Dateline>City of Angels

Faithful readers of my former blog may recognize the next two entries. The first is an updated version of something I originally posted two years ago, and deals with an amusing backstory to Los Angeles’ Hall of Justice. The second, which first ran Feb. 11, 2006, touches on another fun tidbit of Angeleno history that few people have ever heard.

I’m not a big fan of summer reruns, but these items rank among the favorites from my recently defunct site. Plus I have a whole new audience now that has never seen this stuff before. Please bear with me as repopulate my new weblog with these “oldies but goodies.”

Fresh material is coming this month as well — I promise!

As the $14.6-million rehabilitation of Los Angeles’ Hall of Justice progresses, August seems a fiitting month to recall a long-lost chapter in the building’s colorful past.

I’m not talking about the trial of legendary 1930s “Trunk Murdress” Winnie Ruth Judd, or the proceedings involving mobster Bugsy Siegel, or even the autopsy of Marilyn Monroe, all of which took place within these hallowed walls. No, I’m referring to the even more wild and tawdry escapades that rocked the site years before the cornerstone was even laid.

The story goes that when the City of Angels finally outlawed prostitution in 1874, the law still went mostly unenforced for decades. In fact, during the 1890s, the infamous madam Cora Phillips and cross-town rival Pearl Morton took the world’s oldest profession to dazzling new heights, stirring sensations among the Angeleno elite with their opulent, openly advertised brothels.

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Next time you visit L.A.’s Chinatown, stroll to the northwest corner of College and Hill, close your eyes, open your mind, and listen ever so carefully. If you’re psychic enough, you just might hear shouts of “Ole!” echoing from the past.

That’s because within a few yards of here, on the grounds of the Pacific Alliance Medical Center, along what once was called Calle del Toro (Street of the Bull), brave matadors stared down angry, charging bovines.

Yes, this was the site of the town bullring, built circa 1849.

During the Spanish-Mexican Period, animal contests were a staple of Californio life, with bullfights and bear baiting making for popular events at mission and town fiestas. In fact, Los Angeles’ Ocampo Plaza, a small square in front of the Francisco Ocampo Adobe near Aliso St., was infamous for its cockfights. Historians believe that before the Calle del Toro arena was completed, bullfights were similarly held at a makeshift site closer to Olvera St. and the Plaza.

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