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C. T. Salata Contractor (Photo taken by Scott Fajack on February 25, 2024 at Clinton & Van Ness in LA)

Chetko Trifko "Charles" Salata was born on December 8, 1888 and died on May 29, 1941 at age 52. He is buried at the Serbian United Benevolent Society Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA. He was married to Melania Miskovich and had five children (Find a Grave).

He took out an advertisment in a publication of the Charter of the City of Los Angeles in Effect July 1, 1925 where he described his business as "contractor: special concrete and street work" (Los Angeles Daily Journal, 1925).

In 1914, Salata lost a contract to Adam Dalmatin for sewer work on 6th St. between Grand Ave. and Gaffey St. in San Pedro, CA (Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 14, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1914).

A contract was awarded to Salata "for doing work of Road District District Improvement No. 42" in Los Angeles, CA. He lost a contract for construction in Manhattan Beach, CA. Both were in 1915 (Municipal Journal and Public Works, Volume 38, Municipal Journal and Engineer, Incorporated, 1915). Interestingly, in the same year, I see that Salata put in a bid for a highway work project in LA County with H.A. Taylor. This is the only time I've seen that (Western Machinery and Steel World, Volume 6, 1915).

In 1921, Salata lost a contract to E. A. Baker to improve Avenue 30 and another to W. D. McCray to improve Coringa Dr., both in Los Angeles, CA (Southwest Builder and Contractor, F. W. Dodge Company, 1921).

In 1927, Salata lost a concrete contract in San Diego, CA for the improvement of Churcheward St. and another for improving streets in its Monterey Heights neighborhood (Western Construction, Volume 2, King Publishing, 1927). Interestingly, the Los Angeles Directory Co.'s Los Angeles City Directory 1927 is the only time I see him listed as anything other than "C.T." (The Los Angeles Directory Company Publishers, 1927).

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Taylor & Berliner Los Angeles 220 Story Bldg (Photo taken February 25, 2024 by Scott Fajack at Clinton & Normandie, which you could maybe say is it the 'Melrose Hill' neighborhood)

I wonder if this is the first time I have a stamp with their address included in it! 220 Story Bldg was a unit in the 1909 Story Building, located at 610 N. Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90014. I know they were at least at this address by 1912, thanks to this advertisement:

Taylor & Berliner were Samuel W Berliner of 1202 S Bronson Ave and William J Taylor of 3973 La Salle Ave.

According to Find a Grave, Samuel W. Berliner was born in New York City on December 3, 1887 and died in the city of Los Angeles on August 29, 1963. He is buried at the Home of Peace Memorial Park in East Los Angeles. But, according to Southwest Jewry: An Account of Jewish Progress and Achievement in the Southland, he was born on December 12, 1887. He went to the College of City of New York and the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1909. After arriving in Los Angeles in 1911, he began his work in general engineering and road construction. "Among the noted structures in which he had a large hand was the North Broadway Bridge, Bible Institute Building, Los Angeles Sewerage System." In 1926, he lived at 4507 W. 18th St. in Los Angeles and had an office as H. Berliner at 738 S. Los Angeles Ave. (apparently since 1918 he was involved in H's apparel manufacturing business) [Volume 1, Sunland Publishing Company, 1926]. And at some point, he may have been a civil engineering associate for 11 years, 5 months of the DWP, if it's the same Samuel W. Berliner; it seems like perhaps he did this as a later career, as it looks like he retired in 1952 (The Intake, Employees of the Department of Water and Power, 1952).

In 1910, Berliner built a two-storey residence with eleven rooms on Bronson Ave. between Pico and Country Club Blvd for Sallie Berliner. At this time, Samuel's office was at 202 Jefferies Bluilding (Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 6, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1910). I'm unclear what this building was, but perhaps that was a typo and it was the Jeffries Building at 117 E. Winston St., which was built in 1906 for W. P. Jeffries Company, a printing and engraving business (thejeffriesla.com) but of course are now apartments.

In 1912, Taylor & Berliner lost a contract in Lordsburg, CA (a place I had never heard of because it is now called La Verne!) and submitted a bid in Los Angeles to improve Virgil Avenue between Fountain Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd., involving grading, graveling and oiling; cement curb; concrete gutter; "vit. blk. gutter;" cement sidewalk; and storm drain (Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 10, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1912).

In 1913, they were the lowest bidder to improve Section 2 of the Newport Beach Road in Santa Ana, CA and were awarded a contract from E. D. Silent Co. to construct cement curbs, gutters, and sidewalks "in Ardmore Heights, Normandie, Mariposa, Clinton an Torrence Aves." in Los Angeles, CA (Good Roads, Volume 44, E.L. Powers Company, 1913). Weirdly one of the listings in this publication shows them at 618 S. Broadway, which is not the address of the Story Building (610 S. Broadway), but I am assuming that's an error. Later that year, they submitted a bid for Sec. H. of "the state highway" (Western Machinery and Steel, Volume 3, Cal. Western Engineering Publishing Company, 1913).

In 1914, Taylor & Berliner was awarded the contract for Section A of Division VI, Route 4 in Merced County, "from the south boundary to the City of Merced (VI--Mer.--4--A): Laid out as State Highway Oct. 22, 1912" (California Highway Bulletin, Volume III, Number 1, January 1, 1915, California Highway Commission, Department of Engineering, State of California, California State Printing Office, Sacramento). They also got the contract for 14 miles of state highway in Merced county and "for asphalt-conc. paving and cement sidewalks, curbs, etc., in Brand blvd." in Tropico (now Glendale) [The American Contractor, Volume 35, F. W. Dodge Corporation, 1914].

I know the photo is from before 1915, because by that year's city directory Taylor & Berliner were located at 606 S Hill, room 211, just around the corner, and listed as "road contractors," which is very clearly what they are from all the bids (Los Angeles City Directory, 1915, Los Angeles Directory Company, 1915). That year they won a contract for the construction of Glenn County, Div. 3, Route 7, Sec. B. roadway (Engineering and Contracting, Volume 44, Engineering and Contracting Publishing Company, 1915). In the same year, they submitted bids for Contra Costa Co. Div. 4, Route 14, Sec. A; Tulare Co., Div. 4, Route 10, Sec. A.; and Kings Co., Div 6, Route 10, Sec. A (Building and Engineering News, Volume 15, Issue 1, 1915).

Calkins v. Berliner et al. (Civ. 1576) in the District Court of Appeal, Second District, California, February 19, 1915 was an appeal to a previous suit "for compensation due for the use of horses and wagons." The court found "that payment should be made on the 10th of each month for the preceding month, or as soon thereafter as defendants received their money for grading" the Ardmore Heights Tract in Los Angeles County and did not reverse the original decision. 'Berliner et al.' was Samuel Berliner and William J. Taylor, "partners trading as Taylor & Berliner" (The Pacific Reporter, Volume 147, West Publishing Company, 1915).

Elmer Wright "plead guilty to the charge of burglary against him for breaking into the tool house of Taylor & Berliner at Richfield" in 1917. George Mueller was an accomplice. Both had been "trust employees of Taylor & Berliner and competent workmen" and, in a twist, Taylor & Berliner agreed to hire them again ("100 years ago: Teen gets probation for burglary," The Times-Standard, August 29, 2018)!

In 1961, Samuel W. Berliner was located at 217 S Swall Dr. in Beverly Hills, CA (Roster Civil and Professional Engineers and Surveyors, California Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, 1961).

Additional sources:

PE Professional Engineer, Volumes 12-13, National Society of Professional Engineers, 1942

Southwest Builder and Contractor, F. W. Dodge Company, 1922

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C. J. Paradis 1939 (Photo taken by Tim Aarons on January 23, 2025 at Ventura & Coldwater Canyon in Studio City, CA)

Paradis worked on pipe line installation, repairs, and miscellaneous construction in Inyo County, CA (Builders' Weekly Guide, Volume 74, Builders' Guide Publishing Company, 1942).

Paradis worked on "landing fields, targets and appurtenant work at bombing and gunnery range" in Nevada. They also worked on a bomb trainer building in Southern California. In both cases they were hired by the U.S. Engineer Office in Los Angeles but the listings are under "Unannounced Co" so I'm not totally clear what that means (Western Construction News, Volume 17, King Publications, 1942).

Paradis was located at 2320 Idell St. (Cypress Park) in Los Angeles and had a class b-1 license from the state of California (#8919) (Official Directory, Licensed Contractors of California, California Contractors' State License Board, California State Print. Office, 1949).

I believe that C.J. is the Clifford Joseph Paradis (July 11, 1902 - December 25, 1999) who is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, CA (Find a Grave.com). He was 37 in the 1940 United States Federal Census, who is listed as being a white male born in California. At the time of the census, he was married and lived in Glendale, CA at 2980 Edmonton Road. He was a "contractor proprietor" who worked 60-hour weeks and owned his house. He had only completed one year of high school.

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C. C. Crandall Contractor (Photo taken by Scott Fajack on February 25, 2024 at Clinton St. & Alexandria Ave. in Los Angeles)

It seems Crandall went to Stanford University. At the time of it's 1931 alumni directory, Crandall was located at 3026 Worthen Ave, Los Angeles, which is in today's Frogtown neighborhood (Alumni Directory and Ten-year Book, pg. 199, Stanford University, 1931).

C. C. Crandall was located at 5782 Lindenhurst Ave., Los Angeles (Park La Brea development). He had license number 1688, class A (Official Directory Licensed Contractors of California, Volume 17, Issue 1, California Contractors' State License Board, Registrar of Contractors, Department of Professional and Vocational Standards, 1948).

I don't know who CC is, but he may be the Carl C Crandall who lived at 671 S Coronado (near MacArthur Park) according to the 1948 LA City Directory. If so, he's probably the Carl Chester Crandall I found on Find a Grave, who was born on March 17, 1887 and died on March 10, 1951 (buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale).

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J R McKnight Contractor (Photo taken on February 25, 2024 by Scott Fajack in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA)

J. R. McKnight was located at 206 Grant Building in downtown Los Angeles (also known as the Nelson Building, it was designed by John Parkinson and was on the National Register of Historic Places until it was removed because five stories were removed!). He was "a new factor in concrete and general engineering construction in Southern California" in 1912. He came out "from the Middle West, where he had extensive experience with large engineering projects" (Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 9, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1912). That year he was awarded the contract to construct 11 concrete piers "to replace wood piling at the Motalvo bridge" in Ventura, CA (Good Roads, Volume 42, E.L. Powers Company, 1912).

In the 1913 city directory, he was listed under bridge contractors at 304 S Broadway, rm 445 (The Bradbury Building!) and as a person who was a bridge and pile driving contractor named "Jas R McKnight" and lived at 2029 W 24th (West Adams). According to Redfin, this house, which is still there, was built in 1906, so it's probably the one he lived in! This is the first place I've seen anything other than pure initials. We also learn from the directory that he had foremen named George W Kautz and Chas H Jones (he lived at 139 S Figueroa). He also apparently sold second hand machinery out of 112 W 9th rm 225 (Los Angeles City Directory 1913, Los Angeles Directory Co., Inc., 1913).

In April of 1914, W. Allerton went "to San Pedro ... to run an 18-B Bucyrus Merry-go-round," which I think is a revolving shovel. He "moved his 18-B Bucyrus shovel to Orange County to work on the state highway. The shovel is operated by his old crew, W. Allerton, engineer, and Mr. Buel, fireman" in July. In September of the same year, Harry Quincy was operating the 18-B for him "on the Santa Ana road work" (Excavating Contractor, Volume 10, A.B. Morse Company, 1913).

The Los Angeles Galvanizing Company had a lien recorded against J R McKnight as contractor and Diamond Laundry Co. as owner of "Lois 41 to 48, inclusive, Ulm tract, corner of Eighth street and Towne avenue" in 1918 (Southwest Builder and Contractor, Volume 51, F. W. Dodge Company, 1918).

In 1921, Mcknight now had a 14-B Bucyrus Shovel, which was pictured on the cover of The Excavating Engineer at work on a basement excavation job in Los Angeles! He "received his [shovel] about the 21st of March and has been very busy since, having completed two fairly large jobs, with three more contracts on hand." The shovel had a 16' dipper stick and boom hoist and was "able to load trucks at an elevation of 11' cut above the wheel base of the shovel" (The Excavating Engineer, Volume 15, Excavating Engineer Publishing Company, 1921).

In 1922, McKnight is listed as being at 360 S. Reno St., which is in the Rampart Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA (Steam Shovel and Dredge, Volumes 32-33, Campbell and Company, 1922).

He lost a bid in 1924 (Building and Engineering News, Volume 24, Issue 1, 1924).

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any biographical information.

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Stukey Concrete Company (Photo taken on February 10, 2024 by Scott Fajack at Clayton & Hillhurst in Los Feliz neighborhood of LA, CA)

There are so many people this could be; I have no idea which it actually is.

One option, although a slightly different name, is the Stukey Bros. contractors. The brothers are Albert F and Rufus J. They were the contractor of a residence that R. J. owned on Kingswell between Holly and Maubert. At the time, R. J. and Albert lived at 129 N Winona Blvd. in Hollywood (Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 5, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1910). I believe their office was located at 424 S Broadway, room 919, in 1910. Someone actually named Harry A Conduitt was a salesman for them that year. The brothers also had a real estate business under the same name but listed separately in the city directory (Los Angeles City Directory 1910, Phillips Printing Company, 1910).

R. J. was of Pasadena in 1917 (Southwest Builder and Contractor, Volume 50, F.W. Dodge Company, 1917). R. J. is probably the Rufus Justus Stukey (born in Ohio, died in 1935) who is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA. There is also some evidence that R.J. lived in Sierra Madre at one time.

There are other cement workers in 1929 with the last name Stukey - Earl A at "h410 W 102d," Ernest at "h7815 Towne av." who was married to Mary, and Thomas W who was a cement contractor married to May and lived at "h5512 Denker" (Los Angeles Directory Co's Los Angeles City Directory 1929, The Los Angeles Directory Co., 1929).

Additional sources:

Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 4, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1909.

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Wm Liddington Contractor (Photo taken February 2024 on Franklin Ave. at Kenmore Ave. in Los Angeles, CA by Scott Fajack)

Wm is William! I would have assumed that, but I also have confirmation from Contractor, Volume 24, 1917.

William is listed in the Los Angeles City Directory 1914 under "Contractors--Brick" at 420 E 60th, which is in South Los Angeles (Los Angeles Directory Company, 1914, accessed through the Los Angeles Public Library).

Everywhere else it's listed as 420 E. 16th St., which is in the Fashion District.

In 1914, he submitted a bid for "improving the first alley northwest from Bonnie Brae St., between Seventh and Ninth Sts.," "improving the first alley south of Twenty-fourth St., between Gramercy Place and Cimarron St.," and for "improving Fourth St., between Boyle Ave. and a point 245.69 ft. east of Pecan St." He lost a bid "for constructing cem. sidewalk in Los Angeles St., between Eighth St. and a point 130.21 ft. southwesterly therefrom" (Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 14, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1914).

In 1918, he "was the successful bidder ... for grading and oiling a strip of roadway ... on Seventy-sixth street east of Figueroa street," also for the same on Del Mar Avenue south of Hoover St.. He was one of the bidders to the Los Angeles "board of public works for constructing cement curb and sidewalk on the east side of Avenue 53 between Range View avenue and York boulevard." He lost a bid for grading and paving an alley "north of state street between First and Second streets" to George R. Curtis (Southwest Builder and Contractor, F. W. Dodge Company, 1918).

In 1920, Liddington was awarded the contract "for improving the first alley west of Bonney (sic) Brae St., between 9th and 10th Sts." (Elliott's Magazine: Including the L.A.W. Bulletin and Good Roads, Volume 59, G. R. P. Company, 1920).

In 1922, he was awarded the contract "for grading and oiling Third St." and was a new member of the American Construction Council (Constructor, Volume 4, Associated General Contractors of America, 1922).

Liddington is potentially William James Francis Liddington (May 1, 1874, England - July 9, 1932, Los Angeles County, CA, USA) who is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, CA. That Liddington was married to August Liddington. The gravestone has a Masonic symbol under his name.

Other sources:

Western Engineering, Volume 9, Western Engineering Publishing Company, 1918

Western Machinery and Steel, Volume 8, Cal. Western Engineering Publishing Company, 1917

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Winston Bros. Company Contractor 195(2?) [Photo taken by Scott Fajack on February 10, 2024 at N. Vista Del Mar Avenue and Dix St. in Franklin Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA]

Fendall Gregory Winston was born to William Overton and Sarah Anne Winston on May 1, 1849 in Hanover County, Virginia and died on February 2, 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was "prominently identified [with Minneapolis] from pioneer times to the present." In 1875, he "associated with his brother, P. B. Winston, under the firm name of Winston Brothers, for the business of railroad contracting. The next year William O. Winston, another brother, was taken into partnership" (History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923 via FindaGrave.com). According to an obituary the company wrote, he was "almost the last of trail blazers who in the latter half of the past century prepared the way and laid a network of steel over the vacant prairies, and lines across the lonely mountains of the West, which today provide the highways for a vast and ever-growing commerce."

His brother, P. B., was Philip Bickerton Winston, born August 12, 1846 in Hanover, Virginia and died July 1, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. He was a farmer before fighting in the Civil War (on the side of the Confederacy), and then a farmer again. After 1872, he became a railroad engineer and contractor, and then mayor of Minneapolis!

Another brother was William Overton Winston, Jr. was the "dean of the general contractors of the United States," according to a notice of his death in "At the Cross Roads by STOP and GO" in the "Personals" section (I'm pretty sure the C. is a typo in the text itself). What a lofty compliment! He was born February 6, 1853 in Hanover County, Virginia and died March 15, 1927 in Los Angeles at 74 years old, at which time he was president of the Winston-Dear Co. and chairman of the board of directors of the aforementioned Winston Bros. Company in Minneapolis. His body was sent back to Minneapolis to be buried (FindaGrave.com). There were actually many obituaries publishing for him and multiples that called him the 'dean'; he was apparently a titan of the industry. He had joined his brothers in the business in 1875. They did a lot, including railway construction, "irrigation, drainage, reservoirs, highways, hydro-electric plants, large structures and other construction." At the time of his death, the Winston Bros. Co. was building a railroad for the Republic of Colombia and "did a great deal of work for the U. S. reclamation service" (Engineer and Contract, Volume 66, 1927). His obituaries were SO glowing. One said: "No contractor probably ever had a larger or more devoted following of sub-contractors, workers and other associates in his business." Another called him the "Grand old man of construction" and compared him to Henry Clay and George Washington. There's more: "He was an inspiration to many younger men who rallied to his leadership and were proud to call him 'Daddy.' Finally, he was described as "the kindly old gentleman whom thousands loved, this symbol of a bygone and less commercial age" ("Say Not 'Good Night,' Henry H. Wilson, Engineer and Contract, Volume 66, 1927). He had two to three sons, one of which was a vice president of Winston Bros. Co. (William O. Winston, III) in Minneapolis. The above photo of him is from his January 1925 passport application for travel to Colombia with his wife, according to E. Middleton who uploaded it to Find a Grave.

They also had three sisters; Elizabeth, Frances, Sarah; and another brother (FindaGrave.com).

"Winston Bros. Co. was incorporated in Minnesota in 1902, taking over the business of the partnership of Winston Bros., who began contracting work in 1875" (Contractors and Engineers Monthly, Volume 17, Buttenheim-Dix Publishing Corporation, 1928). They incorporated once P. B. died - F. G. was president and W. O. was vice-president initially. And, in 1903, they started the associated corporation Winston-Dear Co., which focused on mining. Some jobs Winston-Dear Co. did include: raising track, lengthening openings to allow the water to escape, and widening the shoulders of the embankments of the Missouri Pacific Railroad (using "two trains of Western 20-yard Automatic air dump cars to haul their material, and a Marion 75 shovel to do the digging").

Unfortunately, Winston-Dear Company was listed numerous times in the "Statements of Fatal Accidents in and Around the Mines of St. Louis County, Minnesota, for the Year Ending June 30, 1907," which was included in Executive Documents of the State of Minnesota for the Year, 1908. The causes of death were very brutal and I will spare you by not listing the details here.

The Dear was Richard Brierly Dear, a railroad contractor from Virginia. He joined forces with the Winstons in 1885 and he ran their mining operations. His obituary states: "Few men started with less and accomplished more than he, and his usual career will always be looked upon as strikingly emblematic of those laudable characteristics which reveal American manhood in its most virile and inspiring form." He died in 1909 (The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume 17, J. T. White, 1921).

The Associated General Contractors of America formed from general contractors in the east and mid-west America to present "each division of general contracting--buildings, highways, bridges, public works and general heavy engineering" in 1919 after WW1, in which they felt under-organized and ill-equipped in their interactions with the U.S. federal government. W. O. Winston of Minneapolis was their first president third vice-president. He served as a member of their board of directors until he died. As an aside, Arthur S. Bent was a director of the group, so I'm going to go update that post! ("General Contractors Plan Strong Organization," Southwest Builder and Contractor, Volume 55, March 12, 1920, pg. 10-11, F. W. Dodge Company, 1920 & Engineer and Contract, Volume 66, 1927).

By 1923, the firm was one of the largest railroad contracting firms in America and by that time had operated in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin!! They hadn't made it to California, yet. F. G. Winston was also a failed candidate for lieutenant governor of Minnesota (History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923 via FindaGrave.com).

By 1927, they had worked in eight additional states, plus Canada and South America. In that year, the Winston Bros Co. associated with Henry H. Wilson from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to form the very unwieldily named "Winston Bros. Co. & H. H. Wilson." According to this update, Winston Bros. had been in business for more than fifty years by that time in general construction "including interest in the construction of more than 8,000 miles of railroad" (The Highway Engineer & Contractor, Volume 17, International Trade Press, Incorporated, 1927). In 1928, they were "interested at present in the construction of bridges over the Ohio River." There also seemed to be a Winston & Co. in both Kingston, NY and Richmond, VA, but it seems that oddly it's just coincidence that they were connected with H. H. Wilson, too. He continued to be "a special partner in charge of the crushed stone business of his former associates in construction" once he formed his associated with our Winston Bros.

It seems that in 1928, the Winston. Brothers Company acquired all stock of Winston-Dear Co ("Winston Brothers Company, Petitioner, v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent, Docket No. 59270. Promulgated January 24, 1934." Reports of the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals, Volume 29, United States Board of Tax Appeals, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934). After the consolidation, the headquarters continued to be in Minneapolis, but they also had branch offices in St. Louis, Missouri; Seattle, Washington; Steubenville, Ohio; and Medellin, Republic of Colombia (The Earth Mover: A Monthly Magazine for Earth and Stone Movers, Volume 15, Burton Publishing Company, 1928).

It's hard to find anything about them in Los Angeles, other than Jr. dying there. I did find a couple employees of possibly the same company, though: J B Gotcher and Ira A Dyess, both carpenters for Winston Bros listed in a 1952-1953 directory (Santa Monica, Brentwood Heights, and Ocean Park City Directory 1952-1953, accessed via the Los Angeles Public Library Historic City and Business & Phone Directories collection).

They still existed for sure as late as 1958, as they are included in a list of "construction contractors in the United States for the years 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961 whose total volume of work was over $25 million."

Other sources:

"A Portrait," The Explosives Engineer, Volumes 1-2, Harry Roberts Jr., Nelson Sutro Greensfelder Hercules Powder Company, 1923.

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C. T. Richardson Contractor (Photo taken on January 14, 2024 by Scott Fajack on Calle Rosales & Calle Granada in Santa Barbara, CA).

Actually in the same advertisement as discussed in the last post, C. T. Richardson is surprisingly listed in the Trucking section (Santa Barbara News-Press, Volume 49, Number 83, 27 November 1926, pg. 17, accessed via the UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research CDNC). The subcategories are hauling and excavating.

"Westside History" by Walker A. Tompkins (1980) on Terry Ryken's real estate website states that Richardson "poured the concrete for the 'big glass studio' at State and Mission in 1913" and "got the demolition contract to erase his work in 1948."

According to Find a Grave, Charles T Richardson was born May 21, 1889 and died December 30, 1961 at age 72. He's buried in Carpinteria Cemetery in Santa Barbara County, CA. His parents were Maxwell Thompson Richardson and Francisca "Frances" Rodriguez Richardson. He was married to Hortense Claudia Villalba Richardson. He had two siblings (Anita and Josephine) and six children (Ervin, Charles E., Max, Fred, Charlotte, and James).

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John Edwards Contractor (Photo taken by Scott Fajack in Santa Barbara, CA on Donze Ave. near Olive St. on January 14, 2024)

Edwards provided free estimates and was located at 905 N. Milpas in Santa Barbara, CA per the 1922 Santa Barbara Classified Directory "issued by Santa Barbara Daily News."

According to the above beautiful advertisement for members of the Santa Barbara Builders Exchange, Edwards was a cement contractor still located at 905 Milpas in Santa Barbara, CA (Santa Barbara News-Press, Volume 49, Number 83, 27 November 1926, pg. 17, accessed via the UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research CDNC).

I couldn't find much biographical info on him, because his name is so common. However, I know he was married to Emma Holland Ryder and had a son named Edwin Ryder Edwards (October 7, 1922-August 14, 2016). According to his son's obituary in the Santa Barbara Independent, John was also in a cement contracting firm of Edwards & King.

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Brockman, O'Brien & Collings 1926 Contractors (Photo taken by Scott Fajack on December 17, 2023 on Whitmore Ave. near Landa St. in the Elysian Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA)

In 1926, they were located at 1566 Murray Circle (in the LA neighborhood of Silverlake; according to Zillow, it's a single family home built in 1923) and were awarded the contract by "bd. pub. wks. for st. work" at Prewett St. between Two Tree Avenue (I love this street name) and Minnesota St. and for Vaquera Ave. between Warwick Ave. and Martin St. (Building and Engineering News, Volume 26, Issue 2, 1926).

In the same year, they submitted the above bid to the Board of Public Works for 73rd St. from Western to 8th Avenues - his competition includes many firms I've written up before (Western Construction, Volume 1, King Publishing, 1926).

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M. P. Austin 1926/8 Contractor (I believe both these photos were taken by Tim Aarons, in 2021 on Tujunga near Hatteras in North Hollywood, CA and 2024 respectively)

In 1925, he was listed as having the address of General Delivery, Lankershim in Los Angeles, California. He got the contract for a reinforced concrete garage, drainage flume, water tank, and stage foundation for Universal Studios (Building and Engineering News, Volume 25, Issue 1, 1925).

M. P.'s wife was Mary C. Austin (California Appellate Decisions, Volume 96, California District Courts of Appeal, Recorder Print and Publishing Company, 1939). She was born in 1878 and died in 1956, at which point she was buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, CA (Find a Grave).

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Carter Company Contractors and Developers 1970 (Photo taken by me on April 18, 2023 near Shatto Lanes)

According to Yelp, they were located at 425 Shatto Pl., Ste. 303, Los Angeles, CA 90020, so it makes sense that I took this photo near Shatto Lanes! (Yelp also says "Yelpers report this location has closed.")

According to Paul Jacobs (discussed later), the company started in the 1940s and spent twenty years focusing on office and industrial general contracting, but since the 1960s they "shifted to the ownership and operation of real estate investments" (Flying Magazine, June 1986, Volume 113, Number 6).

Carter Company Contractors and Developers was "a partnership formerly known as George W. Carter Co." per the Reports of the Tax Court of the United States (Volume 41, United States Tax Court, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964). The partnership also included Ethel M. Carter, but she retired December 31, 1955. The partnership agreement was originally filed in 1950.

In 1959, Stuart M. Ketchum was the managing partner (Buildings -Volume 53, pg. 44, Stamats Publishing Company, 1959).

In 1986, Paul Jacobs was general manager of the company and he had rejoined the company in 1971 after being an Air Force pilot. The company was his family's business (Flying Magazine). There are amazing 80s preppy outfits and colorful photos available to see on Google Books.

As of at least 1997, they were located at 680 Wilshire Pl., Los Angeles, CA 9005-3931 which is near MacArthur Park (The Los Angeles JobBank, 1997, Bob Adams Publishers, Adams Media Corporation, 1996, pg. 114).

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It's my 10 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

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Auerbach Construction, Inc. (Photo taken by me, I think, on April 2, 2023 - I don't know whose hands that is.)

Auerbach Construction, Inc. was founded by Ernest Auerbach, who was born in 1916 in Brooklyn, NY and died on February 1, 2010 (this was actually quite difficult for me to be sure about but I now am). He is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, CA (findagrave.com). The below photo was added to Find a Grave by Romper90069.

In the Great Depression, "he grew and sold produce, and later became a producer broker." In World War II, he was in the Horse Cavalry of the U.S. Army. Moving to California after the war, he founded the Ernest Auerbach Company in Santa Monica, CA in 1946 for real estate construction, management, and financing.

According to the 1965 Westside City Directory, Auerbach at that point was still operating as Ernest Auerbach Co and was located at 11965 Montana Av, apartment 2 (City Directories Inc., accessed via the Los Angeles Public Library).

Apparently he was also a racehorse breeder, who started a thoroughbred breeding farm in San Diego County, CA in 1977 ("Ernest Auerbach, Santa Monica real estate developer, dies at 93," Jewish Journal, February 17, 2010).

He was the chairman of the board of the Auerbach Construction company and had "built 'something' on almost every street of [Santa Monica], from small residences to apartment houses" (LA Times). Same for much of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. By 1987, he had "built more than 10 million square feet of commercial, retail and residential properties valued at more than $500 million." And at that time, they focused mostly on "industrial high-tech and commercial properties" through LA, Orange, and San Diego counties. Their headquarters since 1982 was Auerbach Plaza at 2001 Wilshire Blvd.

In 2001, he founded a bank that became the First Business Bank in San Diego, CA (Jewish Journal).

According to the Los Angeles Times, Auerbach was a "mild-mannered man with an uncanny eye for the right opportunity" ("By Veteran Developer: An Instant Replay of Santa Monica Values," Evelyn De Wolfe, The Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1987).

Rodney Freeman, who is Managing Partner of Metro Properties, includes his 18 years at Auerbach Construction, Inc. in his bio on Metro Properties's website. According to the aforementioned LA Times article, Freeman led Auerbach Construction Co. from at least 1987.

Simon Schreier, now of S. Schreier & Associates, Inc., was Senior Project Manager for Auerbach Construction from 1994 to 1997 (rocketreach.co).

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Whiteselle Cherry Reds Corsicana (Photo taken by me on December 10, 2022 at home in Roscomare canyon).

This is brick so a little off-brand still, but it's on the ground so I say it counts!

(I don't know who took the above photo but it was uploaded by D. W. Short to Find a Grave)

James Emerson Whiteselle was born on December 31, 1851 in Obion County, Tennessee but got to Texas in 1870 to work for his uncle's lumber company. In 1875, he started working at Carruthers Lumber Company. Eventually he owned it, changed the name to Whiteselle Brick and Lumber Company, and adding brick to the business. Their "cherry red bricks," were used all over Texas. At some point he was vice president of First national Bank there. He was also mayor of Corsicana, TX in 1894 (Corsicana, Tommy Stringer, Arcadia Publishing, 2010) until 1898 (HMdb.org). It was during his term as mayor that oil was discovered in town.

In 1900, Whiteselle was the secretery for the Corsicana, TX fair (The Billboard, October 20, 1900, Volume 12, Issue 25, Prometheus Global Media, Internet Archive).

As of 1907, Corsicana had 12,000 residents. The company's leadership was Whiteselle, president; C. R. Sherill, secretary and general manager; and J. R. Wilson, foreman. They had "about 39 acres of clay, which contains enough iron to burn a deep, rich red. IN places this iron ore is so pure that it must be removed, carloads of it, before the clay is mined, because too much of it makes the brick too brittle." The clay was "a shale, with no sand and few impurities besides the ochre and an occasional streak of a white, crumbly mineral which Mr. Sherill thinks is mica." ("The Whiteselle Brick & Lumber Co., Corsicana, Tex." Brick: A Record of the World's Progress in the Clay Industry, Volumes 26-27, Windsor and Kenfield, 1907).

In 1913, it seems Whiteselle owned land that he leased for a segregated movie theater in Houston, TX (Motography, January-June 1913, Electricity Magazine Corp., Media History Digital Library). Motography was published from 1909 through 1918 (originally entitled The Nickelodeon) and was a trade journal for American film.

He was also "influential in bringing the Texas Electric Railway Co." to Corsicana in the same year. Appropriately, he lived in a mansion made of brick (HMdb.org)!

He died on his birthday - December 31, 1915 (the photo of the tombstone was uploaded by Eva Whearley to Find a Grave).

Whiteselle Brick & Lumber Company applied for a trade-mark for "Red building brick" - class 1 "raw or partly prepared materials" (Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 659, United States Patent Office, 1952).

According to the Corsicana Semi-Weekly Light (what a title), "as of 1961 they were manufacturing between 50,000 and 60,000 Cherry Red bricks per day! The Corsicana brickyard employed 37 men. (Corsicana, Texas, Friday, April 28, 1961, accessed via Newspapers.com.)

In 1982, a historical marker was built by the Texas Historical Commission in Corsicana.

Other sources:

Fiftieth Anniversary: Golden Jubilee of Lumbermen's Association of Texas, Lumbermen's Association of Texas, 1936

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Union Iron Works of Los Angeles (Photo taken by me on July 27, 2024).

Another not sidewalk. Sorry! But this is an interesting placement, isn't it?

Union Iron works of Los Angeles, Inc. was founded in 1884 according to Victor C. Darnell's Directory of American Bridge-Building Companies 1840-1900 (Society for Industrial Archeology, 1984). To be included in this directory, the company had to build bridges or advertise that they built bridges, even if it was only once and "not their usual activity." However, according to the finding aid for LA County Incorporation Records collection of the Seaver Center for Western History Research, the articles of incorporation were filed in 1899, with principles D. P. N. Little and Horace G. Miller.

It's president in 1907 was Little, per this personal update:

(San Pedro Daily News, Volume 5, Number 249, July 3 1907, accessed via UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research California Digital Newspaper Collection). Interestingly, Little and Union Iron Works are listed separately in the aforementioned Directory of American Bridge-Building Companies, but with overlapping time periods. It's possible that Little was included as an engineer "who advertised as bridge builders, signing contracts for complete projects, making the designs, and subcontracting the actual construction."

Los Angeles Herald, Volume 35, Number 184, April 3 1908, accessed via UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research California Digital Newspaper Collection.

Little was vice president of the Founders' and Employers' Association and Manufacturers' Association of Los Angeles, which this labor paper wasn't so happy about (Industrial Worker, Spokane, WA, June 22 1911). I'm just going to include some snippets:

They owned this tract, according to LA County Public Works land records recorded July 10, 1914.

The National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form for the Chapman Building (1922-23) in Fullerton, CA includes a listing of local companies involved in the construction. Union Iron Works of Los Angeles, for steel work, are the first in the list!

In 1924, they won the bid to erect eight steel factory buildings for Western Glass company in Fullerton, CA ("Give Contract for Factory Buildings," The Register, Santa Ana, CA, Monday, February 4, 1924, page 14, accessed via Newspapers.com).

In the same year, they were listed in the Directory of California Manufacturers for 'structural iron, iron work' at 5125 Santa Fe Av, Los Angeles (California Development Association, 1924, via archive.org). This address seems to no longer exist.

They built a plant northeast of "the latest subdivision" in 1927, near plants for Truscon Steel company and Goodrich Tire & Rubber and a Southern California Edison company sub-station ("Laguna-Bell and Maywood Gardens Put on Market," Daily News, Los Angeles, CA, Thursday, June 23, 1927, page 10, accessed via Newspapers.com).

In 1928, Union Iron Works merged with Llewellyn Iron Works and Baker Iron Works to become Consolidated Steel Corporation, which is now part of U.S. Steel.

In a 1954 publication by Cal Tech, we learn that Alden G. Roach, at the time president of the Columbia-Geneva Steel and Consolidated Western Steel Divisions of the United States Steel Corporation, was newly elected to the Institute Board of Trustees ("The Summer," October, 1954). He had been at the company since it had been Union Iron Works of Los Angeles (and was that endeavor's president in 1941).

See below for an update from 1955 from the earlier discussed Directory of American Bridge-Building Companies: