Broadway, until 1890 Fort Street, is a major

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way of transport, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. Originally, the word referred to a main road or open street which was frequented thoroughly. Different terms *Roa ...

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

, United States. The portion of Broadway from 3rd to 9th streets, in the Historic Core of

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

, was the city's main commercial street from the 1910s until World War II, and is the location of the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, the first and largest historic theater district listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

(NRHP). With twelve

movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. Wi ...

s located along a six-block stretch, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States.

Route

South Broadway's southern terminus is Main Street just north of the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Carson. From there it runs north through

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

– at Olympic Blvd. entering downtown's Historic Core, in which the buildings lining Broadway form the

Broadway Theater and Commercial District The Broadway Theater District in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch ...

. Crossing 3rd Street, Broadway passes through the

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

including Grand Park. After crossing the US-101 (Santa Ana Freeway), signs read "North Broadway" as it enters

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

. It then curves northeast, passing through old railyards, crosses the Golden State Fwy. (I-5) and heads due east to its terminus at Mission Road in Lincoln Heights.

History

Founding and extension

Broadway, one of the oldest streets in the city, was laid out as part of the 1849 plan of Los Angeles made by Lieutenant

Edward Ord Edward Otho Cresap Ord (October 18, 1818 – July 22, 1883), frequently referred to as E. O. C. Ord, was an American engineer and United States Army officer who saw action in the Seminole War, the Indian Wars, and the American Civil War. He comma ...

and named Fort Street. Fort Street began at the south side of Fort Moore Hill (a block north of Temple Street) at Sand Street (later California Street). In 1890, the name of Fort Street, from 1st Street to 10th Street, was changed to Broadway. The rest of Fort Street, from California Street to 1st Street, was changed to North Broadway. Proposal for opening Broadway through to Buena Vista Street (now North Broadway), and extending the street south into what was then part of Main Street, below Tenth Street, in order to give a continuous, wide thoroughfare from the southern

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...

to the Eastside, was made as early as February 1891. The Broadway Tunnel under Fort Moore Hill was opened in 1901, extending North Broadway to Buena Vista Street at Bellevue Avenue (later

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

, now Cesar Chavez Avenue). A section of Broadway in South Los Angeles was originally named Moneta Avenue until 1923. In 1909, construction on a bridge across the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

was begun to connect Buena Vista Street to Downey Avenue, which ran from the river to Mission Road. The names of Buena Vista and Downey were then changed to North Broadway, but not without significant objections from affected residents and landowners. The bridge, which continued to be referred to as the Buena Vista Street Bridge for a good while, was opened to traffic in late September 1911.

Commercial and entertainment center

For more than 50 years, Broadway from 1st Street to Olympic Boulevard was the main commercial street of Los Angeles, and one of its premier theater and movie palace districts as well. It contains a vast number of historic buildings and is listed on the

. Prior to the turn of the 20th century, the city's Central Business District was further north, along Spring and Main streets between the Plaza and 2nd Street. In 1895 J.W. Robinson's opened what was then considered a very large and impressive four-story department store at 239 S. Broadway, signaling of the shift over the next decade and a half of the main shopping district to Broadway below 2nd Street.

Retail hub

From around 1905 through the 1950s, Broadway was considered the center of the city, where residents went to ornate

s and live theaters, and shopped at major

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

s and shops. See the Table of department stores on Broadway and Seventh streets below. The square footage of the four largest department stores alone —

Bullock's Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialt ...

at , The Broadway at , May Co. at over and J. W. Robinson's (7th St. at Hope) at — totaled over three million square feet, the size of

American Dream Meadowlands American Dream is a large retail and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, and is the second largest mall in the United Sta ...

, America's largest mall today. Among dozens of significant buildings from that era are the

Bradbury Building The Bradbury Building is an architectural landmark in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. Built in 1893, the five-story office building is best known for its extraordinary skylit atrium of access walkways, stairs and elevators, and ...

Ace Hotel Los Angeles The United Artists Theatre is a historic former movie palace and office building located at 937 South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, California. It was the tallest building in the city for one year after its completion in 1927 and was the tal ...

, and the ''

Los Angeles Examiner The ''Los Angeles Examiner'' was a newspaper founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst in Los Angeles. The afternoon '' Los Angeles Herald-Express'' and the morning ''Los Angeles Examiner'', both of which had been publishing in the city since t ...

'' building designed by

Julia Morgan Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American architect and engineer. She designed more than 700 buildings in California during a long and prolific career.Erica Reder"Julia Morgan was a local in ''The New Fillmore'', 1 Febr ...

. Some of the

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

s on the street fell into disuse and disrepair, some were replaced with parking lots, but many have been repurposed and/or restored. The department stores closed in the 1970s and 1980s, but Broadway has been the premier shopping destination for

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

Latinos for decades.

Theater District

The Broadway Theater District is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the

(NRHP). The district, which spans from 2nd to 10th street, contains twelve

Department stores

Broadway since 2008

In 2008, the City of Los Angeles launched a $40-million campaign to revitalize the Broadway district, known as the " Bringing Back Broadway" campaign. Some Latino merchants in the district expressed concern that the campaign was an effort to spread the largely Anglo gentrification taking hold in other parts of downtown to an area that has become the city's leading Latino shopping district. A worker at one of the district's bridal shops noted, "On one side, I like the idea. The only thing is that I don't think they want our types of businesses." The Downtown's real estate revitalization, using the City's

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse is the reuse of an existing building for a purpose other than that for which it was originally built or designed. It is also known as recycling and conversion. The adaptive reuse of buildings can be a viable alternative to new con ...

ordinance that makes it easier for developers to convert outmoded and/or vacant office and commercial buildings into residential buildings, has reached the Broadway Historic District. It includes the transformation of the United Artists Theater office tower into the

, and restoration of its movie palace. The Bringing Back Broadway commission is working on further reviving the landmark Los Angeles boulevard in the historic district. Led by City Councilman Jose Huizar, the commission has recommended widening sidewalks, eliminating traffic lanes, constructing new parking structures, and bringing back

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

service reminiscent of the street's past. A pedestrian-friendly project finished up in December 2014 that widened the sidewalks and replaced the parking lane with planters, chairs and round cafe tables with bright-red umbrellas. The Great Streets Initiative seeks to bolster the street-level health of the city by making several dozen boulevards more hospitable to pedestrians, cyclists and small businesses. Mayor

Eric Garcetti Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to India, United States ambassador to India from 2023 to 2025. He was the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles f ...

said the effort represents ''"a shift from the way that our neighborhoods have been planned in Los Angeles,"'' with a new focus on ''"walkability and transit."'' Broadway retail is transitioning from a broad mix of stores catering to Hispanic immigrants and a burgeoning

sneaker Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

and

streetwear Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk fashion, punk, Skateboarding#Culture, skateboarding, 1980s no ...

retail cluster has emerged from 4th to 9th streets: Sneaker Row. Retail in and around the Eastern Columbia, located at the intersection of 9th Street & Broadway, has proliferated in recent years with the opening of

Acne Studios Acne Studios is a multidisciplinary luxury fashion house based in Stockholm, Sweden that specializes in men's and women's ready-to-wear fashion, footwear, accessories and denim. When founded in 1996, the label derived its name from the creative ...

, Oak NYC,

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

, Tanner Goods, BNKR, Austere,

A.P.C. ''Atelier de Production et de Création'', or A.P.C.'','' is a Economy of France, French ready-to-wear luxury brand founded in 1987 by Jean Touitou in Paris. History In 1987, Jean Touitou created a clothing line which would later become the A.P ...

, and

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

located in the Rialto Theater (

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cul ...

No. 472).

Buildings and sites

North of Hollywood Freeway

Image:BroadwayTunnel L.A.jpg, Broadway Tunnel at Fort Moore Hill (1901), southern entrance Image:Chinatown Los Angeles neon.jpg, Chinatown East Gate * Chinatown East Gate, 943 N. Broadway * Little Joe's (razed), 904 N. Broadway * Site of Broadway Tunnel (1901–1941) below Fort Moore Hill (leveled), between today's Temple St. and César Chávez Bl.

Hollywood Freeway to Temple

This area south to Second Street was Los Angeles's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

during the 1880s and 1890s. It is now the

Third to Fourth

West side

File:VilleDeParisLosAngeles1904.jpg, Ville de Paris department store in the Homer Laughlin Building, c. 1905 File:Grand Central Market.jpg, Homer Laughlin Building, 2014 File:W side 300 block S Broadway during Pachyderm Parade 1905.jpg, West side of the 300 block, 1905 File:JMHaleNewStore1908.jpg,

Karl's Building Karl's, also known as Karl's Shoes, is a historic two-story building located at 341-345 S. Broadway in the Broadway Theater District in the historic core of downtown Los Angeles. History Karl's was originally built as a four story structure ...

, 1909 * Homer Laughlin Building (1896, John Parkinson), 317 S. Broadway, home to Grand Central Market since 1917. Previously home to Coulter's (1898–1905) and Ville de Paris (1905–1917) * 327–329 S. Broadway, former J. R. Lane Dry Goods store, then Field's jewelry store and the Broadway food market. Now a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

. Top floors removed; now single story. * Jacoby Building ( John B. Parkinson), 331–335 S. Broadway, Jacoby Bros. department store 1900-1935, Boston Store late 1930s. Two of four floors removed * former Haggarty's department store from 1905 to 1917, 337–339 S. Broadway *

(1903, Abram M. Edelman) 341–345 S. Broadway former J. M. Hale department store from 1909 through the 1920s. * Zobel Building (), 351-353 S. Broadway, former site of The Wonder, opened 1921, largest retail silk store in the United States * Grant Building (1898, Frank Van Trees), 355–363 S. Broadway, originally Grant Block, three stories, enlarged to 7 stores 1901–2 by John Parkinson, now two stories. Home to W. E. Cummings shoe store, then Montgomery Bros jewelry store, then Weatherby-Kayser

East side

* Blackstone Building (1907), 318–322 S. Broadway, housed Blackstone's Department Store 1907-1917, as well as a Los Angeles County Library and the Cozy Theater. Originally five stories, now three * Trustee Building (1905, Parkinson and Bergstrom), 340 S. Broadway, home to various retail stores including Columbia Outfitting in the 1920s. * O. T. Johnson Block (1895, Robert Brown Young), 350 S. Broadway, originally three stories, now one * O. T. Johnson Building (1902, John Parkinson), 356–364 S. Broadway, NE corner of 4th and Broadway, originally seven stories, now two

Fourth to Fifth

West side

* Junípero Serra State Office Building, (1915, Parkinson and Bergstrom), SW corner of 4th and Broadway, former home to

The Broadway The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant reta ...

* Wilson Building (1909), 431 S. Broadway, former home to

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses Australia and New Zealand * Woolworths Group (Australia), the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand; named after the American F.W. Woolworth company, but unrelated * W ...

* Metropolitan Building, (1913, Parkinson and Bergstrom), NW corner of 5th and Broadway, former home of Owl Drug Co., (1914–1934), L.A. Public Library (1913–1926), J. J. Newberry (1939-1990)

East side

File:Judson-Rives Building.jpg, Judson-Rives Building File:BumillerBldgLA.jpg, Bumiller Building File:NE cor Fifth and Broadway c1924 USC.jpg, NE corner 5th/Broadway, early 1920s File:Chester Williams Building 01.jpg, Chester Williams Building *Perla on Broadway (2022), 400 S. Broadway, 35-story condominium tower *Site of first Thrifty Drug Store (razed), 412 S. Broadway * Judson-Rives Building (1906, Charles Ronald Aldrich), 424 S. Broadway, ten stories, currently The Judson * Bumiller Building (1906, Morgan & Walls), 430 S. Broadway, six stories, currently the Broadway Lofts *Broadway Mall (1980s), 440 S. Broadway, former site of the Parmalee-Dohrmann building * Chester Williams Building (1926, Curlett & Beelman), NE corner of 5th and Broadway, twelve stories

Fifth to Sixth

File:Broadway signs at night looking south from 5th Street, Los Angeles, 1950s.jpg, Broadway looking south from 5th Street, 1950s

West side

File:1927 postcard of Broadway, Los Angeles west side south from Fifth Street (NBY 2553).jpg, West side of Broadway south from 5th, 1927 postcard File:Broadway, north from Sixth Street, Los Angeles, ca.1906 (CHS-5200).jpg, North from 6th, c.1906 File:Schulte United Building.jpg, Schulte United Building File:Hartfield's (1931) 01.jpg, F. and W. Grand Silver Store Building * Fifth Street Store Building (1927, Alexander Curlett), 501 S. Broadway, former home to Steele, Faris, & Walker Co. (1905–1909), Fifth Street Store (1909–1925), Walker's (1926–1946), Milliron's (1946–1953), Ohrbach's-Downtown (1953–1959) * Remick Building (1902, Abram M. Edelman), 517-19 S. Broadway * Reeves Building (1903, John Parkinson), 525 S. Broadway * Schulte United Building (1928), 529 S. Broadway *

Lerners Building Lerners Building, also known as Reed's, is a historic two-story building located at 533 S. Broadway (Los Angeles), Broadway in the Jewelry District (Los Angeles), Jewelry District and Broadway Theater District (Los Angeles), Broadway Theater Dist ...

(1931, Philip Barker), 533 S. Broadway * F. and W. Grand Silver Store Building (1931), Walker & Eisen, 537-541 S. Broadway. Home to F. & W. Grand Silver (1931–1934), National Dollar (1934), Richman Brothers (1950s), and Hartfield-Zodys (1960s) * Swelldom Building (1920, Davis & Davis and Henry F. Withey), 555–561 S. Broadway, Swelldom opened in the building 1920.

East side

File:Jewelry Trades Building-1.jpg, Title Guarantee Block, a.k.a. Jewelry Trades Building File:Pettebone Building (1905, architect Robert Brown Young), 510-512 S. Broadway Los Angeles.jpg, Pettebone Building File:RoxieLA.jpg,

Roxie Theatre Roxie Theatre is a historic former movie theater in the Broadway Theater District of Los Angeles, California. The venue opened in 1931 as the last theater to be built on Broadway. Architect John M. Cooper's Art Deco design of the Roxie rema ...

File:528 S. Broadway, Los Angeles.jpg, Cameo Theater File:Arcade Theatre, 534 South Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, California 03.jpg, Arcade Theater File:Broadway Arcade Building-3.jpg, Broadway-Spring Arcade File:Silverwood's Clothing Store-1.jpg, Silverwood's Building File:Broadway, Looking South, Los Angeles, Calif (74434).jpg, Postcard, looking south, circa 1930 to 1945 * Jewelry Trades Building (1913, Morgan, Walls and Morgan), 500 S. Broadway * Pettebone Building (1905, Robert Brown Young), 510-512 S. Broadway *

(1931, John M. Cooper), 518 S. Broadway, 1600 seat movie palace * Cameo Theater – (1910, Alfred Rosenheim), 528 S. Broadway, originally 900-seat

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, converted to retail * Arcade Theater (1910, Morgan and Walls), 534 S. Broadway, 1450-seat English-music-hall theater Converted to retail * Broadway-Spring Arcade (1924, MacDonald and Couchot), 540 S. Broadway * Hubert-Thom McAn Building, (1900, John B. Parkinson) 546 S. Broadway * Silverwood's Building (1920, Walker and Eisen), 556-8 S. Broadway, former home to Silverwoods, five stories

Sixth to Seventh

West side

File:Broadway at Night, Los Angeles, Cal. (pcard-print-pub-pc-61a).jpg, W. side of Broadway, 600 block c.1907–9 File:Postcard of Central Department Store building, Los Angeles, c.1920s.png, Central Department Store and H. Jevne Building, 1920s postcard File:Los Angeles Theatre 2017.jpg, Los Angeles Theatre File:Yamato ca1910.jpg, Yamato Inc. in the Hoffman Building, 1910 postcard * H. Jevne Company Building (1906-7, Parkinson & Bergstrom), 603 S. Broadway, site of Norton Block prior to 1906 * Hotel Palms, repurposed for retail in 1906-7 * Central Department Store ( Samuel Tilden Norton), three stories * Los Angeles Theatre (1931, S. Charles Lee and S. Tilden Norton), 615 S. Broadway, 2000-seat movie palace * Mailing's (1930, S. Charles Lee), 617-619 S. Broadway,

Myer Siegel Myer Siegel was a Los Angeles–based department store, founded by Myer Siegel (1866–1934), specializing in women's clothing. History Myer Siegel established his store in 1886 at 218 N. Spring St., at that time selling only children's ...

previously located here (1921 or 1922-1927) * former S. H. Kress, 621-625 S. Broadway *

Hoffman Hoffman is a surname of German origin. The original meaning in medieval times was "steward", i.e. one who manages the property of another. In English and other European languages, including Yiddish and Dutch, the name can also be spelled Hoffma ...

(1906), 635-637 S. Broadway, former home to Yamato Inc. * St. Vincent's Jewelry Mart, NW corner of 7th and Broadway, formerly

dept. store

East side

Walter P. Story Building File:Desmond's Department Store.jpg, Desmond's Building File:Clifton's Cafeteria 2017.jpg,

Clifton's Cafeteria Clifton's Cafeteria, once part of a chain of eight Clifton's restaurants, was the oldest surviving cafeteria-style eatery in Los Angeles and the largest public cafeteria in the world when it closed in 2018. Founded in 1931 by Clifford Clinton, t ...

File:Palace Theater (Los Angeles).jpg, Palace Theater * Walter P. Story Building (1909, Morgan & Walls) 600-610 S. Broadway, SE corner of 6th and Broadway, former hom to Mullen & Bluett * Desmond's Building (1924, Albert C. Martin, Sr.), 616 S. Broadway. Housed Desmond's flagship store 1924-1981, six stories * Schaber's Cafeteria Building (1928, Charles F. Plummer), 620 S. Broadway * Palace Theatre (1911, G. Albert Lansburgh), 630 S. Broadway, 2200-seat originally 1068-seat today

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

theater and movie palace * Forrester Building (1907, Charles Frederick Whittlesey), 638 S. Broadway * J. E. Carr Building (1908-9, Robert Brown Young), 644–646 S. Broadway, home to

Harris & Frank Harris & Frank was a clothing retailer and major chain in the history of retail in Southern California, which at its peak had around 40 stores across Southern California and in neighboring states and regions. Its history dates back to a clothing ...

1947–1980. *

, 648 S. Broadway, formerly Boos Bros. Cafeteria

Seventh to Eighth

File:BroadwayNorthFromSeventh1917.jpg, Broadway north from 7th, 1917 File:BroadwaySouthFromSeventh1917.jpg, Broadway south from 7th, 1917

West side

File:Loew's State Theater (Los Angeles).jpg, left, State Theatre * State Theatre (1921,

Weeks & Day Weeks and Day was an American architecture, architectural firm founded in 1916 by architect Charles Peter Weeks (1870–1928) and engineer William Peyton Day (1886–1966). Weeks was born in Copley, Ohio, educated in the atelier of Victor Lalou ...

), 703 S. Broadway, 2,450-seat vaudeville theater and movie palace * F.W. Woolworth Building (1920,

), 719 S. Broadway, currently a Ross Dress for Less * Cheney Block (1913), 731-733 S. Broadway * Rowley Building (1908), 735 S. Broadway *

Issacs Building Issacs Building is a historic eight-story office building located at 737-747 S. Broadway in the Jewelry District and Broadway Theater District in the historic core of downtown Los Angeles. History Issacs Building was built in 1913 and it hou ...

(1913), home of Reich and Lièvre, 1917-ca. 1927, 739-745 S. Broadway * Merritt Building (1915,

Reid & Reid Reid & Reid, also known as Reid Brothers, was an American architectural and engineering firm that was active from 1880 to 1932. Established in Indiana by Canadians, Canadian immigrants, the firm moved to the West Coast of the United States, West ...

), 761 S. Broadway

East side

File:Hotel Lankershim with airships postcard 1909.jpg, Hotel Lankershim File:Exterior view of the Los Angeles Investment Building (later the C.C. Chapman Building), ca.1913-1918 (CHS-2321).jpg,

Chapman Building Chapman Building, also known as Los Angeles Investment Company Building, Charles C. Chapman Building, The Chapman, and Chapman Flats, is a historic thirteen-story highrise located at 756 S. Broadway (Los Angeles), Broadway and 227 W. 8th Street ( ...

, 1910s File:Globe Theater.jpg,

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...

* Site of Hotel Lankershim (1905, Robert Brown Young), 700 S. Broadway, demolished 1980s * Yorkshire Hotel (1909, Parkinson and Bergstrom), 710-714 S. Broadway * Parmelee Building (1907, Parkinson and Bergstrom), 716 S. Broadway * Barker Brothers Building (1909, Robert Brown Young), 722 S. Broadway *

in the Garland Building (1913, Morgan, Walls & Morgan) 744 S. Broadway, 2000-seat movie palace *

(1912-3, Ernest McConnell), 756 S. Broadway, northeast corner of 8th Street, thirteen stories

Eighth to Ninth

West side

File:Exterior view of The Hamburger's Store building (later became the May Company) on the corner of Eighth Street and Broadway, Los Angeles, ca.1912 (CHS-5541).jpg, May Co. Building, 1912 File:LA Eastern Columbia Building.jpg, Eastern Columbia Building * May Company Building (1906, Alfred F. Rosenheim), 829 S. Broadway * Eastern Columbia Building (1930,

Claud Beelman Claud W. Beelman (1884 – January 30, 1963), sometimes known as Claude Beelman, was an American architect who designed many examples of Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts, Art Deco, and Streamline Moderne style buildings. Many of his buildings ...

), 849 S. Broadway, considered "the jewel of downtown"

East side

File:Tower Theatre, Los Angeles.jpg, Tower Theatre File:Rialto Theater (Los Angeles).JPG, Rialto Theatre File:Platt Building-1.jpg, Platt Building File:Los angeles orpheum marquee.JPG, Orpheum Theatre File:Ninth and Broadway Building-1.jpg, Ninth and Broadway Building * Tower Theatre (1927, S. Charles Lee), 802 S. Broadway, originally a 1000-seat theater, now an

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...

Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Serving as the headqua ...

(1922,

Meyer & Holler Meyer & Holler was an architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, noted for its opulent commercial buildings and movie theatres, including Grauman's Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Chinese and Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, Egyptian theatres, built ...

), 808 S. Broadway, bought by Singer Sewing Machine Company in 1939 * Rialto Theatre (1917, Oliver Perry Dennis, 1923-remodel William Lee Woollett), 812 S. Broadway, former nickelodeon, now retail * Wurlitzer Building (1923, Walker and Eisen), 818 S. Broadway * Braun Building (1913, Walter Jesse Saunders), 820-822 S. Broadway * Platt Building (1927, Walker and Eisen), 830 S. Broadway * Orpheum Theatre (1926, G. Albert Lansburgh), 842 S. Broadway, 1976-seat theater * Ninth and Broadway Building (1930,

), 850 S. Broadway

Ninth to Olympic

West side

File:Blackstone's Department Store, Los Angeles.jpg, Blackstone's Department Store Building File:United Artist Theatre, 933 S. Broadway, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County, California) LC-HS503-453.jpg, Ace Hotel and United Artists Theatre * Blackstone's Department Store Building (1916,

John and Donald Parkinson John and Donald Parkinson were a father-and-son architectural firm operating in the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century. They designed and built many of the city's iconic buildings, including Grand Central Market, the Memorial Colise ...

, first floor facade remodel by Morgan, Walls & Clements in 1939), 901 S. Broadway *

(1927, Walker & Eisen), 921-933 S. Broadway, houses United Artists Theater (1927, Charles Howard Crane), a 2214-seat movie palace * Western Costume Building (1925, Kenneth A. MacDonald Jr.), 939 S. Broadway

East side

* Broadway Leasehold Building (1914,

), 908 S. Broadway

South of Olympic

West side

File:Herald Examiner Building, September 2020.jpg, Herald Examiner Building * Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Building (1914,

), SW corner 11th and Broadway * Athens Park, 124th to El Segundo Blvd on Broadway * Globe Department Store, 51st and Broadway

East side

Los Angeles Railway The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent loc ...

Building (1925, Noerenberg & Johnson), 1060 S. Broadway, home to The Hoxton * Proper Hotel (1926, Curlett & Beelman), 1100 S. Broadway

Public transportation

The

Los Angeles Metro Rail The Los Angeles Metro Rail is an urban rail transit system serving Los Angeles County, California, United States, consisting of six lines: four light rail lines (the A, C, E and K lines) and two rapid transit lines (the B and D lines), ...

Historic Broadway station Historic Broadway station is an underground light rail station on the A and E lines of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located at the southeast corner of 2nd Street and Broadway in the Historic Core section of Downtown Los Angele ...

is an underground

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

near the intersection of 2nd and Broadway, which is served by the E Line east to

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...

and west to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, and on the A Line northeast to

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, and

Azusa AZUSA refers to a ground-based radar tracking system installed at Cape Canaveral, Florida and the NASA Kennedy Space Center. AZUSA was named after the southern California town Azusa, California where the system was devised in the early 1950s. ...

and south to

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. Metro J Line bus rapid transit (BRT) has 5 stations adjacent to Broadway in

: 37th Street/USC, Slauson, Manchester/I-110,

Harbor Freeway Route 110, consisting of State Route 110 (SR 110) and Interstate 110 (I-110), is a state and auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of the US state of California. The entire route connects San Pe ...

, and Rosecrans. These stations are along the

Harbor Transitway The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and High occupancy toll lane, high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median (road), median of Intersta ...

, a dedicated busway between Downtown L.A. (Adams Blvd.) and the

Harbor Gateway The Harbor Gateway, sometimes informally known as the L.A. Strip due to its shape, is a in the South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, in the southern part of the City of Los Angeles. The neighborhood is narrow and long, running along a nor ...

, near Carson, in the median of the Harbor Freeway (I-110), just west of Broadway. J Line BRT runs as far south as San Pedro and as far northeast as El Monte.

Metro Local The Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro Bus operates in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and th ...

bus line 45 serves most of the length of Broadway, between Lincoln Heights through Downtown to the Harbor Freeway Station. Local routes 4, 30, and 40 serve portions of Broadway downtown.

References

External links

The Broadway Theater TourBringing Back Broadway PlanCinema TreasuresUSC Geography Department Old Broadway pageThe Broadway Initiative of the Los Angeles Conservancy
{{LABTCD Theatres in Los Angeles Historic districts in Los Angeles National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Transportation in Los Angeles History of Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles South Los Angeles Chinatown, Los Angeles Carson, California Former shopping districts and streets in Los Angeles

Route

History

Founding and extension

Commercial and entertainment center

Retail hub

Theater District

Department stores

Broadway since 2008

Buildings and sites

North of Hollywood Freeway

Hollywood Freeway to Temple

Third to Fourth

West side

East side

Fourth to Fifth

West side

East side

Fifth to Sixth

West side

East side

Sixth to Seventh

West side

East side

Seventh to Eighth

West side

East side

Eighth to Ninth

West side

East side

Ninth to Olympic

West side

East side

South of Olympic

West side

East side

Public transportation

See also

References

External links