Not currently logged in. [Login or Create an Account]

Stay Connected

History

« Newer Stories 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Older Stories »

5 Photos

Dick Whittington Studio / USC Digital Archives

82 Years Ago: Land Purchased for Grauman's Metropolitan

By Eric Richardson — August 19, 2011 — 9 Comments

On August 19, 1919, theater man Sid Grauman announced that he had purchased land at 6th and Hill for $1 million and would soon begin construction on Downtown's largest theater.

37 Years Ago: Blast Leveled Arts District Block

By Eric Richardson — August 17, 2011 — 3 Comments

When an explosion rocked Downtown on August 17, 1974, the first thought of those nearby was that a bomb had gone off. Chemicals left out in the sun were blamed for the massive blast.

Los Angeles Examiner / USC Digital Archives

Post Office Studying Need for Five Downtown Stations

By Eric Richardson — July 27, 2011 — 16 Comments

Five Downtown post offices are being studied for possible closure as the Postal Service deals with changing business patterns. 50 years ago, Downtown postal business was booming.

LA Public Library

81 Years Ago: Downtown Prepared for a Mini Golf Invasion

By Eric Richardson — July 19, 2011

On July 19, 1930, Consolidated Hotels Inc. released a report claiming that Downtown was set for an invasion — of miniature golf.

4 Photos

California Historical Society / USC Digital Archives

45 Years Ago: Subway Tunnel Given to City

By Eric Richardson — June 28, 2011 — 10 Comments

On June 28, 1966, the City of Los Angeles was given the gift of a hole in the ground, one that it wanted only so it could fill it in.

California Historical Society / USC Digital Library

In Decades Past, Angels Flight Ran Like Clockwork

By Eric Richardson — June 13, 2011 — 15 Comments

Angels Flight has been shut down twice by state inspectors since reopening in 2010, but it used to be that the line would run for years between stoppages.

5 Photos

Bob Lindbeck / L.A. Times (UCLA Library)

48 Years Ago: Occidental Center Topped Out

By Eric Richardson — May 27, 2011 — 3 Comments

On May 27, 1963, workers lifted a 900-lb, 19-foot-long beam to the top of the Occidental Center at 12th and Hill, then the tallest commercial building in the west.

8 Photos

The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

A Look Back at L.A.'s 1924 Plague

By Eric Richardson — May 10, 2011

33 people died in late 1924 as plague swept through neighborhoods around Downtown. The resulting war on rats brought an end to many run-down structures.