23 Eye-Opening Photos of the Original Sixth Street Viaduct in Construction

Photographed on November 9, 1932, this view of Sixth Street Viaduct was taken the west bank of the Los Angeles River. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

July 7, 2022

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For those whose cultural center comes from within the city, the bridges, especially the Sixth Street Viaduct, are not an entry point to the Los Angeles mystic. They are geographical and historic centerpieces of a larger city, otherwise faceless in pop culture fiction.

Ed Fuentes, KCET

Ninety years ago, the Sixth Street Viaduct may have started life as a functional overpass on the Los Angeles River, but in the decades since, it has grown into a symbolic gateway between downtown and the communities of Boyle Heights. Erected during the Depression in 1932, the viaduct's famous steel arches have starred in movies, TV shows, music videos and car commercials. This "bridge of destiny," as referred to by artist Ruben Guevara in his book, is where "east meets west."

As Angelenos prepare for the opening of the brand new Sixth Street Viaduct, this look in the rear view mirror shows the original Art Deco landmark courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives located at the C. Erwin Piper Technical Center. One of the gems in this archive is a slightly-worn greyish cloth-covered album displaying about 100 photos documenting the construction of the 1932 Sixth Street Viaduct.

Early view of Pasadena's Colorado Street Bridge, which opened in 1913 across the Arroyo Seco. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.

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Not only are these images a detailed visual account of the construction process — from hillside excavations to bridge abutments to river piers — but they also show pre-viaduct vignettes of the downtown and Boyle Heights streets and hillsides that were forever changed. As the city officially opens Michael Maltzman's homage to the 1932 viaduct (demolished because of its "concrete cancer"), these 4x6-sized black and white time capsules provide an important visual record of the original Sixth Street Viaduct and the landscape it transformed.

The concrete viaduct stretched over the river from Whittier Blvd on the east to Sixth Street on the west. It was the longest concrete bridge in Los Angeles (3,546 feet) and, at the time of its opening in 1932, it was the longest in California.

Taken on November 9, 1932, this photo shows Sixth Street Viaduct, Fourth Street Viaduct and First Street Viaduct. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

The Art Deco landmark was the last of the Los Angeles River bridges built between 1910 and 1933, and one of the first to break away from the revival architectural styles that inspired earlier bridges. According to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, the Sixth Street Viaduct — designed by Merrill Butler, Louis L. Huot and Louis Blume — was built in the Streamline Moderne style that influenced later bridges such as Mid-City's West Boulevard Bridge and San Pedro's Gaffey Street Bridge. While each of the Los Angeles River bridges had a unique architectural style, they were all designed under the guidance of the Municipal Art commission which, to quote D.J. Waldie in his book "Becoming Los Angeles," had a goal "to work for the gradual elimination of ugliness."

A cover of a photo album that says "Sixth Street Viaduct Volume 1." — Cover of photo album for the Sixth Street Viaduct | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

In addition to the album full of Sixth Street Viaduct construction photos, the City Archives has about 9,000 photographs documenting the Bureau of Engineering's work throughout the city and beyond — from bridge building to street paving to right-of-way projects. Oversized albums were created for the Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct, Fourth Street Viaduct, Ninth Street Viaduct (now the Olympic Boulevard Viaduct) and Macy Street Viaduct (now César Chávez Viaduct). A look at the bureau's budget from 1932 (also housed at the City Archives) indicates that no money was set aside for a professional photographer in the department. City Archivist Michael Holland suggests that the viaduct photos were most likely taken by someone on the survey team who swapped a survey scope off the tripod for a camera.

In following their assignment to meticulously chronicle the construction of a new viaduct, these photographers also captured of how this iconic concrete monument forever transformed the landscape along the Los Angeles River.

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Photo dated October 1, 1930 shows the site of the Sixth Street Viaduct from the Seventh Street Bridge. Channelization of the Los Angeles River began in 1938, so these photos taken in 1929-1933 illustrate the river before it was smothered in concrete. One-sentence captions describe each photo and include the exact date of the photograph, so one can see the amount of water meandering through the river's path during the mostly dry months. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

View of the site of the future Sixth Street Viaduct from 7th Street Bridge photographed on July 15, 1931. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Dated June 17, 1929, this photo looks west down Whittier Blvd toward an unpaved Stephenson (which became Whittier Blvd) as it intersects with Chicago Street and Boyle Avenue. While the Los Angeles Orphanage on the left was demolished in the 1950s, the 1914 building (then a drug store and hotel) on the right still stands. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

The Los Angeles Orphanage along Stephenson Avenue (now Whittier Blvd) before the road was paved and widened to serve as the entry way to the Sixth Street Viaduct. June 17, 1929. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

This view, captured on June 17, 1929, shows the Los Angeles Orphanage standing as a prominent landmark when looking east across an unpaved Los Angeles River. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

While this photo captures the workers preparing the site for the bridge's abutment east of the Los Angeles River, it also documents the business along the flats of Boyle Heights. July 8, 1931. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Dated June 2, 1931, this photo of workers excavating along Stephenson Avenue (now Whittier Blvd) also shows the flat landscape along the east side of the river. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Photographed from the bridge's abutment on the east side, this photo shows the flats of Boyle Heights while looking west across the river. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Photographed on July 8, 1929, this view looks west down Sixth Street as it crosses Mateo. The warehouse at Sixth and Mill still stands. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

The businesses along Sixth Street, looking east of Santa Fe Avenue. Once the bridge was built, this intersection was shadowed by the concrete monument. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Standing at the same intersection of Sixth Street and Santa Fe, but looking west towards downtown. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

View of the future site of the Sixth Street Viaduct looking west over the river, June 17, 1929. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Dated October 13, 1931, this view looks west from the top of retaining wall at east edge of the bridge. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

View of the west showing the bridge's deck forms. October 27, 1931. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

A few workers scattered along the wooden forms on the eastern side of the bridge. October 27, 1931. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

The erection of viaduct's steel spans photographed on October 29, 1931. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Panorama of the Sixth Street Viaduct (undated) showing the eastern approach. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Here are the steel spans under construction, photographed on December 18, 1931. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

This view of the steel spans was taken on March 29, 1932 from the western side of the Los Angeles River. | Courtesy of the Los Angeles City Archives' Special Collections, Office of the City Clerk

Sources

Galvin, Andrea, Teresa Grimes, and Elysha Paluszek. Bridging Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA: City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Engineering, 2018.

Guevara, Ruben. Confessions of a Radical Chicano Doo Wop Singer. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2018.

Los Angeles Department of City Planning. "Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the Sixth Street Viaduct." Published November 1, 2007, https://planning.lacity.org/staffrpt/CHC/11-1-07/CHC-2007-4658.pdf.

Mikesell, Stephen D. "The Los Angeles River Bridges: A Study in the Bridge as a Civic Monument," Southern California Quarterly (Winter 1986), The Historical Society of Southern California.

Roth, Matthew. "Whittier Boulevard, Sixth Street Bridge, and the Origins of Transportation Exploitation in East Los Angeles," Journal of Urban History 30, No. 5, (July 2004).

Sanchez, George J. Boyle Heights: How a Los Angeles Neighborhood Became the Future of American Democracy: University of California Press, 2022.

Waldie, D. J. Becoming Los Angeles: Myth, Memory, and a Sense of Place. Canada: Gibbs Smith, 2020.

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