The Last Bookstore Presents….
Tours of the Secret Lives of Downtown
Saturday October 8th & Sunday October 9th
Starting at The Last Bookstore's home in the Spring Arts Tower at 453 S. Spring Street, you can take guided walking tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles’s secret past, its present history in making - and its future - with two different tours offered this weekend.
Saturday October 8th will have back to back 'Historic Downtown 101' tours at 11 AM and 1 PM and then on Sunday October 9th - the day of ciclavia when Spring will be closed to cars to allow for bicycles - there will be the "How Los Angeles Invented the Wild West Tour' at 11 and then at 1PM depending on who makes the first reservation there will either be a repeat of the Wild West Tour - or an encore of the "Historic Downtown LA 101 Tour". All these 90 minute tours are only $15 per person. For reservations call 213-804-8396.
MORE DETAILS ON THESE TWO SUNDAY TOURS WILL BE IN THE NEXT POST THAT WILL BE UP SHORTLY
This Saturday October 8th, the “Historic Downtown 101” tour is a general introduction to our rapidly developing neighborhood and an overview of the multiple histories of the streets of Broadway, Spring and Main. All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight & CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.
This tour will be given from 11 AM to 12:30 PM this Saturday October 8th and from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM and for reservations call 213-804-8396. And all 90 minute tours are only $15 per person.
If you are a participant, you will see where first motion picture theater was built, the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910), where Bing Crosby was discovered - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton, actor Ryan Gosling and more. And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.
You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral. At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.
You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown. You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.
Tickets for all this are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com. All credit card orders will be processed at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour. All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.
Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to Luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood.
We will also be soon starting weekday & evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.
We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.
For future updates and more information go to www.historicdowntownlosangeles.blogspot.com and for reservations call 213-804-8396.
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