When a midblock building is torn down, voila: an instant window to the past. Here, you can see a former real estate office on Ventura Boulevard at Colbath on the south side of the street. Was this the tract office fro the subdivisions of the 1930s, 40s, & 50s? What happened to it? Was is a precursor to Re/Max? On the other side of the now vacant lot, you can see remnants of a hardware store's sign:
Yes, Ventura Boulevard was one of the Valley's "Main Streets" 50 years ago... as it continues to be today (with a lot of other streets claiming the same title depending upon which community you're in.)
I wonder what will be revealed if the Ventura Club, just up the street, is ever torn down for development. Behind the buildings we see today are links to the Lost LA. We do have a history here in Los Angeles and even (gasp!) in the Valley... if you know where to look for it.
1 comment:
I love the old hardware stores of LA. Half of my family grew up in the old Roscoe Hardware store in Sun Valley, beginning when the area was called Roscoe. Before it was a hardware store, it was a general store. At some time in the early 20's, it had one of the only gas pumps and phones in all of the San Fernando Valley. It's gone now. An empty shell. Could not compete with the big box stores. Such is progress.
There must be maybe a dozen hardware stores left in all of SoCal that can trace themselves back like that.
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