Bunker Hill, 1955

 

1955, This shot gives us a soon-to-be-demolished glimpse of what Bunker Hill at the northernmost end of downtown Los Angeles looked like in 1955. The two streets we can see here are Olive St and 2nd Street, where downtown was still residential. But this stage, most of the homes had been divided up into boarding houses and the like. As we can see, the area was becoming rather rundown and neglected, and not long after this photo was taken, the razing and leveling of Bunker Hill got underway. But as we can see in the background, Los Angeles City Hall dominated the skyline, no matter which direction you were looking in.  Thank you to Martin Turnbull.  

1939, The appeal of this photo, for me at least, is that it juxtaposes LA’s past alongside LA’s future. We’re looking south along Main St in downtown Los Angeles. In the earlier part of the 20th century, Victorian-era stores and offices lined many of LA’s streets. As we can see from the Spanish language signs, many of these particular businesses were catering to the local Mexican population. Right next door rises the then-new United States Courthouse (this photo is from 1939), and behind that is Los Angeles City Hall, which was, by law, the highest building in Los Angeles.  Thank you to Martin Turnbull.