Hazard's Pavilion
Encyclopedia
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, located at the intersection of Fifth and Olive Streets. Showman George "Roundhouse" Lehman had planned to construct a large theatre center on the land he purchased at this location, but he went broke and the property was sold to the City Attorney (and soon to be Mayor), Henry T. Hazard
Henry T. Hazard
Henry Thomas Hazard was the 20th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1889–1892.-Biography:Born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Hazard graduated with the class of 1868 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a doctor of law degree.He served as City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles for...
. The venue was built in 1887 at a cost of $25,000, a large amount for the time, and seated up to 4,000 people (some sources say that seating could be up to 8,000; the building was divided into two galleries, and perhaps each accommodated 4,000). The building was constructed of wood with a clap-board
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
exterior, and the front was framed by two towers.
Hazard's Pavilion
As the largest building of its type in Los Angeles at the time, Hazard's Pavilion was a venue for conventions, political meetings, lectures, fairs, religious meetings, concerts, operas, balls, and sports events. It opened in April, 1887 with a modest civic flower festival, but a month later it hosted the National Opera Company with 300 singers, ballet dancers, and musicians. The Pavilion hosted regular religious meetings, including a series in 1888 where famed evangelist Dwight L. MoodyDwight L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
spoke. In attendance at one of these meetings was Harry A. Ironside
Harry A. Ironside
Henry Allen "Harry" Ironside was a Canadian-American Bible teacher, preacher, theologian, pastor, and author.-Biography:...
, which led him to becoming a world-famous preacher in his own right. Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
, William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
and Carrie Nation
Carrie Nation
Carrie Amelia Moore Nation was a member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol in pre-Prohibition America. She is particularly noteworthy for promoting her viewpoint through vandalism. On many occasions Nation would enter an alcohol-serving establishment and attack the bar with a hatchet...
were among the famous people who spoke to crowds gathered at Hazard's Pavilion. The great Italian operatic singer, Enrico Caruso, performed there.
James J. Jeffries
James Jackson Jeffries was a world heavyweight boxing champion.His greatest assets were his enormous strength and stamina. Using a technique taught to him by his trainer, former welterweight and middleweight champion Tommy Ryan, Jeffries fought out of a crouch with his left arm extended forward...
, had only one fully recorded bout in Los Angeles, his hometown, when he fought Joe Goddard
Joe Goddard (boxer)
Joe Goddard was an Australian boxer known for his great strength, durability, and punching power. He stood 6`0 and weighed 12 stone 12 lbs to 14 stone 4 lbs ....
there in 1898. The man who would go on to be the first World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (boxer)
John Arthur Johnson , nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” was an American boxer. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion...
, fought in eight main events on cards staged by Tom McCarey at the pavilion during a period from 1902 to 1904. Other famous fighters who had bouts at Hazard's Pavilion include Kid McCoy
Kid McCoy
Charles "Kid" McCoy, who was born Norman Selby was an American world champion boxer.-Overview:Born in Moscow, Rush County, Indiana, McCoy would eventually weigh 160 pounds, stand 5' 11", and go on to a record 81 wins...
, Joe Walcott
Joe Walcott
Joe Walcott, also known as Barbados Joe Walcott to distinguish him from the American known by the same name, was born in Demerara, British Guyana on March 13, 1873, and died October 1, 1935. Nicknamed "The Barbados Demon" Walcott, stood 5'1½ tall, was a formidable fighter who fought from 1890 to...
, Dixie Kid
Dixie Kid
Aaron Lister Brown aka Dixie Kid was an American boxer. He was a controversial contender for the World Welterweight Boxing Championship in 1904....
, Sam McVey
Sam McVey
Sam McVey or Sam McVea was a Hall of Fame heavyweight boxer during the early 20th century. He fought out of Oxnard, California. McVey ranked alongside Sam Langford and Joe Jeanette as one of the top black fighters during a famed career that took him across the globe...
, Solly Smith
Solly Smith
Solomon Garcia Smith was a Mexican-American boxer in the Featherweight division...
, Frankie Neil, Denver Ed Martin, Hank Griffin
Hank Griffin
James Linton "Hank" Griffin was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago Cubs and Boston Braves.-External links:...
, Frank Childs, Al Neill, Joe Bernstein, and Billy Woods
Billy Woods
William "Billy" Woods is an Irish former professional football player. He is now the First Team Coach with Cork City.- Cork City and beyond :...
.
In 1892, James J. Corbett
James J. Corbett
James John "Gentleman Jim" Corbett was an Irish-American heavyweight boxing champion, best known as the man who defeated the great John L. Sullivan. He also coached boxing at the Olympic Club in San Francisco...
fought in an exhibition bout with his sparring partner, Jim Daly
Jim Daly
Jim Daly is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He was elected as a Teachta Dála for the Cork South West constituency at the 2011 general election. He was a member of Cork County Council for the Skibbereen electoral area from 2004–11....
at Hazard's Pavilion. Later in the same year, Corbett would go on to win the World Heavyweight Title from the then-champion, John L. Sullivan
John L. Sullivan
John Lawrence Sullivan , also known as the Boston Strong Boy, was recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing from February 7, 1881 to 1892, and is generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring rules...
. Also at the pavilion, Ex-World Heavyweight Bob Fitzsimmons
Bob Fitzsimmons
Robert James "Bob" Fitzsimmons , was a British boxer who made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett, the man who beat John L. Sullivan, and is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the Lightest heavyweight...
had one exhibition bout while Jim Jeffries had two, one of them as the World Heavyweight Champion.
In late 1904, the Temple Baptist Church leased the pavilion, changing its name to Temple Auditorium, at a time when churches were generally opposed to professional boxing. As a result, Tom McCarey was forced to find another venue for his boxing shows, a tough proposition because the site could not be located near residential areas, but it also had to be located near trolley lines. It would be late 1905 when McCarey staged his first card at a new pavilion located on North Main Street in the Naud Junction area.
Clune's Auditorium
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, Charles F. Whittlesey, and civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
s John B. Leonard
John B. Leonard
John Buck Leonard was a pioneering bridge engineer and architect, early advocate for reinforced concrete, working mainly in northern California.- Life :...
and C. R. Harris, created a building with a Spanish Gothic
Spanish Gothic architecture
Spanish Gothic architecture is the style of architecture prevalent in Spain in the Late Medieval period.The Gothic style started in Spain as a result of Central European influence in the twelfth century when late Romanesque alternated with few expressions of pure Gothic architecture...
exterior and a vast auditorium with a simplified Art-Nouveau interior influenced by Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
's Chicago Auditorium. This was the largest reinforced concrete structure with the only cantilevered balcony in the world. It had the largest stage west of New York when it was completed, and it seated 2,600 people. A nine story office block and retail shops were part of the complex.
For a number of years during the 1910s, Billy Clune would show silent films in the auditorium, then called, "Clune's Auditorium." The landmark film, Birth of a Nation, had its world premiere at Clune's Auditorium on its way to becoming a massive blockbuster.
Philharmonic Auditorium
When the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra began its second season in 1920, it adopted Clune's Auditorium as its home, which became known as, "Philharmonic Auditorium." The Orchestra played there for many decades before the Dorothy Chandler PavilionDorothy Chandler Pavilion
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center . The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.The Pavilion has 3,197 seats spread over four tiers, with chandeliers, wide curving stairways and rich décor...
was built in 1963. Philharmonic Auditorium stood until the 1980s, when it was demolished. A parking lot is now on the site, which may be developed into a proposed 76-story residential tower called Park Fifth, by 2010.