unfortunately, Beverly W. you will find that some of those suburbs areas like la puente are in probably worse shape than boyle heights was back in those early days. that is a big shame in itself. a reason to continue the “flight” that occured back in the 60’s to even farther locations. recently it seems that the push to bring boyle heights back to LIFE again is underway with new homes being built near downtown and also the reconditioning of old buildings, with the creation of lofts and condos in that area. the cycle is beginning. i will always remember the way it was.
the court house and/or coroner must have existed before the 710 fwy because i have never seen or heard of either. i have live in the area since mid fifties. i may be wrong or your location may be wrong. (unlikely) Now my interest is peaked. i will investigate.
thanks, ken mc for the great pictures. my faint memory of the that haunting interior became clear and defined once again as if it were yesterday. i can still hear the classical music playing while waiting for the movie to start.
To any residents of E.L.A./Boyle Heights for the last twenty years or more, Cesar Chavez
Av. will always be Brooklyn Av. Having said that, i was born, raised in and will always relate to my Boyle Heights roots. Lincoln Hospital was my birthplace in 1954. We lived on Gleason Av. near Lorena. I remember street looking out at the fourth street bridge from our front steps, seeing the first 747 fly overhead, street football games, the Mercado on First Street under construction and shaking Bobby Kennedy’s hand as he drove by it during his 1968 campaign. That was a rush. I remember walking to Our Lady of Talpa through all the alleys in my neighborhood. Seeing the narrow column of black smoke from the Evergreen Cememtary Cremetorium. Later years would find me waxing my 64' Chevy under a shady tree in that cemetary. i recall shopping up and down first street , taking the bus a few blocks with my mother to The First Street Store. Walking into Lee Mars Mens Clothing Store, where i later attempted to get a job that never materialized. The Unique theatre , where my grandmother would take me to see Spanish Language movies. Back Then i never understood one word. It wasn’t until high school (Salesian) that i began to learn. Then having a Tom’s Burger for lunch. The warm summer nights would find us at the corner of indiana and Third Street where my dad would buy a huge bucket of raspadas with extra juice that we would take back to eat on our front lawn and stay there till one or two in the morning. Ha! try doing that now. I remember waiting for my dad to get home on Fridays so we could go to either Thrifty’s at Atlantic Square for all you can eat fish dinner or to the Triangle Bowl , yes, it was later called Lucky Lanes, where i would have one of huge burgers on a sesame seed bun and these huge fries and a coke. I was the luckiest kid in the world. Who needed an Ipod. Before the 60 fwy. there was a restaurant on Atlantic with a pig on it’s sign, wish i remembered the name. the best blue cheese dressing on a cold crispy salad. i remember Two Guys dept. store and Atlantic Savings , where my aunt worked. She and my cousins lived on Amalia St. Largo’s Mitote Restaurant , maybe still standing, where my Sunday dinner consisted of Chorizo and eggs. The best brownies at the Jewish Bakery near Soto and Brooklyn. The RTD turnaround at Rowan and Brooklyn. El Tepeyac, the bonfires at Evergreen Playground, buying 45’s at the Mercado record store, gettin my hair cut by Dan’s Barber shop on Third street, where he once proclaimed That FM radiio would be the wave of the future, and buying firecrackers from a robed woman on Concord Av. Certainly i remember the cold nights at the Golden Gate Theatre where my mom wrap a blanket around me on our walk to and from the theatre after a late night movie where the whole time, i was obsessed with the majestic and scary architecture of it’s interior. …Whew! sorry i was in a zone. thanks for the memories…
truly some amazing detailed photos of what was once the flagship theatre of that area. thank you ken for jarring my memory.
unfortunately, Beverly W. you will find that some of those suburbs areas like la puente are in probably worse shape than boyle heights was back in those early days. that is a big shame in itself. a reason to continue the “flight” that occured back in the 60’s to even farther locations. recently it seems that the push to bring boyle heights back to LIFE again is underway with new homes being built near downtown and also the reconditioning of old buildings, with the creation of lofts and condos in that area. the cycle is beginning. i will always remember the way it was.
the court house and/or coroner must have existed before the 710 fwy because i have never seen or heard of either. i have live in the area since mid fifties. i may be wrong or your location may be wrong. (unlikely) Now my interest is peaked. i will investigate.
thanks, ken mc for the great pictures. my faint memory of the that haunting interior became clear and defined once again as if it were yesterday. i can still hear the classical music playing while waiting for the movie to start.
To any residents of E.L.A./Boyle Heights for the last twenty years or more, Cesar Chavez
Av. will always be Brooklyn Av. Having said that, i was born, raised in and will always relate to my Boyle Heights roots. Lincoln Hospital was my birthplace in 1954. We lived on Gleason Av. near Lorena. I remember street looking out at the fourth street bridge from our front steps, seeing the first 747 fly overhead, street football games, the Mercado on First Street under construction and shaking Bobby Kennedy’s hand as he drove by it during his 1968 campaign. That was a rush. I remember walking to Our Lady of Talpa through all the alleys in my neighborhood. Seeing the narrow column of black smoke from the Evergreen Cememtary Cremetorium. Later years would find me waxing my 64' Chevy under a shady tree in that cemetary. i recall shopping up and down first street , taking the bus a few blocks with my mother to The First Street Store. Walking into Lee Mars Mens Clothing Store, where i later attempted to get a job that never materialized. The Unique theatre , where my grandmother would take me to see Spanish Language movies. Back Then i never understood one word. It wasn’t until high school (Salesian) that i began to learn. Then having a Tom’s Burger for lunch. The warm summer nights would find us at the corner of indiana and Third Street where my dad would buy a huge bucket of raspadas with extra juice that we would take back to eat on our front lawn and stay there till one or two in the morning. Ha! try doing that now. I remember waiting for my dad to get home on Fridays so we could go to either Thrifty’s at Atlantic Square for all you can eat fish dinner or to the Triangle Bowl , yes, it was later called Lucky Lanes, where i would have one of huge burgers on a sesame seed bun and these huge fries and a coke. I was the luckiest kid in the world. Who needed an Ipod. Before the 60 fwy. there was a restaurant on Atlantic with a pig on it’s sign, wish i remembered the name. the best blue cheese dressing on a cold crispy salad. i remember Two Guys dept. store and Atlantic Savings , where my aunt worked. She and my cousins lived on Amalia St. Largo’s Mitote Restaurant , maybe still standing, where my Sunday dinner consisted of Chorizo and eggs. The best brownies at the Jewish Bakery near Soto and Brooklyn. The RTD turnaround at Rowan and Brooklyn. El Tepeyac, the bonfires at Evergreen Playground, buying 45’s at the Mercado record store, gettin my hair cut by Dan’s Barber shop on Third street, where he once proclaimed That FM radiio would be the wave of the future, and buying firecrackers from a robed woman on Concord Av. Certainly i remember the cold nights at the Golden Gate Theatre where my mom wrap a blanket around me on our walk to and from the theatre after a late night movie where the whole time, i was obsessed with the majestic and scary architecture of it’s interior. …Whew! sorry i was in a zone. thanks for the memories…