably taken close to the turn of the last century. (So, could the deceased perhaps be President McKinley, assassinated in '01?) The top one could very well be right up-to-date with its 1907 inscription. At least three or four motor vehicles in that one.

What's still standing now? Not much. Less on the west side of the street, for sure. As far as I can tell, only the Douglas Building (the 5-storey block just left of center in the bottom postcard) remains today. On the east side of Spring, in the distance, there's the Hellman Building touched by the bottom tip of the hand-penned "7", and behind it, at the SE corner of Spring and Fourth, still stands the Braly Building. (Sorry, I obstinately refuse to call it the Continental Building. This was originally and always will be the Braly to me!)

Another pop quiz! Easy question: what is the name of the building at the extreme left edge of the top postcard – at the NE corner of Third and Spring? A bit more challenging: in the bottom pic, what's the building across Third Street from the Douglas? Don't be fooled! There were several similar-looking structures within a three-block radius of here in the old days.

Anyway, I just love the vibrant crispness of both of these images – the bustling street, the crowded sidewalks – how genuinely dynamic and alive it all appears. There's so much to appreciate in these old postcards, isn't there?

 

View from the top

For at least 25 years after Angels Flight opened, there was an observation tower adjacent to the incline railway from which one could take in a breathtaking overlook of downtown Los Angeles. Here's a commonly-seen view of Angels Flight from the bottom. (Please pardon the spelling!)




And the much more rarely-seen view from the top of the observation tower.




It's a rather dizzying sight, isn't it? We're even higher up here than Bunker Hill itself! What a teeming multitude is below. Judging by the shadows and the crowd, it looks like it's noontime on a high summer's workday, and yearwise, you can tell we're still in the "aughts" here as indicated by the scarcity of automobiles. It's almost all foot- and trolley-traffic down there.

Here's another view from the top of the tower. This one dates closer to the 1901 opening of Angels Flight, though...


Los Angeles Public Library.

 

Third Street at Hill: Then, Then, Then and Now

Within a span of only two lifetimes, one street intersection in Los Angeles undergoes an almost unimaginable series of transformations...

c.1890:

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

c.1935:

Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library.

1978:

Photo by William Reagh, Courtesy California State Library.

Today:

Photo by J Scott Shannon.

 

The Bradbury Building

Photo by J Scott Shannon.

Right after you got your driver's license, where was the very first place you drove to on your own? Do you remember? I sure do! As soon as I could talk my dad into loaning me his car for a day, of all places, I went here – to the Bradbury Building, at 304 S. Broadway in Los Angeles. I couldn't wait to see this place with my own eyes. I was 16 years old then, and the Bradbury Building was, at least in an architectural sense, my first love...


Photo by J Scott Shannon.

I'd learned about the Bradbury Building via a favorite TV show called "Ralph Story's Los Angeles," and what I saw really struck a chord in me. For starters, I could hardly believe such an old building still existed in Los Angeles (it was built in 1889-1893). I'd grown up in the L.A. area and I never heard of the place before, and neither had my parents, both of whom had lived most of their lives in the southland.

Just to look at it, though, you can understand why the Bradbury Building didn't attract a lot of attention. It doesn't appear to be anything special at all from the outside. It's the interior design of the place that sets it apart from all others of its time, and still makes it a standout to this day...

Introducing the world's first modern open atrium office building.


Photo by J Scott Shannon.


Photo by J Scott Shannon.


Heh. Are you thinking maybe you've seen this interior space before? Well, you probably have! (It was J.F. Sebastian's apartment building in Blade Runner.) :-)

I remember the day so well – I'd dragged my friend Gary along for the ride, and it being a Saturday, we had the whole building essentially to ourselves. It was great! We went up and down one of the ancient elevators at least twice. (It was surprisingly quiet, as I recall.)

*sighs* I always wanted to be an architect when I was growing up, but my teachers and counselors finally convinced me that I didn't have the math or art skills to be good at it. (Thanks a bunch, folks.) I should have just gone ahead and done it anyway. I know now I could have been great. I've always had an eye for beauty in buildings. By and large, I'm very disappointed with the quality of the architecture my generation has produced. I know I'd've done a lot better if I'd had the chance...