Skip to main content

Urban Surgery: How Wilshire Was Extended Into Downtown L.A.

Extending Wilshire Blvd.
Support Provided By

The message was clear: Los Angeles was not afraid to reshape its urban form to accommodate the automobile. Over the course of a few months in 1931, workers cleared a wide swath through three dense downtown blocks, demolishing buildings, tearing up foundations, and filling in basements—all to extend an automobile thoroughfare, Wilshire Boulevard, from Figueroa Street to Grand Avenue. At $3.2 million, these were the most expensive 971 feet of roadway Los Angeles had ever built.

The Haussmannesque project was part of a larger effort to extend Wilshire, which was then emerging as L.A.'s preeminent commercial corridor, into the central business district. Previously, Wilshire dead-ended 1.5 miles west of downtown at Westlake (MacArthur) Park. There, the city built an earthen causeway through the park's recreational lagoon. It also widened and renamed Orange Street, a narrow retail strip that ran between the park and Figueroa Street.

Between 1930 and 1931, the city extended Wilshire Boulevard three blocks into downtown Los Angeles, from Figueroa to Grand. 1930 and 1934 photographs courtesy of the USC Libraries - California Historical Society Collection.
Between 1930 and 1931, the city extended Wilshire Boulevard three blocks into downtown Los Angeles, from Figueroa to Grand. 1930 and 1934 photographs courtesy of the California Historical Society Collection, USC Libraries.
Widening Wilshire at Figueroa (before/after)
Wilshire Boulevard at Figueroa Street, before and after. Photos courtesy of the California Historical Society Collection, USC Libraries. 
Widening Wilshire at Bonnie Brae (before/after)
Wilshire Boulevard at Bonnie Brae Street, before and after. Photos courtesy of the California Historical Society Collection, USC Libraries. 

This urban surgery might have improved traffic flow and hence pleased business owners along Wilshire, but it left scars. (Much as the road projects of a later generation would.) Property owners were slow to build storefronts along the downtown extension, leaving blank walls and open parking spaces to front the three new blocks.

The widening of what had been Orange Street also left wounds. Workers either tore down structures fronting the street, or, in the case of the Rex Arms apartment building, cleaved off the fronts of the buildings to accommodate the wider road.

But by far the most painful—if not the most expensive—segment was Wilshire's extension through Westlake Park, one of the city's oldest outdoor retreats. When public officials gathered to celebrate the completion of Wilshire's extension on December 7, 1934, the causeway they stood upon had split the park's signature lake in two (the smaller of these two rump lakes has since been filled in) and injected the once idyllic scene with the steady hum of automotive traffic.

Widening Wilshire Boulevard between Figueroa and Westlake Park. On the left, the Rex Arms apartment building loses its face. Courtesy of the USC Libraries - California Historical Society Collection.
Widening Wilshire Boulevard between Figueroa and Westlake Park. On the left, the Rex Arms apartment building loses its face. Courtesy of the California Historical Society Collection, USC Libraries.
Another illustration showing progress on the Wilshire causeway. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Another illustration showing progress on the Wilshire causeway. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Construction of the Wilshire Boulevard causeway through Westlake Park. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Construction of the Wilshire Boulevard causeway through Westlake Park. Courtesy of the Photo Collection – Los Angeles Public Library.

Support Provided By
Read More
A sepia-tone historic photo of a man holding a cane standing in front of a food stand, surrounded by various crates, boxes, and advertising signs promoting cigarettes, candies, barbeque and more.

Pasadena Claims To Be The Home Of The Cheeseburger — But There's Beef

The cheeseburger was supposedly invented by Lionel Sternberger at The Rite Spot in Pasadena, when he added a slice of cheese to a regular beef burger and called it the "Aristocratic Hamburger." But the real history behind this fast food staple is a bit more complicated.
A hand-colored postcard of a large, white, colonial-style building with a green tiled roof stands behind a lush landscape of flower beds, a green lawn and many varieties of trees, with mountains looming just behind. An American flag waves at the top of a flagpole above the roof.

From Hiking to Hospitals: L.A. at the Center of the Pursuit of Health

The opportunity to get and stay healthy was a major draw for people to both visit and move to Los Angeles — whether it was during the tuberculosis epidemic (a.k.a. the "forgotten plague") during the 19th century or the health and wellness boom of the early 20th century. Both of these topics are explored in Season 6 of the PBS SoCal Original Series Lost LA.
A black and white photo of an adult dressed as the easter bunny with a giant costumed head, holding a little girl on their left who gives it a kiss on the cheek and, with his right arm, holding a little boy who brings his hands to his eyes as though wiping away tears.

Behold the Bunnies and Bonnets of L.A.'s Past Easter Celebrations

The onset of the spring season heralds the arrival of fragrant flowers in bloom — and all the critters that enjoy them, including the Easter bunny and families who anticipate his arrival with egg hunts, parades and questionable fashion choices.