Blast from the Past: Brooklyn Theatre’s Mysterious Bombing, 1926

In the early morning hours of 17 June 1926, a series of powerful blasts rocked Boyle Heights. At about five minutes to four, five explosions broke windows, toppled chimneys, and drove panicked residents into the streets. Soon, it was determined that the scene of the blast was the single screen, 900-seat Brooklyn Theatre, located at…

A 1920s Boyle Heights Artifact: 1921 Walker & Todd Ford Dealer Ink Blotter

This is a small little item that no one (or very nearly) uses anymore: an ink blotter. These were just to wipe excessive ink on when people used the old ink pens with steel nibs on them, before fountain and ball-point pens came into being. Frequently, blotters were an opportunity for businesses to advertise their…

Volunteers of America and the Maud Booth Home in Boyle Heights

Back in spring 2010, this blog featured a post (see http://boyleheightshistoryblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/historic-houses-of-boyle-heights-joseph.html) on the 1882 house of Joseph M. Workman, cousin of Boyle Heights founder William H. Workman. By 1895, however, Joseph Workman lost the house, located at 451 South Boyle Avenue, to foreclosure and the home was occupied by others, including saddler Allan Ball and…

Historic Photos of Boyle Heights: Hollenbeck Park

Easily the most photographed and publicized part of Boyle Heights from the 1890s onward was Hollenbeck Park, a twenty-one acre City of Los Angeles park created in 1892. Following national and international trends, the city actively embarked on a park development program starting in the 188os. Hollenbeck followed such early parks as Central (created as…