On the Road and In Your Backyard

On The Road and In Your Backyard is a weekday feature spotlighting reader submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, please share your part of the world, whether you’re traveling or just in your locality. Share some photos and a narrative, let us see through your pictures and words. We’re so lucky each and every day to see and appreciate the world around us!

Submissions from commenters are welcome at tools.balloon-juice.com

 

So glad that John’s dad is doing so well – excelsior!

Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.

On Broadway

We’ve visited the Bradbury Building on 3rd and Broadway in the past, today I’d like to visit some of the rest of Broadway starting with the theaters(since the Oscars were last weekend). Broadway and some of the surrounding streets(Hill & Spring) have some of the finest late 19th and early 20th century buildings in the city and is know officially as the Historic Core. Now if you look at old maps of Los Angeles from the mid-19th century you won’t see Broadway, it was Fort Street since it lead up to Fort Moore that was on a hill west of the Plaza(a couple of other main streets had different names: Figueroa was Grasshopper and then Pearl, and Charity became Grand). Broadway was very much the center of the city once it expanded south of the Plaza, the old sandstone courthouse, city hall and the LA Times were on the 100 and 200 blocks of Broadway. The 100 block of Broadway on both sides of 1st street is still government buildings(the Stanley Mosk Courthouse and the new US District Courthouse), the 200 block of south Broadway is mainly parking lots and low rise building(some of which have been reduced from much taller buildings). After 3rd Street(The Bradbury is on the southeast corner and old Edison building is on the southwest corner) the buildings here are more high rise(over 3 stories) and better preserved. Most of the buildings were offices and hotels, with some hosting both offices and theaters. Being that Los Angeles is a relatively new city, most of the theaters started out showing films(probably also owing to the movie industry becoming a force in the city in the early 20th century). Most of the theaters were on Broadway or Hill Streets with a few on Main Street.

Taken on 2017-09-07 00:00:00

Los Angeles, CA

The Cameo was built in 1910 and opened as one of the finest theaters in the city with a capacity of 900. To it’s north is the Roxie and to it’s south is the Arcade(originally the Pantages). As you can probably guess, this isn’t currently used for viewing motion pictures and has seen better days. Quite a few of these old theaters have had their lobbies used for storefront businesses but their theater spaces have remained relatively unchanged.

Taken on 2018-08-05 00:00:00

Los Angeles, CA

I’ve not been inside the Los Angeles theater, but I’ve heard from those who have that the interior is well preserved and quite lavish. The exterior is pretty imposing, though the building to the north(right in the image) doesn’t really match the facade of the theater.

Taken on 2017-09-07 00:00:00

Los Angeles, CA

The Tower theater was opened in 1927 and was designed by the same architect as the Los Angeles theater. The Tower is currently being re-purposed as the flagship Apple Store for Los Angeles.

Taken on 2018-01-27 00:00:00

Los Angeles, CA

This shot was taken on the annual “Night on Broadway” event in 2018(I don’t think they did one this year). It’s looking down Broadway from 6th Street. All the theater marquees were lit up and some of the theater were open so that you could see the interiors. You can see the Los Angeles theater on the right and the two signs for the Palace theater on the left.

 

Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

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