Los Angeles herald., 1905-05-14

sarded as something very superfine.
A number of ambitious citizens
about this time began to erect some
what pretentious residences. Among
these were Ex-Governor John @. Down.
ey, who built brick residence or
Main street, just south of where tht
Van Nuys hotel now stands, and
which, by the way, was transferred tc
the late Stephen NJ White for q law
fee. Col. James G. Howard, then a
prosperous lawyer built himself an
elegant home on the present site oi
the Van Nuys hotel Here and there
all over the city began to go ur
| houses in line with the new and Amer
lean impulse. OF these new erectiona
the beautiful Childs place on Main
street. recently purchased by II. f.
Huntington for $25OOOO was the most
distinctive.
AS an instance of the enhancements
which have been witnessed in Los An
geles, it may be mentioned that the
late o. w. Chlds received the spacious
grounds which surround the house and
much other property, which was after
ward sold as the Childs tract, from
the city for digging an irrigating ditch
which would not have cost many hun
dred dollars in cash.
So have been rewarded those who had
| faith in the future of Los Angeles.
Most of the residences in the American
style that at this time began to spring
up about Los Angeles were of a modest
and homelike character, but they have
combined in the making of an attrac-
tive city. The Chester place, West
Adams and Figueroa street features
of Los Angeles, and which are not
surpassed on the American continent
for elegance and charm, came in the
fullness of time.
Beginnings of Los Angeles
The first really noble block which
was erected in Los Angeles was put
named after him. 1t was built on the
site of the old Don Abel Stearns man.
sion and still remains one of the orna-
ments of Main street 1t was built
In the hard times following upon the
drouth and smallpox epidemic of
1857, and was intended by him as a
monument of his faith in the future
of the city. 1t certainly served it's
intended purpose of inspiriting a peo-
pie who were then playing in very hard
luck. His widow, who is regarded
as the richest woman in Southern Cali
fornia, still resides in it as the dis
renser of an elegant hospitality.
The next pretentious business and
office building erected in Los Angeles
was the Bryson-B -Bonebrake block
which replaced an old school building
which, with the lots, the city sold to
these gentlemen for 100000. Gov.
Leland Stanford who paid us a visit
shortly after it's erection, told a party
of Angelenos that he regarded 1t as,
in many respects, the handsomest
business edifice in the state. That,
however, was some fourteen or fifteen
years ago, and since then both San
Francisco and Los Angeles have made
many a step in advance.
In due time along came Ezra Slim
son, rich lumber merchant of Chi
cago, and built the block which bears
his name, at the corner of Third and
Spring. He also put up a palatial
residence on Figueroa street which is
today one of the most impressive man
sions in Los Angeles. And then came
the Bradbury and Douglas blocks and
other blocks galore. And these in turn
led up to the Huntington building,
corner of Sixth and Main, the largest
of its kind and the most elaborately
appointed on the continent the Braly
and H. w. Hellman buildings and the
Lankershim and Angelus and Van
Nuys hotels, and many others which
would attract attention anywhere.
The greatest achievement in street
building ever accomplished in Los An
geles was in the creation of Broadway.
In the old days this now busy and
splendid thoroughfare was a sleepy old
street named Fort A lot of energetic
business men and property holders took
hold of it, changed its name to that
which it now bears and pushed it for
all that was out to employ a colloquial
term. They tunneled through to So
noratown and pushed the Third street
tunnel to completion. The first modern
blocks erected on it were that in which
the American National bank has it's
quarters, the Potomac building and
that erected by John D. Bicknell. Then
came the Byrne building and others,