Lost Tunnels of Broadway & Hill St. (Broadway on My Mind #16) Preview

Pattison Family & Angels Flight

Gordon Pattison discusses life on Bunker Hill.

2nd Street Tunnel & Surrounding Area

The countours of the dirt patch at the northwest corner of Second and Hill provide us with one of the few remaining vestiges of the Hill's original topography.

Southern portal of Hill Street Tunnel (Double Bore)

The Los Angeles-Pacfic Railway petitioned the City in 1906 to construct two single-bore tunnels; one ran up Hill from roughly First to Temple, the other from just above Temple to Sunset. They opened in September, 1909. September 1913 saw the opening of a second bore on the southern part of the tunnel, a municipal project for pedestrians and private vehicle traffic. As part of the Civic Center expansion, the hill was removed, the tunnels were demolished in 1955, and Hill Street flattened.

Site of South Portal and Hill Terrace

Hill Street Tunnel (Double Bore) Temple (northern) portal

This is the northern portal of the double bore Hill Street Tunnel

Southern Portal Hill Street Tunnel (single bore)

Southern Portal Hill Street Tunnel (single bore)

Southern Portal Broadway Tunnel

Work began on the Broadway Tunnel in November 1899. When opened in August of 1901, is was 760' long, 40' wide, and 22' high. (With the exception of the Fairmount Park Tunnel in Philadelphia, Broadway was the widest in the world—but then, Fairmount was a paltry 140' long.)The tunnel was rebuilt in 1915-16, wherein its roadway was lowered, the roadbed lined in noiseless blocks, and its interior glazed in white tile. The Broadway Tunnel was closed in June 1949. It and the hill that contained it were demolished for the Hollywood Freeway slot and the Broadway Tunnel became, curiously, an overpass.

Northern Portal Broadway Tunnel

North Portal Broadway Tunnel

Northern Portal Hill Street Tunnel (single bore)

Northern Portal Hill Street Tunnel (single bore).