Category: preservation

1947project at Saving LA event at the Los Angeles Theater, Sunday 3/18

Join us, gentle reader, this Sunday March 18, at the glamorous and seldom open Los Angeles Theater (1931) in the heart of downtown for the Saving LA preservation event. There will be speakers in the main hall and tables hosting representatives from local publishers and historical organizations, including 1947project. Stop by to see one of the most beautiful theaters in the city and to connect with others who care about preserving signs of the past. Linger to hear my visionary husband Richard Schave speak in the 3 o’clock hour about the vast possibilities for community building that can be accessed using free web tools.

Event details: Los Angeles Theater, 615 S. Broadway, 10am-4pm, free.

More info and a full schedule are at the Saving LA blog, https://savingla.blogspot.com/ 

Roving to Monrovia

Nov. 24, 1907
Monrovia

The Times real estate section takes a look at what was then the distant suburb of Monrovia, 22 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The writer notes the increasing use of concrete and stone, explaining that the cost of lumber is forcing builders to use other materials. The writer also notes the broad, shaded verandas of three featured homes as well as the outlines of their roofs.

The story highlights the home of B.R. Davisson on East Orange Avenue, H.M. Slemmons (or Slemon) on North Myrtle Avenue and the home of John C. Rupp at Ivy and Greystone, built for $6,500 ($133,403.21 USD 2005).

Without exact addresses, it would be difficult for me to locate the Davisson and Slemmons homes, but I took a pleasant drive out to Monrovia recently to look for the Rupp house and was happy to find
that it is still standing and in beautiful condition. In fact, it was nice to discover that the neighborhood has quite a few well-maintained historic homes; a contrast to the condition of the houses I located in Pico Heights.

I had a brief chat with the homeowner who gave me a tour of the grounds. He said that Rupp, a financier, built the home for his wife, but that she decided it was too far from Los Angeles and wouldn

LA Event: Brown Derby Tribute, August 19

The Southern California Restaurant Historical Society is holding a "Brown Derby Tribute", with speakers Jack Lane, Master caricaturist from the Hollywood Brown Derby, Mark Willems, author, "The Brown Derby: A Hollywood Legend" and Rebecca Goodman, of Save the Derby Coalition. It will be held at the former Brown Derby Drive In Building, now "The Derby" and Louise’s Trattoria, at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles on August 19 10am-Noon. Official flyer below SCRHS Brown Derby Tribute Flyer

and in more preservation news (we hope!), see Michael Linder’s brave attempts to unravel the haps at Columbia Square. Will the Old Spaghetti Factory survive? Sommmmmebody knows… 

In the news: God DAMN the stucco man; the dead walk on Fort Moore

Two juicy links courtesy of good ol’ LA Observed:

As work continues on that ginormous construction site near Sunset and Grand, a 19th century cemetery is being disturbed, with caskets, bones and artifacts shining grimly in the sunlight they were never meant to see. Nothing good can possibly come from this.

And in happier news, the Echo Park Historical Society is looking for a once-wood, now-stucco’d home to serve as a demonstration for how the creeping crud can be stripped off and the home’s original lines renewed.

 

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Addendum, from wee Nathan:
hollywood freeway grave
Arrow points to bones of pioneer California soldier unearthed as Hollywood Freeway excavation cuts into the old Fort Moore Hill Cemetery. Soldier had been buried in full uniform, including silver spurs. Several caskets have been exposed. Photo dated: April 2, 1951.

A Theater Rises on Broadway


June 2, 1907
Los Angeles

The Hamburger Department Store announces plans for a theater just south of its new building on South Broadway at 8th Street, designed by the architecture firm of Edelman and Barnett.

According to plans, the horseshoe-shaped theater is to seat 1,600 people, with a balcony and a gallery. The stage is to be 40 feet by 80 feet, with a proscenium 36 feet wide and 32 feet high.