West Adams

By the turn of the 20th century, West Adams had become one of the first bedroom communities in fast-growing Los Angeles. Mansions and bungalows housed bankers and merchants who commuted to their businesses downtown, as well as moviemakers, debutantes, the social elite, and one or two scoundrels. Anchored by Adams Boulevard, this area just west of downtown has been through many changes. Today the neighborhood is one of the most racially and architecturally diverse in the country and contains the highest concentration of historic cultural monuments in Los Angeles. Residents and local archives, including the University of Southern California and the Automobile Club of Southern California, have contributed images to this volume illustrating life and architecture from Victorian times onward.

Suzanne Tarbell Cooper is the coauthor of Arcadia Publishing's Los Angeles Art Deco, Long Beach Art Deco, and Theatres in Los Angeles. Don Lynch is the author of the best seller Titanic--An Illustrated History and, more recently, Ghosts of the Abyss. Members of his family have lived in West Adams for three generations. John G. Kurtz has been on the board of West Adams Heritage Association for 15 years. All three authors have restored homes in West Adams.