Lost L.A. comes to life in reissued book about the city before freeways forever changed it

Not agelong aft his accomplishment successful Los Angeles 3 decades ago, Nathan Marsak bought a 1949 Packard, the benignant of car champion suited for old-timey gangsters and detectives, not an architectural historiographer who near Wisconsin to determination to the metropolis of his dreams. But helium wanted to unrecorded “the L.A. noir life,” helium says, and nary different conveyance seemed much appropriate.

“The L.A. bug conscionable spot me. I wanted to look for the satellite of James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler, and I did,” helium says. “I drove my Packard around, looking for signs of the old, decrepit, dissolute Los Angeles, and I recovered it successful spades. I had tons of adventures.”

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

From the aged suits helium wears to the large Highland Park location wherever helium lives with his family, Marsak has a heavy affection for vintage things. (He does person an iPhone, though, and his woman did speech him into a microwave — but the plan had to beryllium retro.) Marsak’s affection for the past extends to Arnold Hylen, a solitary, mild-mannered Swedish émigré, whose publication of mid-20th period photos and an effort astir aged Los Angeles, “Los Angeles Before the Freeways 1850-1950: Images of an Era,” was precocious reissued by Angel City Press successful a caller variation curated and expanded by Marsak.

Not simply a facsimile, the caller variation has been augmented with further text, notes, caller layouts and much Hylen photos of an aged metropolis connected the verge of being swallowed up by the caller — a process of taste erasure that crops up successful galore criticisms of Los Angeles arsenic a superficial spot with nary heavy consciousness of itself. Marsak disagrees — benignant of.

“It’s deserved, and it’s undeserved,” helium says. “I’ve been each over, and it’s unfair to prime connected Los Angeles alone. But I deliberation the city’s been an casual people conscionable due to the fact that we’ve had truthful galore high-profile losses of distinctive architecture here. That stands retired successful people’s minds. Hylen was surely alert of those losses and they disquieted him. If they hadn’t, I don’t deliberation helium would’ve felt an obsessive thrust to chronicle the aged city.”

A banner crossed 7th Street, looking westbound astatine Figueroa Street, welcomes Atlanta’s Yaarab Shrine to the Shriner’s Convention successful 1950. The Samsonite building, left, primitively a Hellman Bank, was torn down for a Union Oil work presumption successful 1956.

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

Arthur Hylen, pictured successful 1955, began photographing the metropolis during World War II.

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

Hylen lived a quiescent bachelor life, Marsak says, and ne'er imagined his photos would 1 time beryllium among those by William Reagh, Leonard Nadel, Theodore Seymour Hall and Virgil Mirano. He was calved successful 1908 and arrived successful Vermont from Sweden erstwhile helium was inactive a baby, relocating to Southern California with his household successful 1917. As a teen helium studied creation astatine the Chouinard Art Institute successful L.A.’s Westlake vicinity and recovered enactment successful World War II arsenic a lensman and decorator of income materials and commercialized amusement exhibits for Fluor Corp., an lipid and state engineering and operation firm.

As helium photographed refineries, his eyes opened to the surrounding city. As Marsak describes successful the book’s introduction, he’d “spend the time walking the streets, camera successful hand, which fed his involvement successful the fast-disappearing downtown area, Bunker Hill successful particular.”

“I deliberation helium knew the worth perfectly of what helium was doing for himself and different like-minded spirits,” Marsak says, “but I don’t deliberation helium knew what to bash with the photos.”

Mason Opera House, 125-127 S. Broadway, opened successful 1903, and by the clip of this circa 1951 photograph was a Spanish-language movie and vaudeville venue.

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

Thankfully, Glen Dawson did. An iconic fig successful L.A.’s literate landscape, Dawson utilized his tiny property to people 2 books of Hylen’s photos. Marsak learned astir them (thanks to an enthusiastic barfly helium encountered successful an L.A. dive) and recovered some successful the utilized bookstores erstwhile existing connected 6th Street: “Bunker Hill: A Los Angeles Landmark” (1976) and “Los Angeles Before the Freeways,” the second published not agelong earlier Hylen’s 1987 death. Marsak spent galore years persuading the photographer’s relatives to merchantability him the rights to republish Hylen’s enactment — selling his beloved Packard to money that purchase.

Los Angeles Before the Freeways was primitively published successful 1981, past went retired of print.

Marsak’s dedication has paid off: “Los Angeles Before the Freeways” is an engrossing postulation of black-and-white images of a metropolis successful which aged adobe structures beryllium betwixt Italianate bureau buildings oregon peek retired from down aged signs, elegant homes teeter connected the borderline of steep hillsides, and routes agelong utilized by locals would soon beryllium demolished to marque country for freeways. These images are accompanied by Hylen’s book-length essay, which runs similar a documentarian’s voice-over passim the collection.

The archetypal Los Angeles High School was demolished successful 1949 to marque mode for the Hollywood Freeway.

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

A presumption of the Hollywood Freeway nether operation circa 1952

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

Two notable changes for this edition: More photos and the determination to usage Hylen’s uncropped photos, which supply a richer consciousness of locale and much photos. There were 116 photos successful the archetypal book; Marsak went done Hylen’s negatives and recovered much photos, resulting successful 143 images successful the caller edition.

Marsak supplies an introductory effort and an invaluable usher to the galore architectural styles belonging to L.A.’s past. His footnotes and captions besides heighten our knowing of the photos: In immoderate cases, helium uses them to close immoderate mendacious claims that Hylen makes successful his effort (for instance, that a agelong chromatic trough connected Olvera Street was a Gabrielino relic erstwhile successful information it was really created by a section rancher).

The Bur-Mar Hotel located astatine 514 S. Figueroa St. became a parking batch successful 1957, portion the Richfield Tower, built successful 1929, was demolished successful 1968 for the ARCO towers task on with the remainder of the structures connected the block.

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

There are nary peculiar effects oregon gimmicks to Hylen’s photos, nary staging oregon posed imagery — helium lets these forgotten edifices talk for themselves. They scope from the magnificent, Romanesque detailing of the Stimson Block (the city’s archetypal ample steel-frame skyscraper connected Figueroa Street) to the multi-gabled, Queen Anne charm of the Melrose, a location built connected Bunker Hill by a retired oilman.

The Natick Hotel gathering astatine 1st and Main was primitively constructed arsenic portion of an bureau gathering successful 1882 and turned into a edifice successful 1884. It was torn down to go a parking batch successful 1950.

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

Occasionally, though, Hylen’s lens does springiness america thing a spot much impressionistic and emblematic of his thesis astir L.A.’s vanishing history. Take, for example, a photograph of the Paris Inn connected East Market Street. The small French-style inn, which opened successful 1930, stands successful crisp alleviation successful the foreground portion City Hall hovers similar a faint shade successful the background, suggesting that a much modern mentation of L.A. is connected the verge of materializing retired of bladed air.

Nathan Marsak sold his vintage Packard to assistance concern the reissue of “Los Angeles Before the Freeways,” which includes antecedently unpublished photos.

(Angel City Press astatine the Los Angeles Public Library)

For Marsak, who spends his clip researching aged L.A., giving lectures, serving arsenic an Angels Flight relation and moving with section preservationist groups, Hylen’s enactment fills an important spread successful L.A.’s past. He hopes readers, particularly Angelenos, volition travel distant with a deeper appreciation for their city.

“There’s a saying that erstwhile something’s gone, it’s gone for good, and 98% of the worldly successful this publication is gone,” helium said. “Anyone who looks astatine this publication astir apt already has a preservationist impulse, but if they don’t, if I tin airy the preservation occurrence nether astatine slightest 1 of them, each the hard enactment volition person been worthy it. I truly anticipation seeing this enactment volition marque Angelenos deliberation much astir their ain neighborhoods. I deliberation Hylen would admit that.”