755 East Adams Boulevard

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




  • Built in 1902 on Lot 13 in Block A of the Menlo Park Subdivision #1 by carpenter/builder William J. Sander
  • Until recently, William Sander had been living in Fort Bragg and working as an undertaker
  • On August 13, 1902, the Los Angeles Herald reported that a construction permit for the two-story, eight-room house had been issued to W. J. Sander during the previous week
  • On July 18, 1905, the Superintendent of Buildings issued a permit to Sander's wife Nellie for a four-room cottage at the rear of the lot facing Stanford Avenue; this was rented out
  • The Herald carried a classified item on December 17, 1913, offering both 755 East Adams and 2515 Stanford for sale; with no buyer forthcoming, the Sanders decided to exploit the lot further by another house between the two existing buildings
  • A permit for a five-room cottage at 2717 Stanford Avenue was issued to Nellie Sander by the Department of Buildings on March 3, 1915. Curiously, the Sanders' 19-year-old son Ira is listed as "architect" on the document. Ira Sander would be following in his father's footsteps, becoming a builder himself
  • On December 29, 1919, the property, now with three separate dwellings, was again offered for sale. The Sanders may have retained the corner as rental property; each year of the city directory until the 1928 edition indicates a new resident of 755. On April 21, 1921, William and Ira, as "W. J. Sander & Son," were issued a construction permit for the fourplex still at 839 South New Hampshire Street, into a unit of which the family moved in 1922
  • By 1928, 755 East Adams and its two accessory dwellings were occupied by junk dealer Morris Shluker and his family. Shluker had been listed in recent Los Angeles city directories as a confectioner living in the neighborhood; in June 1925 he and his wife Esther had been arrested in San Jacinto on charges of "possession and transportation of intoxicating liquor"—they were found drinking wine in their car—as well as for attempting to bribe the arresting officer. They were detained in the Riverside jail
  • An auction for the property was held February 19, 1929—per an ad in the Times that day, "One 8-room and two 5-room houses...must and will be sold...." In an indication of the changing demographics of what was called "South Los Angeles" (before the more recent renaming of the larger South Central district), the ad stated that the property was unrestricted." Despite the assurance of a sale "without limit or reserve," the Shlukers would not be leaving 755 after all and would remain for another decade
  • By the time of the enumeration of the 1930 census on April 8, Morris Shluker was identified as a peddler of burlap bags; by 1935, he and his son Leopold had formalized the business as the Central Bag & Supply Company, wholesale and retail dealers in burlap and cotton bags, rags, and twine
  • Occupying 755 East Adams by 1940 was Lyle J. Binkley, a janitor; he died on November 29 of the next year. His divorced sister, Lessie Crosland, moved in soon after and remained until 1954



 Illustration: Private Collection