Then and Now: The Local Library

Built in 2004, the Arroyo Seco Branch Library on the corner of North Figeura and Piedmont is a testimony to Highland Park's arts and crafts era--complete with river stone facade.

However, a look into the past shows that the original Arroyo Seco Branch Library had very little to do with the architectural movement influenced by Highland Park godfather Charles Fletcher Lummis.

Click here to see a photo of the original Arroyo Seco Branch Library, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library archive.

Designed by Garvanza architect Frederick M. Ashley and built with funding from the Carnegie Foundation in 1913, the original library featured strong Ionic columns instead of arroyo stones.

The original library was demolished in 1959, replaced by a start of the art facility, which was in turn replaced by the latest library iteration in 2004.