some additional thoughts. the Vickrey Brunswig building, which is 501 N. Main, had three storefronts, which would have been 501, 503, 505. The Plaza Building, listed as 507, also had three shops – 507, 509, 511. Since the theater building (next in line) occupied what had been previously been two or three shops (the maps are a bit ambiguous) it could have been variously listed as 513, 515, or 517. La Esperanza Bakery was, we believe, in the Plaza House (e.g. 511 ½), therefore next to the theater building, not in it. It’s fascinating that vokoban found the theater listed in 1915 and 1920 as the Metropolitan, and then in 1923, 1925, and 1930 as the Estella. This would jive with the growing Mexican immigrant population in the neighborhood in the 20’s ( as opposed to the old Californio families), which might well have led to the conversion of the name, and to Spanish-language from English-language movies. As for the Teatro Hidalgo confusion, if it was listed at any point in the 500 block of North Main, that’s a puzzler. Perhaps the Hidalgo, which was surely two blocks further south in the 300 block (in a two story building, from the photos) closed and the Estella took over its more prestigious name?
our gratitude for this posting. you have helped solve the mystery that our design team has been working on for several months, which is to confirm the existence and nail down the name of a cinema in the building directly north of the historic Plaza House building (aka Garnier Block, not to be confused with the Pco Garnier Block) at 507 North Main. Sanborn maps of Los Angeles from 1928 show a “moving pictures” label on the plan view of the building, and we have found the same photos from the LA Public Library giving us a general shape of the building. but your retrieval of the review from the LA Times establishing not only the name but specific activities of the theater is enormously helpful. we’re prepared to dig further on this – do you have any suggestions of where to look? for example, where are the Parmamount movie advertisements cite at the top of the entry to be found? thanks…
some additional thoughts. the Vickrey Brunswig building, which is 501 N. Main, had three storefronts, which would have been 501, 503, 505. The Plaza Building, listed as 507, also had three shops – 507, 509, 511. Since the theater building (next in line) occupied what had been previously been two or three shops (the maps are a bit ambiguous) it could have been variously listed as 513, 515, or 517. La Esperanza Bakery was, we believe, in the Plaza House (e.g. 511 ½), therefore next to the theater building, not in it. It’s fascinating that vokoban found the theater listed in 1915 and 1920 as the Metropolitan, and then in 1923, 1925, and 1930 as the Estella. This would jive with the growing Mexican immigrant population in the neighborhood in the 20’s ( as opposed to the old Californio families), which might well have led to the conversion of the name, and to Spanish-language from English-language movies. As for the Teatro Hidalgo confusion, if it was listed at any point in the 500 block of North Main, that’s a puzzler. Perhaps the Hidalgo, which was surely two blocks further south in the 300 block (in a two story building, from the photos) closed and the Estella took over its more prestigious name?
our gratitude for this posting. you have helped solve the mystery that our design team has been working on for several months, which is to confirm the existence and nail down the name of a cinema in the building directly north of the historic Plaza House building (aka Garnier Block, not to be confused with the Pco Garnier Block) at 507 North Main. Sanborn maps of Los Angeles from 1928 show a “moving pictures” label on the plan view of the building, and we have found the same photos from the LA Public Library giving us a general shape of the building. but your retrieval of the review from the LA Times establishing not only the name but specific activities of the theater is enormously helpful. we’re prepared to dig further on this – do you have any suggestions of where to look? for example, where are the Parmamount movie advertisements cite at the top of the entry to be found? thanks…