La Verne is an example of a city that has an alternate approach to historic preservation. It has no true historic preservation ordinance, yet can still protect identified historic resources throughout the city.  Individual properties can be designated as local landmarks by council resolution, with landmark nominations initiated by either property owner or the City.  However, […]

Monrovia contains a wealth of historic resources, ranging from the late nineteenth century through the postwar era. The city established its historic preservation ordinance in 1995 and has since designated numerous landmarks, including the iconic Aztec Hotel on historic Route 66, as well as one historic district—the Wildrose Tract. Monrovia offers the popular Mills Act […]

This local landmark has been a site of community-based theatre for over fifty years, and is a rare example of streetcar commercial development in Hollywood.

Courtesy Security Pacific Collection / Los Angeles Public Library Wilshire Boulevard got its name from a flamboyant character named Henry Gaylord Wilshire. An Ohio transplant who went by his middle name, Wilshire was considered a “millionaire socialist.”  Gaylord Wilshire had many pursuits in his lifetime. At one time or another, he was a land speculator, an advertising billboard […]

Taking the Wilshire Boulevard Tour [in 2005] was as if I strolled along Memory Lane. I was school girl in 1927 when my family moved back to Los Angeles. Yes, that was a while ago; but I remember our living in an apartment a couple blocks from the Bryson and Arcady on Rampart. Both Westlake […]