Breaking Down the Balderas Brick Wall For some time I had been stymied in tracking the ancestry of my paternal grandmother Consuelo Chávez Stoltz (1904-1969). Part of this is due to the fact that her father, Carlos Marín [UPDATE: His name was not Carlos, but Mercedes], is said to have abandoned Consuelo, her older sister Aurora (1903-1979), younger brother Carlos (1906-1994)… Read More
Where in the World Was Willard Wood? Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses You been out ridin’ fences for so long now Oh, you’re a hard one I know that you got your reasons These things that are pleasin’ you Can hurt you somehow —The Eagles I have previously written about the unfortunate circumstances of my grandmother María Lucia “Lucille”… Read More
Broadway Glory Days This fantastic image gives an idea of the glamour of Broadway at its zenith, when it was lined with luxury stores and movie palaces. I haven’t found a credit for the image, but it appears to be taken at the 1931 premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights.”… Read More
Los Angeles County Courthouse and Hall of Records, ca. 1907 Corner view of front entrance of the old red sandstone courthouse with clock tower; Hall of Records to the right; statue of Stephen M. White fronts courthouse; large letters mown into lawn are the words: County Court House; streetcars; palm trees; buildings in background; people walking on sidewalk. The County built the Victorian style Red… Read More
The Alvarado Residence on Fremont Avenue As previously posted, I located an image of the residence of my great-grandparents José María and María de Jesús Alvarado from the late teens and 1920s at 543 S. Fremont Avenue in the USC Digital Archive, after researching a 1920s Baist map. Recently the USC Digital Archive has begun offering high-resolution downloads of its vast… Read More
Broadway, circa 1906 View looking north on Broadway, between 4th Street and 5th Street, ca. 1906. The Belasco Theatre is in the lower-right foreground. In the distance can be seen City Hall and, further back, the Broadway Tunnel. Water and Power Associates.… Read More
Who Is This Director? My 2x great aunt Jovita García was the sister of my great grandmother Jesús García de Alvarado. Great Aunt Jovita was born 7 Mar 1893, probably in Ensenada, Baja California, the youngest of nine children. She came to California with her mother, María del Rosario Moraila de García, around 1910, settling in Santa Paula and… Read More
A Deadly Halloween Sometime before 1920, Charles and Louis Gustave Stoltz, the two oldest sons of Ludwig “Louis” and Apolonia Luján Stoltz, decided to venture out from El Paso as their father had left North Dakota to find a new life. They arrived in the promised land of Los Angeles and apparently quickly found work. It was, after… Read More