Blackstone Building (Los Angeles)

The Blackstone Building (formerly Blackstone's Department Store, now the Blackstone Apartments) is a 1916 structure located at 901 South Broadway in Los Angeles, California. It has been listed as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument since 2003 (number LA-765).[1] The Blackstone Department Store Building is an early example of the work of John B. Parkinson, Los Angeles’ preeminent architect of the early 20th century, who also designed Bullocks Wilshire. The building is clad in gray terra cotta and styled in the Beaux Arts school.[2]

Blackstone Building
Blackstone's Department Store in 2013
Former namesBlackstone's Department Store
Alternative namesBlackstone Apartments
General information
Address901 South Broadway
Town or cityLos Angeles, California
CountryUS
Completed1916
Design and construction
ArchitectJohn B. Parkinson
Renovating team
ArchitectMorgan, Walls & Clements
Website
https://www.liveatblackstonedtla.com/

History of Blackstone's

Nathaniel Blackstone (brother-in-law of department store magnate J. W. Robinson) opened Blackstone's Dry Goods in 1895 when J.W. Robinson Co. (commonly known as the "Boston Store" at that time) vacated its previous location at 171–173 Spring Street[3] that year.[4]

In 1898 they moved to the Douglas Building (then known as the "New" Stimson Block) at the northwest corner of Third and Spring streets, taking a 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) space on the ground floor, plus the entire basement.[5][6]

In 1906-7, N. B. Blackstone Co. moved to 318–320-322 S. Broadway, in the new A. P. Johnson (or O. T. Johnson) building designed by Robert B. Young.[7]

901 S. Broadway flagship

In 1916, Blackstone hired Parkinson to design his flagship store further south at the southwest corner of 9th and Broadway, with 90 feet of frontage on Broadway and 165 feet on 9th Street. It cost of $500,000, with 6 stories plus two basement levels,[8] and opened on September 20, 1917.[9]

In 1939, Blackstone’s was sold to the Famous Department Store Company, and renovated by Morgan, Walls & Clements. Stiles O. Clements designed a ground-floor façade in the Streamline Moderne style; this façade is now protected by an easement by the Los Angeles Conservancy.[2]

Also it was the building behind Harold Lloyd in the famous scene when he is climbing another building and does those amazing stunts hanging from the building's clock — in the 1923 silent film "Safety Last". Blackstone's department stores received about 20 minutes of free advertising in a very popular film that year.

Current use

In 2010, the Blackstone Building was adaptively reused and converted to 82 apartments with ground-floor retail space and a subterranean parking garage.[10]

References
  1. Monument Search Results Page
  2. Blackstone Department Store Building | Los Angeles Conservancy
  3. "Advertisement by N. B. Blackstone Co". Los Angeles Times. 8 May 1898. p. 17. Retrieved 3 May 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. "Advertisement by J. W. Robinson Co". Los Angeles Times. 12 March 1933. p. 35. Retrieved 3 May 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  5. "The New Stimson Block". Los Angeles Herald. March 25, 1898 – via newspapers.com.
  6. Image of N. R. Blackstone Co. in the Douglas Block, in image "Busy intersection of Spring Street and Third Street, looking north from Third, Downtown Los Angeles, ca.1905", California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960, USC digital library
  7. "Seven-story Block". Los Angeles Herald. 1 May 1906. p. 11 – via newspapers.com.
  8. "Material Progress: Milliions Going into Broadway Buildings: New Blackstones". Los Angeles Times. April 22, 1917 – via newspapers.com.
  9. Cory Stargel; Sarah Stargel (2009). Early Downtown Los Angeles. Arcadia Publishing. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7385-7003-7.
  10. Romancing the Blackstone - News - LADTN

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