1331 East Adams Boulevard

PLEASE ALSO SEE OUR COMPANION HISTORIES
FOR AN INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS BOULEVARD, CLICK HERE




  • Built in 1896 on Lot 52 in Hooper's Adams Street Tract by builder and real estate investor Frederick Rufus Black
  • In the 1897 Los Angeles city directory, Frederick R. Black is listed in the new house as being on the ""ns. E. Adams, 1st h. E. of Hooper av." In 1898, the Blacks were listed at "1329 East Adams"; the next year and for following six at "1333." It should be noted that in the first years of the development of the Hooper holdings, house numbering was somewhat haphazard. Though apparently an error, the address "1331," for example, appears on the 1906 Sanborn fire insurance map for the house on Lot 52 instead of "1333," with the "1331" address not actually appearing on the original house until much later when more dwelling units were added to the property, with "1333" then relegated to the rear building. Numerous names would be associated with the various units over the the next century
  • Fred and Alice Black invested all over Los Angeles and built a number of houses in the neighborhoods flanking the eastern end of East Adams Street, including at least five on the East Adams block of Hooper's Adams Street Tract between Hooper and Compton avenues. In the mid-1890s, Fred Black became a sales agent—along with Loren B. Case, who had been overseeing the orange orchards on the property—in the subdivision of his mother-in-law Adeline Hooper's East Adams Street holdings. Mrs. Hooper and her husband John had acquired 50 acres at the corner of Adams Street and Orange Avenue—now Compton Avenue—for $1.25 an acre under the Homestead Act soon after their arrival from Vermont in 1873. After John Hooper's death in 1887, his wife and son Arthur retained the property until deciding to subdivide. Mrs. Hooper died on February 28, 1900; the Black family would retain a number of lots in the tract for themselves, going on to build residences that in some cases would be retained by them for over 60 years, on property owned by their extended family for nearly a century
  • In 1904, Black built 1335 East Adams next door to 1333, moving there with his wife and four children, retaining 1333 as investment property. Soon after the completion of 1335, Black began erecting 1315 East Adams (four lots to the west) and 1321 (two lots to the west) as speculative projects


Fred Black became an agent along with Loren B. Case, who maintained the orange orchard on the
property, in the subdivision of his mother-in-law's East Adams Street holdings. Mrs. Hooper's
address after Los Angeles's adoption of numerical addresses circa 1891 had become
2601 Orange Avenue, Orange Avenue later becoming part of Compton
Avenue. The Los Angeles Times ran the advertisement
above in the spring of 1896 as lot sales
of the Hooper tract began.


  • On November 18, 1896, the Los Angeles Times reported that Adeline Hooper had sold Lot 52 to her daughter Alice H. Black for $450, which would have been the price for the unimproved lot; as was not uncommon for homebuilders, those in the construction trade or not, Fred Black frequently named his wife as the nominal owner of his projects. It seems that Black had already received a permit from the Superintendent of Buildings for what became 1333 (today 1331) East Adams five weeks before, the Times having reported the document's issuance on October 4, the early receipt of it due,m of course, to ownership of the lot being all in the family
  • On August 23, 1913, the Department of Buildings issued Alice Black a permit to alter 1333 East Adams into a multi-unit dwelling. Authorized were the addition of two kitchens, two baths, and two exterior staircases, "one on each side of front part...[to] make 3 separate flats"
  • On September 3, 1931, a son was born at home to Edwin and Anna Thompson, who were renting of 1331½ East Adams. Mr. Thompson was working as a porter at an automobile dealership
  • By 1940, 1333 East Adams had become the property of Fred and Alice's elder daughter, Helen. The Blacks had remained at 1335 next door until moving into a new house Mr. Black built for them in 1924 at 1950 South Victoria Avenue in Wellington Square, a newer development at the western edge of the West Adams district
  • On May 22, 1940, the Department of Building and Safety issued Helen A. Black a permit for a new 22-by-44-foot building at the rear of the lot, one incorporating a two-family residence over a four-car garage. The contractor was Edgar Black, the younger of Fred and Alice's sons, who had taken over the family business from his father
  • On October 4, 1944, the Department of Building and Safety issued a permit  to Helen A. Black, who was still living at 1950 South Victoria, for repairs after a fire in the main structure on Lot 52, which by now appears to be carrying the 1331 designation along with fractionals
  • Helen Black married John Losinger in 1951 and moved to Hermosa Beach, still retaining 1331/1333 East Adams
  • On January 5, 1966, the Department of Building and Safety issued Helen B. Losinger of Hermosa Beach a permit for alterations to what was now designated 1329-1331-1331-1331½ East Adams, with additional fractionals appearing in various records. The document was signed by Mrs. Losinger's brother Edgar W. Black
  • It is unclear as to when the Black family sold the property; the 1896 house and its 1940 additions appear to have remained rental property for the past 116 years—ever since Fred and Alice Black moved next door to 1335 in 1904



Illustrations: Private Collection; LAT