This Photo Below is fifth street (Corinth ave.) looking north from Santa Monica Blvd. to Ohio avenue. C.S. Martin (I posted an article on him) is the photographer and the post card is dated 1907. Notice the unpaved street, tree lined street and all wood framed houses. This area of Sawtelle leading to the Soldiers Home saw the first development of Houses built before 1910. The Trees and small houses gave the appearance of a small neighborly residential community.
Today, the appearance from this location is a far cry from a small residential community that existed at one time. Today, we see commercial structures at Corinth and Santa Monica Blvd. and parking lots that extend out. Then we find Apartment structures developed from the 1950s/1960s and one recent high rise Condo. A single family house no Longer exists from Santa Monica Blvd. to Ohio avenue on Corinth Avenue.
Below we see a portion of a 1921 Sanborn Map of Sawtelle, Corinth avenue between Santa Monica Blvd and Ohio avenue. The yellow markings indicate 21 single family wood framed Houses in 1921 and are identified with a symbol D by Sanborn Maps.
I placed the red code letters to identify the current status (2019) of the properties. B=business, P=parking Lot, DA=dingbat apartment 1950-1960, 2C=two story condo with underground parking, 4C=four story condo with bottom level parking, OA=Old Apartment. Try clicking twice on the image to Zoom in.
What the Federal Government could not do with it’s Slum clearance projects because of citizen protests in the 1930s, The City of Los Angeles succeeded in doing by rezoning and changing building codes on residential properties to allow the bulldozing away of these Sawtelle residential Properties to make way for the deluge of Dingbat two story apartments in the 1950s and 1960s. Those ramshackle small wood framed house communities of old Sawtelle were Eyesores as you would drive westward from Westwood.
Sawtelle California 1897 to 1950 