Central Business District, Los Angeles (1880s-1890s)

During the 1880s and 1890s the central business district (CBD) of Los Angeles was located around Spring and Main streets from just south of the Los Angeles Plaza to Second Street. Of the old CBD not a single building remains except at the extreme southern edge below 2nd Street, as all structures from this period were razed to make way for the construction of the Civic Center during the 1930s–1950s.[1][2]

Spring Street, looking north from Temple, 1880s

Spring Street, looking north from Temple, 1890s

History

Prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad, Los Angeles was a small town (population 1860: 4,385; 1870: 5,728) of low-lying adobe and brick buildings. Most businesses were located on or nearby the Plaza. With the arrival of the railroad the city grew in population, almost quintupling in ten years (1880: 11,183, 1890: 50,395) and businesses opened further south and west away from the Plaza; especially along Spring and Main, reaching southward to Temple, First, and Second streets.[1][2]

After the turn of the 20th century, banks, hotels, and retailers established much larger buildings along Spring and Broadway from Third Street southward, in the area today called the Historic Core. The central business district shifted to the area between Third and Ninth streets: along Broadway for retail, cinemas, and restaurants; and along Spring Street for banks and financial businesses, the Spring Street Financial District.[1][2]

The blocks north of Second Street lost prestige and began to house businesses catering to working-class and Spanish-speaking Angelenos; the buildings deteriorated.[1][2]

Maps

The area contained many streets which no longer exist or only exist outside the boundaries of the 1880s-1890s CBD. These include: Arcadia St., Buena Vista St., Center Pl., Commercial St., Ferguson St., Franklin St., Marchessault St. (now Paseo de la Plaza), Market Ct., New High St., Calle de Los Negros, and Requena St.

Maps of the area from Hill St. east to Los Angeles St. and from the Plaza south to 2nd St. in 1886, left; and today, right:

The buildings described in this article were located in the street grid as shown:

BELLEVUE ST.	B R O A D W A Y	BELLEVUE ST.	N E W H I G H S T R E E T			REPUBLIC ST.		M A I N S T R E E T	PLAZA	L O S A N G E L E S S T R E E T
Temperance Temple (NW corner Temple/Broadway)						-Lafayette Hotel -Downey Block, later Post Office and Courthouse (1910-?), NW cor Main/Temple			Pico House Merced Theater Arcadia Block
									ARCADIA ST.
									-Baker Block, SE cor Main/Arcadia -Grand Central Hotel -Farmers & Merchants Bank -Bella Union/St. Charles Hotel
									COMMERCIAL ST.
TEMPLE ST.		TEMPLE ST.	TEMPLE ST.
High School (1873-1887)/ Red Sandstone Courthouse (1891-1936) Hall of Records (1962-present) Hall of Records (1911-1973)			Phillips Block (NW cor Spring/Franklin)	S P R I N G S T R E E T	Temple Block		REQUENA ST.
					MARKET ST.		United States Hotel
					Clock Tower Courthouse (1895: Bullard Block) (Site of current City Hall)
					COURT ST.
					Los Angeles National Bank/ Equitable Bldg (1906-1920s)
FRANKLIN ST.		FRANKLIN ST.
Tajo Building		Times Building (1912)	Larronde Block
FIRST ST.		FIRST ST.			FIRST ST.		FIRST ST.
		130 - Southwest Bldg. (Chamber of Commerce)	Nadeau Hotel (1882)		Wilson Block	Natick House
Frost Bldg.		Hellman Bldg.	Bryson-Bonebrake Block (1888)		Burdick Block (1888/1900) (American Bank Bldg)
SECOND ST.		SECOND ST.			SECOND ST.		SECOND ST.
Coulters/ Potomac Block		1888 City Hall, E side B'way S of 2nd	Hollenbeck Hotel		Wilcox Bldg (1895-6)

Major buildings by street

Sources: Los Angeles Times,[2] Water & Power Associates[1] Centrally located businesses and institutions in the 1880s-1890s CBD area are listed; some were built after 1900 when the area formed part of a larger CBD, but all were demolished for the construction of the Civic Center.

Broadway

West side		East side
The Women's Christian Temperance Union building, also known as Temperance Temple, with a Temple Street Cable Railway car, 1890 Temperance Temple[3]	B R O A D W A Y
TEMPLE STREET		TEMPLE STREET
		Los Angeles High School on Pound Cake Hill, 1870s Los Angeles High School original location on Pound Cake Hill (1873-1887), between New High (W) and Broadway (E), on the south side of Temple Street. It was moved to California/Sand street and in 1890 a new facility was built on Fort Moore Hill, approximately where Broadway today crosses the Hollywood Freeway and immediately north. 1891 Courthouse and Post Office The Red Sandstone Courthouse on Pound Cake Hill, between New High (W) and Broadway (E), on the south side of Temple Street. It was built on the site of Los Angeles High School and replaced facilities at the Temple Courthouse. It functioned additionally as a post office and federal agency building, built 1891. Damaged beyond repair by Long Beach earthquake 1933, demolished 1936.[4]
FRANKLIN STREET
	Los Angeles Times Building (built 1886), photo about 1887 Los Angeles Times (1881 building), NE corner of 1st and Broadway; This 1886 building was razed after damage from a bomb 1910, and rebuilt in 1912. The Times later moved further south on Broadway.[5] Hall of Records, built 1911, demolished 1973 The Hall of Records was built next door to the Red Sandstone Courthouse in 1911, taking up the block between Spring, Broadway, Franklin, and First. It was demolished in 1973.
FIRST STREET
C. H. Frost Bldg (1898)	Second Street looking west from Spring Street towards Broadway. The Mirror Building on the right, mid block, north side, functioned as City Hall between 1884-1888. On the left, Hollenbeck Block, with the First Presbyterian Church (SW corner of 2nd & Broadway in the back The Mirror Building, mid-block on the north side of 2nd street between Broadway and the Bryson-Bonebrake Block on Spring, was used as Los Angeles City Hall between 1884-1888.[6][7][8] Hellman Building (corner 1st/Broadway)
SECOND STREET	SECOND STREET
Broadway looking south from Second Street, ca. 1895-1905. The 1888 City Hall is visible on the left (east) side. Sketch of the west side of Broadway, 2nd to 3rd streets in the 1890s. At left: Bicknell Block; Potomac Block with Ville de Paris
American National Bank (later California Bank) Building (1878-1911), SW corner 2nd and Broadway Los Angeles around 1890 —201–205, SW corner, site of Judge O'Melveny's house (1870), replaced by American National Bank (later California Bank) Building, replaced by California Building 1911, now "Broadway Media Center"(201-213) —site of Merchants Trust Co. Building —215-217, site of Pacific Furniture House (1940s) —219, site of Fisch's Department Store (1940s) Potomac Block, W side of Broadway between 2nd and 3rd, 1890s i Ville de Paris (department store), 221–3 S. Broadway. Demolished. —221–223, site of Potomac Block, home toVille de Paris (department store) 1893–1905. In 1905 the Potomac Block became part of the Coulter's Department Store complex —Site of Coulter's department store, in three buildings:[9][10] ——213-5-7-9-221-3: B. F. Coulter Building (1905-1917 the 215 building continued as a branch through 1927). Demolished early 1950s. ——225-7-9: Bicknell Building, 1905–1917. After 1917: Western Shoe Company (-1922)/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".[11] ——224-56-8 S. Hill St. at the back J. W. Robinson's Boston Dry Goods (237-241) and Harris Newmark (231-5) buildings, Broadway, Los Angeles, 1899 —231-235, site of Harris Newmark Building (1899, Abram Edelman), Bartlett Music Co. (#233), annex to J. W. Robinson's (#235); Goodwill Industries store (#233-235, 1950s-60s). All but the ground floor have been removed. —237-241, site of Boston Dry Goods Building (1895, Theodore Eisen and Sumner Hunt, designer of the Bradbury Building)[12][13], home to J. W. Robinson's "Boston (Dry Goods) Store", 1895–1915, Scott's Department Store (239–241, 1920s), Third Street Store (237-241, 1950s-60s), all but the ground floor have been removed, how home to a wedding chapel.	B R O A D W A Y	First Presbyterian Church B'nai B'rith Temple (1873) Los Angeles City Hall (built 1888) - E side of Broadway btw 2nd and 3rd City Hall (1888 location; City Hall moved to its present location in 1928, demolished 1929, now a parking lot). Three stories, 150-foot (46 m) campanile. Architect S. I. Haas. Romanesque architecture. 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 8th & Broadway in 1908.[14]

Spring Street

TEMPLE	S P R I N G   S T R E E T	TEMPLE
View north on Spring St. from First St., Phillips Block at left (west), 1890s —Phillips Block, 129–133 N. Spring St. (post-1890 numbering), 29–33 N. Spring St. (pre-1890 numbering), on the northwest corner of Spring Street and Franklin streets, backing up to New High St. at its west. Built on the site of the one-story adobe County Jail. Opened in 1888, architect Burgess J. Reeve, four and a half stories, owned by Pomona Valley rancher Louis Phillips, cost $260,000. 120 feet (37 m) of frontage on Spring St., 218 feet (66 m) on Franklin, 121 feet (37 m) along New High Street. The second four-story structure built in L.A. Sometimes called Phillips Block No. 1; there was a "Phillips Block No. 2" at 135–145 Los Angeles St., west side between Market and 1st.[15] In July 1888, A. Hamburger & Sons, "The People's Store", opened a new large store here and was the largest retail store in the Western United States.[16]		Temple Block, Los Angeles, around 1880 Temple Block: actually a collection of different structures that occupied the block between the east side of Spring, west side of Main and south side of Temple St. The first or "Old" Temple Block was of adobe, two stories, facing north to Temple. This was incorporated into the later Temple Block, and then demolished. Built 1858, expanded 1871, housing many law offices. On the ground floor retail tenants included retailers Desmond's, Jacoby Bros., Slotterbeck's gun shop; and the Wells Fargo office.
		MARKET ST.
		Temple Courthouse with clock tower, 1885. At back, the United States Hotel at Main & Requena (Market). Clock Tower Courthouse: Just south of Temple Block across tiny Market Street, was a building known by many additional names including Temple Market, Temple Theater, Old County Courthouse, etc. Also built by John Temple, in 1858, originally as a market (ground floor) and theater (upper floor). Demolished 1890s.[17][18] Served as a market and retail as well as the County Courthouse 1861-1891 until the Red Sand Courthouse was built.[19] Topped by a rectangular tower with a clock on all four sides.[20][4] Bullard Block in 1900 Bullard Block, 1895-6, Morgan & Walls,[21] 154–160 N. Spring, NE corner of Court St., replaced the Clock Tower Courthouse. See photo below of "La Fiesta".
FRANKLIN ST.		COURT ST.
Larronde Block, NW corner 1st & Spring, 1898 Larronde Block, NW corner 1st & Spring, undated photo, probably 1910s —Larronde Block (1882), NW corner 1st & Spring, shops and offices		Spring Street looking north from First towards Temple during the Fiesta de Los Ángeles 1903. The tall building at top-center is the Bullard Block, 154–160 N. Spring, NE corner of Court St., topped by a sign for The Hub, a large clothing store Los Angeles National Bank Building, NE corner of 1st & Spring, Kysor, Morgan & Walls, Gothic Revival architecture, 1887-1906 Los Angeles National Bank Building (1887-1906), Kysor, Morgan & Walls, Gothic Revival architecture Equitable Savings Bank Building, NE corner of 1st & Spring, 1906-1920s Equitable Building (Equitable Savings Bank, 1906-1920s)[22]
FIRST ST.		FIRST ST.
Nadeau Hotel (1881/2-1932) —Nadeau Hotel, built 1881-2, demolished 1932, Kysor & Morgan. Southwest corner of Spring and First. First four-story building in the city.[23]		Wilson Block, SE corner Spring & 1st as seen in 1920 Wilson Block, SE corner Spring & 1st
Bryson or Bryson-Bonebrake Block or Building built 1886-8, photo 1905 —The Bryson Block, also known as the Bryson-Bonebrake Block or Bryson Bonebrake Building, northwest corner 2nd and Spring, built 1886-1888 for $224,000 on the site of a public school and an early city hall, as a 126-room bank and office building. Romanesque architecture. Two stories added 1902-1904. Demolished 1934. Architect Joseph Cather Newsom (Newsom & Newsom). PCAD states it was "nothing short of amazing, displaying a riotous and eclectic amalgam of features". Built for mayor John Bryson and Major George H. Bonebrake, President of the Los Angeles National Bank and the State Loan & Trust Co.[24]		Burdick Block, NE corner 2nd & Spring, built 1888 (Jasper Newton Preston), top floors added 1900 (John Parkinson). Photo from 1902 —Burdick Block, 1888 (Jasper Newton Preston), top stories added 1900 (John Parkinson)
SECOND ST.		SECOND ST.
Hollenbeck Block, home to the Hollenbeck Hotel and Coulter's. SW corner Spring and 2nd. Built in 1884, demolished in 1933. Robert Brown Young, architect. —The Hollenbeck Block was located on the southwest corner of Spring and 2nd streets. It was built in 1884 by John Edward Hollenbeck and housed the Hollenbeck Hotel and, on the corner, Coulter's 6,000 sq ft (560 m^2) store. Built 1884, demolished in 1933. Architect Robert Brown Young.[25]		Wilcox Building, built 1895-6, photo 1905 Wilcox Building, SE corner Spring & 2nd St. (205 S. Spring), built 1895-6, 5 stories, all but the ground floor demolished 1971 after damage from the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, ground floor remains. Housed the California Club until 1904, when it moved to 4th & Hill. H. Jevne's wine and gourmet grocery store. Southwestern School of Law was located on its top floors 1915–1924.[26]

Spring Street Gallery

• 
  Temple Block, Los Angeles, around 1885
• 
  Spring & 2nd, showing Bryson Block before its added stories, 1903
• 
  Spring Street
• 
  An early stereoscopic view of Spring Street
• 
  Spring Street at Court Street, 1875

Spring Street Retailers

• 
  Jacoby Bros. in the Temple Block, around 1896
• 
  London Clothing Co. at Spring and Temple, which became Harris & Frank, a chain of stores focused on men's clothing

Main Street

REPUBLIC	M A I N S T R E E T	PLAZA
St. Elmo Hotel, around 1890 Lafayette Hotel, later Cosmopolitan Hotel, St. Elmo Hotel, Main St. just north of the Downey Block Merced Theatre The Old Downey Block, around 1870, before Downey Block was built in 1871: "Harris & Jacoby", forerunners to Harris & Frank and Jacoby Bros., and M. Kremer, forerunner of the City of Paris, the city's first dept. store Old Downey Block (?-1871), NW corner of Temple & Main Downey Block in the 1880s Downey Block in 1887 Downey Block (1871–1910), NW corner Main & Temple on the site of Jonathan Temple's old adobe store, the first dry goods store in Los Angeles. Romanesque Revival architecture. The first home of the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Public Library and the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Housed Victor Dol's Commercial Restaurant, Jacoby Bros. and Coulter's (1878-9). 1910 Post Office and Courthouse, NW corner Temple & Main New Post Office (1910–1937), NW corner & Temple, built 1910 on the site of the Downey Block for $1,500,000. Demolished 1937, a new federal building was built on the site.[4]		Pico House hotel Pico House hotel
		ARCADIA
		Sketch of east side of the 300 block of N. Main St., between Arcadia and Commercial streets, as it looked around 1880 Baker Block, Los Angeles, around 1880 Baker Block, Second Empire architecture, SE corner Main and Arcadia, built 1875 (third floor added 1878). Built on the site of Don Abel Stearns' 1835-8 adobe "palacio" (mansion); Col. Robert S. Baker married Stearns' widow, Arcadia Bandini de Stearns. When built, it was called the "finest emporium of commerce south of San Francisco". The ground floor housed retail tenants such as Coulter's (1879–1884), George D. Rowan and Eugene Germain. The second floor was offices, and the third floor held the city's most upscale apartments. By the 1930s, the block housed Goodwill Industries, which sold it to the city in 1942. It was demolished in 1942 and the Hollywood Freeway now occupies the site.[27] 1880: St. Charles Hotel. Middle: Farmers and Merchants Bank (orig. “Pico Building”). Left: the 3-story Grand Central Hotel, built 1876 Grand Central Hotel Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles, forerunner of Security Pacific National Bank St. Charles Hotel, originally the Bella Union Hotel, E side of Main St. NE corner of Commercial
TEMPLE ST.		REQUENA ST.
		United States Hotel
FIRST STREET		FIRST STREET
Hotel Natick, Bernard Block, SW corner of 1st and Main St, about 1900 Natick House hotel in the Bernard Block
SECOND STREET		SECOND STREET

Los Angeles Street

Arcadia Block, 1870s

Arcadia Block, from an 1896 lithograph

Arcadia Block

Arcadia, NW corner of Los Angeles Street. Built by Abel Stearns in 1858 for $80,000. Razed in 1927.[28]

References

1. "Early Los Angeles Historical Buildings (1800s)", Water and Power Associates
2. "Los Angeles Fifty Years Ago: The Re-Creation of a Vanished City". Los Angeles Times. November 15, 1931. p. 90. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
3. "Temperance Temple", Water and Power Associates
4. "U.S. Courthouse, Los Angeles, CA". General Services Administration. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
5. https://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_LA_Buildings%20(1800s)_Page_2.html#LA_Times_Building1
6. Cal Parks, Site 744
7. hmdb.org, Mirror Building
8. californiahistoricallandmarks.com 744 -No. 744 Mirror Building - Los Angeles
9. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31677707/coulters_location_1906_225229_s/
10. "Ad for Coulter's new store opening". Los Angeles Times. May 31, 1905.
11. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57352206/western-shoe-company-western/
12. "The Boston Dry Goods Store". Los Angeles Times. 1 January 1895. p. 29. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
13. "The New Boston Store:Los Angeles' Finest Commercial Structure Is Complete". Los Angeles Herald. 4 October 1895. p. 5.
14. "CityDig: This Was L.A.'s City Hall for 39 Years". Los Angeles magazine. May 8, 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
15. Stern, Norton B. "Louis Phillips of the Pomona Valley" (PDF). Historical Society of Southern California: 184.
16. "Architect B. J. Reeve". San Francisco Examiner. August 14, 1887. p. 19. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
17. "Buildings and Lands. The July Permits Break the Record. The Remarkable Gains over Last Year's List". Los Angeles Express. August 3, 1895. p. 5.
18. "Bullard Block", Los Angeles Water & Power
19. https://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_LA_Buildings%20(1800s)_Page_1.html#Temple_Block
20. https://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_LA_Buildings%20(1800s)_Page_1.html#Temple_Block
21. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57340846/bullard-block-the-hub-opening/
22. "Los Angeles National Bank" and "Equitable Savings Bank", Water and Power Associated
23. "Nadeau Hotel", PCAD
24. "Bryson-Bonebrake Building, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA (1886-1888) demolished". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
25. "Hollenbeck Block", Calisphere, University of California
26. "Wilcox Building #2". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
27. "Baker Block", Water and Power Associates
28. "Historic Building Is Razed: Flood of Memories Released". Los Angeles Times. May 15, 1927.