As the historic heart of Los Angeles, Downtown is a complex and confusing ecosystem, where the old town and the new city collide and the past is always present. Join Esotouric for an immersive time travel trip as you explore Victorian time capsule interiors, Prohibition-era speakeasy tunnels, early public spaces and the richly layered streetscape, all on a three hour tour like no other.
Starting from Grand Central Market, a culinary destination for more than a century, we’ll set out to explore prominent Broadway Theater District and Main Street landmarks, learn the lesser known history of the astonishing Bradbury Building, explore the sprawling basement of the Van Nuys / Barclay Hotel (Morgan, Walls and Morgan, 1896) with its original horse stables, bookie stand, sidewalk prisms and freight elevators and pay tribute to architect John Parkinson in his own King Edward Hotel, including the basement King Edward Saloon speakeasy tunnels, and at the hardscape Pershing Square where his beloved 1910 park design is still all anyone wants to talk about. Plus we’ll visit the Art Deco cathedral which is One Bunker Hill, and explore the first Hollywood motion picture palace, Sid Grauman’s Million Dollar.
Also on this tour, we’ll make a rare interior visit to Arts & Crafts tile master Ernest Batchelder’s Dutch Chocolate Shop, a remarkable 1914 time capsule that’s been in the news with recent efforts by Altadena’s Save the Tiles volunteers to rescue his work from fire damaged properties.
This walking tour draws on original research to tell the real stories of Downtown Los Angeles and is illustrated with rare photos you can view on your smartphone.
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