Visual Materials

Richfield-Bank of America Block and Dawson’s bookstore

Description: Dawson’s Book Shop, 550 South Figueroa Street, at right. In the middle and left background are the Los Angeles Public Library, Edison Buidling, and microwave tower atop the Pacific Telephone Company building.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Date: April 68
Call number: photCL 486
Creator: Conner, Palmer(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Gina Dunseth, 2004.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.; RESTRICTED. Use digital reproductions in the Huntington Digital Library. Originals available by special permission only.

Dawson’s Book Shop

Visual Materials

Dawson’s Book Shop at 550 South Figueroa Street is between two parking lots. Gates Hotel, 830 West 6th Street, is across the street to the right. Tishman building, 615 South Flower Street, in the background.

photCL 486

Union Oil Center, from Bunker Hill

Visual Materials

Work continues on rooftop structures of the Union Onion Center and the partially visible two wings to the left and right of the main tower. Beaudry Building sits below in front. Among the parking lots are the Walgrove Apartments, 427 South Figueroa Street. Middle background building with the rooftop sign is Hotel St. Paul, 1021 West 6th Street.

photCL 486

Richfield-Bank of America Block

Visual Materials

The excavation and first concrete poured

photCL 486

Richfield-Bank of America excavation site

Visual Materials

Southwest view of plaza construction site encompassed by 5th Street, Flower Street, 6th Street, and Figueroa Street. Double bottom dump trucks used to haul away dirt.

photCL 486

Richfield-Bank of America Block, showing old Richfield Building

Visual Materials

This collection consists of 35mm Kodachrome slides taken between 1954 and 1972. This collection of photographs taken by amateur photographer Palmer Conner documents by street the physical and social changes of Bunker Hill during the earliest stages of redevelopment. The collection is particularly strong in its depiction of the Bunker Hill neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles during redevelopment in the 1950s. Images chiefly consist of views of commercial and residential building exteriors taken from the street, including images of both new construction and older buildings in the process of being demolished.

photCL 486

Apartments going up at 1st and Hope Streets

Visual Materials

Bunker Hill Towers apartment complex under constrction. Central Tower is at 800 West 1st Street and 32 stories high. Background buildings right of center being built are 19-story companion towers, 234 South Figueroa Street, along Figueroa and Third Streets.

photCL 486

Richfield-Bank of America Block and Dawson’s bookstore

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Dawson’s Book Shop

Union Oil Center, from Bunker Hill

Richfield-Bank of America Block

Richfield-Bank of America excavation site

Richfield-Bank of America Block, showing old Richfield Building

Apartments going up at 1st and Hope Streets