The Commercial District

The Commercial District. . , A Business District Develops , Highland Park's business district is home to established automobile repair shops, bakeries, restaurants, and beauty salons situated alongside newer art galleries, juiceries, record stores, and yoga studios. However, Highland Park was a quiet bedroom community in its earliest years, and North Figueroa Street, then Pasadena Avenue, was a dirt road lined with majestic homes. The first store to open in what would become Highland Park's commercial district was J.P. Stockdale's general store, opened in 1891. It was followed in 1898 by Albert Nies' blacksmithery, which operated on the street until the blacksmith's death in 1954. In 1903, Mr. W.S. Prettyman and his son opened The Highland Park Drug Company, which survived for many years after. 1906 proved to be a milestone year for the "Greatest Suburban Highway," as plans were secured to pave Pasadena Avenue from Avenue 50 to Avenue 61. That year also saw the establishment of Highland Park's first newspaper, the Highland Park Herald, as well as its first bank, the Highland Park Bank, which opened next door. A Pacific Electric streetcar brought shoppers from the communities of Pasadena and Los Angeles. By the 1920s, the business district was positively thriving. In most cases, the private homes that had formerly lined the avenue had relocated to quiet side streets, and their vacated lots were filled by banks, cinemas, department stores, and numerous small specialty shops. , Impact of the Freeway and Changing Times , In 1940, Route 66 was redirected from Figueroa Street to the newly opened Arroyo Seco Parkway, and many feared that the commercial district would suffer. Their fears proved correct, and Highland Park's population declined as older residents left for newer suburbs. In the 1960s, working-class Latino families began moving to the struggling community, opening businesses, and revitalizing the business district. , Older businesses adapted, moved, and in some cases, closed. By the 1960s, the Chaffee market had moved into the former location of Empire Yardage. Gallenkamp's shoe store took over the old H.H. Grotthouse Hardware. Dick's and Boys' Markets, both established in the 1930s, continued to serve the community. Despite this flourishing, a group of businessmen proposed razing the commercial district and building a new, generic shopping center in its place. The effort was thwarted by a resistant community. , Some businesses established in that era proved remarkably resilient. Frank's Camera, founded by Frank Vacek in 1968, didn't close until 2014, the year Vacek passed away. Jesse Flores, who founded the U.S. Office Machines Company in 1962, died in 2011. His son, Ruben, took up the reins, and that shop became simultaneously one of the oldest businesses in Highland Park, and one of the only remaining typewriter shops in the nation. , Other businesses failed to adapt, and thus failed to survive. Ivers, a high-end department store established in 1913, closed in 1984 when they were unable to attract sufficient business. That same year, Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang opened Fashion 21, an affordable clothing store, which eventually expanded into the now globally popular chain Forever 21. In 1929, an automobile shop opened, but around 1935, it was converted into a bowling alley called Highland Park Bowl. In 1966, it was taken over by Joseph "Mr. T" Theresa, who gave the building a fashionable mid-century makeover. As bowling's popularity waned, a curtain was drawn over the bowling lanes and Mr. T's Bowl survived as a popular live music and karaoke venue. When Mr. T died in 2008, his son took over the venue for a time. In 2014, it was purchased, and meticulous renovations and restoration began. The new Highland Park Bowl reopened in 2016 with eight refurbished lanes, and a rich interior that harkens back to its original Spanish Revival glory.