931 East Adams Boulevard

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  • Built in 1902 on a parcel comprised of the west 30 feet of Lot 9 and the east 10 feet of Lot 10 of Grider & Dow's Orangedale Tract by Amos Watson Henck
  • Pennsylvania-born Watson Henck and his wife Ida arrived in Los Angeles from Denver soon after the turn of the 20th century, joining his two brothers, who had come west by 1897. Ellery Henck had set himself up as a contractor, with George becoming a clerk at Jacob Baringer's grocery store at the northeast corner of Adams and Main streets; the brothers began investing in real estate. Having been a grocery salesman in Denver, Watson went to work at H. Jevne, the prominent grocery firm established by Hans Jevne on North Spring Street in 1882
  • Watson and Ida Henck and their two sons first occupied 1115 East Adams Street; on October 25, 1902, the Los Angeles Herald reported that A. W. Henck had just been issued a permit by the Superintendent of Buildings for a one-story frame dwelling at 931 East Adams to cost $1,800. Ellery Henck was, presumably, the builder. On January 18, 1903, the Herald reported the Hencks' recent move into the new house. Their housewarming on January 30 was covered by the paper four days afterward
  • The Hencks remained at 931 East Adams until 1906, by which time Watson and George had left the grocery business to join Ellery in forming Henck Bros., real estate dealers and building contractors
  • In 1906, 931 East Adams was sold to Charles E. Eliason, a yardman, and later foreman, at Pacific Clay, manufacturers of sewer and water pipe among other earthen products
  • The family of Swedish-born Charles and Tilda Eliason would remain at 931 East Adams for the next 42 years through the neighborhood's many significant demographic changes. The Eliasons had two children, Fred and Ruth, both of whom matriculated at Polytechnic High School. Fred became a machinist and would lose a forefinger in an accident. Ruth, who was graduated from the State Normal School on Vermont Avenue in 1917, died on May 16, 1919, possibly of influenza
  • On September 2, 1921, the Department of Buildings issued "C. E. Elisson" a permit to build a single-car garage at 931 East Adams
  • Still living at 931 East Adams, Charles died on January 9, 1939; a funeral was held five days later at the Swedish Tabernacle—a.k.a. the Mission Covenant Church—at Francisco Street and West 8th Place in today's South Park, as was that of Tilda, who died on February 20, 1948
  • Fred Eliason was still living with his mother at 931 East Adams at the time of her death; immediately selling the the house to a neighbor, he moved down to Huntington Park
  • Joseph W. Clayton of 935 East Adams next door purchased 931 in 1948, converting both houses into multiple dwellings. Eddie Cherry Ross, an evangelist, lived at 931 from at least 1950 until at least 1961. Prior to her marriage to John R. Ross, Eddie Cherry had worked as a maid in the Brentwood home of Walter Lang, the 20th Century–Fox director. Joseph Clayton died in 1959; John R. Ross appears to have died or moved elsewhere by the time Mrs. Ross was listed in the Los Angeles city directory for the last time in 1961
  • 931 East Adams disappeared from city directories for at least the next 12 years
  • An owner of 931 East Adams in the 1980s was Leobardo Jimanez, who did renovations in 1988 including new windows and security bars; on August 29, 1988, the Department of Building and Safety issued Jimanez a permit to stucco the exterior. By the next year, the house was acquired by Adolfo De Loza, who added a bathroom, among other alterations
  • On September 2, 2002, owners Jorge W. Martinez and Elsa M. Diaz were issued a permit for 931 by the Department of Building and Safety to create a bedroom out of existing space
Illustration: Private Collection