At forty-two stories, 462′ (141 m,) the Smith Tower was the tallest building in Seattle for fifty-five years, 1914 to 1969. On a vacation some years ago, we enjoyed the history of that building and climbing to the observation level near the top.
Family Vacation, 32 years ago. American Airlines 747 from NYC’s Kennedy Airport to LAX. After the image below, is the story of “Early A.M. in L.A. on 11/10/87”
Images: Above: Giant Swiss Army Knive at Museum of Contempoary Art, Downtown L.A. – and L.A. as seen from Griffith Observatory, 11/11/87 with City Hall to left – 5.6 miles (9 km) distant. Above, the iconic L.A. City Hall, known at the time as “The Dragnet Building.”
Twelve hours after landing, I would be exploring Los Angeles by foot before the morning’s rush hour, while the family slept off jet-lag in the Holiday Inn about a mile away. An awesome two hour adventure into an “architectually diverse” downtown, with parks and plazas, and… WHAT??? – a Giant Swiss Army Knife??? Yes indeed!
And, not far away, …Swinging Cars!hi
Years later, and of course living 3000 miles away, I wondered exactly where these two photos were taken. I searched maps, and photos where I could, without success – until now. Thanks to the remarkable 3D satellite image and orientation tools available on most any smart phone and/or computer, I “flew” between the buildings and first found the cars: W. Fourth street, and S. Grand Ave. See it below?
The Swiss Army knife was a lot harder. In fact, it’s not there anymore. BUT, by looking at the photo I took in 1987, and specifically for the glass pyramid in its background, I zoomed way in on the “Tom Tom” 3D map, and searched until noticing the glass pyramid structure. Below is from today’s mapping app, zoomed in showing that same glass pyramid. A “new” contempoary display is in the exact place where the knife was 32 years ago.
Above: The Plaza at The Museum of Contemporary Art, on S. Grand Street, L.A. (From Tom Tom Maps, Apple I-Pad)
Below, another photo of downtown Los Angeles on that beautiful morning.
Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome, and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂
Last week we toured the Boscobel Federalist Mansion near Cold Spring, New York. Below is the view from its front lawn overlooking the Hudson River, …the i-Phone capture reminiscent of a genre of Early American Art from the Hudson River School. Information on this impressive site can be found at
Far from being a professional photographer, I nonetheless occasionally capture some moments, as at this reception some years ago following the marriage of two close friends.
On this evening, the bouquet would land in the hands of another, just out of sight to the left.
As usual, comments are always welcome. Thanks for viewing. M 🙂
In a slightly zoomed-in view, heading west and south along Rt 208/I 287, the tower is an easy mark on top of the mountain.A short 3/4 mile (1.2 km) hike from Skyline Drive brought me to its base this afternoon, Tuesday 4/9/18
For fascinating historical information, please see Kevin Heffernan’sexcellent article via this link, here,
As usual click to zoom in, and thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcomed. M 🙂
