California's LOST Skyscraper | The Rise and Fall of Richfield Oil Tower
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Chapters:
00:00 LA’s Lost Richfield Oil Tower
00:54 How LA became a significant population center
02:34 The Rise of LA’s Oil Industry
04:48 Construction of the Richfield Oil Tower
05:53 A tour of the LA Richfield Oil Tower
07:20 Why The Richfield Tower had a massive radio tower on top
08:49 The Downfall of The Richfield Oil Tower
10:23 What Remains of the Richfield Oil Tower
IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Ryan Socash
Editor - Caroline Borgia
Host - Ryan Socash
» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.
@mackpines 11 ай бұрын
This building was outstandingly beautiful. I’d heard a lot about the Richfield building and how it was such a huge loss back in the late 1960s. How they allowed the demolition to happen is beyond me.
@RedKnight-fn6jr 11 ай бұрын
Unfortunately, it's like what happened to Victorian and Edwardian buildings when they were perceived as no longer any good - by the time public opinion changed, it was frequently too late. Frank Lloyd Wright designed an amazing office building in Buffalo NY in the early 1900's, but alas we have no say on the matter as the bulldozers have already spoken in 1950. It's sad to think of an early art deco creation that also happened to be perhaps the world's first modern purpose built office building, but back in the 50's, it was seen as a maintenance headache.
@WildWestGal 4 ай бұрын
@@RedKnight-fn6jr "...perhaps the world's first modern purpose built office building," Indeed! And elevator for cars back then!!! I'm a native Los Angelean who for 8 1/2 decades has watched this grand, and sometimes damned, city and county grow and change. A docent for many decades in different locations (Victorian, Greene & Greene), yet I never knew about that car elevator in the Richmond Bldg! Extraordinary for it's time!
@ronlheureux7623 11 ай бұрын
As a 75 yo LA born native it saddens me to see the destruction of all of those art-deco building. The “modern” buildings simply leave me cold. I treasure my memories of going downtown with my grandmother in the 1950s .Taking Angle’s Flight, the vertical railroad was thrilling. An accurate truism is that “life is change”.
@flipflopsguy8868 11 ай бұрын
Only 63 but same here, going Down Town with my mom and her mom on the bus, missed the street cars, eating at Woolworths lunch counter or the real special treat eating at Clifton's, on of my favorite places to go into was The Barker Brothers building on the upper floors I would go to to north side windows on maybe the fourth or fifth floor and across was a old building with reclining men sculpted along the front of the building at the same level.
@Motorsportqueen 11 ай бұрын
Its sad when you see unique buildings being knocked down but as you have shown in recent videos how unique buildings that have been saved are sitting empty because they are no longer practical. The 1960s and 1970s this approach was used around the world. Thank you for taking the time to share these moments in time
@desertmodern7638 11 ай бұрын
The Richfield Oil Building was an architectural masterpiece, and a tragic loss indeed.
@michaelwhite2823 11 ай бұрын
Great job as always. I'd love you to do the beautiful Eastern Building. One of the few left. L.A. lives to tear things down.
@mrxman581 8 ай бұрын
Not as much anymore. Institutions like the LA Conservancy have done a yeoman's job in educating residents and protecting architecturally significant structures.
@belvinsweatt1274 11 ай бұрын
It’s shameful that beautiful buildings are demolished for progress. The progress means nothing without history!
@pn4960 11 ай бұрын
It’s evolving, just backward.
@lucasworktv 11 ай бұрын
Best comment!
@williamlloyd3769 11 ай бұрын
Richfield Tower skyscraper elevator doors are on display in the corner of the public plaza area of City National Plaza on the Hasting Tower side. Doors are incredible. PS - across the street is the Standard hotel building which was another oil company headquarters. The lobby is worth a look. Don’t forget to turn around in the lobby and look above the entrance door to see a stainless steel artistic installation.
@talldude5841 11 ай бұрын
I love Art Deco. This building was beautiful. One of your best videos so far.
@DudeFrom1972 11 ай бұрын
I really like the art deco style in furniture, trinkets, paintings and architecture, so for me this was a sad video, but I guess that the decision makers back then didn't find the building worth preserving, however, I'm glad that at least some pieces was saved before the building was demolished.
@themoviedealers 11 ай бұрын
Not mentioned was the LA "Height Limit" ordinance, in place from 1905-1960. Richfield was built to the limit of 12 floors (the upper structure featuring mechanical and utility rooms didn't count because nobody occupied those most of the time.). The only exception to this limit was LA City Hall, built 1927. Contrary to myth, this law had nothing to do wirth earthquakes. It was to avoid the "urban canyon" effect in certain places in New York or Chicago, where no sun would ever get down to the street.
@robertpsarudakis3474 11 ай бұрын
Another great video! Thank you Ryan!
@ITSHISTORY 11 ай бұрын
What a lovely first comment for the new video! Thanks for watching!!
@robertpsarudakis3474 11 ай бұрын
I almost never miss an episode! Thanks again Ryan@@ITSHISTORY
@DaveSCameron 11 ай бұрын
Great channel, shady surname. 😂
@jamesleyda365 11 ай бұрын
I love history, and I love this channel👍
@yodasmomisondrugs7959 11 ай бұрын
Minimalism is awful, our architecture is sterile like an insane asylum and I think it makes sense that modern society is insane as well. Social engineering is real people, but great video as always!
@DaveSCameron 11 ай бұрын
It's, well it's.... minimal.
@michaelwhite2823 11 ай бұрын
I have never been in an asylum so I will take your word for it.
@SergeantExtreme 11 ай бұрын
Actually, insane asylums had some pretty amazing architecture. Look up "Kirkbride Asylums" to see some fairly incredible architecture.
@Matt-el5iv 11 ай бұрын
Nothing more depressing then coming back from a euro vacation to the usa. A country blessed with opportunity and equally lacking in character. Function over form is our way of life…….what a joke
@nedludd7622 11 ай бұрын
In this video, he talks about the modernist movement, though he does say "to embrace" the more minimalist functional aesthetic. That does not make them minimalist. These building are not representative of minimalism. If you look up examples of minimalist buildings, you might/will be surprised at what you find. Please don't just throw around terms that you have heard but don't seem to understand. You may mislead readers. It appears that the narrator here was careful about his language.
@freetolook3727 11 ай бұрын
The US lost a lot of its soul starting in the 1960's with the demolition of decorative buildings and downtown city areas to roadways and interstates, all in the name of progress. Did we really progress?
@johna.4334 11 ай бұрын
With minimalism along with social engineering we have digressed.
@ladytron1724 11 ай бұрын
An absolute scandal demolishing that building 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
@freetolook3727 11 ай бұрын
Now corporations showpiece is a $.20 per share dividend to stockholders.
@freetolook3727 11 ай бұрын
Niagara Mohawk, the upstate NY power company now owned by National Grid has a former headquarters building in downtown Syracuse, NY in the style of the Chrysler building in NYC!
@Bloodwulf999 11 ай бұрын
They recreated the exterior in the L.A. Noire video game, the Richfield beacon caught my eye while playing and I looked it up afterwards. Like the Singer Building in New York, it's unfortunate no colour photos of the interior seem to exist.
@TheTimeDetective42 11 ай бұрын
Wonderful video! Thanks for the word you put in! Viewing the new building as a monstrosity is what they thought they old one was. Hehe.
@WinkelManBearPig 11 ай бұрын
Has anyone heard here of the Metropolitan Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota? It was the city's first skyscraper, beautiful sandstone & wrought iron architecture, the first electric elevators, and it was all torn down to get rid of undesirables & build Interstate 94 back in 1961
@BGTuyau 11 ай бұрын
A fascinating video, with great graphics and a multi-dimensional look at a chapter in architectural history and more through the story of a lost L.A. icon. A shame that so little of the building's decorative elements was salvaged. I also hope the presenter's request for information on the building's antecedents bears fruit.
@reddrockingeezer 11 ай бұрын
The art deco style of the building always reminded me of a 1950's - 60's movie theater cardboard popcorn box.
@jantschierschky3461 11 ай бұрын
I love art deco and Bauhaus buildings, sad to see those iconic buildings destroyed and replaced with soulless stuff.
@matthewgilmore4307 11 ай бұрын
Nice work.
@classic.cameras 11 ай бұрын
Another great video Mr Socash! Thanks for sharing,
@MisterSplendy 11 ай бұрын
The Richfield tower was gorgeous. It reminds me of my favorite building here in New York, the American Radiator Building on 40th street south of Bryant Park.
@waltciii3 11 ай бұрын
I would disagree. The iconic twin ARCO Towers that were built were awesome monoliths. My uncle was a VP for Bank Of America which had it's headquarters in one of the towers. It had floor to ceiling glass and views of the ocean. It was pretty cool visiting his office in the late 70's in my pre teens. They called them the "Jewel Boxes" at the time. My dad worked for Union 76 in their HQ across from the 110 freeway and was able to see all the skyscrapers grow during the 70's. Those old deco buildings are difficult to maintain and need to be gutted internally every 30 years for them to remain a competitive viable space. Don't blame the Civil rights movement for any of these buildings' demise (seriously my first WTF moment on your channel), it was the market and general public sentiment at the time. For art deco we still have the Bradbury and others so we're good.
@cv8plumber18 11 ай бұрын
Great work, love this history 🖐️
@ctntelevisionnetwork8738 11 ай бұрын
I love the new editing!
@carolineborgia7475 11 ай бұрын
Editor of this video here- thank you so much!! I really appreciate that :)
@DLeadVox 11 ай бұрын
So pretty, I love both Deco and Modern Architecture. Im indecisive! 😂
@user-tf2ru7oz6w 11 ай бұрын
It's terrible that a wonderful Art Deco masterpiece like the Richfield Tower had to be torn down after such a sort time of its existence. This wouldn't have happened in our more recent times when the appreciation of fine architecture preserve it and find it repurposed into a new use. It would have been a fiine landmark to the Los Angeles skyline than the sterile glass crackerbox that is now in its place.
@cwboydgo323 11 ай бұрын
Another beautiful building here in LA. Is the old general hospital Aka county usc Maybe that can be on the next video Love your work ❤❤
@justinhobart8747 11 ай бұрын
Hey ryan, I know you're always looking for ideas... Last night couldn't sleep started looking up stuff around St. Louis. I don't think I ran across any videos. So it might be an idea, a lot of history there and a lot of lost history.
@FernandoTRA 11 ай бұрын
Interesting to hear Doheney's name. Although I was aware of his start in the oil business in the LA area it's in my neck of the woods where he really made a lot of money.
@mrxman581 8 ай бұрын
The Doheny family donated the land where USC was first built. I think the Doheny family chapel still exists close to USC.
@glenncheatham1320 11 ай бұрын
What a stunning bldg.😢
@tonyberardi3829 11 ай бұрын
Funny thing is that after the ARCO Towers were completed in 1971 they, along with the crusiformed Crocker Bank building, dominated the skyline for years. Today you can barley make them out.
@peterchicas9178 10 ай бұрын
The observatory must be located on a VERY high mountain if the "Atlantic Ocean" can be seen from that site!
@1994CPK 11 ай бұрын
I first saw this building as a teenager playing LA Noire. So much of the old LA has been lost forever. Demographic change and freeways ruined a great society.
@RazingthenRaising 11 ай бұрын
Rock art? Is Boston's album cover there? ;)
@mrxman581 8 ай бұрын
Had the LA Conservancy existed back then, we might still have this building today.
@PDXLibertarian 11 ай бұрын
So, it's the ARCO building. The Shell building in San Francisco is still there.
@MrRandomcommentguy 11 ай бұрын
It's replacement is a much better and more aesthetically pleasing design. Just because a building is old doesn't make it good.
@johna.4334 11 ай бұрын
One of the most beautiful art decco buildings I discovered was in DT Mexico City. What a gem!
@FernandoTRA 11 ай бұрын
Which one do you mean? I think there are still several but I'm not sure.
@mrxman581 8 ай бұрын
LA still has some great Art Deco buildings like the Eastern Columbian, Bullocks Wilshire, Wiltern Theater, and others.
@joemiller2057 11 ай бұрын
It's sad they demolished the building
@josephpadula2283 11 ай бұрын
You skipped a company development hinted at by the photo of the address sign you showed . Richfield merged with Atlantic of Pennsylvania , about 1966?, to become Atlantic Richfield before it was torn down. New company HQ was NYC. Later it became ARCO that all west coast people know to this day. Arco sold to BP and that was the end of the company and the brand name sold off to Marathon and Tesoro. Atlantic Richfield company still exists mostly on paper , it is the company that has to clean up the pollution from a mine it owned in the West!
@rickythe2nd63 11 ай бұрын
So sad!
@subparnaturedocumentary 11 ай бұрын
i wonder if art deco will ever return
@davidsheppard1362 11 ай бұрын
A tragic loss.
@user-jh4qv7gu9k 11 ай бұрын
Goodthing that the Sears building and the Bullocks Wilshire building hasnt been demolished Thank God Just as the people the buildings too has become classless
@BeingMe23 10 ай бұрын
Looks like it time to build another Richfield Building 🤔
@dillonvossen1144 11 ай бұрын
Your hair bro - makes you look like Gumby!
@maxant4285 11 ай бұрын
It was downtown revival project.
@jamesslick4790 11 ай бұрын
Art Deco being seen as creepy is well... creepy. The brutalist architecture that came about in the 60's and '80s is downright dystopian! I grew up in the 60's and '70s and HATED the "new style" THEN, and still do. "Post modern" architecture helped a bit later, But the ominous bland box still dominates urban architecture. I hate it! It's an inhuman, unwelcoming style. This building was only 40 years old when it was destroyed. Its loss was awful! I can't say the same for 99.8675309% of buildings from 1983 if they are demolished.
@deadredeyes 11 ай бұрын
Modern architecture is a blight on this earth. We used to have such beautiful and creative buildings that ran the gamut, using all sorts of materials in their construction. Tall buildings since the 70s have been nothing more than oversized metal shipping containers with windows. Even the brutalist architectures that dotted Poland's urban cities have far more style and substance than modern buildings, despite being nothing more than concrete and steel.
@allenmorgan6847 11 ай бұрын
Cover the hotel tied to Elisa Lam and Richard Ramirez
@iKidTutor 11 ай бұрын
they built this in one year😮
@jamesslick4790 11 ай бұрын
IKR? Today it takes that long to get a friggin' pothole patched!
@freetolook3727 11 ай бұрын
Ten years for the Freedom Tower.
@tamtamz8733 11 ай бұрын
Lots of those in Detroit.
@aljawisa 5 ай бұрын
4:20 Take note of that one. Can't find any construction photos of exterior or interior. What's going on here? Not another one year marvel.
@jacobwhipple7848 11 ай бұрын
L.A. has disgraced a great many things, this is just one.
@jameswilson5165 11 ай бұрын
The building would have been right at home in Gotham City. I can clearly see the BAT Signel being flashed upon the clouds. Or Superman standing next to the radio tower or the gargoyles.
@ohjumpa 11 ай бұрын
Modernist architecture wasn't caused by the civil rights movement. It actually has it's roots in quite the opposite, Futurism, the art form and aesthetics of Italian fascism
@marstondavis 11 ай бұрын
From a beautiful building to a brutish eyesore...in only 40 years.
@freetolook3727 11 ай бұрын
It's funny that the cities of Europe decided to rebuild their cities in the old styles before WWII rather than the bland, boxy, modernistic style.
@waltciii3 11 ай бұрын
Funny most of the "Modernist" styles came from Europe.
@1867Phoenix 9 ай бұрын
The 1960s was the @#$% history decade.
@stenbak88 10 ай бұрын
Anything built 60s onwards should not be “historical” when it comes to architecture
@DaveSCameron 11 ай бұрын
#Brutalist
@bicybic 11 ай бұрын
I think you should Dial back the branding a little bit, having is history stamped all over the video is just a bit much
@empressvogt 11 ай бұрын
SAD! I hope those people that were happy to see the building gone are miserable!!
@johna.4334 11 ай бұрын
Fortunately, most are now dead.
@Klutech 11 ай бұрын
I'm satisfied to know that they had absolutely no taste at all! haha
@hebrewloc9416 11 ай бұрын
Something most people don't know about the Los Angeles Aqueduct is that due to many of the projects main people responsible for it's creation knew it's route and went out and bought the land near and around the Aqueduct and started parceling out the lots and creating little farms and stuff, plus how long it actually took to build it, that even before the first drop of water ever got to the San Fernando Valley they already knew that the water was never gonna actually reach anywhere close to the City of L.A., that's why before they ever opened the gates they had taken the Owens Valley Farmers they had already screwed over to court for more water rights, also the estimated amount of water they needed for L.A. had the starting and finishing of the Colorado River Aqueduct less then 8 years later, also the Colorado River Aqueduct and several of its levees failed and because of it the Salton Sea was created, true stuff.
@waltciii3 11 ай бұрын
Yet the city drinks the water...
@LarcR 11 ай бұрын
It's not limited to LA. Beautiful buildings have been demolished and replaced with ugly boxes in cities throughout the US. The people who allowed it to be done are as guilty as those who did it. And it's shameful.
@FernandoTRA 11 ай бұрын
Through much of the world...
@angeldc54 11 ай бұрын
My two year old daughter with a bunch of Lego pieces does better than many modern architects 😂
@wishpunk9188 11 ай бұрын
Tartaria.
@AdmiralJT 11 ай бұрын
😂
@anthonyellis987 11 ай бұрын
It took more talent to design and construct the old Art Deco buildings than the soulless glass and metal replacements. Yes, there needs to be forward motion, but you need to remember what had come before.
@sandrasanders706 11 ай бұрын
"Ornate and decadent". Isn't that..LA???!!!!!🙄🙄🤯
@dlnelson66 11 ай бұрын
I found all the dinging in this video annoying. I usually like your channel, but it kept sounding like I was getting messages on my phone.
@stephenmoerlein8470 11 ай бұрын
What a tragedy to loose an architectural gem and replace it with an obscene box. Corporations always err on the side of profit, with no regard for culture or tradition. We are witnessing the same negative forces at work today, with wokeism being promoted by every corporation simply to advance sales.
@LuisRuiz-bm3sw 9 ай бұрын
What a shame it was such a beautiful I've always liked the art deco style it's a shame that it was replaced with such a plain-looking prison style building
@FerdinandCesarano 11 ай бұрын
That should be "Why LA Disgraced _its_ Art Deco Tower". Someone with a channel whose name contains the word "it's" should really know the difference between "it's" and "its".
@waltciii3 11 ай бұрын
Spellcheck?
@keithjohnson7613 11 ай бұрын
You mispronounce far too many words
@pn4960 11 ай бұрын
Reject the ugliness of modern architecture. Embrace the beautiful heritage of historical architecture. We can still build cities that are worth living in. Join the architecture revival movement.
@nateerb3114 11 ай бұрын
Nothing good came out of the 1960's. Not one thing.
@TheOtto3663 7 ай бұрын
I find it asinine and amazing that Art Deco has ever 'gone out of style', and what's worse is the 'Brutal Institutional' style of the buildings seen as aesthetically pleasing replacements look more like what you expect government to build. Uninspired boxes.
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