Main Street Erased at Farmlab
Junker Garden, originally uploaded by lavocado@sbcglobal.net.
I went to one of the salons at Farmlab yesterday. Jim Heimann, author of Sins of the City, presented slides of L.A.'s Main Street through its history. In Mexican times, it was known as "Calle de los Virgenes," because the young ladies would stroll there after church on Sundays. The Yankees named it Main Street and it was the main street for a while, but gradually the business district shifted west. The central Pacific Electric station was built on Main Street, and it became a crossroads for people coming into the city from the suburbs. Sailors took the P.E. from Wilmington and there were businesses catering to them, burlesque houses, bars, and tattoo parlors. I thought about taking notes so I could remember all the information, but I was too busy looking at the very interesting pictures. I took a drive up Main Street afterward, but couldn't bring myself to shell out the big bucks to park there, so I didn't take any pictures. A future project, for sure.