The Spring Street district used to be called the “Wall Street of the West”, but it is now partially deserted. Its neoclassical facades still draw curious tourists and there are a growing number of new art galleries and lofts in the area.
Spring Street used to be chalk full of banking and commercial buildings, but almost all of them relocated to the newer and more modern Bunker Hill. The district, however, still offers a few attractions.[1]
Attractions
Biddy Mason Park
This peaceful park is located at 333 S. Spring Street and was designed and patched together in honor of Biddy Mason, who was a former slave and midwife. She won her freedom in a legal challenge in 1855. She later became a founder of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.[2]
Continental Building
The Continental Building sits at 408 S. Spring Street and was Los Angeles’ first skyscraper. At 12 stories, the building is now apartment complex full of artist lofts.[3]
Title Insurance and Trust Company
The Title Insurance and Trust Company is at 433 S. Spring Street and is notable for housing the LA Design Center, which has a collection of art dealers and jewelry merchants. The building is in the 1920s Art Deco style.[4]
Los Angeles Theater
The Los Angeles Theater Center is housed in the Security Trust and Savings Bank building at 514 S. Spring Street and hosts four small theaters with productions presented intermittently throughout the year.[5]
Pacific Coast Stock Exchange
The Pacific Coast Stock Exchange is another old historic building. Completed in 1930 during the climax of the Great Depression, it used to serve as the stock exchange for the regional Los Angeles area until it was closed and moved to the New York Stock Exchange.[6]
I.N. Van Nuys Building
The I.N. Van Nuys Building at the intersection of Seventh and Spring Street is a historic building, fashioned in the grand Beaux Arts style. It was constructed by a wealthy land baron and wheat farmer in 1910 and features white terracotta walls and ornamental ionic columns.[7]
References:
Dickey, Jeff. Los Angeles, 3rd Edition. Rough Guides, 2003. ISBN: 1843530589.
[1] Dickey, 60
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id. at 61
[5] Id.
[6] Id. at 62
[7] Id.
| 
