440 East Adams Boulevard

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




  • Built 1900 on Lot 6 in Block 8 of Daman & Millard's subdivision of the Shaw Tract by George Schaefer, a waiter
  • George Schaefer evidently made very good tips. It was when his wife Lily was expecting the couple's fourth child that the family decided to build 440 East Adams Street, as the Boulevard was originally designated; the house was completed in time for the birth of a second son at home on February 25, 1901. George was employed by restaurateurs William Schneider and Jacob Fieber at their downtown cafés, which included the Palace and the Bristol
  • An advertisement placed by the local representative of the St. Charles Condensing Company of Illinois in the Los Angeles Times on February 11, 1906, announced that the Schaefer's 12-year-old daughter Lottie had won first prize for her drawing of a cow its weekly promotional contest
  • On April 4, 1906, the Superintendent of Buildings issued George Schaefer a permit to add a barn at the rear of the lot
  • Tips were so good that by 1907 George Schaefer had the means to build a new two-story residence at 2109 West 16th Street (later designated 2109 Venice Boulevard and demolished in 1963). The Schaefers left 440 East Adams before the completion of the new house, renting at 3020 South Grand Avenue until it was ready. Given that Schaefer was prosperous enough to build two new houses within seven years, it may be that he retained 440 as rental property; otherwise ongoing ownership is unclear, with the house in any case being occupied by renters for decades to come
  • James Marcus Fifield—apparently no relation to the prominent local Congregationalist minister (and unapologetic McCarthyite) James Fifield of later years—moved into 440 East Adams by 1907. Enumerated as renting the house in the 1910 Federal census, Fifield was a bookkeeper at the Farmers & Merchants National Bank and later a cashier in the County Tax Collector's office. He and his wife Edith, their daughter Helen, and Mrs. Fifield's widowed mother Lena Elder left 440 by early 1911, moving briefly to Inglewood before settling, for another short stay, in an apartment at 111 North Union Street. There, on the evening of December 11, 1914, "crazed by drink" per the Los Angeles Times the next morning, James shot Edith through the heart as she lay in bed with Helen—who was unharmed except, no doubt, emotionally—then chased his mother-in-law through the house, firing a bullet into her left forearm before returning to the bedroom where he shot himself in the right temple, falling dramatically over his wife's body. Mrs. Elder and Helen moved back to Illinois
  • Renting 440 East Adams during the 1910s were Henry C. Greenfield, a clerk at the Burroughs-White Trunk Company, and Jacob A. Miller, foreman of the Alfred Pure Ice Cream Company. During the '20s, various parties rented the house, or rooms in it, including Wayne Twitchell, a gas-company clerk; Clara Laurie, a manicurist; Robert Boyd, a musician; Noel Graham, another gas-company employee; Milton Winn, a pharmacist; and shoe-repairman Wilfred Bissonette and his wife Regina. Another batch of renters occupied 440 into the war years: proofreader Cornelia Shup; janitor Joseph Dauterman and his wife Elizabeth; sheet-metal worker Otto Keller and his wife Fay; Roy and Ada Hardin; and Bor Y. Wong and his wife Carol. Steelworker Frank B. Garcia and his wife Catalina and their extended family occupied 440 into the early 1950s
  • Acquiring 440 East Adams by the mid '50s and settling in for a long tenancy were Poy On Gee and his wife Chan Po. While his occupation is unclear, Poy On Gee was a decorated World War II veteran, injured in fighting twice in Europe during 1944
  • The Department of Building and Safety issued Poy On Gee two permits on June 8, 1989; the first was for the demolition of what is described on the document as an 11-by-17-foot garage—apparently the 1906 barn built by George Schaefer in 1906. The second permit was for a large two-story second dwelling and garage behind the original house
  • Still in possession of 440 East Adams, Poy On Gee died in Los Angeles on December 15, 2004, at the age of 84. Chan followed him on April 3, 2015, at age 89. The Gee family still owns the house as of 2020



 Illustration: Private Collection