History

Thirty-Eight Years Ago Today: Hall of Justice "Rocked By Blast"

By Eric Richardson — September 05, 2008

Hall of Justice Headline

Early in the morning hours of September 5th, 1970, an explosion on the sixth floor of the Hall of Justice demolished a concrete wall near the office of District Attorney Evelle J. Younger. Investigators found the remnants of a homemade bomb on an adjoining stairwell. Being held upstairs in one of the Hall's cells at the time: Charles Manson.


Third Street Tunnel: A Primer

By Eric Richardson — September 05, 2008 — 11 Comments

Third Street Tunnel Eric Richardson

|Photo Gallery| The elder of the two tunnels under Bunker Hill, the Third Street Tunnel turned 107 years old this year. That makes it nearly half as old as the City of Los Angeles, which this week turned 227.

The 1,240 foot tube's history has been anything but boring. Efforts to get the tunnel approved took a decade, then construction claimed six lives. Once open, the Times called the tunnel a "veritable stench in the nostrils of the public."

That's quite a lot for just one tunnel. — Continued Inside...


Grand Hope Park: A Primer

By Eric Richardson — August 27, 2008 — 28 Comments

Grand Hope Park Eric Richardson

|Photo Gallery| While grand plans for South Park's titular park may not have developed, the neighborhood does have a great little pocket of green space in the 2.5 acre Grand Hope Park, located on the block bounded by 9th, Olympic, Hope and Grand.

The park, which shares its block with FIDM and Renaissance Towers, has quite the interesting development history. Though owned and built by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the space is operated by a non-profit and not the city's Department of Recreation and Parks. — Continued Inside...


Cut Into Downtown Streets and Find History

By Eric Richardson — August 27, 2008
2 Comments

Tracks under 2nd

Construction work for the new LAPD Headquarters has temporarily uncovered some Downtown transportation history at the corner of 2nd and Main. Buried beneath four to six inches of asphalt are old streetcar tracks from the old Los Angeles Railway.


Old and Outdated, a Street Sign Survives... Until Now

By Eric Richardson — August 25, 2008
2 Comments

One Old Way

Every once in a while on a walk through Downtown, you run across something that makes you stop and say, "I think that's probably pretty old." Last week I was walking down from Bunker Hill when I passed this old "One Way" sign, featuring white lettering on a black background instead of the more modern inverse layout.


Today in Downtown History: Library Declared Work of Art

By Eric Richardson — August 20, 2008

Torch of Learning

Thirty-nine years ago today, on August 20, 1969, the city's Municipal Arts Commission declared the Central Library building and grounds a work of art. The building was forty-seven years old, and the designation was part of an ultimately unsuccessful fight to keep the library from building an employee parking lot on the site now occupied by Maguire Gardens.


Who Was John H. Jones?

By Eric Richardson — August 19, 2008 — 7 Comments

John H. Jones Building Eric Richardson

Located in the heart of Gallery Row and the Historic Core, nearly everyone Downtown has likely stood on the corner of 5th and Main at one time or another. Likely very few have noticed the inscription chiseled on the corner pillar of the Rosslyn Lofts, beneath the windows for Pharmaka. The writing proclaims this the "John H. Jones Building."

But who was John H. Jones? A 1922 article in the LA Times called his tale "one of the most interesting stories in all the annals of Los Angeles." — Continued Inside...


Scramble Crossings Coming to L.A., but Not for the First Time

By Eric Richardson — August 05, 2008 — 17 Comments

L.A. Times

This morning, the Times' transportation guru, Steve Hymon, reported on the city's plan to install scramble crossings at several intersections, including four in the Fashion District. The first would go in Westwood, at Le Conte and Westwood. Scramble crossings save all pedestrian movements for one time, allowing unimpeded right turns for cars and giving walkers the ability to cross an intersection diagonally.

While Hymon calls the Westwood intersection L.A.'s first, it's hardly that. One pilot program turned seventeen Downtown intersections into scramble crossings, way back in August of 1956. — Continued Inside...


Views Highlight South Park's Changing Personality

By Eric Richardson — May 26, 2008

Juxtaposition Eric Richardson

|Photo Gallery| Nowhere is the changing nature of South Park more evident than at the corner of James M. Wood Blvd. and Francisco street. Located on the corner there is the Salvation Army's regional headquarters, a cluster of old buildings hugging the one-way street. Looming in the background is the rising steel for L.A. Live's skyscraper hotel, soon to be a symbol of what South Park has become. — Continued Inside...


Historic Belasco Theater Awaits Its Next Act

By Eric Richardson — September 07, 2007
4 Comments

Former Stage Area

Downtowners who've seen his rhymes via Art Walk or email may be more familiar with the latter of Broker Poet Ed Rosenthal's two professions, but Ed's no slouch when it comes to real estate. He prides himself in finding the right buyer for historic properties, and has managed the sales of such Downtown landmarks as the Old Bank District and the Eastern Columbia...