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(This is Part Nine of a Street View tour of vintage and historical street and pedestrian lights for enthusiasts to view and in hopes of encouraging cities and towns to preserve some of these old luminaires and electroliers, or at least choose replicas that reflect the character of historic districts when modernizing their lighting. The images link to Google Street Views to make it easy to "look around" if an image interests you. The photos begin in
Part One.)
Los Angeles had an incredible history of creative and artistic street lighting for its streets and bridges. Fortunately the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has preserved a few of these historic artifacts and they can be seen today.
A 1928 "Wilshire Special," one of several still in service. (Wilshire Boulevard)
Close-up of the four bare-breasted ladies (and a bird) that "guard" the lamps. (Wilshire Boulevard.)
Maintenance crew replacing a broken glass pane.
MV version of "Wilshire Doubles." (Wilshire Boulevard & S. Longwood Way)
(The original luminaires are slowly being upgraded to more energy efficient replicas.)
Upgraded luminaires as of 2020. (Wilshire Boulevard & S. Longwood Way)
Union Metal "Doubles." (First and Main Streets)
Close-up view. (First and Main Streets)
More modern teardrop "Doubles." (First and Main Streets)
Metropolitan "Double." (Ivar Avenue)
Historic view of the Doubles. (Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue)
Close-up of bulb in broken luminaire. (Ivar Avenue)
Slightly newer doubles and post. (Pico Boulevard)
Acorn doubles. (Pico Boulevard and S. Wetherly Drive)
Doubles on what once was a trolley pole. (N. Spring Sreet at City Hall)
A newer vintage acorn. (Young Drive, UCLA)
"We're getting a lot more requests for different-style poles," says Norma Marrero, senior street lighting engineer with the bureau. Retro is hot. There's a new commitment on the bureau's end to "rehabilitate and replicate the old vintage street lights instead of replacing them with modern poles," says Ed Ebrahimian, the bureau's assistant director.
Los Angeles Times, Oct. 19, 2003
Opal glass triples mid-block. (Carroll Avenue)
Quintuples at the intersections. (Carroll Avenue and Douglas Street)
A classic acorn with a local neighborhood's post design. (Le Conte & Weyburn Avenues)
In this Westwood neighborhood, not much taller than the stop signs. (Ashton and Selby Avenues)
More conventional height. (Cashmere Street)
An earlier style in the Brentwood area. (S. Carmelina Avenue)
More of a 1940s style in Westgate. (N. Bonhill Road)
Another older style in Westgate. (N. Barrington Avenue)
Please note: If you notice any entries that need correction or are aware of vintage lights still in service that should be added to this section, please
Email Me.
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