February 12, 2014 - Today's adventure was to explore a little bit of downtown Los Angeles. Many people view sprawling Los Angeles as "100 suburbs in search of a city," however, there always has been a significant downtown Los Angeles, even before the new skyscrapers began sprouting up in the "New Downtown" in the 1960s. Ironically, much of the old commercial downtown was not destroyed by new development, mainly because most new projects were located to the west and northwest of the old "Historic Core." The USC Department of Geography has created a comprehensive web site called "Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour," which I have used as a resource for this page.
Our first stop was the Wells Fargo History Museum. Wells Fargo & Company’s Express transacted financial services through the fastest means available—overseas by sailing ship or steamer, overland by stagecoach, Pony Express and railroad; and later, electronically by telegraph, radio, telephone and the Internet. Wells, Fargo & Co. has grown with the West, with the nation and has a distinct place in history.
Mr. Henry Wells is on the left and Mr. William Fargo is on the right.
We took a short walk from the Wells Fargo Museum to get to the Central Library of Los Angeles. The tall building on the left is the tallest building in Los Angeles, the U.S. Bank Tower. On the right is the Westin Bonaventure Hotel that has been featured in many Hollywood films and television shows.
The Bonaventure Hotel is in the center of this picture above the sunken fountain.
The Central Library of Los Angeles, officially known as the Richard Riordan Central Library complex, is the third largest public library in the United States in terms of book and periodical holdings. The historic Central Library Goodhue building was constructed in 1926 and is a downtown Los Angeles landmark.
The rotunda is topped with a tiled mosaic pyramid with suns on the sides.
When the library went digital, someone realized an opportunity for revenue and sold sponsorships of the drawers that used to hold the library's index cards.
Our last stop before lunch was to visit the Piñata District in Los Angeles, which is located around East 9th Street and South Central Avenue. There's not much to say except that it's an incredible explosion of color!
All the walking around gave us an appetite, so we drove over by Union Station to go to Philippe's for lunch. Today Judy had the French dipped roast pork sandwich, with a side of potato salad and I had two of the French dipped roast beef sandwiches. Everything was washed down with their homemade lemonade. What a feast!
It was a wonderful day and the temperature was about 80°.