The oldest building in Los Angeles?

Many have already heard about the emerging realization that the Sanchez Adobe in the Baldwin Hills may be the oldest building in Los Angeles.

Although the structure bears the Sanchez name, it is believed to have actually been built by unknown rancheros fifty years before the land was first deeded to Don Vicente Sanchez in 1843.

This 1840s map depicting the boundaries of "Rancho del Paso de la Tijera" shows the little cottage whose existence has now spanned four centuries.

Hispanic-Heritage Links at the National Archives.

The former Baldwin Ranch, circa 1926. The Sanchez Adobe is the taller white building to the left of center.

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

Casa de Sanchez, ca. 1924. At this time, the house was already 130 years old.

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

Another view of the Sanchez house (right) in the 1920s. Does the adobe outbuilding at left still survive? A modern aerial view suggests a possibility that it may.

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

Only a few years later, the two-storey Sanchez house was incorporated into a much larger modern structure that still stands today at 3725 Don Felipe Drive.

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

 

Cahuenga Boulevard, Then & Now

The same spot,
    on the same road,
        in three centuries...

Cahuenga Pass, 1897:

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

Cahuenga Avenue, 1927:

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

Cahuenga Boulevard, Today:

Click image above to see the Google Maps Street View.

 

The Cahuenga Valley...

...before it became better known to the world as "Hollywood."

The E.A. Melrose ranch, circa 1915.



Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.


Not even yet a century ago. Hard to imagine, isn't it?

 

Panorama of Los Angeles, 1899

Click image for full-size enlargement. Images courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

A panoramic view of Los Angeles in 1899, looking west from atop the Maier & Zobelein Brewery, known to later generations of Angelenos as the "Brew 102 building." The four tall structures visible here were, from left to right, the Cathedral of St. Vibiana, City Hall, the County Court House, and Los Angeles High School.

In the entire panorama above, I can make out only six buildings that are still standing today.

The broad boulevard was Aliso Street. Today, it is U.S. Highway 101. The old Brew 102 building and the modern freeway can be seen in the photo below, circa 1976.

Photo by William Reagh, courtesy Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.

 

Spring and First Streets, c.1903

One of my favorite places in vanished Los Angeles was the bustling intersection of Spring and First Streets. Here are three contemporaneous views from just after the turn of the last century.

Looking north on Spring Street from First.

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

Now, in the photo above, see the man at upper left leaning on the flagpole? He's standing on the roof of the Larronde Block, which is the likely vantage point of this shot dated 1903.

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

And the view south, probably taken from an upper storey window in the Phillips Block.

Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

South on Spring from First today. Click on the Google Street View image below to have a look around the intersection now. (Peek over your left shoulder to really get your bearings.) ;-)

Google Maps Street View.

 

Hill Street at First, Then & Now

1908:


Courtesy U.S.C. Digital Library.

2011:


Google Maps Street View.

Today, clearly, it's "Hill Street" in name only.