Bullock's complex is a collection of nine historic buildings located at 639-651 south

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, the 300-block of 7th Street, and 634-670 south Hill Street in the Jewelry District and Broadway Theater District 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 ...

. Each building is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

in 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 ...

-listed

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 ...

, five buildings are contributing properties in the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

-recognized Hill Street Commercial Historic District, and four buildings are contributing properties in the City of Los Angeles-recognized Seventh Street Commercial Historic District. The complex is currently the site of the St. Vincent's Jewelry Center. It was formerly the first and flagship site of

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 ...

, known as Bullock's Downtown.

History

Bullock's complex began with the Bullock's building (also known as Earl or Tehama building), located on the corner of

and

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

. This building, seven-stories in height, was built in 1906. It was financed by

Arthur Letts Arthur Letts Sr. (June 17, 1862 – May 18, 1923) was an immigrant from England who made his fortune in Los Angeles, California, in the early years of the 20th century. He built his wealth by transforming a small, bankrupt dry goods store in Down ...

, designed by Parkinson and Bergstrom, and built for John G. Bullock, who opened the original

in the building in March 1907. This store became known as Bullock's Downtown after other Bullock's locations opened. Bullock's Downtown proved so successful that the location expanded eight times in less than three decades, expanding its floor area from to . These expansions were: * Bullock's-Hollenbeck (also known as Hollenbeck Block) - built directly to Bullock's's north in 1912 * Pease Building - a

Niles Pease Niles Pease (1838–1921) was a Los Angeles, California, businessman who was president of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association in 1903–05 and of the City Council in 1907–10. Life and career Pease was born in Enfield, Connecticut ...

owned furniture store purchased and connected by a bridge and tunnel to Hollenbeck's west in 1917 * Eshman (or Eschmann) Building - purchased to Bullock's's west in 1919 * Bridge building - built to connect Bullock's and Eshman in 1921 * Gennet Building - built directly to Pease's north in 1922 * Hart '24 - built directly to Pease's south and Eshman's north in 1924 * Hart '28 - built directly to Eshman's west and Hart '24's south in 1928 * Mackey Building - built directly to Gennet's north in 1934. Bullock's Downtown closed in June 1983. The complex later became St. Vincent's Jewelry Center, named after the college that was located here prior to Bullock's. Approximately 500 jewelers occupied the building as of 2009, and

Big Lots Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American discount retail chain, specializing in the sale of closeout and overstock merchandise. Founded in 1967 as Consolidated Stores, the chain is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and in ...

also occupied in the original Bullock's building, with their location taken over by

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,100 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...

in November 2015.

Historic designation

In 1979, the

was added to the

, with all nine buildings in the Bullock's complex listed as

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

in the district. In 2016, the

city of Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

created the Hill Street Commercial Historic District and the Seventh Street Commercial Historic District, with the Pease, Gennet, Mackey, and both Hart buildings listed as contributing properties in the former and Bullock's, Bridge, Eshman, and Hart '28 listed as contributing properties in the latter.

Architecture and design

Despite being built at different times and designed by different architects, each building in the Bullock's complex is united by design, historical function, and internal circulation.

Bullock's

Bullock's is a seven-story

steel frame Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame. The develop ...

and

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

building designed by Parkinson and Bergstrom and built in 1906. It features a Beaux Arts design with a

and

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

facade that includes heavy

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

Bullock's-Hollenbeck

Bullock's-Hollenbeck is a ten-story

and reinforced-concrete building designed by Morgan and Walls and built in 1912. It features a

and

facade almost identical to the original Bullock's building.

Pease Building

Pease Building is an eight-story Beaux Arts building designed by Hudson and Munsell and built in 1906. A bridge and tunnel connecting the building to Bullock's-Hollenback was built when Bullock's bought this building in 1917.

Eshman Building

Eshman Building is a seven-story building designed by Morgan and Walls and built in 1909. It features a Beaux Arts design with a three-part vertical division.

Bridge

Bridge spans St. Vincent's Place, connecting the upper six stories of the Bullock's and Eshman buildings. The building's design repeats the design of Bullock's building. It was built in 1921.

Gennet Building

Gennet Building is a ten-story tall, two-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

wide building designed by Parkinson and Hubbard and built in 1922. The building originally featured a Beaux Arts design on all its exteriors, but in 1934 the bottom two stories were remodeled in the Moderne style to match the Mackey Building.

Hart '24

Hart '24 is a ten-story building that matches Gennet Building in height, width, and styling. It was designed by

Parkinson and 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 ...

and built in 1924.

Hart '28

Hart '28 is an expansion of Hart '24. The expansion fills out the block and consists of five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

on Hill St. and four bays on

. The building is virtually indistinguishable from Hart '24 and features fenestration that consists primarily of three-part Chicago windows.

Mackey Building

Mackey Building is an eight-story building designed by

and built in 1934. The building's upper six stories repeat the design of Gennet Building, while the bottom two stories feature a Moderne design that was then expanded to Gennet Building to match.

References

{{History of Retail in Southern California Commercial buildings completed in 1906 Commercial buildings completed in 1909 Commercial buildings completed in 1912 Commercial buildings completed in 1921 Commercial buildings completed in 1922 Commercial buildings completed in 1924 Commercial buildings completed in 1928 Commercial buildings completed in 1934 Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles Historic district contributing properties in California 1900s architecture in the United States 1910s architecture in the United States 1920s architecture in the United States 1930s architecture in the United States Broadway (Los Angeles) Revival architecture in the United States Retailing