Seventh Street

Downtown Los Angeles, CA

Although Los Angeles is polycentric and does not have a downtown in the sense of a unary economic center that is the focus of the metropolis (such as The Loop in Chicago), the downtown is still a vibrant area with a rich architectural heritage. Indeed, if someone were walking down Seventh Street in the mid 1920s, the effect might not be that different from walking down Broadway in New York at the same time. It was after the 1930s Depression and the explosion of post-WW-II suburbanization that the destinies of these two cities so radically diverged.

Seventh Street emerged as a commercial corridor in the first two decades of the 20th century. Accordingly, the dominant architectural style was Beaux Arts, with later Art Deco facades resulting from renovations of existing Beaux Arts structures in the 1930s.

The post-WW-II decline of Seventh Street was exacerbated by the urban renewal of Bunker Hill that created a new, modernist commercial center to the north. Ironically, this may have served to help protect Seventh Street since the buildings were simply deserted rather than demolished to make way for new construction. I visited in 2013 when many of the lovely old office buildings had been converted into dorms for rich folks.

These photos roughly follow the self-guided tour from the Los Angeles Conservancy, Strolling on Seventh Street and proceed from west to east.

04/08/2013 12:11:20
Harbor Freeway (110)
04/08/2013 12:12:04
Harbor Freeway (110)
04/08/2013 12:14:42
Ernst and Young Plaza (725 South Figueroa)
04/08/2013 12:19:18
Wilshire Grand / Statler Hotel, 930 Wilshire Blvd. (1952
04/08/2013 12:20:58
Wilshire Grand / Statler Hotel, 930 Wilshire Blvd. (1952
04/08/2013 12:21:06
Wilshire Grand / Statler Hotel, 930 Wilshire Blvd. (1952
04/13/2013 19:57:30
Wilshire Grand / Statler Hotel, 930 Wilshire Blvd. (1952
04/13/2013 19:57:40
Wilshire Grand / Statler Hotel, 930 Wilshire Blvd. (1952
04/13/2013 19:58:10
Wilshire Grand / Statler Hotel, 930 Wilshire Blvd. (1952
04/08/2013 12:19:30
Home Savings of America Tower, 831 West Seventh (1989)
04/08/2013 12:22:42
Barker Brothers Building, 818 West Seventh (1926)
04/08/2013 12:24:46
Barker Brothers Building, 818 West Seventh (1926)
04/08/2013 12:23:06
Fine Arts Building, 811 West Seventh (1926)
04/08/2013 12:25:42
Roosevelt Building, 727 West Seventh (1927)
04/08/2013 12:28:30
Broadway Plaza, 700 West Seventh (1973)
04/08/2013 12:29:56
Brockman Building, 530 West Seventh (1912)
04/08/2013 12:30:32
Looking north on Grand Avenue from Seventh Street
04/08/2013 12:31:00
J.W. Robinson Company, 600 West Seventh (1915 / 1934)
04/08/2013 12:32:32
Alley, 505 West Seventh
04/08/2013 12:34:34
Coulter Dry Goods Company, 500 West Seventh (1917)
04/08/2013 12:35:40
Seventh Street
04/08/2013 12:36:40
Alley, 411 West Seventh
04/08/2013 12:37:06
Huntsberger-Mennell Building, 412 West Seventh (1917)
04/08/2013 12:37:58
Seventh Street
04/08/2013 12:38:22
Foreman and Clark Building, 400 West Seventh (1928)
04/08/2013 12:38:38
400 block of West Seventh, south side
04/08/2013 12:42:52
Dunn-Williams Building / Sprckles Building, 714 West Seventh (1922)
04/08/2013 12:43:36
Clifton's Cafeteria, 648 South Broadway
04/08/2013 12:44:40
Loew's State Theatre, 300 West Seventh (1921)
04/08/2013 12:48:28
Corleone Pizza, 310 West Seventh
04/08/2013 12:52:24
Corleone Pizza, 310 West Seventh
04/08/2013 13:13:04
Haas Building, 219 West Seventh (1915 / 1970s)
04/08/2013 13:14:40
Haas Building, 219 West Seventh (1915 / 1970s)
04/08/2013 13:17:10
I.N. Van Nuys Building, 210 West Seventh (1911)
04/08/2013 13:15:26
Hellman Commercial Trust and Savings Bank, 650 South Spring (1925)
04/08/2013 13:18:12
Hellman Commercial Trust and Savings Bank, 650 South Spring (1925)
04/08/2013 13:18:54
Hotel Cecil, 640 S. Main Street
04/08/2013 13:19:40
Board of Trade Building, 111 West Seventh (1926)
04/08/2013 13:22:46
Looking west down Seventh Street from Main Street
04/08/2013 13:24:02
Looking west down Seventh Street from Los Angeles Street
04/08/2013 13:24:16
Transportation Building, 122 East Seventh (1924)
04/08/2013 13:26:10
Looking east down Seventh Street away from downtown
04/08/2013 13:26:20
Builders' Exchange Building, 209 East Seventh (1925)
04/08/2013 13:27:04
Seventh Street at Los Angeles Street, NW corner
04/08/2013 13:33:16
Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, 700 South Main (1899)

Next: Los Angeles Stock Exchange