UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The Promise and Principles of Real Estate Development in an American Metropolis: Los Angeles 1903-1923 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9vx3c796 Author Redford, Laura Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Promise and Principles of Real Estate Development in an American Metropolis: Los Angeles 1903-1923 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History By Laura Redford 2014 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION The Promise and Principles of Real Estate Development in an American Metropolis: Los Angeles 1903-1923 By Laura Redford Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Janice L. Reiff, Chair This dissertation provides a new perspective to apply in the study of metropolitan development at the turn of 20th Century America. It reveals a group of entrepreneurial men whose collective contribution to the real estate industry had just as much to do with shaping urban spaces as the wealthy, more established, and power-wielding elites that are often credited with such development. Los Angeles is the case study of the dissertation because it underwent such a dramatic transformation during this time period from a small California city to the largest and most important metropolitan region on the West Coast. Key to its growth and expansion were the members of the Los Angeles Realty Board. After organizing in 1903, the members of the board sought to bring legitimacy to their profession, encourage cooperation and fellowship among real estate men, and use their collective power to create a more dynamic business environment for their industry. They earnestly engaged in local and state politics and boosterism, redefining the role of developers and brokers. Before any formal planning structures existed in Los Angeles, they served as unofficial urban planners as they laid out the physical and social landscape of the region. ii This study relies heavily on the local realty board records and those of the national association. To temper their colorful and hyperbolic language, I have scrutinized a variety of other primary and secondary sources to ascertain the real impact of the board’s actions on constructing a metropolis. This dissertation establishes the realtor’s ideas for their future city and their social status within it. Their aspirations are essential to understanding Los Angeles because, for better or worse, what these men imagined the region could be is what they developed, constructed, promoted, bought and sold. That vision included a spread out city filled with communities of homes for all classes, albeit communities segregated by both class and race. Members of the Los Angeles Realty Board also had a great impact on establishing the fundamentals for the professionalization of real estate practice nationally. Their participation at the national level reveals the increasing importance of Los Angeles with its foundations for many of the patterns of 20th century urban development throughout the nation. iii The dissertation of Laura Redford is approved Valerie Matsumoto Jonathan Zasloff Janice L. Reiff, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv Table of Contents Page number List of Tables/List of Images vi Acknowledgements vii Vita x Introduction 1 Chapter One The Los Angeles Realty Board 17 Chapter Two Shaping the Space, “The Continuous City” 57 Chapter Three Segregating the Space, the Covenants and Restrictions 86 Chapter Four Promoting Real Estate Possibilities 114 Chapter Five Pathways to Professionalization 148 Conclusion 176 Appendix A Los Angeles City Building Permits 1900-1923 182 Appendix B Los Angeles Annexation/Consolidation Chart 1895-1923 183 Appendix C The Los Angeles Realty Board Leadership 1903-1923 185 Appendix D Los Angeles Realty Board Associate Members, 1911 188 Bibliography 189 v List of Tables Table 1.1 LARB Membership vs. Real Estate Operators in Los Angeles 23 Table 1.2 Service of LARB Members in the National Association of Real Estate Boards 1908-1920 44 Table 2.1 Classification of Building Permits by Use or Occupancy of Buildings for Calendar Year 1923 68 Table 2.2 Vacant Lots within two blocks of LARY tracks as of July 1, 1913 75 Table 2.3 Comparison of City Populations and Square Mileage in 1911 76 Table 2.4 US Census Population Statistics 1910 Homeownership—Selected Cities 78 Table 3.1 Los Angeles City Population and Selected Minority Population 1900-1930 107 List of Images Skinny East Cartoons 7-8 Map of Selected Janss Investment Co. Developments 31 Homes from Los Angeles City and County Promotional Pamphlets 62-66 Brooklyn West Tract advertisement 101 W.M. Garland Company handbill predicting Los Angeles Population Growth 117 Exhibit of Los Angeles Realty Board at Winnipeg 123 Friends or Foes 126 LARB members in Costume for Stag Night during 1915 convention 132 Los Angeles Realty Board Logo 134 LARB advertisement warning against Aqueduct City Land Syndicate 152 vi Acknowledgements Writing a dissertation is a lonely proposition, made possible only by the vast amounts of help from others. While my dissertation carrel is so small no other person would fit in it with me, many people have contributed to this final product. My dissertation adviser, Janice Reiff, has pushed and challenged me in the kindest possible way. She is a dedicated teacher and mentor, always pointing out where I could further develop my analysis or perhaps come to a different conclusion than my initial interpretation. She has been nothing but supportive of my choice to have a family while in graduate school, never once looking at me askance or criticizing me for taking that path. I appreciate her support, her critical eye, and her breadth of knowledge. I was fortunate to be assigned a writing carrel across the hall from committee member Valerie Matsumoto. Her continual words of encouragement, often accompanied by offers of candy, were a tremendous help. She also provided excellent feedback on my ideas and writing. Jonathan Zasloff expressed enthusiasm for my project and helped pull me back from the details of my research to think about the larger picture. William Marotti was a willing and helpful member of my prospectus oral defense committee, who lent a different perspective to my project. My academic life at UCLA has been full of meaningful experiences with amazing scholars and teachers. I benefited from courses taught by Craig Yirish, Joan Waugh, Kelly Lytle-Hernadez, Stephen Aron, and Eric Avila. Many outstanding instructors for whom I taught or worked have inspired my own teaching and helped develop my approach to history including Jan Reiff, Jonathan Zasloff, Ruth Bloch, Naomi Lamoreaux, Toby Higbee, Robin D.G. Kelley, Mary Cory, and Mary Yeager. I am also grateful to the undergraduate education initiative cluster program for allowing me to teach repeatedly and design my own seminars. Thanks also to the history department for its financial support. The pre-dissertation and dissertation year fellowships I received helped me have the time and space to research and write. Navigating the vii process of the doctoral program was much easier and more pleasant because of the friendly assistance of the department’s Hadley Porter and Eboni Shaw. Cherrita Smith, former head of administration for the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors, made the focus on the realty board possible when she found, mentioned, and allowed me access the Los Angeles Realty Board’s records, which had been missing for nearly three decades. Gratefully, she was willing to part with the collection to ensure their preservation and access to future scholars. Frederik Heller has done amazing work digitizing the early years of the National Real Estate Journal. My time at the National Association of Realtors archives in Chicago was fruitful because of his efforts and guidance. He has patiently answered numerous follow up questions via email for which I am very thankful. Michael Holland at the Los Angeles City Archives has been an attentive archivist to whom I also owe a great debt. Throughout the research process, I received able assistance from many at UCLA’s special collections. Gabriella Gray, the endnote specialist at YRL was particularly helpful. Jaybird Millsaps and his father Jerry Millsaps of Provident Title Company cheerfully and quickly provided restrictive covenant information I would not have been able to find on a variety of properties. From the beginning of the doctoral program I benefited from an excellent and collegial cohort. Lauren Acker, Caroline Luce, and Zevi Gutfreund, joined by Jean-Paul deGuzman, were the best writing group I could have hoped for. Their sharp eyes and minds pushed me to expand ideas and chapters beyond what I thought possible. I am a better scholar for having read their work and for implementing suggestions they made on mine. I continue to rely heavily on their input and their friendship. It would have been a lonely and much less rewarding journey without them. Marcia Rubin has been an invaluable asset, who next to my adviser has read more of my viii dissertation writing than anyone. Any scholar would benefit from such a generous, willing, intelligent editor. Her suggestions and feedback greatly improved the clarity of my writing. My parents, Greg and MarJane Christofferson, deserve recognition for always believing that I could do anything I wanted. Dad engendered in me his love of history and plowed through some of my early attempts at writing the dissertation. Mom cheered me on in all my endeavors. Her recent death is a profound loss to me and so many others who relied on her advice and love. Kevin has been with me through the entire journey of graduate school, first as a suitor, then my husband, and now also as the father of our children.