East Village in Long Beach in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
The Campbell Mural
Photographed By Michael Kindig, March 20, 2014
1. The Campbell Mural Marker
Inscription.
The Campbell Mural. . In March 2008, during a routine roof replacement on the Lafayette building's 11th floor patio, workers uncovered the 8 by 8 foot tile mural of a kneeling camel in front of the Pyramids of Giza. The vintage 1920's mural lay beneath two tons of roofing material, sand, tiles, cement, asphalt and tar. The tiles were signed by Cerillo Torres, the Chief Muralist at the D and M Tile Co. in Los Angeles (active from 1928-1939) whose bright Moorish-inspired tiles were used at the Mission Inn in Riverside, Balboa Park in San Diego and on Grace Line ocean liners of the 1930's. The Lafayette's Campbell Building, where the tile mural was discovered, was built in 1928 as luxury apartments with hotel amenities. The Campbell's Spanish Baroque style is typical of the pre-Art Deco architecture of the 1920's, with beautiful glazed cast terra-cotta ornamentation and Mediterranean Renaissance Revival balconies. The Friends of the Historical Lafayette (a nonprofit preservation group) received a Long Beach Navy Memorial Heritage Association grant which was used to clean, restore and install this city of Long Beach treasure on the exterior of the Lafayette for the public to enjoy.
In March 2008, during a routine roof replacement on the Lafayette building's 11th floor patio, workers uncovered the 8 by 8 foot tile mural of a kneeling camel in front of the Pyramids of Giza. The vintage 1920's mural lay beneath two tons of roofing material, sand, tiles, cement, asphalt and tar. The tiles were signed by Cerillo Torres, the Chief Muralist at the D & M Tile Co. in Los Angeles (active from 1928-1939) whose bright Moorish-inspired tiles were used at the Mission Inn in Riverside, Balboa Park in San Diego and on Grace Line ocean liners of the 1930's. The Lafayette's Campbell Building, where the tile mural was discovered, was built in 1928 as luxury apartments with hotel amenities. The Campbell's Spanish Baroque style is typical of the pre-Art Deco architecture of the 1920's, with beautiful glazed cast terra-cotta ornamentation and Mediterranean Renaissance Revival balconies. The Friends of the Historical Lafayette (a nonprofit preservation group) received a Long Beach Navy Memorial Heritage Association grant which was used to clean, restore and install this city of Long Beach treasure on the exterior of the Lafayette for the public to enjoy.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Art Deco series list. A significant historical month for this entry is March 2008.
Location.
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33° 46.134′ N, 118° 11.158′ W. Marker is in Long Beach, California, in Los Angeles County. It is in East Village. Marker is on Linden Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 140 Linden Avenue, Long Beach CA 90802, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . "Camel Before the Pyramids". The workers had uncovered the original floor of the Starlight Ballroom, which was originally an open-air night club when the Campbell Building was first opened. We can only surmise that the floor may have been covered up after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and may have been buried for all those years. Within a generation or two, everyone had forgotten that the mural existed. (Submitted on March 22, 2014, by Michael Kindig of Elk Grove, California.)
Photographed By Michael Kindig, March 20, 2014
2. The Campbell Mural Marker
The marker is to the right of the entrance to the Lafayette Complex.
Photographed By Michael Kindig, March 20, 2014
3. The Campbell Mural
Credits. This page was last revised on May 25, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 20, 2014, by Michael Kindig of Elk Grove, California. This page has been viewed 563 times since then and 17 times this year. Last updated on March 30, 2014, by Michael Kindig of Elk Grove, California. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on March 20, 2014, by Michael Kindig of Elk Grove, California. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
