Title supplied by cataloger.; In episode #10001 of "California's Gold," Huell Howser visits the Los Angeles Public Library to see this collection of Ansel Adams photographs. Opened on September 24, 1905, the Court Flight was built by Attorney R. E. Blackburn of the McCarthy real estate firm and Samuel G Vandegrift, to serve the wealthy residents of Bunker Hill. The line was entirely double tracked, using a pair of thirty-inch gauge counterbalanced cars, and ran for a distance of 180 feet up a 42 per cent grade between Broadway and Court Streets, in the middle of the block between Temple and First Streets. A fire on October 20, 1943 damaged the line and put it out of commission.; Around 1939, Ansel Adams was commissioned by Fortune magazine to photograph a series of images for an article covering the aviation history of the Los Angeles area. For the project, Adams took 217 photographs showing everyday life, businesses, street scenes, aerospace employees, and a variety of other subjects, but when the article, "City of Angels," appeared in the March 1941 issue, only a few of the images were included. In the early 1960s, approximately 20 years later, Adams rediscovered all of the photographs among papers at his home in Carmel, and sent a letter of inquiry to the Los Angeles Public Library, asking if the institution would be interested in receiving the collection as a donation. In his letter, Adams expressed that, "the weather was bad over a rather long period and none of the pictures were very good" and "if they have no value whatsoever, please dispose of them in the incenerator [sic]." He went on to write that "I would imagine that they represent about $100.00 minimum value." In response, the Los Angeles Public Library gladly accepted the gift of 135 contact prints and 217 negatives, and the staff concluded that a fair value for the collection would be $150.00. Looking down the rails of the Court Flight Cable Railway, showing the Hotel Broadway, located next door on the left at 205 So. Broadway. In the background, two yellow cars travel north, one at the bottom of the hill on Broadway, and the other in front of the Hall of Records.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm. Photographic prints
Los Angeles County Hall of Records (Los Angeles, Calif. : 1911-1962) New Broadway Hotel (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Railway Court Flight (Railway) Electric railroads--Cars--California--Los Angeles Hotels--California--Los Angeles Streets--California--Los Angeles Railroads, Cable--California--Los Angeles Civic centers--California--Los Angeles Public buildings--California--Los Angeles Lost architecture--California--Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.) Bunker Hill (Los Angeles, Calif.) Broadway (Los Angeles, Calif.) Ansel Adams Fortune Magazine Collection photographs
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