Jewelry District | |
|---|---|
 Street level in the Jewelry District, on Seventh Street, facing West and the Financial District | |
| Coordinates: 34°02′45″N118°15′16″W / 34.04583°N 118.25444°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | County of Los Angeles |
| City |  Los Angeles |
| Area code | 213 |
The Jewelry District is a section of Downtown Los Angeles where a variety of jeweled products are sold.
The Jewelry District is predominantly made up of early twentieth-century buildings, when the number of registered vehicles in the county grew from 160,000 to 842,000 in a span of 10 years. Half of the area falls under the greater "Historic Core" of Downtown Los Angeles, which spans between Hill and Main Streets, and 3rd and 9th streets. The median year in which the buildings in the area were built was 1923. The oldest building to remain in the district is located on 543 South Broadway Avenue—a three-story, 32,600-square-foot commercial space that is now occupied by Teresa's Bridals. [1] Two of the earliest jewelers to establish stores in 1932 were the Laykin Diamond Company (Laykin et Cie) and Harry Winston & Co. Both stores were housed at the historic Alexandria Hotel on 5th street, just behind the district on S. Broadway.[ citation needed ]
Almost all of the buildings within the Jewelry District were designed for general office use with retail spaces on the street level, [2] with some large venues, such as the historic Loew’s State Theatre on 703 S. Broadway, which was built in 1923. In the early twentieth-century, downtown was rapidly developing but it did not feature skyscrapers as tall as Chicago and New York. The buildings were limited to 150 feet by law, which was favored by architects and planners who saw the towering skyscrapers of the east coast metropolises as unsustainable and not conducive to the Southern California lifestyle. Although many residents were living in apartment buildings at the time, the architects and planners argued that excessive vertical expansion would lead to inhumane overconcentration and congestion. This was ultimately not the case and many people were attracted to the area which led to increased business. [3]
The influx of jewelry stores in the area did not come about until after the 1960s when gold came to be seen as a safer investment than U.S. dollars. Gold was a great attraction and it was indeed popular not only for its benefits, but for the style it would give people. [4] Before this surge, the California Jewelry Mart dominated the local industry with its establishment on 607 S. Hill Street. [5] The district became even more popular with the opening of Saint Vincent Jewelry Center, which is still housed in a large 1923 building complex with a European-inspired alley of restaurants. Across the street from St. Vincent's is the State Theater Building, a twelve-story red brick office building and theater, designed by Charles Peter Weeks and William Day in 1921. Right across Loew's Theatre was another office building which accommodated a drug store in the early 20th century. [6] Behind Loews, along 7th street, is the Speckels building – an office building turned garment manufacturing center – and the Provident Loan Association, a not-for-profit organization that provided short term loans for gold and jewelry. [7] It was the last remaining of the many not-for-profit loan societies of the late 19th and early 20th century. [8] Another building on 728 S. Hill Street is the Jasper building, a 14-story office Italianate building built in 1928, which was converted to accommodate another jewelry manufacturing center. [9] One particular historic site in process of restoration is Clifton’s Cafeteria on 648 South Broadway, whose original 1904 façade has been restored after 50 years of a grate-like, modern aluminum covering. This 1963 remodeling effort was an attempt to compete with the newer restaurants in the city suburbs. [10] It was once home to Boos Brothers Cafeteria until Clifton purchased the lease in 1935. [11]
The Los Angeles Jewelry District can be accessed by public transportation through the Metro B Line to Pershing Square station. The district is southeast of the square.
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers 5.84 sq mi (15.1 km2). A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is also part of Central Los Angeles.
The Historic Core is a district within Downtown Los Angeles that includes the world's largest concentration of movie palaces, former large department stores, and office towers, all built chiefly between 1907 and 1931. Within it lie the Broadway Theater District and the Spring Street historic financial district, and in its west it overlaps with the Jewelry District and in its east with Skid Row.
Broadway, until 1890 Fort Street, is a thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The portion of Broadway from 3rd to 9th streets, in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles, was the city's main commercial street from the 1910s until World War II, and is the location of the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States.
The Financial District is the central business district of Los Angeles along Olive, Grand, Hope, Flower and Figueroa streets from 4th Street to 8th Street. It is south of the Bunker Hill district, west of the Historic Core, north of South Park and east of the Harbor Freeway and Central City West. Like Bunker Hill, the Financial District is home to corporate office skyscrapers, hotels and related services as well as banks, law firms, and real estate companies. However, unlike Bunker Hill which was razed and now consists of buildings constructed since the 1960s, it contains large buildings from the early 20th century, particularly along Seventh Street, once the city's upscale shopping street; the area also attracts visitors as the 7th and Flower area is at the center of the regional Metro rail system and is replete with restaurants, bars, and shopping at two urban malls.
J. W. Robinson Co., Robinson's, was a chain of department stores operating in the Southern California and Arizona area, previously with headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
Claud W. Beelman, sometimes known as Claude Beelman, was an American architect who designed many examples of Beaux-Arts, Art Deco, and Streamline Moderne style buildings. Many of his buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Broadway Theater District in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States. The same six-block stretch of Broadway, and an adjacent section of Seventh Street, was also the city's retail hub for the first half of the twentieth century, lined with large and small department stores and specialty stores.
Clifton's Cafeteria, once part of a chain of eight Clifton's restaurants, was the oldest surviving cafeteria-style eatery in Los Angeles and the largest public cafeteria in the world when it closed in 2018. Founded in 1931 by Clifford Clinton, the design of the restaurants included exotic decor and facades that were "kitschy and theatrical", and would eventually include multi-story fake redwood trees, stuffed lions, neon plants, and a petrified wood bar. Some considered Clifton's as a precursor to the first tiki bars. The name was created by combining "Clifford" and "Clinton" to produce "Clifton's".
The Brockman Building is a 12-story Beaux-Arts, Classical, and Romanesque Revival style building located on 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles.
The Provident Loan Society of New York is a not-for-profit organization headquartered at 346 Park Avenue South on the corner of 25th Street in the Rose Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was created in the 19th century by a group of influential New Yorkers as an alternative to the loan sharks of the day. Founders include Robert W. De Forest, James Speyer, Otto T. Bannard, J. P. Morgan, Jacob H. Schiff, August Belmont, Jr. and Cornelius Vanderbilt II.
The Spring Arcade Building in Downtown Los Angeles, also known as the Broadway Arcade, refers to three adjoining buildings opened in 1924 on the site of the historic Mercantile Place, which in turn had been constructed on property once used as a schoolhouse, facing both Broadway and Spring Street midway between Fifth and Sixth streets in the Downtown district. The Arcade Building was built in the Beaux Arts and Spanish Baroque styles.
The Broadway Hollywood Building is a building in Los Angeles' Hollywood district. The building is situated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame monument area on the southwest corner of the intersection referred to as Hollywood and Vine, marking the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. It was originally built as the B. H. Dyas Building in 1927. The Broadway Hollywood Building is referred to by both its main address of 6300 Hollywood Boulevard and its side address of 1645 Vine Street.
The Bloc, formerly Macy's Plaza and Broadway Plaza, is an open-air shopping center in downtown Los Angeles at 700 South Flower Street, in the Financial District. Its tenants include the downtown Los Angeles Macy's store, LA Fitness, Nordstrom Local, UNIQLO, and the Sheraton Grand Los Angeles hotel. The shopping center has its own entrance to the 7th Street/Metro Center station of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The Bloc tends to connect the financial, fashion, jewelry, and theater districts and the 7th Street Metro Center Station, meaning where four Downtown Los Angeles lines converge more.
Bringing Back Broadway is a public–private partnership begun in 2008 and led by Councilmember José Huizar, with Executive Director Jessica Wethington McLean, to revitalize the historic Broadway corridor of Los Angeles. Goals are to provide economic development and business assistance; encourage historic preservation; reactivate Broadway's historic theaters and long-underutilized commercial buildings; and increase transit and development options by bringing a streetcar back to downtown Los Angeles with Broadway as the spine for the route.
Ville de Paris was a department store in Downtown Los Angeles from 1893 through 1919.
7th Street is a street in Los Angeles, California running from S. Norton Ave in Mid-Wilshire through Downtown Los Angeles. It goes all the way to the eastern city limits at Indiana Ave., and the border between Boyle Heights, Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.
The St. Vincent's Place is the second location of Saint Vincent College in Central Los Angeles, California. St. Vincent's Place was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.567) on Feb. 25, 1957. St. Vincent's College was started by Vincentian Fathers in 1865 and was the first College in Southern California. St. Vincent's Place is located at St. Vincent Court at 7th Street and Broadway in the City of Los Angeles in Los Angeles County. St. Vincent's College became L.A. College in 1911 and Loyola Marymount University in 1917. Saint Vincent's College used the Downtown Los Angeles site from 1868 to 1887. Broadway was called Fort Street in 1868. St. Vincent's Court is now a small alley running through the center of the former Bullock's complex, this was the main entrance to St. Vincent’s College in 1868, a keen city promoter remodeled it as an imitation of a European village square.
Milliron's Westchester, later The Broadway-Westchester, was a department store at 8739 S. Sepulveda Blvd., in Westchester, Los Angeles, designed by architect Victor Gruen. Its original design was considered a landmark in exterior architecture of retail stores, although much of the original design is no longer present. The building now houses a Kohl's.
