CA CA - Los Angeles, UP16569, WhtMale, 60, R.G.J., A.T. Thurbor, died in cafe, 1950 April 27

[madamx]

Interesting case, does the cafe still exist in that address? Can anyone post with Google Maps?

Circumstances of RecoveryOn 04/27/1950 the decedent walked into a café
@ 520 W. 3rd St. in Los Angeles.

A short time later he was found unresponsive in the restroom. Authorities notified and he was pronounced dead at the scene.


Map is below

 

[madamx]

I did not realize that the angels flight was so close to the cafe where the man died.


Angels Flight®Railway Operations

• Location

The Railway’s Top Station is located at California Plaza, 350 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles 90071. The Lower Entrance is located at 351 South Hill Street, Los Angeles 90013, across from Grand Central Market.
Angels Flight® Railway | Los Angeles Landmark since 1901



map below

 

[madamx]

The heat may be getting to me, too. This is a stretch...
But I found a woman in the 1940 Census in NYC with the initial A. Thurbor. Her husband was 51 at the time. Which, would make him approximately 60 years old in 1950. He was the manager of a 'Siven' store.
Since he was such a small man, could it have been his wife's coat?
Back then a coat was a coat...not necessarily gender specific.

PS?... Found an Arthur T. Thurbor living in Ventura, CA 1926 to 1934 as an Oil Superintendent in CA voter records.

By any chance did you ever find any more info on the Oil Superindent Arthur T ??? I wonder if he ended up moving to LA?

 

[madamx]

I found one missing man from around that time who sort of fits the profile:

James Albert Cunningham (1906-Unknown) - Find A...

Wow I just read his info.. this guy is a great find and he was supposed to be somewhere in LA . I wish they had photos of the cost and hat with the initials and the name.

 

[madamx]

I just came across a color photo of the Angels Flight in 1950.
Iam assuming the Cafe is the one on the corner in the photos.
From what the person on the site is saying it sounds like people from the top of the hill took it to go to the Central Market.

https://martinturnbull.com/2020/03/21/color-photoxView attachment 291357 -los-angeles-1950-2/

this one also
Old footage shows Angels Flight railway in its prime

 

[madamx]

Here is another one that has videos of it.

Old footage shows Angels Flight railway in its prime

 

[Romulus]

I just came across a color photo of the Angels Flight in 1950.
Iam assuming the Cafe is the one on the corner in the photos.
From what the person on the site is saying it sounds like people from the top of the hill took it to go to the Central Market.

https://martinturnbull.com/2020/03/21/color-photoxView attachment 291357 -los-angeles-1950-2/

this one also
Old footage shows Angels Flight railway in its prime

It seems that the café on the corner is no longer there today?

 

[madamx]

It seems that the café on the corner is no longer there today?

No the cafe is no longer there and neither are any of the homes . That area was demolished I believed in 1969 and they put in big buildings . The Angle Flight was taken down and moved a block or a couple of blocks over. If you see recent photos you can see it’s in a different location.

 

[madamx]

Bumping for the possible Mr Thurbor

 

[madamx]

I wonder if this guy lived somewhere at the top of the hill where the angels flight stopped. He seemed to have a few tickets. He prob road it often.
I wish there were photos of the keys did they have anything printed on them.

 

[The4TierBridge]

I’m assuming this man was cremated and buried in a mass grave like all the other people who get found in Los Angeles? Does anyone know WHEN they started doing this? I know it has to be before 1968 or 1967.

 

[Triss]

I doubt a tourist would carry 11 keys on them. I bet he was a local. Are there any PM photos or a facial reconstruction available for this person? It's been 68 years since he died, it's time for him to go home! I'm sure there are people who are wondering what happened to their father or grandfather.

Actually, I'm not so sure about him being a local anymore. I guess someone would have recognised him if he was local? Or at least the initials (R.G.J., A.T. Thurbor) would have ringed a bell, assuming the pieces of clothing belonged to John Doe and weren't second hand/borrowed.

 

[Laura456]

I have almost that many keys - two for my mom's house and two for in laws house.

Then we have three for our house and mailbox.

My mom also owns a house that she rents out so that is a total of 10.

They're always on me in case of an emergency.

 

[madamx]

Actually, I'm not so sure about him being a local anymore. I guess someone would have recognised him if he was local? Or at least the initials (R.G.J., A.T. Thurbor) would have ringed a bell, assuming the pieces of clothing belonged to John Doe and weren't second hand/borrowed.

Really? Iam feeling he is a local but from top of the hill wherever the Angel ride ends. I feel he is from somewhere up there maybe coming to town. He had Angel ride tickets and Iam assuming they were like tokens for daily use like the subway. I wonder how big or dense and populated the area where the ride ended was?
I wonder if they even advertised anywhere asking people if anyone knew this guy.

 

[madamx]

I just came across a color photo of the Angels Flight in 1950.
Iam assuming the Cafe is the one on the corner in the photos.
From what the person on the site is saying it sounds like people from the top of the hill took it to go to the Central Market.

https://martinturnbull.com/2020/03/21/color-photoxView attachment 291357 -los-angeles-1950-2/

this one also
Old footage shows Angels Flight railway in its prime

This is from the article

For as long as I’ve lived in Los Angeles, the Angels Flight funicular railway on Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles has been sitting out there on its own. So it’s odd to see it hemmed in like this with office towers on one side and the Third Street Tunnel on the other. These days, you also have the option of walking down the stairs that parallel the track but I don’t see any here. Nor would I want to take then if I was hauling bagsful of shopping from the Central Market across the street. I’m also impressed with that 5-bulb “Winslow” electrolier street light at Angels Flight base station.​

 

[madamx]

Angels Flight is a landmark and historic 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, California.

Angels Flight - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Bunker Hill was the name of the neighborhood at the top of the Angel flight. It’s interesting.

Bunker Hill, Los Angeles - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It started as old Victorian Estates for the rich but they ended becoming subdivided tenements for pensioners .

Photos: The Life, Death, And Rebirth Of Bunker Hill

From the toniest neighborhood in L.A., to its seediest, and back again.

laist.com

Bunker Hill is old town, lost town, shabby town, crook town. Once, very long ago, it was the choice residential district of the city, and there are still standing a few of the jigsaw Gothic mansions with wide porches and walls covered with round-end shingles and full corner bay windows with spindle turrets. They are all rooming houses now, their parquetry floors are scratched and worn through the once glossy finish and the wide sweeping staircases are dark with time and with cheap varnish laid on over generations of dirt. In the tall rooms haggard landladies bicker with shifty tenants. On the wide cool front porches, reaching their cracked shoes into the sun, and staring at nothing, sit the old men with faces like lost battles.