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).[2] 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.
Broadway, one of the oldest streets in the city, was laid out as part of the 1849 plan of Los Angeles made by Lieutenant Edward Ord and named Fort Street. Fort Street began at the south side of Fort Moore Hill (a block north of Temple Street) at Sand Street (later California Street).
In 1890, the name of Fort Street, from 1st Street to 10th Street, was changed to Broadway. The rest of Fort Street, from California Street to 1st Street, was changed to North Broadway.[3][4]
Proposal for opening Broadway through to Buena Vista Street (now North Broadway), and extending the street south into what was then part of Main Street, below Tenth Street, in order to give a continuous, wide thoroughfare from the southern city limits to the Eastside, was made as early as February 1891.[5]
The Broadway Tunnel under Fort Moore Hill was opened in 1901, extending North Broadway to Buena Vista Street at Bellevue Avenue (later Sunset Boulevard, now Cesar Chavez Avenue). A section of Broadway in South Los Angeles was originally named Moneta Avenue until 1923.[6]
In 1909, construction on a bridge across the Los Angeles River was begun to connect Buena Vista Street to Downey Avenue, which ran from the river to Mission Road. The names of Buena Vista and Downey were then changed to North Broadway,[7][8][9] but not without significant objections from affected residents and landowners.[10][11][12][13] The bridge, which continued to be referred to as the Buena Vista Street Bridge for a good while, was opened to traffic in late September 1911.[14]
Los Angeles' central commercial and entertainment street
Prior to the turn of the 20th century, the city's Central Business District was further north, along Spring and Main streets between the Plaza and 2nd Street. In 1895 J.W. Robinson's opened what was then considered a very large and impressive four-story department store at 239 S. Broadway,[15][16] signaling of the shift over the next decade and a half of the main shopping district to Broadway below 2nd Street.
The square footage of the four largest department stores alone — Bullock's at 806,000sqft (74,900m2), The Broadway at 577,000sqft (53,600m2),[17] May Co. at over 1,000,000sqft (93,000m2)[18] and J. W. Robinson's (7th St. at Hope) at 623,700sqft (57,940m2)[19][20] — totaled over three million square feet, the size of American Dream Meadowlands, America's largest mall today.
Some of the movie theaters on the street fell into disuse and disrepair, some were replaced with parking lots, but many have been repurposed and/or restored. The department stores closed in the 1970s and 1980s, but Broadway has been the premier shopping destination for working classLatinos for decades.[21]
Theater District
NRHP refers to the district as the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, while the City of Los Angeles Planning Department refers to the Broadway Theater and Entertainment District.[22]
Highest concentration of movie palaces in the world
Stretching for six blocks from Third to Ninth Streets, the district includes 12 movie theaters built between 1910 and 1931. By 1931, the district had the highest concentration of cinemas in the world, with seating capacity for more than 15,000 patrons. Broadway was the hub of L.A.'s entertainment scene – a place where "screen goddesses and guys in fedoras rubbed elbows with Army nurses and aircraft pioneers."[23] In 2006, the Los Angeles Times wrote:
"There was a time, long ago, when the streets of downtown Los Angeles were awash in neon—thanks to a confluence of movie theaters the world had never seen before. Dozens of theaters screened Hollywood's latest fare, played host to star-studded premieres and were filled nightly with thousands of moviegoers. In those days, before World War II, downtown L.A. was the movie capital of the world."[24]
Columnist Jack Smith called it "the only large concentration of vintage movie theaters left in America."[25] Smith recalled growing up a mile from Broadway and spending his Saturdays in the theaters:
"I remember walking into those opulent interiors, surrounded by the glory of the Renaissance, or the age of Baroque, and spending two or three hours in the dream world of the movies. When I came out again the sky blazed; the heat bounced off the sidewalk, traffic sounds filled the street, I was back in the hard reality of the Depression.[25]
In the years after World War II, the district began to decline, as first-run movie-goers shifted to the movie palaces in Hollywood, in Westwood Village, and later to suburban multiplexes. After World War II, as Anglo moviegoers moved to the suburbs, many of the Broadway movie palaces became venues for Spanish-language movies and variety shows. In 1988, the Los Angeles Times noted that, without the Hispanic community, "Broadway would be dead."[28] Jack Smith wrote that Broadway had been "rescued and revitalized" by "the Latino renaissance."[25]
Preservation and renovation efforts
The district has been the subject of preservation and restoration efforts since the 1980s. In 1987, the Los Angeles Conservancy started a program called "Last Remaining Seats" in which the old movie palaces were opened each summer to show classic Hollywood movies.[23][29] In 1994, the Conservancy's associate director, Gregg Davidson, noted: "When we started this, the naysayers said no one will go downtown to an old theater to see an old movie in the middle of the summer, but we get a number of people who have never seen a movie in a theater with a balcony. The older people (go) for nostalgia. And the movie people—seeing a classic film on a big screen is a different experience."[29] After attending a Conservancy screening, one writer noted: "The other night I went to the movies and was transported to a world of powdered wigs and hoop skirts, a rococo fantasy of gilded cherubs and crystal chandeliers. And then the film started."[23]
Despite preservation efforts, many of the theaters have been converted to other uses, including flea markets and churches. The Broadway movie palaces fell victim to a number of circumstances, including changing demographics and tastes, a downtown location that was perceived as dangerous at night, and high maintenance costs for aging facilities. With the closure of the State Theater in 1998, the Orpheum and the Palace were the only two still screening films.[30]
In 2006, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Of all of L.A.'s many hidden gems, maybe none is as sparkling nor as hidden as the Broadway theater district downtown."[23] Bemoaning the possible loss of such gems, the same writer noted: "L.A. gave birth to the movies. To lose the astonishing nurseries where the medium grew up would be tragic."[23]
Broadway since 2008
In 2008, the City of Los Angeles launched a $40-million campaign to revitalize the Broadway district, known as the "Bringing Back Broadway" campaign. Some Latino merchants in the district expressed concern that the campaign was an effort to spread the largely Anglo gentrification taking hold in other parts of downtown to an area that has become the city's leading Latino shopping district.[31] A worker at one of the district's bridal shops noted, "On one side, I like the idea. The only thing is that I don't think they want our types of businesses."[31]
The Downtown's real estate revitalization, using the City's adaptive reuse ordinance that makes it easier for developers to convert outmoded and/or vacant office and commercial buildings into residential buildings, has reached the Broadway Historic District. It includes the transformation of the United Artists Theater office tower into the Ace Hotel Los Angeles, and restoration of its movie palace.
The Bringing Back Broadway commission is working on further reviving the landmark Los Angeles boulevard in the historic district. Led by City CouncilmanJose Huizar, the commission has recommended widening sidewalks, eliminating traffic lanes, constructing new parking structures, and bringing back streetcar service reminiscent of the street's past.[32] A pedestrian-friendly project finished up in December 2014 that widened the sidewalks and replaced the parking lane with planters, chairs and round cafe tables with bright-red umbrellas. The Great Streets Initiative seeks to bolster the street-level health of the city by making several dozen boulevards more hospitable to pedestrians, cyclists and small businesses. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the effort represents "a shift from the way that our neighborhoods have been planned in Los Angeles," with a new focus on "walkability and transit."[33]
Broadway retail is transitioning from a broad mix of stores catering to Hispanic immigrants and a burgeoning sneaker and streetwear retail cluster has emerged from 4th to 9th streets: Sneaker Row.[34]
1905 view south on Broadway from north of Temple Street. The Times Mirror printing house in foreground, marked 110 N. Broadway, now site of the Hall of Justice. Towers of the 1888 City Hall on the 200 block of S. Broadway in the distance. Fort Moore Hill, now leveled, at right.
c.1893–1900, looking east along Third St. from Olive St. on Bunker Hill. 3 buildings stand out from left to right: the 1888 City Hall (Broadway between 2nd/3rd), the Stimson Block (3rd & Spring), and the Bradbury Building (3rd & Broadway)
The three-story brick Women's Christian Temperance Union building was erected in 1888 for $45,000.[39] Also known as the Temperance Temple, it has been demolished[40] and was replaced in 1957 by the Los Angeles County Central Heating and Refrigeration Plant.[41]
Southeast corner of Temple and Broadway (Pound Cake Hill, west side of New High St.)
"Red Stone" Courthouse and Post Office (1891-1936)
Hall of Records, adjacent to Courthouse on the south (1911–1973)
This location was at the time known as Pound Cake Hill. The buildings located here faced New High Street to their east and Broadway to their west. They were as follows:[42]
Los Angeles High School, whose original location (1873-1887) was between New High on the west and Broadway on the east, south of Temple Street. It was moved to California and Sand streets, and in 1890 a new facility was built on Fort Moore Hill, immediately north of where Broadway today crosses the Hollywood Freeway. The Pound Cake Hill school was demolished and replaced by:
First, the Red Stone Courthouse (or "Red Sandstone Courthouse"), which took over the function of courthouse from the Clocktower Courthouse (also called the Temple Courthouse). It was damaged beyond repair by Long Beach earthquake of 1933 and was torn down in 1936.
The Los Angeles County Hall of Records was built next to (south of) the Red Sandstone Courthouse in 1911, After the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, it was determined to be unsafe and it was demolished in 1973. A new Hall of Records was built and opened in 1962, one block west on the south side of Temple between Broadway and Hill.
Currently on the site are:
Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center (Los Angeles County Grand Jury)
A portion of Grand Park, which stretches mid-block between Temple and First, from City Hall at Spring Street, to the Music Center at Grand Avenue.
Realignment of Spring Street (1925)
The Poundcake Hill buildings originally backed up to Broadway to their west, and faced New High Street to their east. New High Street (see Sanborn map above) was a north-south street that ran parallel to Broadway, and to Spring Street to its east. As part of the construction of City Hall in the early 1920s, New High Street was removed south of Temple, and Spring Street was realigned more towards a north-south orientation, parallel with Broadway, instead of running more northeasterly and meeting Main Street at Temple Street. As a result the Poundcake Hill buildings faced the newly aligned Spring Street until they were demolished.
Adjacent to the south, mid-block, is a portion of Grand Park.
First and Broadway
Looking south along Broadway from First Street, 1904-5. At right, from left to right: C.H. Frost Building (#145), 141-3, the turreted Roanoke Bldg (#137-9), Newell & Gammon Bldg. (#131-5), Mason Opera House (#125-9)At left Chamber of Commerce (#128), 1888 City Hall (#228-238).
Los Angeles Times 1886 building. This building was razed after a 1910 bombing and a new headquarters was opened on this site in 1912. The newspaper later moved further south on Spring Street to the Los Angeles Times building, now part of Times Mirror Square, occupying the entire block between Broadway, Spring, First and Second streets.[43]
Northwest corner of First and Broadway
Site of the Tajo Building (1896–mid-20th c.).[44] Now the location of the Los Angeles County Law Library.[45]
Southeast corner of First and Broadway and east side of 100 block
1900s view of Chamber of Commerce, 128 S. Broadway
Postcard c.1910 of Chamber of Commerce, 128 S. Broadway
Site of the Culver Block retail and office building.[46] Now the site of the Times Mirror Square 1973 Pereira Addition, so called because it was designed by William Pereira.
South of the Culver Block was the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce building, 128–130 S. Broadway, opened February 12, 1904,[47] a landmark at the time featured on postcards and in books. 6 stories, 4 floors. Ground floor offices included those of the Los Angeles Herald and Consolidated Bank.[48]
Southwest corner of First and Broadway
Mason Opera House or Mason Theatre
C.H. Frost Building at 145 S. Broadway, c.1904-5. To its right, the turreted Roanoke Bldg. (#137-9), Newell & Gammon Bldg. (#131-5), and the Mason Opera House (#125-9).
The southwest corner, during Victorian times the site of unremarkable retail and office buildings, was from 1958 the location of the State Office Building, (1958-60, architect Anson C. Boyd, razed 2006). It was named the Junipero Serra State Office Building, and this moniker would be transferred to the former Broadway Department Store building at 4th and Broadway when it was opened to replace this building in 1998.[49] It is now the location of the New U.S. Courthouse built in 2016, taking up the entire block between Broadway, Hill, First and Second.[50]
Just south of the southwest corner was the Mason Theatre, 127 S. Broadway. Opened in 1903 as the Mason Opera House, 1,600 seats. Benjamin Marshall of the Chicago firm Marshall & Wilson designed the building in association with John Parkinson. Marshall is known for designing the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago. Remodeled in 1924 by Meyer & Holler. Later, as the Mason Theatre, it showed Spanish-language films. Demolished 1955.[51]
145 S. Broadway,[52]site of the C. H. Frost Building, later known as the Haig M. Prince Building. Built 1898, architect John Parkinson,[53] Now the location of the new United States Courthouse built in 2016, taking up the entire block between Broadway, Hill, First and Second.[50]
Second and Broadway
Broadway looking south from 2nd St., 1895-1905. The 1888 City Hall is visible on the left (east) side.
Another view of Broadway looking south from 2nd St. showing a cable car, c.1893-1895
Northeast corner of Second and Broadway
The 2nd & Broadway Hellman Building in 1918
One of several “Hellman Buildings” across Downtown L.A. — not to be confused with the still-existing Hellman Building at Fourth and Spring — was located here (#138) from 1897 to 1959.[54] The site is now a parking structure, part of the Times Mirror Square complex.
Southwest corner of Second and Broadway and the west side of the 200 block
West side of Broadway from #229 (at left) to #207 (at right, SW corner of 2nd St.) sometime after 1894. From left to right: Bicknell Block with the Los Angeles Furniture Co.; Potomac Block with Ville de Paris and City of London stores, the YMCA building with its turret and two gables, and the American National Bank building.
American National Bank (later California Bank) Building (1878-1911), southwest corner, 1890. To the viewer's left (south) are the turret and two gables of the YMCA Building (1889), then the Potomac Block (1890).
Boston Dry Goods and Harris Newmark buildings, 1899
The west side of the 200 block of South Broadway had a key place in the retail history of Los Angeles from the 1893 through 1917, as it was home to several prominent early department stores such as the Ville de Paris, Coulter's department store from 1905–1917, and J. W. Robinson's "Boston Dry Goods" store from 1895–1915. All three stores would move to Seventh Street when it became the upscale shopping street between 1915 and 1917.
On the southwest corner of 2nd and Broadway was Judge O'Melveny's house, built in 1870. This was replaced by the American National Bank (later California Bank) Building, which one turn was replaced by the California Building in 1911. Nos. 201-213 Broadway are now known named the Broadway Media Center.
Further south on the west side of Broadway, was 207–211, location of the:
YMCA Building (#207–209–211), Romanesque Revival architecture, opened in July 1889, demolished in 1903.
The YMCA operated here at #207 from 1889 until 1903,
City of London opened here in August 1891, run by Messrs. Hiles and Niccolls, who came from the City of Paris department store. It carried curtains, window shades, comforters, and the like.[55] It operated here until August 1895, when it moved next door to the Potomac Block at #213.[56]
The YMCA Building was demolished to make way for the:
The adjacent Potomac Block and Bicknell Block originally housed prominent retailers of the day, then were joined together in 1906 by Coulter's department store to form a complex, opening it as a new, 157,000sqft (14,600m2) store in June, 1905.[58][59][60]
City of London Dry Goods Co., which moved here from next door at #211 in August 1895 and advertised for this location through August 1899.[56]
It was the first time major retail stores opened on South Broadway, in what would be a shift of the upmarket shopping district from 1890 to 1905 from around First and Spring to South Broadway. In 1904, Coulter's bought the Potomac Block, and combined it with the Bicknell block to create its new store that opened in 1905.
After Coulter's moved:
215 continued as a branch of Coulter's through 1927. Then, 215–217 was home to the Pacific Furniture House in the 1940s.
219 housed Fisch's Department Store in the 1940s.
The building was demolished in 1953 and is still the site of a parking lot.[63]
Bicknell Block
The Bicknell Block (or Bicknell Building) at 225–229 S. Broadway, with back entrances at 224–228 S. Hill Street. was part of Coulter's from 1905 from 1917. After Coulter's moved in 1917, it housed the Western Shoe Co. (through 1922), later known as the Western Department Store (1922–1928). Lettering covered the face of the building from top to bottom through the end of the 1950s: "THE LARGEST SHOE DEPT. IN THE WEST".[64]
Further south on Broadway
231-235, the Harris Newmark Building (1899, Abram Edelman), Bartlett Music Co. (#233), annex to J. W. Robinson's (#235); Goodwill Industries store (#233-235, 1950s–60s). The building still stands, but all floors except the ground floor have been removed.
237-241, the Boston Dry Goods Building (completed 1895, demolished, architects Theodore Eisen and Sumner Hunt, designer of the Bradbury Building)[65][66] The building was home to J. W. Robinson's "Boston Dry Goods" store from 1895 to 1915, Scott's Department Store (239–241, 1920s), Third Street Store (237–241, 1950s–60s). Demolished, currently the site of a parking lot.
Southeast corner and east side of Broadway from 2nd to 3rd
Looking north along Broadway at its east side past 2nd Street. From top left: The L.A. Times Bldg. with castle-like turret, with the 1911 Hall of Records behind it. The Chamber of Commerce Bldg. at #128. Drugstore in the Hellman Bldg. (#144–6) at the NE corner of 2nd Street. Dentist in the Nolan, Smith and Bridge Bldg. (#200–4) at the SE corner of 2nd. New King Hotel in the Gordon Bldg. (#206–10). Victor Clothing in its location from 1926 to 1964 in the Crocker Bldg. (#212–6). Pig 'n Whistle in the Copp Bldg. (#218–224). 1888 City Hall at far right
B'nai B'rith Temple (1873), 214 S. Broadway (post-1890 numbering), the city's first synagogue, razed to make way for the Copp Building, 218–224 S. Broadway, home to the original (1908) Pig 'n Whistle candy shop and tea room.[72] The Pig 'n Whistle would open locations at 7th and Broadway and in Hollywood, where it would become a landmark restaurant that still operates today.
City Hall (1888–1928; opened 1888, demolished 1929; 228–238 S. Broadway, architect Solomon Irmscher Haas, Romanesque Revival). Now a parking lot. Three stories, it had a 150-foot (46m) campanile. Red and brown brick. Housed the Los Angeles Public Library for a time until it moved to the new Hamburger's department store building at Eighth and Broadway in 1908.[73] The site is now part of the "(213) S. Spring" parking garage.[45]
#240-246 the Hosfield Building, location of the Natatorium (indoor swimming pool) in 1894 and the Imperial Restaurant in 1906.[71] After 1964, location of Victor Clothing, notable for its changing murals reflecting local Chicano culture. Victor Clothing operated here until 2001, and was known i.a. for its frequent ads on Spanish-language television.[74]
Third and Broadway
Northwest corner of Third and Broadway
Pan American Lofts (built 1895)
The corner is home to one of the oldest buildings outside the Plaza area, the 1895 Irvine Byrne Block or Byrne Block; now called the Pan American Lofts. The architect was Sumner Hunt. It was built in a hybrid Spanish Colonial Revival/Beaux-Arts style.
The building was home to the renowned I. Magnin clothing store that opened here on January 2, 1899;[75] on June 19, 1904, I. Magnin announced that the Los Angeles store would henceforth be known as Myer Siegel.[68] After a fire at the Irvine Byrne Building destroyed its store on February 16, 1911, Myer Siegel moved further south on Broadway.
It was modernized and converted to lofts in 2007 and given its present name. The halls and staircase have appeared in many of Alfred Hitchcock's movies, Brad Pitt's Se7en, Fight Club, Blade Runner, and other TV shows and commercials.[76]
From Third Street south to Olympic Blvd. (originally Tenth St.), and from Hill Street east to Los Angeles Street, including Broadway, is the Historic Core district, the city's main commercial and entertainment area in the first half of the 20th century.
Northeast corner of Third and Broadway
East side of Broadway looking south past 3rd St, c.1903-4. From left to right 1888 City Hall (with flag), Rindge Block at NE corner of 3rd, Bradbury Building
East side of Broadway looking north past 3rd St, c.1888. From left to right 1888 City Hall (with flag), Rindge Block at NE corner of 3rd, Bradbury Building
Originally the J. C. Graves house stood here; Graves bought the property in 1879 for $2,250. The house was sold and removed to 10th and Hope streets in 1888.
Rindge Block (1898, sold in 1899 for $190,000 to Frederick H. Rindge, the "King of Malibu"), 248–260 S. Broadway, commercial building; the top floors were removed and only the ground floor remains.
Southwest corner of Third and Broadway
Entrance area, Million Dollar Theatre
Roofline, Million Dollar Theatre
Detail, side, Million Dollar Theatre
Million Dollar Theatre, (1917-8, architects Albert C. Martin and William Lee Woollett, Spanish Baroque Revival style, 2,345 seats), 307 S. Broadway. It is the northernmost of the movie palaces that comprise the Broadway Theater District and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[78] Built by Sid Grauman who would later open Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The theater was designed by architects with a fanciful facade in the Churrigueresque style. After more than 30 years as one of the city's most prestigious first-run movie palaces, the Million Dollar Theater presented Spanish-language films and variety shows from 1950 until the late 1980s. The theater had a seating capacity of 2,345 when it opened in 1918.[79] In 1925, Ben-Hur played for six months at the Million Dollar Theater.[citation needed]
Southeast corner of Third and Broadway
View from Bunker Hill to Bradbury Building and the Stimson Block at 3rd & Spring. The Pan American Lofts had not yet been built on the NW corner of 3rd & Broadway. Around 1894–5.
Bradbury Building in 1894, then anchoring the southwestern end of the business district[80]
Former J. R. Lane Dry Goods store, 327–329 S. Broadway, (successors to Crandall and Lane) located here through the 1910s. Later, this was the location of Field's jewelry store and the Broadway food market. Still standing, now a food court, but top floors were removed; now single story only.[45]
#331–5: Former Jacoby Bros. department store, 331–3–5 S. Broadway, from 1900 to 1935. At 60,000 square feet (5,600m2) over four floors plus a basement, it was stated at its opening in 1900 that it had the largest selection of clothing and of shoes in the Western United States.[81] Architect John B. Parkinson.[82] The building was home to an independent "Boston Store" department store in the late 1930s; no relation to J.W. Robinson's or the later regional chain by the same name.[83] Currently independent retail. 2 of 4 floors were removed. Replaced the First Methodist Episcopalian Church previously located here, which moved to the northeast corner of 6th & Hill.[84] Still standing, but top floors were removed; two floors remain.[45]
#341–3–5: former J. M. Hale department store from 1909[87] through the 1920s.
#351: Site of The Wonder, 351 S. Broadway, opened in 1921, was the largest retail silk store in the U.S.[88]
#355–363: Grant Building (originally called the "Grant Block", 1898, 3 stories,[89] enlarged to 7 stores 1901–2 by John Parkinson,[90] now two stories) at 363 S. Broadway, northwest corner of 4th Street. Once seven stories tall, all but the first two floors have been removed.[91] It was home to the W. E. Cummings shoe store, which had a large shoe on the roof of the building, serving as a landmark, then, from 1908, a Montgomery Bros. jewelry store, one of the most prominent in the city at the time.[92] In 1911 Weatherby-Kayser shoes moved its store here.[93] The building also housed the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles from its establishment from 1947 to 1952.[94]
East side
Blackstone Building (not to be confused with the later Blackstone Department Store building at 901 S. Broadway), 318–322 S. Broadway (1907),[95] housed Blackstone's Department Store from 1907 to 1917, as well as the Los Angeles County Library and the Cozy Theater. Originally 5 stories, now 3.[96]
O. T. Johnson Building (1902, John Parkinson, Romanesque, 7 stories),[97] 356–364 S. Broadway, NE corner of 4th/Broadway.[98][99] All but two floors have been removed.[45]
Fourth to Fifth streets
West side
former The Broadway dept. store, now the Junípero Serra state office bldg., 320 W. 4th St. (SW corner of Broadway)
Chester Williams Building (1926, Curlett & Beelman, 12 stories), 215 W. 5th St. (NE corner of Broadway), replaced a Victorian building with Sun Drug Co. and Weigel-Rixon Clothes Shops
West side of Broadway south from 5th St., Walker's department store, Los Angeles Railway "Yellow Cars", 1927 postcard
View north from 6th St. towards the 500 and 400 blocks of Broadway, west at left, east at right, c.1906. The new Parmelee-Dohrmann flagship (1906) at #436–444 Broadway is visible at center.
Schulte-United Building (1928)
F. & W. Grand Silver Store (Hartfield's) Building (1931)
Fifth Street Store/Walker's department store bldg. (1927, architect Alexander Curlett), SW corner of 5th, 501 S. Broadway. The store was known by various names: 1905–1909: Steele, Faris, & Walker Co.; 1909–1925: The Fifth Street Store;[100][101] 1926–1946: Walker's;[102] 1946–1953 Milliron's;[102] 1953–1959: Ohrbach's-Downtown.[103]
The Title Guarantee Block (1913, Morgan, Walls and Morgan), 500 S. Broadway, SE corner of 5th, now called the Jewelry Trades Building
Pettebone Building (opened 1905, architect Robert Brown Young), 510-512 S. Broadway
Roxie Theatre (1931, orig. 1,600 seats), 518 S. Broadway – Movie palace – The Roxie was built in 1932—the last of the movie palaces built on Broadway. The Roxie had a seating capacity of 1,600 when it opened and was noted for its Art Deco (Zigzag Moderne) style, including its stepped roofline, angular grillwork, chevron ornament, and terrazzo sunburst in the sidewalk. The theater's sleek Streamline Moderne ticket booth was removed when the theater was converted to retail use.[2]
Cameo Theater – (1910, 900 seats), 528 S. Broadway — Nickelodeon – The Cameo opened in 1910 with a seating capacity of 775. Designed by Alfred Rosenheim in a Renaissance Revival style, the Cameo was originally known as Clune's Broadway. Until it closed in 1991, it was the oldest continuously operating movie theater in California.[2] The Cameo has been converted into a swap meet-type market.[105]
Arcade Theater (1910, orig. 1,450 seats), 534 S. Broadway – English-music-hall-style theater – The Arcade opened in 1910 as a vaudeville house that was part of the Pantages vaudeville circuit. The Arcade was designed by Morgan & Walls in the Beaux Arts style with tripartite vertical division of the facade.[2] Theater has been closed since 1992. Currently used as retail space.
H. Jevne Company Building, 603 S. Broadway, 1906-7, Parkinson & Bergstrom, still standing. H. Jevne & Co. was one of the city's most prominent grocer, and this new location complemented the one on Spring Street. Prior to 1906, the two-story frame Norton Block (of Major John H. Norton) stood on the site.[106]
600 block of Broadway, west side
W. side of Broadway between 6th and 7th c.1907–9. Bullock's at left, before it had expanded northward (to the right)
W. side of mid-600 block, Broadway, c.1915. Bullock's at left (NE corner of 7th). Central Dept. Store Bldg. (#609–619) at right
Crop of postcard of former Central Department Store and H. Jevne buildings, 1920s
Contemporary view of the Los Angeles Theatre (#609–619)
Next to what is now the Jevne building on the south at 609–619 S. Broadway were several buildings in succession:
The Hotel Palms, a leading hotel of the city, renovated and repurposed in 1906-7 for use as the Central Department Store.[107]
The Central Department Store, architect Samuel Tilden Norton, three floors and basement with a total of 85,000sqft (7,900m2), opened on March 25, 1907,[108] but went bankrupt the next year.
The New Paris Cloak and Suit Emporium at 609–11 advertised in 1915
From 1921 or 1922 through 1927,[109] the prominent Myer Siegel clothing store was located in part of the building (#617–619).
Los Angeles Theatre – (1931, 2,000 seats), 615 S. Broadway, Movie Palace – The Los Angeles opened in 1931 for the premiere of Charlie Chaplin's City Lights.[25] It had a seating capacity just short of 2,000. The theater was designed by S. Charles Lee and S. Tilden Norton in the French Baroque style, and was modeled on San Francisco's Fox Theater. The Los Angeles included the latest technological features when it opened, including an electric monitor of available seats, blue neon floor lights, a restaurant, a children's playroom, soundproof crying rooms, smoking room with built-in cigarette lighters, a walnut-paneled lounge with a secondary screen on which a periscope-like system of prisms relayed the film.[2] The ladies' powder room was lined with mirrors and vanities, and the toilet stalls were each done in a different kind of marble and each toilet bowl of a different pastel shade.[25] In 1988, the Los Angeles Times called it "a movie house for the gods, even in its present dusty state".[28] Columnist Jack Smith wrote that the Los Angeles Theater was "palatial beyond the dreams of a prince" with a lobby that suggested "nothing less than the glory of Versailles.".[25]Aerosmith's video for "Jaded" was filmed throughout the theater. It is owned by the Broadway Theatre Group, and continues to be used as a performing arts venue.[110] Current capacity: 1,931.
Walter P. Story Building (1909, Morgan, Walls and Clements, Beaux-Arts) 600-2-4-6-8-10 S. Broadway, SE corner of Sixth and Broadway. Former location of the Mullen & Bluett clothing store.
Desmond's dept. store bldg. (1924, Albert C. Martin, Sr., Beaux-arts and "Spanish", 6 stories, 85,000-square-foot (7,900-square-metre)), 616 S. Broadway. Desmond's opened its final flagship store here in 1924 and closed it in 1972.[111] In 2018 the building was renovated as office space, a restaurant and a rooftop bar.[112]
Schaber's Cafeteria Building (1928), 620 S. Broadway, currently a Jordan Brand flagship store
Palace Theatre (1911, G. Albert Lansburgh, Italian Renaissance Revival architecture, 2,200 seats originally, 1,068 seats today), 630 S. Broadway,– vaudeville theater and movie palace – The Palace opened in 1911 with a seating capacity of 2,200. It was an Orpheum Circuit (chain) vaudeville theater from 1911 to 1926 and is the oldest remaining Orpheum theater in the United States. The structure was based on a Florentine early Renaissancepalazzo. The brick facade includes multi-colored terra-cotta swags and four panels depicting the muses of vaudeville sculpted by Domingo Mora.[2] It is also owned by the Broadway Theatre Group.[110]
Joseph E. Carr Building (1908-9, Robert Brown Young, architect)[113] 644–646 S. Broadway. Site of Harris & Frank clothing store, its second downtown location, which operated from 1947–1980.[114]
State Theatre (1921, 2,450 seats), 703 S. Broadway, – Vaudeville theater and movie palace – The State opened in 1921 with a seating capacity of 2,450.[115] The theater offered both film and vaudeville when it opened. Judy Garland performed at the theater as part of the Gumm Sisters in 1929. Designed by Charles Weeks and William Day, the 12-story Loew's State is said to be the largest brick-clad structure in Los Angeles.[115] The theater is also noted for the seated Buddha/Billiken figure, as a good luck charm, located in a niche above the proscenium arch.[2] The exterior has an elaborate "silver platter" chased ornamentation above the ground story.[116] In 1998, Metropolitan Theaters stopped showing movies at the State and leased the space to the Universal Church.[30] As of 2015 the State is owned by the Broadway Theatre Group and is leased by the Cathedral of Faith for use as a church.[117]
Panoramic view from the Hotel Lankershim, showing 7th Street, Broadway, and Spring Street, ca.1905-1907
Site of Hotel Lankershim (1905, demolished), 700 S. Broadway (SE corner 7th St.)
Globe Theatre (1913, 1,900 seats) – Legitimate theater – Located at 744 S. Broadway, the Globe opened in 1913 as the Morosco Theatre, with a seating capacity of 782. Built for impresario Oliver Morosco and designed by the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls & Morgan, it was used for full-scale live dramatic theater. It was converted into a movie theater during the Great Depression and later served as a Spanish-language movie theater. The building was converted into a swap meet in 1987.[2]As of June 2014[update], construction to restore it to use as an entertainment venue is ongoing.[118] The restored marquee was relit June 24, 2014.[119] The Globe is now a multipurpose space for music, theatrical events and films. Current capacity: 2,000.
Ninth and Broadway Building, #850, NE corner 9th/Broadway
Ninth and Broadway Building, detail
Tower Theatre (1927, 900 seats), 802 S. Broadway. The Tower opened in 1927 with a seating capacity of 1,000.[120] It was the first of more than 70 theaters designed by S. Charles Lee, who described the Tower as a "modified French Renaissance" design. It was the first movie theater in Downtown Los Angeles equipped to accommodate talking pictures.[2] In June 2021, after extensive renovation, it reopened as an Apple Store.[121][110]
Rialto Theatre (1917), 812 S. Broadway, the Rialto opened as Quinn's Rialto, a nickelodeon, in 1917. It was purchased by Sid Grauman in 1919, the year after he opened the Million Dollar Theater. Today the theater is home to an Urban Outfitters store.[122][123][124]
Platt Building (1927, Walker and Eisen, Gothic Revival architecture), 830 S. Broadway, originally the headquarters of the Platt Music Corporation, and is now one of several Anjac Fashion's office buildings and home of The Broadway Bar.[125]
United Artists Theater (now The Theatre at Ace Hotel) – Movie palace – Located at 933 S. Broadway, the United Artists opened in 1927 with a seating capacity of 2,214. It was the showcase for movies from the United Artists group created in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith. The theater was designed by C. Howard Crane, with Walker & Eisen, in a Gothic style inspired by a church in Segovia, Spain. The columns feature terra cotta capitals carved with film and theater themed grotesques. The interior includes a series of frescoes and murals by the firm of Anthony Heinsbergen.[2] In 1990, the United Artists Theater was restored by Gene Scott's L.A. University Church; Scott called on his television flock to come to Los Angeles to help with the restoration.[127] Scott's famous "Jesus Saves" sign was placed on the back side of the building to avoid interfering with the original facade. In 2013 the upper floors of the building were renovated into a boutique hotel, the Ace Los Angeles; the auditorium has been returned to use as a concert venue and theater.
South of Olympic Boulevard (originally Tenth Street)
Proper Hotel, 1100 S. Broadway, (1926, Curlett & Beelman, California Renaissance Revival architecture). The building originally housed the Commercial Club of Southern California, then the Cabrillo Hotel in the early 1940s, the Case Hotel from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, and a YMCA from 1965 to 2004.[130]
Other surviving theaters adjacent to Broadway
Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre – Vaudeville theater and movie palace – Located at 401 W. 7th St (northwest corner of South Hill and West 7th St). Opening on August 17, 1920, it was originally called the Pantages Theatre, but was renamed Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre in 1930 after the HollywoodPantages Theatre was opened.[131][132] The exterior has an imposing domed corner tower, flanked by twin facades on 7th and Hill.[133] Later in the 1960s, it was known as the Warrens Theatre.[132] It currently houses a jewelry store.
Olympic Theatre – Movie palace – Located at 313 W. 8th St, half a block from S. Broadway, it originally opened in 1927 as Bard's 8th Street Theatre, converted from a restaurant. For a time, it had a second entrance on Broadway. After a period as a chandelier store, COS, a higher-end brand of H&M, began remodeling the store in 2016.[134][124]
Mayan Theater – Vaudeville theater and movie palace – Located at 1014 South Hill Street. Opened in August 1927 and now designated a Historic Cultural Monument, the Mayan is currently used as a nightclub. Current capacity: 1,491
Belasco Theatre – Legitimate theater – Located at 1050 South Hill Street, adjacent to the Mayan. Built by the Belasco brothers, and designed by Morgan, Walls and Clements. It served as a church from 1950 to 1987, renovations were completed in 2011 to modernize the sound and lighting systems.[135] Currently hosts services for the Los Angeles campus of Hillsong Church. Current capacity: 1,601.
—Consolidated Reatly Bldg./ California Jewelry Mart (1908/1935) —Sun Realty Bldg./ Los Angeles Jewelry Center (1931) —Harris & Frank Bldg./ Wholesale Jewelry Exchange (1925)
—Western Jewelry Mart —William Fox Bldg. (Fox Jewelry Plaza) (1932)
Metro Local bus line 45 serves most of the length of Broadway, between Lincoln Heights through Downtown to the Harbor Freeway Station. Local routes 4, 30, and 40 serve portions of Broadway downtown.
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.
The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, 155-foot (47 m) Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a blue-green glazed architectural terra-cotta tile and situated diagonal to the street corner, the complex is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. The Wiltern building is owned privately, and the Wiltern Theatre is operated by Live Nation's Los Angeles division.
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.
The Million Dollar Theatre at 307 S. Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles is one of the first movie palaces built in the United States. It opened in 1917 with the premiere of William S. Hart's The Silent Man. It's the northernmost of the collection of historical movie palaces in the Broadway Theater District and stands directly across from the landmark Bradbury Building. The theater is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Orpheum Theatre at 842 S. Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles opened on February 15, 1926, as the fourth and final Los Angeles venue for the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. After a $3 million renovation, started in 1989, it is the most restored of the historical movie palaces in the city. Three previous theatres also bore the name Orpheum before the one at 842 Broadway was the final one with that moniker.
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.
Spring Street in Los Angeles is one of the oldest streets in the city. Along Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles, from just north of Fourth Street to just south of Seventh Street is the NRHP-listed Spring Street Financial District, nicknamed Wall Street of the West, lined with Beaux Arts buildings and currently experiencing gentrification. This section forms part of the Historic Core district of Downtown, together with portions of Hill, Broadway, Main and Los Angeles streets.
Downtown Anaheim, also known as Anaheim Colony Historic District, and as Anaheim Historic Center, is a neighborhood that serves as the administrative and historic center of the city of Anaheim, California. It is delimited by East, West, North, and South streets, and the main roads within it are Anaheim Boulevard, and Center Street.
Main Street is a major north–south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California. It serves as the east–west postal divider for the city and the county as well.
Hill Street is a major north–south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, measuring 4.8 miles (7.7 km) in length. It starts on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard near the campus of USC, and passes north through Downtown Los Angeles, past such landmarks as Pershing Square, the Subway Terminal Building, Angels Flight, Fort Moore and Chinatown. Hill Street merges with the Arroyo Seco Parkway near Dodger Stadium.
The Tower Theatre is a historic movie theater that opened in 1927 in the Broadway Theater District of Downtown Los Angeles.
The May Company Building on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles, a.k.a. Hamburgers/May Company Department Store and the May Department Store Building, later known as the California Broadway Trade Center, was the flagship store of the May Company California department store chain. It is a contributing property to the NRHP-listed Broadway Theater and Commercial District.
Robert Brown Young was a Canadian-born architect who designed buildings in California.
The Fifth Street Store was a major department store in Los Angeles opened in 1905.
Coulter's was a department store that originated in Downtown Los Angeles and later moved to the Miracle Mile shopping district in that same city.
The late-Victorian-era Downtown of Los Angeles in 1880 was centered at the southern end of the Los Angeles Plaza area, and over the next two decades, it extended south and west along Main Street, Spring Street, and Broadway towards Third Street. Most of the 19th-century buildings no longer exist, surviving only in the Plaza area or south of Second Street. The rest were demolished to make way for the Civic Center district with City Hall, numerous courthouses, and other municipal, county, state and federal buildings, and Times Mirror Square. This article covers that area, between the Plaza, 3rd St., Los Angeles St., and Broadway, during the period 1880 through the period of demolition (1920s–1950s).
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.
Retail in Southern California dates back to its first dry goods store that Jonathan Temple opened in 1827 on Calle Principal, when Los Angeles was still a Mexican village. After the American conquest, as the pueblo grew into a small town surpassing 4,000 population in 1860, dry goods stores continued to open, including the forerunners of what would be local chains. Larger retailers moved progressively further south to the 1880s-1890s Central Business District, which was later razed to become the Civic Center. Starting in the mid-1890s, major stores moved ever southward, first onto Broadway around 3rd, then starting in 1905 to Broadway between 4th and 9th, then starting in 1915 westward onto West Seventh Street up to Figueroa. For half a century Broadway and Seventh streets together formed one of America's largest and busiest downtown shopping districts.
The HotelLankershim was a landmark hotel located at Seventh Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, California in the United States. Construction began in 1902 and was completed in 1905. The building was largely demolished in the early 1980s following structural damage caused by the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. The "posh" hotel had nine stories, 300 rooms and two dining rooms.
1 2 Cara Mia DiMassa (February 17, 2006). "Movie Tradition Fading to Black; Seventy years after its neon heyday, downtown Los Angeles is struggling to keep its last cinematic venue afloat". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest2206741687.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Smith, Jack (September 30, 1986). "Los Angeles Theater: Flashback to yesteryear ... and a Latino renaissance on Broadway". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest292430471.
↑ "PCAD - Coulter's Department Store, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved April 23, 2024. AKA: City of Paris Dry Goods Company, Ville de Paris Department Store #2, Los Angeles. Dates: constructed 1905. Total floor area: 96,000 sq. ft. 317 South Broadway.
↑ "The Hub ad". Los Angeles Evening Express. March 10, 1916. p.3. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
↑ "The Hub ad". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. September 8, 1922. p.7. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
1 2 3 "Broadway Buildings: To Cost Million". Los Angeles Times. April 22, 1917. p.part V p. 13. Eight stories…plus basement and sub-basement…172 feet on Broadway by 162 feet on Fifth
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