“Adventure, exploration, infiltration, trespassing” do any of these notions sound interesting to you? What about the above in an urban setting? As young of a city as Los Angeles is, it is packed full of hidden treasures for history and photography enthusiasts to explore. Ventures into abandoned structures are perhaps the most common example of urban exploration. At times, sites are entered first by locals and may suffer from large amounts of graffiti and other acts of vandalism. Although targets of exploration vary from one country to another, high-profile abandonment include amusement parks, grain elevators, factories, power plants, missile silos, fallout shelters, hospitals, and sanatoriums. Often times there is profound beauty in an decaying, abandoned spaces, and the contrast between the rapidly urbanizing landscape versus fallout location is immensely fascinating. Furthermore, many of these places have appeared on various film and TV projects, adding a special layer of excitement to these urban explorations.
UNDERGROUND TUNNEL, DTLA
Unbeknownst to many Angeleno drivers and residents, there are currently 11 miles of underground tunnels running beneath downtown Los Angeles, most of which are no longer in use today. The most well-known tunnel runs between the Los Angeles County Hall of Records and the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. Some fans may have seen it on season 2 of True Detective which utilized it for a subterranean shootout scene. From some online accounts, it is recommended that fellow explorers to enter from a nondescript elevator located just off to the side of Grand Park. From my personal experience, the service hour of the elevator is not reliable and it’s best to circle around to find the stairs leading to parking lot to then enter the building from there. After navigating through some hallways of locked doors, rows of emptied file cabinets, and ascending an out-of-service escalator, you will arrive at the entrance of the infamous underground tunnels. Warm and rather humid from the exhaust fumes, the tunnel is unexpected well-lit, although pipes and vents are in some degree of decay and rust with occasional drops of water (or nondescript liquid). This portion of the tunnel eventually leads to an entry of a courthouse, which we deemed inappropriate to intrude. It is rumored that during prohibition, the tunnels were used to transport liquor to thirsty customers in speakeasies all across the city. One tunnel still runs to a Skid Row bar called the King Eddy Saloon, located a block from the infamous Cecil Hotel. Besides transporting prohibited alcohol, these tunnels were once used to move a year’s worth of tax revenue in the 1960’s, and one tunnel transported high profile criminals, including the notorious mobster Mickey Cohen, from their jail cells to the Hall of Justice.
HAWTHORNE PLAZA
This eerie abandoned mall came into the public eye after its appearance in the box-office hit Gone Girl. It is oddly popular among filmmakers and photographers for the dystopian, derelict interior space, attracting crews from Minority Report, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and more. It is incredible to see that an active mall, fully equipped with escalators, fountains and food courts, so remarkably similar to the malls we frequently, falls into disrepair. The clash of familiarity and obsolesce, or rather, the cognitive dissonance is what draws urban explorers to this space. To enter, go along 120th Street and walk towards the end of the parking structure until you find a set of stairs that lead to a bridge. Cross the pedestrian bridge and you will find a hole in the wall that should lead you inside. you will need to hop to a staircase landing, which is about 10 feet drop. (not personally confirmed) There is also a guard occasionally so visit at your own discretion; or strike up a conversation and perhaps he will give a mini tour of the place (as confirmed by some reddit commentators). However, the mall is slated for a big revitalization as approved by the city council, to be transformed into an outlet style mall with 500 high-end housing units, and innovative office units.
NAZI COMPOUND, RUSTIC CANYON
For those less included to contend the law and an angry guard, a perfected legal hike in Rustic Canyon will take you to a campsite left behind by a group of California Nazi sympathizers in the 1930’s, now vacant and riddled with graffiti. [in progress]
BONUS: LA RIVER, OLD LA ZOO
http://la.curbed.com/2016/1/25/10843526/rustic-canyon-murphy-ranch-nazi-compound-demolition
I like how you started in your opening paragraph. Adventure, exploration, infiltration, trespassing does sound very interesting. Best part of all, I didn't know about these hidden places in LA! After reading your blog, it makes me want to explore all these places if I'm able to go there. I wanna take some photo. It'll be a great Instagram photo!
ReplyDeleteI love the topic, exploring the ruins of LA city. It's interesting how so few of us actually take the time to explore the area that we live in. Most of us don't stray too far from our daily routes between home and work. It's also interesting that these dystopian-like ruins are actually right in our backyard, yet somehow it seems like such a faraway reality.
ReplyDeleteJimmie, your article was very interesting. I never knew there were so many abandoned and creepy looking locations in LA. I also really liked how you told your readers how to get to the specific locations which is very helpful. One thing I would recommend is to tell readers what your article is going to be about in the very beginning, just letting the reader know that the article is going to be about popular abandoned places in LA. I also really liked the pictures you posted! Very interesting article!
ReplyDeleteJammie,
ReplyDeleteThis topic is amazing! As a local in Los Angeles, I never thought about how many of these their are in our backyard. Exploring these ruins seems dangerous, as well as a greta time that is well worth it. I have seen pictures of ruins in the Soviet Union that are super creepy, but these are more interesting rather than creepy!