Pacific Electric Building
The historicPacific Electric Building(also known as theHuntington Building,after the railway’s founder,Henry Huntington,or simply6th & Main), opened in 1905 in thecore of Los Angelesas the main train station for thePacific Electric Railway,as well as the company's headquarters;Main Street Stationserved passengers boarding trains for the south and east of Southern California. The building was designed by architectThornton Fitzhugh.Though not the tallest in Los Angeles, its ten floors enclosed the greatest number of square feet in any building west of Chicago for many decades. Above the train station, covering the lower floors, were five floors of offices; and in the top three was theJonathan Club,one of the city's leading businessmen's clubs introduced by magnates from theNortheast.[a]After the “Great Merger” of Pacific Electric intoSouthern Pacific Railroadin 1911, the PE Building became the home of Southern Pacific in Los Angeles. In 1925, a second electric rail hub, theSubway Terminal,was opened nearPershing Squareto serve the north and west.
History
[edit]Interurban terminal
[edit]
The building opened on January 15, 1905 as a terminal for the electric railways being constructed byHenry Huntington.[3]In 1914, a total of 1,626 scheduled Pacific Electric trains entered or left Los Angeles at Main Street Station in 3262 interurban car trips daily.[4]The elevated tracks and passenger concourse on the back of the building were constructed in 1916.[5]
With the great rise in the number of automobiles in the 1920s, congestion — from the cars, fromsharing streetswith the cars, from sharing the streets withLos Angeles Railway’s Yellow Cars — often caused PE trains to run late, especially while traveling north on Main Street towards Glendale, and west to Hollywood and Santa Monica. To relieve such problems, the California Railroad Commission issued Order No. 9928 in 1922, which called for thePacific Electricto build asubwayto leave downtown's busy streets.[6]TheSubway Terminal Building,a second PE terminal, was then built across downtown at the base ofBunker Hillat 4th and Hill Streets by Pershing Square to serve the subway, which opened December 1, 1925, speeding passenger service considerably to Hollywood, Santa Monica, San Fernando, and Glendale.
Interurban rail service remained the 6th and Main PE Terminal's sole function until 1942. Trains entered the back (east side) on ground-level track from San Pedro Street, loaded and unloaded passengers inside the building concourse, then exited onto Main Street (west side) and turned north or south. (See the attached photograph accompanying this article.) In 1942, the terminal was converted to accommodate the Pacific Electric's growing fleet ofbuses.[7]Trains continued to enter and use the original concourse on New Year's Day to carry crowds to and from theTournament of Rosesevents inPasadenauntil 1950 when Northern District (Pasadena–Sierra Madre–Monrovia–Glendora) rail service was abandoned. After that, the PE concourse saw no trains and Main Street tracks were no longer used. Remainingservice to Glendora,the Harbor, and toBellflowerwas provided at the rear of the PE terminal on outdoor passenger loading platforms and stub tracks at the rear (east side) of the PE Terminal. Trains used a ramp up from San Pedro Street that crossed Los Angeles Street to reach the loading platforms. Passengers walked into the terminal concourse via an enclosed bridge.
Over the next decade, interurban rail routes toBellflower,theWatts local,and Long Beach and harbor area were abandoned and replaced bymotor coaches.The last active route was theLong Beach Line.The final "Blimp" multiple unit interurban train to use the terminal (so named for their unusual plump size and round front windows) toLong Beachwas on April 9, 1961 and was inMTAgreen livery: no longer painted the famous and classic Pacific Electric red.MTABus service continued to operate from Sixth and Main until 1964. The MTA ran "Freeway Flyer" motor coach service to old PE destinations from the basement of the nearby Greyhound Terminal, and this continued duringRapidTransitDistrict (SCRTD)operations.
After rail service
[edit]Following the closure of the terminal's main floor depot, the former waiting room and bus concourse were converted to a parking garage. With the commercial and social decline of Main Street and the east side of downtown in general, the rented offices on the upper floors of the building became less desirable and gradually emptied out. The building was largely vacant for many years, though it became a popular location for the movie and television industries. Over 400 location shoots have taken place there, including scenes fromForrest Gump,LA Confidential,Jumpin' Jack Flashand interior shots for the 1970sStreets of San FranciscoTV series.
In 1908,Cole's Pacific Electric Buffetwas opened on the lower floor of the building and is still there today. As such, Cole's claims to be Los Angeles' oldest restaurant and pub that has been in operation in the same place since its founding. It is one of two local establishments which lay claim to having invented theFrench dip sandwich.Additionally, the structure held the architectural offices ofGreene and Greenecirca 1905.
In 2005, the building was converted by ICO Group into residential live/work lofts and is occupied by residents. Several commercial tenants have filled the first floor spaces along 6th Street. The original Cole's space was renovated and divided to add another restaurant and bar. The building lobby currently displays a number of artifacts left over from its days as once an exceptionally active interurban rail terminal. "DANGER" warnings are set into the sidewalk at the Main Street location where trains once entered and left the building, remaining as evidence of its original grand purpose.[8]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^The club moved to its own building onFigueroa Streetin 1925.
References
[edit]- ^"National Register Information System – (#09000180)".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.March 13, 2009.
- ^"Pacific Electric Railway Terminal at Los Angeles".Transit Journal.50(8): 308. 1917.RetrievedSeptember 6,2021.
- ^Crump (1977),pp. 76–77.
- ^Middleton, William D.(1961).The Interurban Era.Kalmbach Publishing.p. 304.ISBN9780890240038.
- ^Crump (1977),p. 149.
- ^"Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California".Erha.org.RetrievedApril 29,2014.
- ^"P. E. trains to get new routes into terminal".Los Angeles Daily News.September 23, 1942. p. 11.RetrievedAugust 13,2022– via Newspapers.
- ^Dan Wiklund (November 22, 2010)."Pacific Electric Building (1905) downtown L.A. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!".Flickr.RetrievedApril 29,2014.
Bibliography
[edit]- Crump, Spencer (1977).Ride the big red cars: How trolleys helped build southern California.Trans-Anglo Books.ISBN0-87046-047-1.OCLC3414090.
Further reading
[edit]- Crump, Spencer:Henry Huntington and the Pacific Electric Railway: A Pictorial Album,(1982) 112 pages. Trans-Anglo Books, Corona Del Mar, CA.
- Swett, Ira L.:Lines of Pacific Electric, Interurbans Special #16,(1953), and supplements (1954-1960).Interurbans,Glendale, CA.
External links
[edit]
- History of PE Building: Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California article
- Emporis Buildings entry for Pacific Electric Lofts[usurped]
- History and photos: Los Angeles Conservancy and Los Angeles City and Library article.Archived2006-01-28 at theWayback Machine
- Article from 1917Transit Journalwith original floor plan
- Pacific Electric LoftsCommercial website of developers for the Pacific Electric Building conversion.
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- Pacific Electric stations
- Office buildings in Los Angeles
- Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles
- Headquarters in the United States
- Residential buildings in Los Angeles
- Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles
- Abandoned rapid transit stations
- Office buildings completed in 1905
- 1905 establishments in California
- 1900s architecture in the United States
- Railway stations in the United States opened in 1905
- Main Street (Los Angeles)
- Repurposed railway stations in the United States
- Adaptive reuse of industrial structures in Greater Los Angeles
- Railway stations in the United States closed in 1961