Bunker Hill -- Past and Present

A POSTSCRIPT to our discussion last night.

This was the backdrop for the film, Criss Cross, the old Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles just west of what we now know as the L.A. Civic Center. The Burt Lancaster character lived on the the hill. The first couple of photos were taken about fifty years before the film was made, but notice how much of the character still remained. Imagine what an attraction it would be today.

Before:



During Construction:


(circa 1974)


After:



We'll talk a little bit more about what happened to this quaint little hilltop neighborhood, next week.

-- L.G.

images:
top via SkyScraperFourm
middle via lahistorian.com
bottom via the fullwiki

Inventing LA: A Film Review

THE film "Inventing LA" provides an in-depth analysis of how one man began the Los Angeles Times, a newspaper which he used to push his own political and economic agendas, which ultimately played a major role in determining how Los Angeles came to be spatially, economically, and socially. The analyzes the grit and determination of Harrison Gray Otis, his successor Harry Chandler, and their ruthless attack on whatever posed a threat to their voice, their power, their catalyst, the Los Angeles Times. I highly recommend this documentary to anyone interested in the development of Los Angeles, Southern California real estate and an iconic Los Angeles.

-- Ryan Cavalier

Photo: Harrison Gray Otis

Credit: California State Military Department