630 East Adams Boulevard

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  • Built in 1899 on Lot 6 in Block 1 of Daman & Millard's Subdivision of the Shaw Tract by George William Smith, a deputy Los Angeles County tax collector
  • Per the Los Angeles Times of May 6, 1899, George W. Smith had just bought Lot 6 for $540; based on social items found in the press later that year placing Smith in residence, construction, financed by a mortgage, appears to have begun soon after the purchase
  • On February 13, 1913, the Department of Buildings issued George Smith a permit to build a 10-by-24-foot garage on the property
  • George Smith and his wife Sarah A. Smith (known as Addie) remained at 630 East Adams until mid-1930, when their new home at 1481 Reeves Street in West Los Angeles—now considered part of the Westside's Pico-Robertson neighborhood—was completed. Smith died there on October 1, 1950, with Addie following him on June 16, 1952
  • Ownership of 630 East Adams during the 1930s and early 1940s is unclear, with three renters following the Smiths—who may have retained the house as rental property—until 1943. Avides and Rose Gegarian were in residence from 1930 to '33; Avides is identified in records most often as a peddler. Following the Gegarians were Philippines-born Felix Ghofulpo del Prado, a restaurant cook, and his Mexican-born wife Josephine. By the spring of 1940, the Del Prados had moved next door to 626 East Adams, succeeded at 630 by Mexican-born furniture-factory worker Thomas Payne (née Tomás Payán, a native of Chihuahua), his wife Concepcion, known as Connie, and their three children Nancy, Hector, and Ruben. The Paynes may have been relatives of the Del Prados, or were at any rate close, given that in his World War II draft information given on February 15, 1942, Felix del Prado cites Thomas Payne of 630 East Adams as the "person who will always know your address." By the spring of the following year, 630 East Adams had a new owner
  • Sing Shee Chin, the proprietor of a laundry, is cited as the owner of 630 East Adams on a permit issued by the Department of Building and Safety on May 28, 1943, for the installation of a new roof. Chin's wife Lee She ran the business with her husband; their son Eugene was the only Chin listed at 630 in 1960 voting records, after which the family appears to have left the house 
  • On June 25, 1951, the Department of Building and Safety issued a permit in the name of the Chins' 17-year-old son Eugene for the construction of a flat-roofed two-car garage, which appears to have replaced the 1913 building
  • During the 1960s, a Wing S. Fong occupied 630 East Adams; he was succeeded by Martin and Olga Calderon. In recent years a takeout restaurant, Garnachas don pepe, has operated out of the house     



Illustration: Private Collection