National Register of Historic Places

Malabar Branch

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
Listed
May 18, 1987
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
87001014

About this property

Malabar Branch Library is a branch library of the Los Angeles Public Library located in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, California. The Malabar Branch began in 1914 as a book depository in a Sunday school room at the Brooklyn Heights Methodist Church on the corner of Evergreen Avenue and Malabar Street. The original collection consisted of approximately 900 books that were checked out on the honor system. In 1925, a bond issue was passed by Los Angeles voters providing funds for the construction of 14 new branch libraries, including the current Malabar Branch. Construction on the new Mediterranean Revival-Spanish Colonial Revival building started in 1926, and the new library was opened in May 1927. The building was designed by architect William Lee Woollett. The Malabar Branch was damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake and was closed. The branch was extensively renovated and reopened in 1992 with separate reading rooms for adults and children, a multipurpose room and a patron services room. In 1987, the Malabar Branch and several other branch libraries in Los Angeles were added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of a thematic group submission. The application noted that Malabar Branchis a one-story, brick structure designed in a revival style reminiscent of rural Latin America. The Malabar Branch is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.

Location

2801 Wabash Ave.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
34.05055, -118.19725

Categories

COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Forsythe Memorial School for Girls
Industrial
0.4 mi
Congregation Talmud Torah of Los Angeles
Industrial
0.7 mi
Los Angeles Nurses' Club
Industrial
0.9 mi
Santa Fe Coast Lines Hospital
Industrial
1.1 mi
Pan American National Bank of East Los Angeles
Industrial
1.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Siege of Los Angeles
1846Mexican-American War
2.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Malabar Branch listed on the National Register?

Malabar Branch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1987.

What type of historic resource is Malabar Branch?

Malabar Branch is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Malabar Branch?

The period of significance for Malabar Branch is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Malabar Branch?

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