Semi-Historical Points of Semi-Interest from My Town
Posted: 2011-05-02 01:23am
Lancaster, California, is the frontier of Los Angeles County, the last incorporated city before Kern County and the edge of the Mojave Desert. It's not that old or interesting, but it has a few fun points.
In no particular order:
The Gumm house, where Judy Garland was born in 1922, just down the street from our house. It was a boarding house for a while, and was recently sold as a single family residence, I think, though there are still rooms for rent in the back, I believe
Across the street from the Gumm house is the porno house, so called by my wife because the seamstress for the local costume shop told her that she made costumes for adult films filmed there. No clue on titles or details, just found it amusing.
The Lancaster Western Hotel Museum, the oldest building in the city. Originally a hotel built in 1889 near the railway, it is now a museum with memorabilia from the history of the Antelope Valley and several of its famous former residents, such as Judy Garland, John Wayne, and Frank Zappa.
Monument to the Tuskegee Airmen in front the the museum
Mounted F-4 Phantom at one end of Lancaster Boulevard. Supposedly the city is going to obtain another similar craft to mount at the other end of downtown. With the proximity of Plant 42, Edwards Air Force Base, and Lockheed Skunkworks facilities, most of the local towns have been dependent on aerospace and are intertwined with its history.
Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures soon of historic from the Blackbird Airpark, as well as some other rather amusing local sites.
Two of the surviving murals dedicated to heroes of aerospace history on the sides of businesses. Another mural depicting the X-15 has been destroyed to make room for an art gallery, somewhat ironically.
A memorial plaque for Chuck Yeager, one of dozens such monuments lining Lancaster Boulevard's Aerospace Walk of Honor.
In no particular order:
The Gumm house, where Judy Garland was born in 1922, just down the street from our house. It was a boarding house for a while, and was recently sold as a single family residence, I think, though there are still rooms for rent in the back, I believe
Across the street from the Gumm house is the porno house, so called by my wife because the seamstress for the local costume shop told her that she made costumes for adult films filmed there. No clue on titles or details, just found it amusing.
The Lancaster Western Hotel Museum, the oldest building in the city. Originally a hotel built in 1889 near the railway, it is now a museum with memorabilia from the history of the Antelope Valley and several of its famous former residents, such as Judy Garland, John Wayne, and Frank Zappa.
Monument to the Tuskegee Airmen in front the the museum
Mounted F-4 Phantom at one end of Lancaster Boulevard. Supposedly the city is going to obtain another similar craft to mount at the other end of downtown. With the proximity of Plant 42, Edwards Air Force Base, and Lockheed Skunkworks facilities, most of the local towns have been dependent on aerospace and are intertwined with its history.
Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures soon of historic from the Blackbird Airpark, as well as some other rather amusing local sites.
Two of the surviving murals dedicated to heroes of aerospace history on the sides of businesses. Another mural depicting the X-15 has been destroyed to make room for an art gallery, somewhat ironically.
A memorial plaque for Chuck Yeager, one of dozens such monuments lining Lancaster Boulevard's Aerospace Walk of Honor.
