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Los Angeles looked quite a bit different in 1899. The only surviving building is the the 1876 Cathedral of St. Vibiana in the middle right, and even that was slated for demolition.

Comments

  1. That’s a shame would’ve been nice if they left at least one old street.

  2. Modern day, same spot?

  3. > Here’s some more info:
    >
    > >https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/ScottCharles1899_zpsvdjqpjyq.jpg
    >
    > The big four-story building with the many domes and skylights near the lower right corner of the 1899 photo, the Phillips Block,
    > burned down in late 1912, and the rest of the foreground of the photo is now mostly Spring Street and City Hall so we must look
    > closely to find extant structures.
    >
    > At least one other remaining building is identifiable in the 1899 photo, 242-48 E. 1st Street:
    >
    > Here is two-story 242-48 E. 1st on the 1894 Sanborn Map, showing The Emery Lodging House is upstairs at 244-1/2. Next
    > door to the west is narrow, three-story 238-40 E. 1st Street with its angled rear wall. The old Wallace Woodworth home
    > (Kysor and Mathews, c. 1871), which will be demolished c. 1910 when San Pedro Street is realigned and extended north
    > of 2nd Street (to connect with what had been Wilmington St., in the lower right corner below), is south of 242-48 E. 1st:
    >
    > >https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/1894%20Sanborn%20marked_zpsry5mrinb.jpg
    >
    > Library of Congress
    >
    >Here is a close-up from the 1899 photo, which looks SE, with the above-referenced buildings marked. The arrow points
    > to the middle of 242-48 E. 1st Street; the left/east side of its front is obscured:
    >
    > >https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/1899%20Shorpy%20marked_zpsbm0p35uh.jpg
    >
    >
    > In this 1949 Arnold Hylen image we see 242-48 E. 1st Street (with the red dot) and 238-40 next door on the right:
    >
    > >https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/1949%20by%20Arnold%20Hylen%202001-0554%20CASTLIB%20marked_zps0qrqmc7k.jpg
    >
    > This photo was taken in August 1962, showing red-dotted 242-248 and the changes that have occurred on this stretch
    > of 1st Street since 1949:
    >
    > >https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/1962%20Aug%20CHS-41613%20at%20USCDL_zpswhm72xsz.jpg
    >
    > Contemporary Google Aerial of 242-48 E. 1st Street:
    >
    > >https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/Google%20aerial_zpsa1elph2y.jpg
    >
    > June 2017 GSV of 242-48 E. 1st Street:
    >
    > > https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/GSV%20June%202017_zpshbur3meo.jpg
    >
    > >I believe 242-48 E. 1st Street first appears in the 1893 LA City Directory:
    >
    > >https://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/Goalie48/Old%20Downtown%20Los%20Angeles/Downtown%20Commercial/First%20Street/242-248%20East%20First%20Street/1893%20LACD%20p.%20294%20-%20Emery%20Lodging%20House_zpsbaimarot.jpg
    >
    >
    > Flyingwedge
    >
    > >Looking southeast, with the camera atop the County Courthouse (a favorite among the large-format photographers of the day). The buildings in the extreme lower-right corner are facing New High Street. We can see (left-center middle distance) a little section of San Pedro Street (later Wilmington then Weller and finally Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Street) pointing almost directly at the camera. This section of San Pedro/Weller/Onizuka is only one block long running from 2nd Street (and San Pedro) to 1st and Los Angeles Streets (nearer the camera). This is one very good and consistent reference point telling us we’re on the County Courthouse. Nearer the camera (left near foreground) we can see the infamous Vienna Buffet, on Court Street between Spring and Main Streets, just poking out around the corner of the J.A. Bullard Building (5 stories with the domed turreted corner). St. Vibiana’s Cathedral can be seen (center-right, middle distance) at Main and 2nd Streets and the Orpheum Grand Opera House at Main and 1st. To the right of St. Vibiana’s you can see the unique round structure of the Panorama Skating Rink at 320 S. Main Street although the rink itself set well back from the street and was accessed through a long covered walkway. An altogether nice shot.
    >
    > MichaelRyerson
    >
    >
    > http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=170279&page=2598

  4. Again, this hurts. At the very very very least the beautiful cathedral remains. The story of its preservation is a right thriller.

  5. Wow, I thought LA was still just orange fields back in 1899