Main Street (Los Angeles)
Main Street is a major north–south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California. It serves as the east–west postal divider for the city and the county as well.[2]
Length
20.9 mi (33.6 km)[1]
Lomita Boulevard at the Carson–Wilmington border
I-405 in Carson
SR 91 near Carson
I-105 near South Los Angeles
I-10 in Downtown Los Angeles
US 101 in Downtown Los Angeles
Route[edit]
From the northeast, Main Street begins as a continuation of Valley Boulevard west of Mission Road in Lincoln Heights as 'North Main Street'.
Main Street enters Downtown Los Angeles passing by the edge of the Los Angeles Plaza. It continues through the Civic Center area, which is built on top of the site of the buildings — nearly all demolished — that in the 1880s through 1900s formed the city's Central Business District. At 3rd Street it enters the Historic Core district. At 9th Street, it merges with Spring Street in Downtown LA, and between Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and 9th Street, Main Street shares a one-way couplet with Spring Street.
Main Street continues south through South Los Angeles and enters Carson 2 miles (3.2 km) north at the intersection of Lomita Boulevard. In Wilmington Main Street moniker ends, the street continuing on as Wilmington Boulevard.
Main Street looking north from Temple, photo by T.E. Stanton, 1886. The Baker Block is the prominent building towards the back. Left side: Cosmopolitan Hotel, Farmers and Merchants Bank , Downey Block with Commercial Restaurant.
Round House, west side of Main south of 3rd, c. 1880-1885
Panorama Building, E side of Main between Mayo (3rd) and 4th, c. 1890. The center entrance led through to the panorama exhibition space in the back. Note the Olmsted & Wales Panorama Bookstore, and the offices of the Evening Express. At right, the Hotel Westminster at the NE corner of 4th/Main.
Hotel Barclay, NW corner 4th/Main
Hotel Westminster (demolished), NE corner 4th/Main, c. 1900
The San Fernando Building, SE corner 4th/Main, 2008
Farmers & Merchants Bank Building, SW corner 4th/Main, 2008
c. 1904, 400 block of Main looking north from 5th St. Lexington Hotel (now demolished) at #443 left; turreted Hotel Westminster, back right. Main Street Savings Bank Building at #426 (right foreground, round roof turret).
Main Street Savings Bank Building in the 1890s. NE corner of Winston. Demolished.
U.S. Government Building including Post Office, 1893. SE corner of Winston. Demolished.
500 block of Main south from 5th, c. 1908. Burbank Theatre at #546 at left
Kerckoff Building, 558–564 S. Main
Pacific Electric station at 6th and Main, c. 1905-1909
Looking north on Main from 6th c. 1917. Tall building is the Hotel Rosslyn main building. Visible: sign for Isaias W. Hellman Bldg. at 124 W. 4th; Wesley Roberts, Higgins, San Fernando and Canadian buildings. Colyear's sign is site of Hotel Rosslyn Annex.
California Theatre, 810 S. Main St., Los Angeles, c. 1921
9th at Main and Spring, looking north, c. 1917. The Miller Theatre (1913) and Hotel Huntington are among the buildings in view.
9th at Main and Spring, looking north, c. 1917
While the Broadway Theater and Commercial District several blocks west is famous enough to warrant constituting a National Register-listed historic district, Main Street was home to dozens of theatres and early cinemas as well. The peak era was the early 1910s, before the more upscale cinema market migrated west to Broadway. There were 27 theaters and cinemas running on Main in 1912. In 1939 there were still 18 operating between 2nd and 9th streets.[50]
Transportation[edit]
Main Street carries Metro Local lines: 10, 33, 48, 55, 76, and 92; most of those lines run on Main Street in downtown only, while Line 76 serves Main Street in Northeast Los Angeles and Line 48 in South Los Angeles. The A Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail System meets Main Street at its intersection with North Vignes Street near the Chinatown Station. The B and D lines are just past the intersection of Main Street and North Alameda Street near Union Station.[51][52]