Eli P. Clark -- Saint James Park

The Pasadena & L.A. Electric in 1906
Figueroa at Marmion Way (3)

Eli P. Clark (1847-1931) arrived in Los Angeles in 1891 at the behest of his partner, long-time friend, and brother-in-law General Moses Sherman. The two partners had just grown a successful mercantile business in Prescott, Arizona Territory, along with a railroad from Prescott to Seligman (Prescott & Arizona RR) when Gen. Sherman (so named because he was the adjutant general for the Arizona Territory) heard that cable-car interests in Los Angeles were encountering difficulty because of sand and water getting into the cable systems. Sherman knew that New York was having success with new "electric" trolleys, which were cheaper to operate and build. Immediately Clark and Sherman went to L.A. and purchased multiple short lines to form the Los Angeles Consolidated Railway, installing Sherman as President and Clark as Vice-President. Shortly after that they created the first interurban railway, the Pasadena & Los Angeles Electric Railway. Newspaper cartoonists in 1900 had this view of his company. Selling it to Henry Huntington in 1901, Clark continued to run it until 1909, when it was sold to the Southern Pacific.

Around 1904 the Clarks wished to move from their house at 823 W. 23rd to something more luxurious. A prime lot on the north side of prestigious St. James Park was available, and so by 1906 they had moved in.

9 St. James Park, taken from across the street at 20 St. James Pk.

The family lived here until the death of Lucy H. (Sherman) Clark in 1942, celebrating marriages of their daughters, engagement parties, and other social events in the house. Daughter Mary Sherman's wedding to Henry Eversole in 1910 was officiated by the Reverend Robert J. Burdette, whose book the house photo came from. Son Eugene and his wife lived next door to the north for more than 20 years.

And though retired, in 1911 Eli Clark funded the building of his namesake Hotel Clark, which was an early user of concrete in larger buildings.

Sherman and Clark were partners for most of their lives.  They ended up dying within a year of each other, and have a shared tombstone at Forest Lawn Glendale. Clark's wife Lucy and Sherman's daughter Hazeltine are also interred there.

From Men of the Pacific Coast, 1902

The house was eventually demolished and is now incorporated into a nearby Los Angeles school.

Sources:
1.  L.A. from the Mountains to the Sea
2.  Rootsweb.com (biography)
3. Photo from Pacific Electric; Donald Duke; 1958; An L.A. bound car is crossing the Los Angeles and Salt Lake R.R. tracks, which previously ran down the east side of Figueroa, turning east at York Blvd. to cross the Arroyo Seco. The bridge for the Pacific Electric ran across the arroyo a block south. 

More:
1. A brief video from 1919 showing the main intersection in St. James Park

John H. Braly--Los Angeles

Updated 3/13/17

John Hyde Braly was age 73 when he and his wife Martha moved to their new house in Pasadena in October, 1909. Their one son (Arthur) and his wife joined them the following year, and in the 1910 census they are listed along with five servants. The elder Bralys had just finished a world tour which began the year before in August, ending in April, 1909. And before that they had lived with Arthur at his residence at 991 Arapahoe, a few houses north of their residence at 1025 Arapahoe, which they put up for sale after moving in in 1906. The Bralys did move around--A LOT. 

In 1902 they had purchased (for the second time) in St. James Park, but after less than 18 months, they sold. For awhile they were in a hotel (according to another source), and were out of the country from May, 1905 through August. That November it was announced they had plans for a new two-story dwelling at 10th and Arapahoe, which they moved into later that year.

Mr. Burdette, editor of our primary source book, first published a 1906 edition before the 1910 edition your author references. For this 1906 edition Mr. Burdette evidently needed to get his photographer out to take Mr. Braly's house photo prior to the Arapahoe house being finished. So the question was--what house does he take a photo of? Well you see it below. The same photo was used in both editions.

 

The Braly house for the 1906 and 1910 Burdette publication

The house's location turns out to be a mystery. Using Sanborn maps as a guide, your author thought at first the house could have been a mis-addressed home in St. James Park, but upon further inspection, that turned out to not be the case. 32 St. James Park did not have a retaining wall out front (as seen in the left foreground of the shot below), and 38 St. James Park, where they were known to live in 1904, was not on a corner. And while 991 Arapahoe was on a corner, the house's outline was nothing like the image above.

34 St. James Park--38 St. James Park in the background

And so we have a mystery house.

But enough on the house--more on the Bralys.

John Braly, along with his son Arthur, was instrumental in creating the first Los Angeles skyscraper at 4th and Spring Streets downtown. As part owners of the Southern California Savings Bank, they convinced the board to build a new 12 storey steel building, which the board then named in their honor. Today the building still stands as the Continental building, and its erection stirred the L.A. City Council to pass a height ordinance that stood until the early 1960's.

The Bralys were closely involved in both family and business with the Janss family, a developer prominent in early 20th century Los Angeles. John's son Harold was married to Etta Janss, while John's daughter Emma was married to Herman Janss. This ad taken from the March, 1906 L.A. Herald, gives some idea of the relationships.

In 1912 John Braly documented much of his life in an autobiography which followed his journey to California in 1847 and his ultimate settling in Los Angeles in 1891. It includes photographs of the family--here are two of daughter Emma and her developer husband.

Emma Braly-Janss and her husband Herman Janss in 1912.

And the house above? Show us your searching skills by identifying it with a comment below...good luck!
If you're first, the author will gift you your choice of the two postcards shown on the DeLongpre page. Judgment of accuracy is strictly at the whim of the author.

And for reading this far, enjoy this short excerpt from a Harold Lloyd movie showing the neighborhood. The home on the right is 34 St. James Park.

St. James Park in 1919.
Old Homes of Los Angeles