Author Archives: Nathan Marsak

That’s right kids, it’s that time again! Time to get spooky! But don’t just sit there on your couch watching old monster movies (which you should absolutely do, but don’t just do that). Get out into the world! Next weekend there’s two tours you should take: Saturday! I’ll be leading the parade, marching across theContinue reading “Bunker Hill Tour! Cemetery Tour! Next Weekend!”

Hard to believe eighteen years have passed since I first wrote about the WPA model at the Natural History Museum for On Bunker Hill. There may be some of you who have yet to see the model in the flesh, and if you’re interested in Bunker Hill, be advised it’s top of your bucket list.Continue reading “The Bunker Hill Model at the Natural History Museum”

Today we talk about Biddy Mason — and by extension Pershing Square. I have covered this topic previously in June 2024, and September 2026. I am not here in any way, shape, or form, to disparage Biddy Mason, who was certifiably great and justifiably important. What I *am* here to do is investigate not whatContinue reading “What You Know About Biddy Mason”

TL;DR — having two parks called Biddy Mason is silly, and stripping the Pershing Square name is wrong. Click here, hit the “NEW” button, and leave a comment for City Council telling them so. →→→ IMPORTANT! Your comment will NOT go to Council unless you “verify” it. After you post your comment to the site,Continue reading “Act Now to Save Pershing Square”

On Saturday, September 19th, the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles is having a cocktail shindig in the basement speakeasy of Clifton’s. Waitaminnit, you say, I’ve been in Clifton’s and don’t remember a basement speakeasy! No, you don’t: it’s something that previous owner Andrew Meieran worked on for years (before giving up the ship) andContinue reading “Clifton’s Lecture! September 19th!”

Yes, I know—the last piece I wrote about the subject, fifteen months ago, was literally titled My Final Words on Cooper Donuts. But the other day a journalist called out of the blue to talk CDN, which meant I glanced at the Cooper Do-nut website for the first time in a long while…and…yeahhhhh. The siteContinue reading “Big News on Cooper Donuts”

Hey all! My pal Lisa Napoli published a nifty piece in LA Local this week, called “The four corners: How I watched downtown LA rise, fall and reinvent itself” (my apologies to Lisa for changing it to “Third and Figueroa” in my much-shortened blogpost title!) and if you haven’t seen it, check it out: TheContinue reading ““Third and Figueroa” by Lisa Napoli”

It’s 1973. You wake up and as you blink through the smog, what do you see? Vietnam slogging on, Johnson’s “Great Society” in complete collapse, and various countercultural crusades have dismantled the social scaffolding that once provided you with clear roles and status. What do you do? Succumb to enervation and aimlessness in a fractured,Continue reading “The OTHER Angels Flight”

I’ve been hearing for ten years that Loyola Marymount University was at work on a Chavez Ravine archive project, and last Thursday, the internet lit up with this press release. Lo and behold, it had been released to the public, and you may see it for yourself by clicking here. It is a fascinating collectionContinue reading “New Chavez Ravine Archive!”

The remains of Old Bunker Hill are few and far between. Yes, we have Bunker Hill captured in still images, and in cinema, but actual archaeological residua is scant. We have a house, of course, but attempts to analyze the greater Hill’s physical, material culture is generally limited to, for example, a retaining wall orContinue reading “First German Methodist, Bunker Hill”