So much Excitement!
Right?
Ok, now that I have your attention…
I got a new garage door. Not so exciting, I know!
The old one almost KILLED me!
Seriously!
And so…A New Garage Door And History Of The Railroad…well just a little history.
History of the Garage on the property:
I love the bits of history I am picking up in my research.
This is just a tiny scratch in the history of the San Pedro railroad as it pertains to the house.
This really fascinates me.
Before there was ever a garage, there was another house in the backyard.
Sadly, it’s gone now.
It faced the alley where the original Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad went through aiding the import and export of cargo and bringing supplies and people in during the construction of the port of Los Angeles. The railroad was later purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad in 1873.
I can’t even imagine having a railroad running in the backyard, yikes!
According to the map there were fences separating the tracks from the property.
This is a section of a Sanborn Map dated 1908.
Here is a historic photo of the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad.
I love this photo and all of the people standing around the platform.
It looks like a ride at Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm, lol.
Here is my favorite historic photo/drawing of the house. This is just a cropped section of the original.
It is an 1895 birds-eye view map by Bruce-Wellington-Pierce. You can see the little train chugging along on the tracks
And my lonely Queen Anne sitting by herself on the street. She was the first house built there.
Okay, back to the garage:
The first garage was built in 1933.
I love that the proposed cost back then was a whopping $200.00
According to Edward Fitzgerald who grew up in the property in the 50s, the original garage was full of old wharf supplies including lots of fishing nets.
Apparently there was some sort of incinerator near the front of the garage.
During an evening in 1954 the garage caught fire and burned down.
Another permit was pulled to rebuild.
It is the second garage to be built on the property.
Proposed cost 21 years later is $880. Still a bargain.
This was the original garage door from 1954, it faces the alley.
It was amazingly in good shape for the 500 pound beast that it was.
While I was moving stuff from my other house into the garage, one of the massive old springs from the door flew off and almost smacked me in the side of the head
Needless to say, I wouldn’t be here typing this if that had happened.
It scared me to death
I called right away to get a replacement door. Once the spring broke, it was IMPOSSIBLE to lift up the door.
Holy cow it is heavy.
As a side note I must say that having a house with alley access was almost a deal breaker for me.
I used to say that about having an attached garage at my old house
but I got spoiled being able to just pull into the garage and take my groceries right into the kitchen.
It was awesome!
I will have to get used to having a garage door facing the alley.
Here is the new door!
It was a quick and painless installation.
Yes, I know this is like putting “Lipstick On A Pig”, but necessary for me to be able to open the garage.
Well, that’s it for now.
I am working on making the backyard “temporarily pretty” so I don’t go INSANE with all the dirt swirling around.
If you missed the post about my little Pups getting their construction safe kennel, check it out here, now all they need are little safety helmets, lol.
Thank you for visiting!
