by Paul R. Spitzzeri
This post is another in a series of aerial photographs, some at fairly low altitudes, by Spence Air Photos, a pioneer in the field, of a wide swath of a rapidly expanding Los Angeles during the mid-1920s. This one is quite interesting as it takes in a remarkably diverse section from the industrial area not far west of the Los Angeles River and further to the west past downtown and out to the Hollywood Hills portion of the Santa Monica Mountains and even a bit of the Santa Susana range at the north edge of the San Fernando Valley.
Cahuenga Pass can be discerned just right of center and even the Hollywood(land) sign, erected for a recently opened residential tract, to the upper right. At the upper center and left is the Hollywood community, where the film industry was largely based (though just over Cahuenga Pass was Universal City and Warner Brothers, for example.)
It can’t be seen but Westlake (later renamed MacArthur) Park is near the center at about the upper quarter of the image while, towards the left edge at about the same level, are where the Convention Center, Crypto.com Arena and L.A. Live are located now. In the cluster of height-limit (no taller than 150-feet or about eleven stories) commercial buildings from the right edge to left of center about a third of the way down from top, one distinctive structure stands out, this being the Biltmore Hotel, not too far right from the center, and with Pershing Square in front of it, though not in view.
Most of the lower half of the photo comprise areas from about Los Angeles Street east, where quite a few trees can be discerned among what largely remained residential sections interspersed with commercial buildings, though the latter were gaining rapidly in number while the former were quickly diminishing. At the bottom are expansive railyards with tracks and cars easily made out because of the proximity to the photographer.
To get some bearings the street running from the lower left corner toward the center is 8th Street, while to the right of center is 7th Street, which then terminated at Alameda. That major thoroughfare runs from left to right from the lower left corner to the right edge where white steam is observed. That is the only north-south street that can be seen, though just behind the mass of buildings at the center is Central Street and then, from that point westward, major roadways are San Pedro, Los Angeles, Main, Spring, Broadway and so on.
Notably, an ink inscription on the reverse, above a Spence stamp giving the date, negative number and credit information, states “LA Union Terminal Co—Hollywood Hills in distance.” The substantial structures at the center not quite halfway from the bottom shows the 30-acre property built as the Los Angeles Union Terminal, this being highlighted in a prior post here and what remains today as the ROW DTLA “urban enclave” comprising restaurants, stores, offices, art galleries, event venues and more amid some 2 million square feet of space.
Also of note is the large “gasometer” or storage tank for the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company toward the lower right of the image. While there has also been a post here about this firm, the focus was largely on the 19th and very early 20th centuries history of what began in 1866 as the Los Angeles Gas Company, with its works next to the Plaza Church and across from the Pico House on what was the original Calvary (Catholic) Cemetery and partly where the LA Plaza Cultura y Artes museum is now.
In 1889, the struggling firm, battered by the introduction of electric lights from the earlier part of the decade forward and competition from other companies, was absorbed into the Pacific Lighting Company, which, very quickly, became part of the Los Angeles Lighting Company, soon renamed Los Angeles Gas and Electric.
The firm’s main works were on Aliso Street, east of Alameda, and were most easily recognized by the massive gasometers that, much later, still stood next to U.S. 101 when that was built through downtown in the 1950s. Today, Los Angeles Gas and Electric is Southern California Gas, or SoCalGas, a subsidiary of Sempra, an energy infrastructure conglomerate based in San Diego.
The rest of this post will focus on activities of Los Angeles Gas and Electric during October 1924, highlighting some of the elements facing the firm during an era of massive growth and transformation, with the latest of many regional development booms peaking the prior year, though expansion still continued strong throughout the remainder of the Roaring Twenties.
At the start of the month, an illustration of how government and infrastructure often struggled to keep up with the relentless pace of private development was reflected in a report from the Los Angeles Express, which noted that Southern California Edison put a 10% reduction of supplies of power to district heads because “water is being used up in the storage areas without replenishment.”
Greater Los Angeles went through three consecutive years of drought from 1922 to 1925, with the Angel City recording 9.5, 6.7 and just under 8 inches during those years, so conditions were quite tough given the peak of the building boom occurred during that period. The report ended with the observation that SCE was not able to purchase power from firms like Los Angeles Gas and Electric so that the cut was necessary.
At the end of the month, the Los Angeles Times of the 27th informed readers that a “partial curtailment of street lights” also brought about because of the drought and limited generation of electric power was lifted, though only “along the main thoroughfares in residential districts” for safety reasons. As for other streets in these sections, lights “were to be turned on where circumstances permit” as a general “curtailment of electricity still must be observed.”
It was added that SCE was to finish a steam-operated power plant in Long Beach toward the end of 1924 and, when this was up and running, output would increase by some 20%, “which will absorb the present shortage.” Otherwise, stated an Angel City power bureau official, “relief earlier than this date only will be possible should heavy rains fall in the high Sierras,” where a plentiful winter snowpack and the resulting spring and early summer melt and runoff generated much of the water for hydroelectric power transmitted to our region.
Notably, there were concerns from the eastern states about this area’s power supply problems, in which it was rumored that “Southern California during this curtailment period virtually is without electricity” and assurances were given that “power companies here are producing more electricity now than ever before.”
SCE, for example, reported a nearly 20% increase from 1923, “which was the record year up to that time” and this was in spite of a lack of hydroelectric power. Los Angeles Gas and Electric stated that it was generating a quarter more power than the prior year, a figure matched by the San Joaquin Light and Power Company, while Los Angeles’ Bureau of Power and Light reported a far more modest increase of 6%.
With respect to improvements at Long Beach, the Times of the 5th, in a feature about that booming coastal city, noted that there were big doings at the city’s port, which was growing rapidly along with the neighboring Port of Los Angeles. This included Edison’s $1 million expansion to that steam plant next to the harbor, while “the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company is now carrying out a $15 million building program.”
Another hefty program of investment was cited in the paper on the 11th, in which it reported that L.A. Gas and Electric was moving along with a $10 million plant on 120 acres along the east bank of the Los Angeles River along Bandini Boulevard west of Atlantic Boulevard, near where Interstate 710 runs today, in what is now Vernon. This area was an important one of industrial development expanding beyond the older downtown section that was basically built out, including the establishment of the aforementioned Union Terminal.
Then there was a $6 million project at Seal Beach at the northwestern edge of Orange County, with the Los Angeles Express of the 22nd recording that the California Railroad Commission, now the California Public Utilities Commission, approved L.A. Gas and Electric’s request to issue mortgage gold bonds in that amount to finance the construction of a plant and the installation of transmission lines. It was added that “the issue is to enable the company to accumulate sufficient funds to carry out important additions and extensions planned for 1924,” though it might have meant 1925.
In any case, an advertisement appearing the next day in the paper noted that the “general and refunding” bonds, with 5 1/2% interest, were to mature in 25 years with coupons in increments of $500 and $1000. After publishing the firm’s capitalization with $60 million in authorized stock, other which about 40% was outstanding, along with bonded debt of just north of $42 million, some interesting history was provided.
Namely, the number of consumers in 1900 totaled about 11,500 of which nearly 80% utilized gas supplies. A decade later, the total jumped nearly ten times, reflective of the great boom, especially during the early years of that decade, with about the same proportion of users of gas. In 1920, the total number of customers was over 216,000 with only a slight drop among those consuming gas, while three years later (again, that latest boom’s peak), there was a further decline to about 75% of the more than 358,000 customers. By the end of September 1924, another couple of percentage point decline was reported among over 407,000 users.
As to earnings, it was reported that gross and net earnings in 1919 were just north of $6 million and just shy of $2 million, respectively. While the former climbed some 60% within two years, the latter went up about 18% and gross receipts continued a strong rise through the end of August 1924, reaching more than $14.6 million, or about 50% more in three years. Net earnings, meanwhile, skyrocketed 145%, likely providing more than enough rationale for approval of the bonds. Allowing for interest payments of about $2.5 million on existing bonds and depreciation, dividends paid to shareholders and surplus, nearly $3.3 million was left.
Within just a couple of days, moreover, the demand for these new bonds were such that the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News noted, in its edition of the 25th, that “the issue had been considerably oversubscribed.” The paper added that “part of the bonds, it was stated, were taken on telegraphic orders from New York, with the remainder was subscribed for [sic] by Los Angeles financial houses and individual investors.
While the dry weather and lack of water caused real concern and led to some notable consequences for power generators with respect to electricity supplies, the fact that nearly three-quarters of L.A. Gas and Electric customers were consuming gas was also reflective of the booming oil industry, which also involved natural gas.
Advertisements in the Illustrated Daily News during the month promoted the use of gas in the home, touting it as clean because there was no dirt, dust or ash; convenient as customers didn’t have to worry about handling and storage, while gas was ready for use at any time and payment was only after use; and economical because of low charges and that gas would “burn only when needed and just where wanted.”
When it came to the home use of natural gas for cooking, clothes dryers, garbage burning in incinerators, heat, hot water, and others, L.A. Gas and Electric offered customers the opportunity to phone and ask questions of a company industrial engineer as it promoted its services. As for stockholders, they were the recipients of a month-end dividend of $1.50 per share, payable on the 15th of November.
This photo takes in a great deal over a broad cross-section of a booming Los Angeles from its older industrial core west to Hollywood and much in between, but this focus on the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company gasometer and plant helps us achieve a little understanding about the vital nature of infrastructure, including utilities, even as we confront the thorny questions of what to do with fossil fuel consumption in the midst of significantly accelerating global climate change.