Author Archives: prudentbeaudry

Quick, how many former residents of Bunker Hill have appeared on United States currency? I can hear you now yelling “ooo! ooo! DeWitt Clinton!” but sorry Horshack, no, and you’re way off. We’re talking about a woman, and on a coin. At which point you wise up and say “ahhhh, right—because I read this, IContinue reading “Bunker Hill—Home of the Stars!”

First, one must establish what gift is best, in this spookiest of holiday seasons—the answer being a copy of Bunker Noir!, of course, replete as it is with horrible horrors, terrible terrors, and all manner of wacky weirdness. Now, you may purchase copies directly from me, and I have as well made them available viaContinue reading “Where Can You Buy the Perfect Hallowe’en Gift?”

UPDATE! Due to overwhelming demand, the ADSLA has added ANOTHER tour! Yes, tickets for a November 6th ‘encore tour’ are now available. Buy soon: we anticipate them to sell out rapidly! Click here! https://artdecola.org/events-calendar/spooky-oviatt-tour-2022-encore It is the Spooky Month! There’s certainly no dearth of spookified going-ons around town, but if I may make a suggestion:Continue reading “A Haunted History of the Oviatt Penthouse!”

There are many disparate, interconnected elements to the study of Old Bunker Hill. Component parts include the Hill’s architecture, and stories of its residents, and the famous tale of its slash-and-burn urban renewal. Then there’s crime. The true-crime genre often casts an eye on Bunker Hill—heck, there’s a website, and book, devoted solely to theContinue reading “A Serial Killer on Bunker Hill”

You read that right, I have in fact secured gainful employment. Which is tough since I’m basically unemployable: there are evidently few wishing to engage my kind, whose lot in life is one endless discourse involving Bunker Hill. (That, coupled with this relentless need to go on and on about community mausolea and Richardsonian RomanesqueContinue reading “I Got a Job!”

I picked up a nifty old photo the other day and thought what the heck, I’ll give it a quick scan and toss it on the blog, you know, just to share. Of course one thing lead to another, and here we’ve ended up with 2800 words and about as many pictures. Ladies and gentlemen,Continue reading “The Richelieu”

The good folk at Esotouric—who, with the rest of the world, have been huddled in the collective basement these last couple years—are back with a vengeance! There are new tours to be had, and among the first is a walking tour of Bunker Hill. As in, sign up for the tour, meet the group nextContinue reading “Bunker Hill WALKING TOUR!”

Most of Bunker Hill’s lost houses are known, and beloved, for being Queen Anne. The Hill had some two-dozen first rate Queen Anne structures, famed for their asymmetrical facades and profusion of gingerbread. Bunker Hill’s “top five” (if their appearance and reappearance on those “Old LA” Facebook groups is any indication) are the Crocker, Rose,Continue reading “The Wills Mansion”

I hate to be that guy, but I mean, come on. The Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council passed a letter requesting City leaders to formally recognize the site of the Cooper Do-Nuts Riot, specifically, at 215 South Main: Irrespective of issues to be had with the alleged Cooper Do-Nut Riot (covered at length here andContinue reading “Cooper Do-Nuts, Pt. III”

While Bunker Hill was famously wiped clean, it does contain a small quantity of interesting archaeological sites. The telling soil contours at Second and Hill. A remaining bit of retaining wall at Fourth and Olive. Less known (or at least not as yet mentioned by me) is the retaining wall at Fourth and Hill. YouContinue reading “The Great Wall of Bunker Hill”