Miracle Mile in Los Angeles:: History and Architecture

The world-famous Miracle Mile in Los Angeles was shaped into a great commercial and cultural district by the city's tremendous urban expansion in the early twentieth century. Its origins along Wilshire Boulevard are directly related to the twin LA booms in auto travel and real estate ventures. Once the home of such famous stores as the May Company, Silverwood's, Coulter's and Desmond's, as well as Streamline Moderne and Art Deco architecture, Miracle Mile has boasted the La Brea Tar Pits and Farmer's Market, Gilmore Field and CBS Television City, as well as Pan Pacific Park and Museum Row. Join author Ruth Wallach, head of the University of Southern California's Architecture and Fine Arts Library, for this tour through the most emblematic neighborhood of twentieth-century Los Angeles development.