The Third St. Tunnel

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Byron Dillon

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Sep 11, 2011, 4:28:30 PM9/11/11
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Photos of the stairs just north and paralleling 3rd., St.. tunnel brought back long forgotten memories of 1935.  I attended Central Jr.; High school (410 N. Hill St.). At 3:00 PM. each day, school was out so I walked south on hill, then down the hill to 2nd. Street. In front of the beautiful old fire station, complete with metal tube for fireman to encircle then slide down to their engines. I picked up my newspapers walked to the north entrance of 3rd street tunnel then climbed up the 200+  stairs to the office of Angels flight on Bunker Hill. I place the new papers in the rack, took out a few coins then down the stairs to Hill St.. where I would walk 1/2 block to Subway Terminal Bldg. . 437 S. Hill St..
 
Each day Mon. through Fri. I sold newspapers at this location. Around 6:30 p.m. I would then walk  though 2nd street tunnel to my small home at 134 N. Bixel St. (now the site of Belmont Learning Center). 
 
I lived in several old homes in this area. It was an unforgettable experience.  During the Great Depression Oct. 1929 through early 1941 I lived there.  My memories, my experiences of these times, those areas are still crystal clear in my memory.  Too bad these memories will shortly be lost to history since I am 90 years old.
 
Byron Dillon


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Howell

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Sep 12, 2011, 8:49:54 AM9/12/11
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You lived on N. Bixel, I lived on 1315 W. 2nd Street.  It was an old grey Victorian duplex on a triangle block on the corner of Edgeware,  2 blocks west of Bixel and 2nd St. In that triangle block, was an empty lot with  a Maurice Ball furs billboard.  The 44 Beverly Blvd bus stop was at the end of the triangle block.Across 2nd street was the the first stop of the subway streetcar as it exited the tunnel on 1rst and Glendale Blvd.  Do you remeber when the Beverly Blvd viaduct was built?    I am 76 years old and that old duplex is still vivid in my memories. Let me hear from you.

From: Byron Dillon <byron...@msn.com>
To: offbun...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 3:28 PM
Subject: The Third St. Tunnel

Photos of the stairs just north and paralleling 3rd., St.. tunnel brought back long forgotten memories of 1935.  I attended Central Jr.; High school (410 N. Hill St.). At 3:00 PM. each day, school was out so I walked south on hill, then down the hill to 2nd. Street. In front of the beautiful old fire station, complete with metal tube for fireman to encircle then slide down to their engines. I picked up my newspapers walked to the north entrance of 3rd street tunnel then climbed up the 200+  stairs to the office of Angels flight on Bunker Hill. I place the new papers in the rack, took out a few coins then down the stairs to Hill St.. where I would walk 1/2 block to Subway Terminal Bldg. . 437 S. Hill St..
 
Each day Mon. through Fri. I sold newspapers at this location. Around 6:30 p.m. I would then walk  though 2nd street tunnel to my small home at 134 N. Bixel St. (now the site of Belmont Learning Center). 
 
I lived in several old homes in this area. It was an unforgettable experience.  During the Great Depression Oct. 1929 through early 1941 I lived there.  My memories, my experiences of these times, those areas are still crystal clear in my memory.  Too bad these memories will shortly be lost to history since I am 90 years old.
 
Byron Dillon

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Byron Dillon

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Sep 12, 2011, 11:58:16 AM9/12/11
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No I don't remember when the viaduct was built.  In the early days I walked all over that part of town.  As you know, getting a ride was difficult so we walked. I also attended Belmont Hi. for about a year so I often walked past the entrance (or exit) of the Subway terminal tunnel on my trip to Belmont.
You may not be aware but one of the most or possibly the greatest writer in the twentieth century was author, Ray Bradbury who lived for a time  on the second floor of an old appt. building corner of Fig. and Temple. Ray lived on the NW corner of that location.   Ray also sold newspapers downtown LA then he delivered telegrams on a bike for Western Union.
I really enjoyed living in and around that area during the great Depression.  Those many hills and all of neat old wood oil derricks were great. I loved to see the almost slow motion of the pump going up and down.  The sounds were very melodious and especially at night with our windows open I could hear that wonderful sound plus the wonderful aroma of the night blooming jasmine drifting through the windows.
Thanks for your reply.
Byron Dillon

Byron Dillon

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Oct 8, 2011, 10:06:55 PM10/8/11
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My youth was exciting and challenging as a young boy walking down the Hill from Central Jr. High in the 400 block of north Hill St.. past the two tunnels near the City Hall building during the Great Depression. I picked up my papers at 2nd and Hill St. then a walk up the 200+ stairs to the office of Angel's Flight on 3rd street where I filled the newsrack with newspapers. Then back down and onto the Subway Terminal Bldg.
 
The Subway Terminal Bldg. 437 S. Hill, at the base of the hill from Bunker Hill was an important building in early LA. I would stand near the entrance of the building as over 40,000 passengers entered and left the building. These people were going down into the tunnel of the Subway Terminal where they continued home.
 
The Subway Terminal much like the Pacific Electric Building at 6th and Main were important hubs for people going and coming from outline areas of early LA. People  caught street cars for cities surrounding LA.  The Pacific Electric red car was bigger then the smaller Los Angeles Railway cars. Both the yellow cars and the red Pacific Electric cars would also run down the middle of Main street.  The big Red cars used a wider gauge tract so where the two ran along the same street, there were three tracks.
 
In late afternoon people from the financial district on Spring St. (from fifth to ninth street), along with office workers in the surrounding office buildings would be in a hurry to pass through these two big terminals as they traveled home. In those days many of the current cities were not yet formed so everyone lived miles from town. Since fewer cities surrounded LA, people going out for dinner and a movie would often travel by street cars.
----- Original Message -----
From: Howell
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2011 5:49 AM
Subject: Re: The Third St. Tunnel

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