The Broadway Arcade Building entrance, downtown Los Angeles, 1954. The Arcade is part of a huge complex that stretches from Broadway to Spring Street between 5th and 6th. It still stands, having recently been converted to loft apartments.
(Source: photos.lapl.org)
KFI radio’s Art Deco style studio, 141 N. Vermont, 1940.
(Source: digitallibrary.usc.edu)
Traffic on the Harbor Freeway at 6th Street, 1954.
(Source: digitallibrary.usc.edu)
An old-timer strolls down North Spring Street with the hulk of the Phillips Block Building at his back, 1900. The Block, built in 1887, was the second 4-story building in Los Angeles at the time of its construction.
(Source: forum.skyscraperpage.com)
The giant neon sign atop the Belmont Theater at Vermont and 1st, 1946. The Spanish-Renaissance style movie palace suffered a fire in 1973 and was demolished.
(Source: photos.lapl.org)
The Chapman Park Market as seen from 6th and Kenmore, 1929. Thankfully this beautiful Spanish-Revival style building, one of the first shopping markets to include a parking lot, survives.
The “Enjoy Eastside Beer and Ale” billboard dates this as post-Prohibition 1930’s. A westward view of Wilshire as seen from Commonwealth. Simon’s Sandwiches is at lower left, the Town House Hotel is opposite, and a block down the street is Bullock’s.
(Source: digitallibrary.usc.edu)
4th and Vermont at night, looking westward, 1931. The Temple Sinai East synagogue (now a church) and apartment building still stand across the street from Shatto Lanes. The M & C Charcoal Broiler is, alas, lost to history.
(Source: digitallibrary.usc.edu)
Looking north at the chaotic scene around the Wilshire and Western traffic roundabout, 1924.
(Source: digitallibrary.usc.edu)
This classic view of Wilshire Boulevard from 1936 includes the Brown Derby, the entrance to the Ambassador Hotel, the Gaylord Apartments, the Immanuel Presbyterian Church and, in the deep distance, Bullock’s Wilshire.
(Source: digitallibrary.usc.edu)
