1515 East Adams Boulevard

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  • Built in 1909 on Lot 40 of Harbert & Butterworth's Adams Street Tract by the Joseph R. Loftus Company, developers
  • On July 6, 1909, the Department of Buildings issued a permit to the Loftus Company for a six-room residence at 1515 East Adams Street; on August 1, Loftus began running advertisements for a "beautiful new bungalow" in the Los Angeles Express, which on November 6 reported its sale during the prior week. The Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer of July 10, 1909, reported the cost of construction as $1,500
  • Lewis C. Kring, a waiter, and his wife Amelia were enumerated for the Federal census on May 3, 1910, as the owners of 1515 East Adams Street. The Krings remained in the house only briefly
  • Chester M. Howser, man of many occupations over the years but by 1910 operating as a real estate broker, appears to have acquired 1515 East Adams from the Krings at least by the early months of 1911. Howser and his family stayed until 1914, after which there were several short-term tenants until its purchase by Cecil Calvert Hawkins, a laborer at Wilson & Company, meatpackers, in 1918
  • Cecil Hawkins and his family left 1515 East Adams after only a few years and were followed by several different tenants until the arrival by 1930 of Pullman porter Henry James Mingleton, who had been living around the corner on Nevin Avenue
  • Louisiana natives Henry and Susie Mingleton and their family were enumerated  in the 1930 Federal census on April 18, 1930, as renters of 1515 East Adams. The family would remain in the house for over 20 years, becoming owners of it by 1940
  • On September 22, 1952, the Department of Building and Safety issued Henry Mingleton a permit to convert 1515 East Adams into a two-family dwelling, perhaps to retain as rental property after he bought and moved to a 1905 bungalow at 154 West 56th Street to which a second story had been added in 1911. The family retained that house until 2017
  • Since the mid 1950s, 1515 East Adams has had multiple tenants and appears to have been well-cared-for; it remains at the very eastern edge of residential Adams Boulevard, the last few blocks of the thoroughfare running through an industrial district 



 Illustration: Private Collection