You Know You've Lived in DTLA a Long Time When 2 Fire Trucks Heading East Worries You

When the first LAFD  trucks heading east from the Westlake Station passed me, I suddenly realized that while I've seen hundreds of emergency vehicles heading west out of Downtown - I couldn't remember the last time I saw a row of trucks heading east and realized something major must be happening.  And by the time three more caravans passed me by - on three different streets - given the times we live in - I went online to see what was happening.  An oil truck had crashed and was on-fire just over the river in Boyle Heights.  And - fortunately - it appears that no one was injured.

But - again - given the times we live in - there will likely be a day when a lot more emergency vehicles will be driving into Downtown LA.

And - before I forget - Have a Happy Halloween Tonight!   Sometimes, it can be fun to be scared.

This Weekend's Saturday Nov. 1 and Sunday Nov. 2 Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles

With temperatures predicted in upper 60's to low  70's this Saturday and Sunday, my 2 Hour Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles will start at 10:30 AM on Saturday Nov. 1st and 11 AM on Sunday Nov. 2nd leaving from the Last Bookstore at 5th & Spring.  I will also do tours every Saturday and Sunday until at least the first of the year.

The Last Bookstore (and its  2nd floor with 50,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  10:30AM Saturday and 11AM Sunday START TIMES FOR 2 hour walking tours  of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles -  FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

 
Among the many things you will learn this weekend is that if a friend of Wyatt Earp's had not built the Alexandria Hotel - it would have been impossible for George Gershwin to have written his iconic Rhapsody in Blue.

And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

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 and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater 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) - 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 either tour 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. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and 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.

Still No Answer to the Question - Who Took the Civil War Era Flagpole That Was Standing in Front of the Hall of Justice - And What Did They Do With It?

Mesmer flagpole not long after it was erected in front of the US Hotel on Main Street across from is now City Hall. 

There is still no answer from... anyone... as to who removed the almost 150 year old wooden flagpole that was standing in the heart of the Civic Center from after the Civil War until a few months ago.   After being moved three times, it stood in front of the Temple Street entrance to the Hall of Justice and it had been there for over 60 years.  But it appears that even though a bronze plaque was in front of the flagpole (which described its history) - and even though the County of Los Angeles paid $150,000 to a company to protect the historic aspects of the site - that someone might have torn it down, cut it into at least two pieces and removed it from the site.

And this flagpole was the only standing reminant of of the old civic and business center of Los Angles around the intersection of Main, Temple and Spring.  And now its gone - and nobody can - or will - tell me what has happened to it which makes it seem likely that it has been totally destroyed.  But on the off chance it is still lying in some storage yard - or in some one's back yard - or has been chopped up for fire wood, but not yet burned - I am going public to encourage whoever does know what happened to it - to speak up.

Now I was going to post its history here now, but I can not physically access all my research, so I will be doing that tomorrow.  Meanwhile - here are some early photos.

1869 Photo of flagpole on the upper left hand side of photo.

Later photo of flagpole after US Hotel was rebuilt.

Another photo of flagpole in front of the newer US Hotel.

Downtown Los Angeles's Oldest Civic Monument Has Vanished - And It May Have Been Destroyed - Even Though it Had a Bronze Historic Marker and It Was Standing in Front of the Country Hall of Justice

Mesmer flagpole not long after it was erected in front of the US Hotel on Main Street across from is now City Hall.
Up until a few months ago - the oldest standing civic structure in Downtown LA (not counting the Plaza area north of the freeway) was the 1860's wooden Mesmer flagpole that stood on the west side of the south facing door to the Los Angeles Country Hall of Justice, along Temple Street.  A newer metal pole stood on the other side of the door.  And at the base of the Mesmer flagpole was a hihgly visible bronze marker describing its importance to the history of Los Angeles.   A historic marker that was... impossible... to miss seeing if you stood by the flagpole.

It was also the only thing left standing of what was the old civic and business center of Los Angles when it was centered around the intersection of Main, Temple and Spring.  And now its gone - and nobody can tell me where it is which makes it seem likely that it has been destroyed.  But on the off chance it is lying in some storage yard - or in some one's back yard - or has been chopped up for fire wood, but not yet burned - I am going public to encourage whoever does know what happened to it - to speak up .

Now I was going to post its history here now, but I can not physically access all my research, so I will be doing that tonight or tomorrow.  Meanwhile - here are some early photos.

1869 Photo of flagpole on the upper left hand side of photo.

Later photo of flagpole after US Hotel was rebuilt.

Another photo of flagpole in front of the newer US Hotel.

Saturday's Oct. 25 Walking Tour of Historic Downtown LA is @ 2 PM & Sunday Oct. 26th is @11 AM @ The Last Bookstore

With temperatures predicted in 70's  this Saturday and Sunday, October 25th and 26th, I am resuming my tours until the end of the year.  But this Saturday Oct. 25th there will a 2 PM start (instead of the usual 10:30 AM) since that is the date for the LA History Achieves Show at USC) but my Sunday tours will continue to be from 11 AM to 1 PM every Sunday also until at least the end of the year.

The Last Bookstore (and its  2nd floor with 50,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  10:30AM Saturday and 11AM Sunday START TIMES FOR 2 hour walking tours  of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles -  FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

 
There will be a HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour every Saturday from 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM and every  Sunday there will be a start time of 11:00 AM and an ending time of 1:00 PM. And among the many things you will learn this weekend is that if a friend of Wyatt Earp's had not built the Alexandria Hotel - it would have been impossible for George Gershwin to have written his iconic Rhapsody in Blue.

And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

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 and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater 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) - 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 either tour 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. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and 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.

Skingraft Opens New Store in Downtown Los Angeles

Image via Skingraft
 After I helped Skingraft lease their first store in the Banco Popular Building at 4th & Spring (from a client of mine who incubated his own company in part of his space and then leased several spaces to other new ventures) - and then invited them to participate in their first Fashion Week show the day they moved in - I still had no idea, until the day of that show,  they would become of the great LA brands. 

 And, even then, I still never imagined how fast - and how far - Johnny Cota would take Skingraft in just a handful of years to New York Fashion Week and a store in New York - along with distribution throughout the world.   Here is RACKED's coverage of the new store and they also have a link to Skingraft's second New York Fashion Week:

LA's leather laden brand, Skingraft, has been on a steady rise to stardom since debuting the line locally back in 2006. Cut to this past New York Fashion Week, where designer Johnny Cota's 2nd NYFW show commanded a glittering front row complete with celebrities including Skrillex and Whoopie Goldberg.
Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and much of the fashion and music set are all fans of Cota's tailored leather pieces and now celebs and clientele alike can stop by his newly opened downtown flagship store to pick up items such as a women's $925 high waist, leather trimmed pencil skirt or a men's $996 gold wool and leather varsity jacket and more.
Moving from its former space in the Banco Popular building to a sprawling 2550 square foot store with 30 foot ceilings near Spring and 8th streets, the new Skingraft flagship boasts a robust retail space, plus a private design studio, where no doubt Cota will be whipping up the custom-made creations and future collections soon to be seen on massive music tours and at red carpet events.
Housed in the historic Great Republic Lofts building, the store's decor is primarily a palette of muted greys. Polished cement and custom leather furnishings, add a modern and severe tone to the ornate architecture of the building.
The Skingraft Flagship store is open 7 days a week, 11:00 am to­ 7:00 pm.
· 

New Section in the One Dollar Room at The Last Bookstore! Sixteen Shelves of Memoirs, Biographies, Letters and Diaries! And Dawn Kohler, Deanna Neil & Desiree Zamorano will read & discuss their work today from 4 - 6 PM

Yes, due to popular demand, sixteen shelves in the Literary/Words section in The Last Bookstore's One Dollar Room are now devoted to memoirs from people from all walks of life - along with biographies, autobiographies, interviews, diaries, letters and journals with a special emphasis on literary figures.  As of this morning, we presently have seven books regarding Marcel Proust and five by or about Norman Mailer to illustrate two of the  more extreme ends of the literary world.

And, as an additional enticement to visit the store today, this October 19th Sunday afternoon - from 4 - 6 PM we are honored to have three noted authors, Dawn Kohler, Deanna Neil, and Desiree Zamorano, read from and discuss their latest work. 

We  are also continuing to receive books for our  fifty other non-fiction sections in the One Dollar Room and our range of novelists is the broadest we have ever had.  And this Sunday hours for The Last Bookstore are from 10 AM to 9 PM while Monday to Tuesday we are open from 10 AM to 10 PM  and on Friday and Saturday we are open from 10 AM to 11 PM at 5th & Spring in the Spring Arts Tower  at 453 S. Spring Street.  Lastly,  I have again resumed my Saturday & Sunday morning Two Hour Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles, further details here.

Finally Writing My Book on Los Angeles - But I Need Some Help

I am now deep into writing my book on Los Angeles (and particularly Downtown Los Angeles) – and its past, present and future after a lifetime of researching and studying our city’s past, being born in LA and walking its streets since the late 1950’s and, finally, after fifteen years of working 365 days a year to plan and help build a better Los Angeles. 

My biggest challenge, I had thought, would be how to integrate the three different stories (past, present and future) into a single larger story but I was wrong.  After having thought about this for so long – and talking it out for 3 years on my walking tours – the structure of the book not only almost instantly became obvious but the way past, the present and future – from the first page - seamlessly wove together into a single story became so compelling, I found myself writing all three sections book at the same time.

That has created a new problem.   What I most lack is first-hand information from the individuals who took part in each of the previous attempts to revitalize DTLA – starting with the 1950’s and continuing into the late 1980’s.   Even though I closely watched was happening during of those periods and have since read extensively about them, I was not a first-hand participant in those events (other than in very minor ways), as I have been since the 1990’s and I feel I need to talk to those who were most actively involved during those periods.

So if you know of any person – or persons -  I might  consider talking with (and I already have my own list, of course) – please send me an email - Bradywestwater@gmail.com - suggesting who I should consider talking with – and why.  And if you have their contact information – that would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

Two Hour Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles Every Saturday & Sunday of 2014

With temperatures predicted in 70's  this Saturday and Sunday, October 18th and 19th, I am resuming my 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM  Saturday tours until the end of the year (except a change of time for Saturday October 25th to a 2 PM start since that is the date for the LA History Achieves Show at USC) and my Sunday tours from 11 AM to 1 PM every Sunday also until at least the end of the year.

The Last Bookstore (and its  2nd floor with 50,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  10:30AM Saturday and 11AM Sunday START TIMES FOR 2 hour walking tours  of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles -  FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

 
There will be a HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour every Saturday from 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM and every  Sunday there will be a start time of 11:00 AM and an ending time of 1:00 PM. And among the many things you will learn this weekend is that if a friend of Wyatt Earp's had not built the Alexandria Hotel - it would have been impossible for George Gershwin to have written his iconic Rhapsody in Blue.

And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

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 and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater 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) - 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 either tour 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. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and 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.