Building History

This was the second dry goods store that Nathaniel Blackstone opened in Downtown Los Angeles, the first having been along Broadway's 300 block. Blackstone stayed at this first location from 1895 until 1917, when this larger, second department store opened at 901 South Broadway. The noted architect John Parkinson (1861-1935), an Englishman by birth, responsible for many of the city's landmark commercial and public landmarks, designed this modern department store. According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, "Developer Arthur H. Fleming hired Parkinson to design a modern department store for his new commercial tenant, Nathaniel Blackstone, a successful dry goods retailer." (See Los Angeles Conservancy.org, "Blackstone Department Store Building," accessed 07/13/2018.)

Blackstone's Department Store operated independently until 1939, when the enterprise was sold to the Famous Department Store Company.

Alteration

Stiles O. Clements of the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls and Clements designed a new Streamlined Moderne facade put up over the original first story in 1939.