Broadway was originally named Ford Street and is one of the oldest streets inLos Angeles. It was laid out byEdward Ord as part of his 1849 plan for the city. The street began at the south side of Fort Moore Hill, one block north ofTemple Street. It was named afterFort Moore.[4]
In 1890, Ford Street was renamed Broadway from1st to10th Street, while the rest was renamed North Broadway.[5][6] Proposals to connect Broadway to Buena Vista Street (now North Broadway) and also extend Broadway south into what was part ofMain Street were made as early as February 1891.[7] TheBroadway Tunnel opened in 1901, traveling through Fort Moore Hill and extending North Broadway to Buena Vista Street atBellevue Avenue.[8]
A bridge across theLos Angeles River opened in 1911, connecting Buena Vista Street to Downey Avenue, both of which were renamed North Broadway[9][10][11] despite significant objections from residents and landowners.[12][13][14][15] The bridge was referred to as Buena Vista Street Bridge even after the streets were renamed.[16]
A section of Broadway in South Los Angeles was named Moneta Avenue until 1923.[8]
Los Angeles's premier theater district shifted toHollywood in the 1920s,[20] while its commercial center left Broadway in the 1950s,[1] after which Broadway declined significantly.
In 2008, the City of Los Angeles launched a $40-million ($58.4 million in2024) campaign to revitalize Broadway, known asBringing Back Broadway, this despite some merchants' concerns that the campaign would spread the gentrification occurring in other parts of downtown to Broadway.[26] The campaign's commission, led byCity CouncilmanJose Huizar, recommended widening sidewalks, eliminating traffic lanes, constructing new parking structures, and addingstreetcar service reminiscent of the street's past.[27]
In 2014, a pedestrian-friendly project widened Broadway's sidewalks and replaced its parking lane with planters, chairs, and cafe tables. MayorEric Garcetti said the effort, part of the largerGreat Streets Initiative that focused on walkability and transit throughout Los Angeles, represented "a shift from the way that our neighborhoods have been planned."[28]
1905 view south on Broadway from Temple. Times Mirror printing house in foreground, marked 110 N. Broadway. The 1888 City Hall towers on Broadway's 200 block in the distance.Fort Moore Hill, now leveled, at right.
c.1893–1900, looking east at Broadway along Third from Bunker Hill
The three-story brickWomen's Christian Temperance Union building was erected in 1888 for $45,000.[31] Also known as theTemperance Temple, it has been demolished[32] and was replaced in 1957 by the Los Angeles County Central Heating and Refrigeration Plant.[33]
This location was at the time known as Pound Cake Hill. The buildings located here faced New High Street to their east and Broadway to their west. They were as follows:[34]
Los Angeles High School, whose original location (1873-1887) was between New High on the west and Broadway on the east, south of Temple Street. It was moved to California and Sand streets, and in 1890 a new facility was built onFort Moore Hill, immediately north of where Broadway today crosses the Hollywood Freeway. The Pound Cake Hill school was demolished and replaced by:
First, theRed Stone Courthouse (or "Red Sandstone Courthouse"), which took over the function of courthouse from the Clocktower Courthouse (also called the Temple Courthouse). It was damaged beyond repair by the Long Beach earthquake of 1933 and was torn down in 1936.
Looking south along Broadway from First, 1904-5. At right, from left to right: C.H. Frost Building, 141-3, the turreted Roanoke Bldg, Newell & Gammon Bldg., Mason Opera House. At left, Chamber of Commerce, 1888 City Hall.
Site of theCulver Block retail and office building.[38] Now the site of theTimes Mirror Square 1973 Pereira Addition, so called because it was designed byWilliam Pereira.
South of the Culver Block was theLos Angeles Chamber of Commerce Building, 128–130 S. Broadway, opened February 12, 1904,[39] a landmark at the time featured on postcards and in books. 6 stories, 4 floors. Ground floor offices included those of theLos Angeles Herald and Consolidated Bank.[40]
From left to right: C.H. Frost Building, Roanoke Bldg., Newell & Gammon Bldg., and Mason Opera House
The southwest corner, during Victorian times the site of unremarkable retail and office buildings, was from 1958 the location of the State Office Building, (1958-60, architect Anson C. Boyd, razed 2006). It was named theJunipero Serra State Office Building, and this moniker would be transferred to the formerBroadway Department Store building at 4th and Broadway when it was opened to replace this building in 1998.[41] It is now the location of theNew U.S. Courthouse built in 2016, taking up the entire block between Broadway, Hill, First and Second.[42]
Just south of the southwest corner was theMason Theatre, 127 S. Broadway. Opened in 1903 as theMason Opera House, 1,600 seats.Benjamin Marshall of the Chicago firmMarshall & Wilson designed the building in association withJohn Parkinson. Marshall is known for designing theIroquois Theatre in Chicago. Remodeled in 1924 byMeyer & Holler. Later, as the Mason Theatre, it showed Spanish-language films. Demolished 1955.[43]
145 S. Broadway,[44]site of theC. H. Frost Building, later known as theHaig M. Prince Building. Built 1898, architectJohn Parkinson,[45] Now the location of thenew United States Courthouse built in 2016, taking up the entire block between Broadway, Hill, First and Second.[42]
One of severalHellman Buildings across Downtown L.A. — not to be confused with the still-existingHellman Building at Fourth and Spring — was located here (#138) from 1897 to 1959.[46] The site is now a parking structure, part of theTimes Mirror Square complex.
American National Bank Building, southwest corner, 1890. To the left are the turret and two gables of the YMCA Building (1889), then the Potomac Block (1890)
Boston Dry Goods and Harris Newmark buildings(Blanchard Hall), 1899
The west side of the 200 block of South Broadway had a key place in theretail history of Los Angeles from the 1893 through 1917, as it was home to several prominent early department stores such as theVille de Paris,Coulter's department store from 1905–1917, andJ. W. Robinson's "Boston Dry Goods" store from 1895–1915. All three stores would move toSeventh Street when it became the upscale shopping street between 1915 and 1917.
On the southwest corner of 2nd and Broadway wasJudge O'Melveny's house, built in 1870. This was replaced by theAmerican National Bank (laterCalifornia Bank) Building, which in turn was replaced by theCalifornia Building in 1911. Nos. 201-213 Broadway are now known as theBroadway Media Center.
Further south on the west side of Broadway, was 207–211, location of the:
YMCA Building (#207–209–211), Romanesque Revival architecture, opened in July 1889, demolished in 1903.
The YMCA operated here at #207 from 1889 until 1903,
City of London opened here in August 1891, run by Messrs. Hiles and Niccolls, who came from theCity of Paris department store. It carried curtains, window shades, comforters, and the like.[47] It operated here until August 1895, when it moved next door to the Potomac Block at #213.[48]
The YMCA Building was demolished to make way for the:
The adjacentPotomac Block andBicknell Block originally housed prominent retailers of the day, then were joined together in 1906 byCoulter's department store to form a complex, opening it as a new, 157,000 sq ft (14,600 m2) store in June, 1905.[50][51][52]
City of London Dry Goods Co., which moved here from next door at #211 in August 1895 and advertised for this location through August 1899.[48]
It was the first time major retail stores opened on South Broadway, in what would be a shift of the upmarket shopping district from 1890 to 1905 from around First and Spring to South Broadway. In 1904, Coulter's bought the Potomac Block, and combined it with the Bicknell block to create its new store that opened in 1905.
After Coulter's moved:
215 continued as a branch of Coulter's through 1927. Then, 215–217 was home to the Pacific Furniture House in the 1940s.
219 housed Fisch's Department Store in the 1940s.
The building was demolished in 1953 and is still the site of a parking lot.[55]
TheBicknell Block (or Bicknell Building) at 225–229 S. Broadway, with back entrances at 224–228 S. Hill Street. was part of Coulter's from 1905 from 1917. After Coulter's moved in 1917, it housed theWestern Shoe Co. (through 1922), later known as the Western Department Store (1922–1928). Lettering covered the face of the building from top to bottom through the end of the 1950s: "THE LARGEST SHOE DEPT. IN THE WEST".[56]
231-235, theHarris Newmark Building, Blanchard Hall Music & Art Building 1899, Abram Edelman), Bartlett Music Co. (#233), annex to J. W. Robinson's (#235); Goodwill Industries store (#233-235, 1950s–60s). The building still stands, but all floors except the ground floor have been removed.
237-241, theBoston Dry Goods Building (completed 1895, demolished, architectsTheodore Eisen andSumner Hunt, designer of theBradbury Building)[57][58] The building was home toJ. W. Robinson's "Boston Dry Goods" store from 1895 to 1915,Scott's Department Store (239–241, 1920s),Third Street Store (237–241, 1950s–60s). Demolished, currently the site of a parking lot.
Looking north along Broadway, east side, past 2nd Street. From top left: Los Angeles Times Bldg., the 1911 Hall of Records behind it, the Chamber of Commerce Bldg., Hellman Bldg., Nolan, Smith and Bridge Bldg., Gordon Bldg., Crocker Bldg., Copp Bldg., 1888 City Hall
B'nai B'rith Temple (1873), 214 S. Broadway (post-1890 numbering), the city's first synagogue, razed to make way for theCopp Building, 218–224 S. Broadway, home to the original (1908)Pig 'n Whistle candy shop and tea room.[64] The Pig 'n Whistle would open locations at 7th and Broadway and in Hollywood, where it would become a landmark restaurant that still operates today.
City Hall (1888–1928; opened 1888, demolished 1929; 228–238 S. Broadway, architect Solomon Irmscher Haas,Romanesque Revival). Now a parking lot. Three stories, it had a 150-foot (46 m)campanile. Red and brown brick. Housed theLos Angeles Public Library for a time until it moved to the newHamburger's department store building at Eighth and Broadway in 1908.[65] The site is now part of the "(213) S. Spring" parking garage.[37]
#240-246 theHosfield Building, location of theNatatorium (indoor swimming pool) in 1894 and theImperial Restaurant in 1906.[63] After 1964, location ofVictor Clothing, notable for its changing murals reflecting localChicano culture. Victor Clothing operated here until 2001, and was known for its frequent ads on Spanish-language television.[66]
The corner is home to one of the oldest buildings outside the Plaza area, the 1895Irvine-Byrne Building or Irvine Block or Byrne Building; now called thePan American Lofts. The architect wasSumner Hunt. It was built in a hybrid Spanish Colonial Revival/Beaux-Arts style.
The building was home to the renownedI. Magnin clothing store that opened here on January 2, 1899;[67] on June 19, 1904, I. Magnin announced that the Los Angeles store would henceforth be known asMyer Siegel.[60] After a fire at the Irvine Byrne Building destroyed its store on February 16, 1911, Myer Siegel moved further south on Broadway.
It was modernized and converted to lofts in 2007 and given its present name. The halls and staircase have appeared in many films and television commercials.[68]
From Third Street south to Olympic Blvd. (originally Tenth St.), and from Hill Street east to Los Angeles Street, including Broadway, is theHistoric Core district, the city's main commercial and entertainment area in the first half of the 20th century.
Originally theJ. C. Graves house stood here; Graves bought the property in 1879 for $2,250. The house was sold and removed to 10th and Hope streets in 1888.
Rindge Block (1898, sold in 1899 for $190,000 toFrederick H. Rindge, the "King of Malibu"), 248–260 S. Broadway, commercial building; the top floors were removed and only the ground floor remains.
Million Dollar Theatre, (1917-8, architects Albert C. Martin and William Lee Woollett,Spanish Baroque Revival style, 2,345 seats), 307 (orig. 301–313) S. Broadway. It is the northernmost of the movie palaces that comprise theBroadway Theater District and is listed in theNational Register of Historic Places.[70] Built bySid Grauman who would later openGrauman's Chinese Theatre inHollywood. The theater was designed by architects with a fanciful facade in theChurrigueresque style. After more than 30 years as one of the city's most prestigious first-run movie palaces, the Million Dollar Theater presented Spanish-language films andvariety shows from 1950 until the late 1980s. The theater had a seating capacity of 2,345 when it opened in 1918.[71]
Before that, from c. 1895–1917, theMuskegon Block stood on the site,[72] (built c. 1895),[73] named afterMuskegon, Michigan where its developerThomas Douglas Stimson had made his fortune in lumber. From 1905–1917, theVille de Paris department store was located next door at theHomer Laughlin Building, and the Muskegon Block housed retail tenants such as millinery, men's furnishings, jewelry, piano and music stores,[74] as well as offices.
Metro Local bus line 45 serves most of the length of Broadway, between Lincoln Heights through Downtown to the Harbor Freeway Station. Local routes 4, 30, and 40 serve portions of Broadway downtown.
^"More New Buildings".The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. May 8, 1895. p. 8.Among the building permits issued by the Building Superintendent yesterday was one taken out by T. D. Stimson for a two-story building on the southwest corner of Broadway and Third street. The building is to be in size 120x120 feet. The estimated cost of the structure is $26,000.
^"Advertisement for Parry men's furnishings, 303 S. Broadway".Los Angeles Evening Express. December 19, 1896. p. 2.;"Ad for Geneva Watch and Optical Co., 305 S. Broadway".The Los Angeles Times. January 1, 1904. p. 12.;"Ad for A. J. Riethmuller "The Rival" millinery, 309 S. Broadway".The Los Angeles Times. April 17, 1898. p. 56.;"Ad for Bauman's millinery, 309 S. Broadway".The Los Angeles Times. May 11, 1897. p. 12.;"Ad for Blair's shoe store, 311 S. Broadway".The Los Angeles Times. October 4, 1903. p. 21.;"Ad for Kohler & Chase music store, 311 S. Broadway".Los Angeles Evening Express. May 19, 1916. p. 11.;"Ad for Brown's music store, 313 S. Broadway".The Los Angeles Times. February 28, 1904. p. 12.
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