Through the Viewfinder On 10th Street Near Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, 12 September 1926

by Paul R. Spitzzeri

As has often been mentioned here, there are no shortage of instances in which an artifact in the Museum’s holdings hasn’t proven to be a bit of a puzzle or in which what seemed obvious on the surface proves to have a good deal more underneath than initially realized. A good example is the featured object for this post, a snapshot, one of seven in a set acquired by the Homestead more than a decade ago.

The image is labeled in pencil on the reverse, “10th St looking E. to Figueroa, Sept 12, 1926” and, at first glance, it is a unremarkable scene. The side of a street has a modest one-story commercial building with a market and bakery, a garment shop, and a café, while behind it is a relatively non-descript, two-story apartment building, though it does sport projecting bay windows and, somewhat hidden, another residence, though whether a single or multi-family one is not clear. A few autos are parked along street and one is heading toward the photographer.

More interesting is the large church in the background, although in doing a little searching, there was some confusion concerning the location and it took a bit of time to figure out what was being depicted. Fortunately, signage on the commercial building helped to identify the location and then it realized that some urban renewal was underway during the period. Moreover, the other half-dozen photos in the set were of other places in the Angel City where the planning and execution of other projects to remake those areas were also underway—these including Chinatown, subject to removal for a union railroad terminal and other possible additions; the Temple Block, being razed for City Hall; and others.

As to the bit of sleuthing to determine what was going on: 10th Street was eventually to be renamed Olympic Boulevard, a name initially applied to sections west of downtown in anticipation of the 1932 summer games being held in Los Angeles and then extended eastward through the city center. Moreover, the aim was to have a 100-foot width major east-west thoroughfare on a straight route to the eastern city limits—today, the road ends just short of the San Gabriel River.

The straightening, however, ran into some roadblocks (!). As the route headed east through downtown, it ended at San Julian Street, at which point it is disconnected for a short distance before picking up the name a bit northeastward after 9th Street passes little innocuous Gladys Avenue somewhat west of Central Avenue—why this strange separation exists must lie deep in a file somewhere in the city archives!

Back at the location shown in the photo, however, there was a successful effort to change the rerouting, so that this stretch of 10th was moved northward as part of a wider future Olympic heading west. So, for example, there is still a 10th Street Elementary School on Olympic, even though there is no 10th Street any longer—there is, however, to add to the confusion, a small section of a 10th Place just a bit east AND a bit of 10th Street branching to Hoover Avenue and then, strangely, segments ought to near Los Angeles High School.

As to that church, it was easily determined that this was the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, but what was quite confusing was that it was known that it was the southeast corner of Figueroa (actually, Pearl Street when the edifice was constructed) and Tenth, but, with the caption stating that the unidentified photographer was on Tenth looking east—it didn’t make sense that the building would be to the left side of the image, which would indicate a northeast corner. After consulting some maps, however, it was then found that the street in the photo was, of course, 10th before a realignment which later led to the renaming to Olympic.

With regard to some early history of the church, which will celebrate its 140th anniversary when the Olympics return to Los Angeles four years from now, it was formed in early September 1888. The Los Angeles Express of the 4th reported that the establishment was “an event of more than ordinary interest” as “a large and enthusiastic audience” met at the Los Angeles (Hanna) College at Hope and 8th streets. The first order of business was selecting the name, followed by the reading of 130 names of organizing members, all but 25 coming from the First Presbyterian Church, situated at the southeast corner of Fort Street (soon rechristened as Broadway) and 2nd Street.

The First Presbyterian actually organized in the late 1850s, but struggled to keep a level of membership and financial security through the difficult economic period stretching into the middle of the next decade. A property acquired on the southwest corner of Temple and New High streets was intended to be for the church and a structure started, but financial problems led to a mechanic’s lien filed early in 1863 by builders Perry and Woodworth and the property was sold three years later to the Episcopalians including the structure constructed by the Presbyterians and became St. Athanasius’ Episcopal Church.

A new First Presbyterian congregation was formed in January 1874, during the peak of the Angel City’s first boom, holding services in the County Court House, built fifteen years earlier by Jonathan Temple as a Market House, but which soon was leased to and then purchased by the city and county for legal and administrative uses. Apparently, the church used the quarters formerly used as the Temple or City Hall Theatre. Then, two years later, came the inevitable bust during the national “Long Depression” and plans for a dedicated place of worship languished.

While the Church found a spot in East Los Angeles, later renamed Lincoln Heights, the Fort and 2nd property became available (the eastside lot went to the Second Presbyterian Church) and a cornerstone laid there in February 1882, by about which time the City slowly began to experience a return to decent levels of economic growth. Remarkably, litigation with the Episcopalians about the Temple Street property was still being pursued almost two decades later concerning the lack of funds paid to the Presbyterians for it! In April 1883, the First Presbyterian Church was dedicated under the leadership of Rev. John W. Ellis, also founder of the Ellis Villa College in the new Crown Hill section west of downtown a short time afterward.

Notably, it was explained in the Los Angeles Herald of 5 September 1888 that the reason for the creation of the Immanuel church was because, given the significant population growth that came to the Angel City in its current Boom of the Eighties, peaking during the mayoral administration of William H. Workman,

For a long time the seating capacity of the First church was scarcely sufficient for her actual membership, enlarging did not seem possible, and there was no abatement in the constant increase for membership. The difficulty was solved the pastor [the Rev. Dr. William J. Chichester (1849-1903)], sacrificing all the circumstances which men call happy, to lead out a colony from this overflowing church to face all the well-known difficulties of starting a new church in a part of the city almost destitute of churches. The move is extraordinary.

Among the elders of the new church was Lyman Stewart, a founder of Union Oil Company who later became an evangelical Christian and was the key figure in the founding of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, now Biola University. The paper also observed that Chichester accepted a salary of $2,000 annually, half of what he made as head of the First Presbyterian.

In short order, a building fund was established and, in July 1889, the property at Pearl and Tenth was purchased for $10,000. Despite the fact that the latest boom had long gone bust, church members raised monies through dinners, lawn parties, a Linen Fair and through other means, including soliciting wealthy members like banker and landowner Jonathan S. Slauson, while there were also public thanks given to Hancock Banning of the prominent local family for the donation of large amounts of coal for use at the Los Angeles College building.

It is interesting to note that Chichester proudly noted in a late April 1890 sermon that his congregation had grown to some 500 persons and that “a lot has been secured, and the erection of a church will be the next step.” In his sermon on “Christian Giving,” the reverend pondered “the true measure of benevolence” in the present “commercial age” and mused that the Old Testament’s “Jewish tithe system does not hold good” and that “God dealt with the undeveloped Jew in a very different way from what he deals with us in this enlightened age” because “they were as children and we are full-grown” because of the New Testament’s improvement upon its predecessor.

The cornerstone was laid in July 1890, with the Express of the 14th commenting that “the building is to cost about $25,000 and when completed will be quite as beautiful as any church in Southern California.” Not quite two months later, on 9 September, the paper remarked that,

The Immanuel Presbyterian Church on the corner of Tenth and Pearl is progressing rapidly and is an imposing structure, an ornament of which any city might be proud. Los Angeles still lives [despite the dour economic environment.]

The 10 January 1891 edition of the paper covered the completion of the church, deemed “one of the most elegant ecclesiastical structures on the Pacific coast,” with architect James H. Bradbeer, who specialized in churches, public buildings and schools and who used the First Presbyterian in his advertising, providing details about the “Romanesque and Gothic [styles], happily blended.”

The edifice seated 1,500 including galleries yet to be built with the auditorium spanning 80×88 feet, while there were a lecture room; ladies’ parlor; children’s Sunday School room, with a capacity of 240; fourteen classrooms created by use of sliding panels; a kitchen; the pastor’s study and a reception room; and “retiring” rooms. Four main and one rear entrances provided easy access and the memorial windows of stained glass came from the Wells Glass Company of Chicago.

Several of these were dedicated to prominent persons, most notably John E. Hollenbeck, a major figure in banking and real estate (including in Boyle Heights and the Rancho La Puente) who died in 1885. The main art glass work depicted Christ on his way to the cross and pointing to the Virgin Mary and it was said that each memorial cost $2,700.

It was also recorded that membership close to quadrupled since the founding to some 580 persons, with north of 300 children attending the Sunday School. The builder was John Rebman and the final cost was $29,000 exclusive of the land purchase of $10,000. The Herald went into even greater detail, even listing the names of all parishioners and adding that there were $27,000 in paid subscriptions and $6,000 not yet collected, leaving another $6,000 in debt. On the dedication day, however, more than 200 persons promised almost $3,500 in just half an hour and, by the end of the day, the amount of debt was subscribed.

Significantly, in recounting the brief history of Immanuel, the paper noted that Chichester, amid the crowded conditions of the First Presbyterian, “endeavored to establish colonies on the outskirts of the city,” but was rebuffed by the elders, which led him to resign and form the new church. Another notable bit of information was that about 25% of the cost of the structure came from the reverend’s friends outside of Los Angeles.

The Herald wrote about the imposing frescoed dome by Carl Brandt; the richly appointed Brussels carpets; oak pews “luxurious with soft cushions” with half the $4,500 cost raised by the women members; the $7,000 organ (donated by a Pearl Street resident and parishioner) and the adjacent choir room; and the utilities, including electricity, gas and hot water.

The paper’s publisher was clearly a parishioner, based on the length of the piece, the listing of fellow members and the laudation to the Rev. Chichester, “whose broad sympathy and whole-souled generous enthusiasm, seems to unlock, as with a magic key, the purses and heart of the people.” Lastly, the Herald gushed that,

Immanuel church from henceforth is destined to be a great factor in the moral development of this city. Within its fold are found as much moral and social worth, as much intellectual and material progress, as much of the fibre [sic], out of which noble men and women are made, as any other organization in the city.

For three dozen years, the edifice served its purposes, but, as commercial downtown spread further southwest, with the neighborhood becoming, significantly, where largely commercial, including where much of the automobile dealerships and associated enterprises moved (notable as the Convention Center near the spot today hosts the annual November Auto Show), it was decided to move.

The new location, on Wilshire Boulevard in what is now Koreatown, was across Berendo Street from the Talmadge Apartments, completed in 1924 by film titan Joseph M. Schenck and named for his actor spouse, Norma Talmadge. It incorporated some 600 tons of steel for the framing and was large enough for a remarkable 3,600 parishioners, making Immanuel the second-largest Presbyterian Church in the country in terms of members.

When completed in January 1929, the new place of worship, including a five-story $200,000 parish house that served as the church after the final service took place at the Figueroa and 10th building in September 1927 and a Sunday School structure, joined to the parish residence by a tunnel. The latter had a banquet hall and kitchen; ladies’ parlors; classrooms; and a gym, while the former contained an auditorium.

Above this last was a roof garden and there was a larger auditorium, considered the piece de resistance due to its lush decoration, while the 207-foot spire tower could be seen from long distances. There was also a Chichester Chapel for weddings and funerals and with an auditorium that could seat 125 persons. Immanuel remains in operation today and its centennial is not too far off in the future.

This photo is interesting because of the dramatic changes made to 10th Street and Olympic Boulevard, as well as the imminent disappearance of all the buildings in it, because the site is about where the Grammy Museum and the LA Live complex stands today, while to the right or south of the photographer is the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center). The first Immanuel church site is now a parking lot, as is so often the case with downtown historic building locales.