This section of Roadside Peek contains images from historic
areas within Southern California.
Angels Flight
Los Angeles, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
A short trip up Bunker Hill comes with quite a bit of history aboard Angels Flight. The little railway opened on December 31, 1901, carrying passengers between downtown Los Angeles and the neighborhood above. Its two cars, Sinai and Olivet, offered a welcome alternative to climbing the hill on foot.
Bunker Hill’s redevelopment interrupted that routine in 1969. The railway closed on May 18, and its cars and other historic pieces were dismantled and stored. Fortunately, this was one downtown landmark that didn’t make a one-way trip to the scrap heap.
On February 24, 1996, Angels Flight returned a half-block south of its original location, connecting Hill Street with California Plaza. The surrounding Victorian neighborhood was gone, but the familiar cars once again had a hill to climb.
The railway has also enjoyed plenty of screen time, appearing in films ranging from Act of Violence to La La Land. Apparently even a very short railway can have a long Hollywood career.
UPDATE: Angels Flight continues carrying passengers after several closures and reopenings over the years. The old quarter fare has moved into history, but the restored stations, familiar archway, and colorful cars still give downtown a ride worth checking out. 10-26
Beacon Laundry (Closed)
Culver City, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Look up along Washington Boulevard and check out the immense rooftop sign for Beacon Laundry. The lettering gives this former industrial building a greeting that reaches well beyond the front door. Clean shirts once brought customers here, but the sign alone provides a reason to notice the place.
Built in 1931 and designed by Morgan, Walls & Clements, the laundry featured an Art Deco industrial frontage with considerably more character than a plain warehouse wall. The building had a practical job to do, but apparently there was still room for a little style out front.
Its location near Helms Bakery put two familiar names from the working side of Culver City within a short walk. Between bread deliveries and commercial laundry, this stretch of Washington Boulevard once kept busy with some of the everyday necessities of Los Angeles life.
After the laundry closed, the building headed into renovation rather than demolition. Plans called for home furnishing retailers, creative businesses, and design offices to move into the old industrial spaces. The clothes were gone, but the building still had plenty of work left in it.
Beacon Laundry (Closed)
Culver City, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Fortunately, the makeover included the familiar rooftop sign. Keeping those enormous letters overhead allowed the Beacon name to remain part of the street, even as the businesses beneath it changed.
UPDATE: Beacon Laundry’s conversion was completed in spring 2000, bringing showroom and office uses into the former laundry. The landmark building and restored rooftop sign survived the transition, giving this Washington Boulevard old-timer another chapter beyond washday. 10-26
Herald Examiner Building (Closed)
Los Angeles, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The newspaper presses have stopped, but the Herald Examiner Building still makes quite an impression along Broadway. Its arches, decorative tile, and Mission Revival styling give this downtown corner a look that’s hard to confuse with a modern office block.
Commissioned by William Randolph Hearst and opened in 1915, the building was designed by Julia Morgan, whose work also included Hearst Castle. Even the newspaper’s headquarters received a little architectural grandeur, with an ornate lobby welcoming visitors beyond the street frontage.
The Herald Examiner printed its final issue on November 2, 1989, following a troubled period that included an eleven-year labor strike beginning in 1967. The building outlasted the paper, spending years awaiting a new use while also finding work as a filming location.
UPDATE: The restored Herald Examiner Building reopened in 2021 as Arizona State University’s Los Angeles campus. Designated a city landmark in 1977, the old newspaper headquarters now houses educational programs, giving this Broadway survivor another busy chapter. 10-26
Helms Bakery (Closed)
Culver City, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Helms Bakery Building, lying in both Los Angeles and Culver
City jurisdictions, has been a cultural landmark for years. Construction
of the facility began in 1930. There were eight additions in its first
decade, as growth of the bakery business in Los Angeles was terrific.
In 1932, the Bakery was designated as the official bread for the 1932
Olympic Games held
in Los Angeles and the Bakery and the Helms Family were a part of every
family. The famous and recognizable 'coaches' drove the streets of Los
Angeles bringing its fabulous baked goods directly to front doors every
day. Every school child can recall their tours of the plant and receiving
a tiny loaf of bread and miniature paper Bakery 'coach' vehicle.
Helms Bakery (Closed)
Culver City, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Unfortunately the Bakery has been closed since 1969 and is now a center
for home furnishings and the arts. Over the past 25 years, the commercial
reuse of the facility is home to such retailers as the Antique Guild,
Homestead House, Dansk Mobile Export, Creative Galleries and Sears HomeLife
Furniture. Other arts groups such as the Jazz Bakery and the Gascon Center
Theatre have taken up residence. Many Los Angeles and Culver City graphic
artists, architects and designers have set up shop in the old general
offices of the Bakery. A visual treat to all onlookers, the Helms sign
pointed eastward is a not-to-be missed item. There are imminent plans
that this rooftop sign will be renovated and restored to its grandeur. Many thanks to Wally Marks, property owner of the Helm's Bakery/Beacon
Laundry locations for history write-up of this historic site.
UPDATE: The Helms complex survives as the Helms Bakery District, with its historic rooftop signs and familiar Olympic Bread lettering preserved. The old delivery fleet has passed into memory, but there’s still plenty happening beneath the bakery name. 10-26
Angels Flight
Beacon Laundry (Closed)
Beacon Laundry (Closed)
Herald Examiner Building (Closed)
Helms Bakery (Closed)
Helms Bakery (Closed)
