A singing lark and a speeding Lark, both are creatures of the dawn. From 1941 until April 8, 1968, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company operated the Lark overnight passenger train on the 470-mile run between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Lark was train #75 (northbound) and #76 (southbound). It was the only all-room/roomette sleeping…
So much stuff is already out there about Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom, that I always hesitate. But this is one that I honestly don’t remember. Maybe because it didn’t last long as a “futuristic” feature at the entrance to Tomorrowland. (But most likely because I was one of those crazed kids rushing pell mell…
“Novelty,” “mimetic,” “programmatic,” “vernacular”—all are terms used to define the same crazy kind of “art imitates life” architecture that once dotted the L.A. cityscape (and much of the rest of the country, for that matter) starting in the 1920’s. You knew it when you saw it (and that was the point, of course). Puppies, chickens,…
L.A.’s “Shakespeare Bridge” was built in 1926. Located in Los Feliz on Franklin Avenue at the juncture of St. George Street, it was designed to cross a brushy ravine (now Monon Street, a dead end) to allow for the residential development of the Franklin Hills neighborhood. The bridge is short—a concrete confection with fanciful Gothic…
Inspired by my recent visit to The Autry‘s Route 66: The Road and the Romance (exhibit runs through January 4, 2015), I headed out last week to view a local bit of this history. I’ve been by the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia countless times over the years. The architectural stylings of the old building intrigue, but it’s not…
