Two men standing near a water ditch at the bank of Los Angeles River, north side of Griffith Park.

I’m happy to say that our sold out Los Angeles River tour is this Sunday and there are actually upwards of 30 people on the waiting list for another one! Wow. There’s been a lot of discussion on our Facebook page about the revitalization of the river and its reputation as a drainage ditch this week, so I decided to make another dip into the ol’ USC Digital Archive to see what kind of imagery I could find. This 51 mile river that explorer Gaspar de Portolá named El Río de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Ángeles de Porciúncula in the year 1769 didn’t always look the way you might imagine. Although it changed course many times over history, the river shown below was the reason that the 44 Los Pobladores chose to stop and create a settlement here… The LA River is the reason that Los Angeles exists.

Photograph of a man standing near a water ditch at the bank of Los Angeles River, north side of Griffith Park, ca.1900.

Prior to the arrival of Los Pobladores from New Spain,

“The River and its rich plant and animal habitat provided a livelihood for the Gabrielino Indians, one of the largest group of Indians in North America. Although it is unclear today what this group called themselves, they are referred to as the Tongva. Over 1000 years ago, the Tongva established a settlement on the banks of the River near where Los Angeles City Hall stands today.” (SOURCE)

Photograph of hundreds of pigeons bathing in the Los Angeles River on a pigeon ranch just past the Riverside bridge at the junction of Verdugo Road and San Fernando Boulevard, ca.1900.

Father Juan Crespi was a member of the Portola expedition and documented the river in its first written description:

“Wednesday, August 2. ~ We set out from the valley in the morning and followed the same plain in the westerly direction. After traveling about a league and a half through a pass between low hills, we entered a very spacious valley, well grown with cottonwoods and alders, among which ran a beautiful river (yep, the LA River) from the north-northwest, and then doubling the point of a steep hill, it went on aftwards to the south. Toward the north-northeast there is another river bed (the Arroyo Seco) which forms a spacious water-course, but we found it dry. This bed unites with that of the river, giving a clear indication of great floods in the rainy season, for we saw that it had many trunks of trees on the banks. We halted not very far from the river, which we named Porciuncula (meaning “small portion of land”). Here we felt three consecutive earthquakes in the afternoon and night. We must have traveled about three leagues today. This plain where the river runs is very extensive. It has good land for planting all kinds of grain and seeds, and is the most suitable site of all that we have seen for a mission, for it has all the requisites for a large settlement.”

Below is visual documentation of the main reason that the concrete drainage ditch system was originally conceived… containing the river and flowing it as quickly as possible to the ocean was the Army Corp of Engineer’s chosen solution for flooding like what’s depicted in the photo below. Potential flooding is something everyone working on the revitalization plan is very aware of, though.

Fingers crossed, technology has come a long way since 1930.

Photograph of a flooded Los Angeles River flowing under a Pacific Electric Railway bridge, 1916. Looking north from a wagon bridge on Anaheim Street in Wilmington, the water fills the foreground, stretching towards the bridge in the background, which crosses from left to right.

Photograph of the Los Angeles River in Griffith Park, ca.1920.

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Photograph of the ideal field of summer celery in the Venice Celery District, just before applying blanching paper, April 12, 1927. The rows of thick leaves of the celery plants form a congested square at center with a dark irrigation ditch in the foreground. A darker field lies on the far edge of the celery field on the right while another field lies on the far left. Hills stand in the background on the right while electrical poles spot a clearing of grass in the background on the left. “Note the regularity of the plant foliage.”

Photograph of a celery patch in Venice Celery District, April 12, 1927. Men wearing hats and overalls stand in the field at center with unearthed stocks of celery lying in rows in the foreground and the still-planted celery behind them. What appears to be a small, wooden table stands on the right while crates are scattered throughout the ground behind it. Two dark horses pull a wagon of filled crates to the right of the workers while grassy hills stand in the background.

Photograph of Ross H. Goot bunching carrots in Venice Celery District, April 12, 1927. Rows of unearthed carrots lie in the soil as Goot ties them together at center. He wears dark pants and a lightly-colored shirt as he squats down and carefully bunches the carrots at his knees. A crate sits in the soil just behind him on the left. What appears to be an empty field of sifted soil lies in the background just beyond the edge of the carrot field at center.

Photograph of harvesting and packing summer celery in the Venice Celery District, April 12, 1927. The remains of celery plants lie in the foreground while the unearthed celery is stacked in two parallel rows of crates at center. Men in overalls and hats examine the crates while crops of celery wait to be pulled on the far left. Several homes can be seen beyond a row of electrical poles in the background.

The club’s ride schedule is here.

From their site:

“We are a group of bicyclists who enjoy the pleasure of riding with friends. We are not a racing club, and we welcome members of all abilities. We offer easier, moderate and difficult rides. We hold some multi-day trips, and in late June we offer the Grand Tour, a 24-hour ride of 120+, 200, 300 or 400 miles. At our social events, we make up for all the calories burned while riding. Our monthly newsletter, “The Gooseneck,” contains a descriptive ride schedule and much other news. Newcomers are welcome to try a few of our rides before deciding whether to join. Helmets are mandatory on all rides.”

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Photographic portrait of the 11 Los Angeles Wheelmen posing as a group in cadet type uniforms at the East Side (Boyle Heights) track, October 3, 1893. “The Los Angeles wheelmen on the track include, left to right, standing — Jack Winters, John S. Thayer, Faye Stefenson, Phil Kitchen, W.J. Allen, E.S. Pauly, Tracy Hugh Rall, W.A. Tufts, and Walter Tyler; seated — Lord Gattensbury, A.D. Cummings, and Ernest Steuart, Paully.”

Below is a photograph of a deposit check written by Bloomingdale heir Alfred S. Bloomingdale in an attempt to purchase the team from Short for $700,000. Although this offer was refused, in 1962 Bloomingdale purchased 29% of the Lakers while Short still kept the majority share. The club was later sold to Jack Kent Cooke for $5 million in 1965.

“Letters and check, 3 April 1961. Negatives show a copy of an offer to buy the Los Angeles Lakers basketball club; Also a check for $100,000.00.”

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The letter reads:

March 15, 1961

Mr. Alfred Bloomingdale
900 North LaCienega Boulevard
Los Angeles 46, California

Dear Mr. Bloomingdale:

Thank you for your letter of March 7. We are complimented to learn of your interest in the Los Angeles Lakers.

Your offer was carefully considered by those who hold a majority of the outstanding stock of the Corporation. Their position has not changed. The Lakers are not for sale. In the event that we are of a different mind at a later date, you will be contacted.

Your check is herewith returned. Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
R. Short
President

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“Jewry to celebrate festival! — A typical Seder service at the Hebrew Sheltering Home for the Aged in this city. This Jewish festival will be held at the home next Thursday night, with many prominent Hebrew residents of the city in attendance. This symbolic dinner is one of the features of the Passover holiday” — Examiner clipping attached to verso, dated, “Mar 31, 1928″ Image ©USC Digital Archive

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According to an April 2003 LA Times article:

“Today, as Jews prepare to observe Passover… Southern California has the nation’s second-largest Jewish population (currently over 650,000). By contrast, the overwhelmingly Catholic pueblo of Los Angeles of 1854 had fewer than 200 Jewish residents and no kosher bakery or butcher shop. A lay rabbi slaughtered animals, carefully observing rabbinic laws, so that Jews might have kosher meat. The aroma of matzo — unleavened bread — wafted from a bakery owned and run by a Catholic. In the hinterlands — the Gold Country of Northern California or the outlying reaches of Southern California — men were often the ones who prepared the Passover seder because there were no women around.

“Despite such accommodations to necessity, historians say a common thread of faith and tradition is woven through the fabric of Jewish history in the West.”

]]> http://hiddenlosangeles.com/?feed=rss2&p=8869 1 http://hiddenlosangeles.com/?p=8591 http://hiddenlosangeles.com/?p=8591#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:49:51 +0000 lynnster http://hiddenlosangeles.com/?p=8591 CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

“In the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s, Paseo de Los Angeles – later referred to as Olvera Street – was created through the efforts of Christine Sterling and the City Boosters in the oldest section of the city. Olvera Street was an imagined Mexican Landscape not unlike the renowned tourist districts of Mexican border cities (Arreola and Curtis 1993). The theme was “Old Mexico,” pitting a timeless, romantic, homogenous Spanish-Mexican culture against industrialization, immigration, urban decay and modernity itself. The street featured rows of curio shops, house museums, and Mexican eateries staffed by costumed Mexican merchants. As a constructed place, Olvera Street was the product of a social and economic agenda established by civic elites to transform downtown Los Angeles through the removal of undesirable residents. The opening of Olvera Street and the preservation of the old Plaza also popularized an emerging creation mythology for Anglo Los Angeles stemming from the defeat of Mexican forces in 1847, a heroic birth legend in which Sterling emerged as a symbolic mother figure and guardian of the city’s birthplace.”

Excerpted from Los Angeles’ Old Plaza and Olvera Street: Imagined and Contested Space, by William D. Estrada © 1999

On the glorious evening of March 10th, 1952, after watching her beloved film favorites depart the Hollywood Pantages Theater (where the 1952 Oscar ceremonies were held), 80-year-old grandmother Pauline Paulsen fell in between the rows of bleachers and was rushed to Hollywood Receiving Hospital. Ouch!!! Sure looks like Pauline is the star of the show in this shot!

It was quickly noted by Daily Variety that: “Full insurance is carried to cover any accidents in the temporary bleachers erected for fans” so Pauline probably made a full recovery.

Nowadays, Pauline would be around 138 years old. Wonder how she’s doing? Hey there, Pauline!!! :D

Photograph(s) of an aerial view of a promotional land sale barbeque in Montrose near Glendale, February 22, 1913. A group of automobiles and horse-drawn carriages are parked at the center of a clearing, while pedestrians walk around towards the barbeque tables pictured in the left distance where a small shack can be seen to the side of a dirt road, and in the right foreground, surrounded by temporary fence. A road lined by utility poles curves behind the gathering from the left of the frame towards the mountains in the background, with an even smaller second shack stands near piles of gravel. A sign near the dirt road reads “Montrose Holmes-Walton Realtor Co.”

Images ©USC Digital Library

Although the first coaster is long gone, you can still find evidence of Race Thru The Clouds nearby if you look… architect Steve Ehrlich themed a nearby commercial building after its curves. I think my favorite tribute is this, though: a Folsom Prison inmate named William Jennings-Bryan Burke once spent over a decade erecting a replica of the ride made entirely out of toothpicks! AWESOME! (He actually built entire carnivals from toothpicks. I’m not kidding.)

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(Above) Photograph of a view of the roller coaster at Venice looking east from the Pacific Electric Station, circa 1920. The large wooden roller coaster is at center and is surrounded by several amusement park eateries and shops. Many pedestrians are visible near the shops. The entrance to the ride is at center under a light-colored wooden archway adorned with American flags and flanked by two large wooden towers. A large canal is visible in the background at left, and a Pacific Electric train is in the background at right. There is a street in the foreground at right, and several early-model automobiles are parked along the edge. Legible signs include, from left to right: “Race Thru the Clouds Soda Fountain,” “Hughes Ice Cream,” “The Race Thru the Clouds,” “The New Race,” “Its entirely different from the old one,” “All new sensational dips,” “Some Thriller,” “Town Kisses,” and “Song Shop.”

(Above) Color postcard of “Race Through the Clouds,” a roller coaster in Venice, California. Many people are lined up under a large covered entrance. Several American flags fly from the platforms surrounding the roller coaster.