Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph used for articles dated May 8 and November 13, 1987. The Jonathan Club, consistently rated as one of the most prestigious social clubs in the United States, is said to have been founded in September 1895 by a group of men who had been active in a Los Angeles marching society. In 1905 the club was headquartered in the Pacific Electric Building at 610 S. Main Street - at the time, the transportation hub for Southern California. The top three floors of that building housed the Jonathan Club, which was one of the city's most exclusive private clubs even back then. In 1924, a contract was drawn-up for a "magnificent new home", and a 12-story Italian Renaissance style brick building was built at 545 South Figueroa and 6th Street by New York architects, Schultze and Weaver; it has remained at this location for the past 85 years. In 1927 a second club, The Jonathan Beach Club, opened in Santa Monica at 850 Palisades Beach Road. The beach club is nestled at the foot of the bluffs in Santa Monica, fronting the beach and the Pacific Ocean; that portion of the beach is off limits to all but club members, their families, and their guests. Membership into this private and extremely exclusive club (reportedly strictly limited to USC Alumni) is by invitation only and was once open solely to men, but since 1987 it has allowed membership for women. Today, the Jonathan Club stands as a Los Angeles landmark in the heart of the Downtown business district. Exterior view of the Jonathan Club, located 545 South Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, seen at the time it began to offer membership to women. The Beaux Arts building was designed by Architects Schultze & Weaver and built in 1924.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;36 x 29 cm. Photographic prints
Jonathan Club Private clubs--California--Los Angeles Clubs--California--Los Angeles Eclecticism in architecture--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Herald-Examiner photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs Schultze & Weaver
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