Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles

07/14/2026

If you love Film Noir and the dark side of Los Angeles, you won't want to miss Saturday's Hollywood Noir tour. It's packed with thrilling film locations and real tales of creepy Angelenos who inspired screenwriters and shocked their neighbors. https://esotouric.com/event/hollywood-noir-summer-2026/

07/14/2026

Participate in the Silver Platter's Conditional Use Hearing (Tues 7/14 10:30am).

Big changes might be coming for one of America's oldest gay bars, but there's still a lot LA can do to help it survive. New housing + heritage is cool. Read on and speak up. https://esotouric.substack.com/silverplatter3

07/13/2026

Biddy Mason Park: Kevin de Leon said Pershing Square should be renamed for a pioneer whose good works shaped the city. Historians countered: she already has a great park a few blocks away. As Ysabel Jurado revives the motion, we're wondering why do this?

Read more in the Closely Watched Trains section of our newsletter, and let us know what you think! https://esotouric.substack.com/volcano

07/12/2026

07/12/2026

Scoop! The Cole's sign is still there AND the landmark has a new owner! Thanks Jeremy Fall for believing in this precious place and Cedd Moses for finding a new steward.

Support preservation pal at Incense Route Aromatherapy & Crystals https://www.yelp.com/biz/incense-route-los-angeles-3. We're so grateful he ran over from his shop to check on the sign and found this newly posted change of ownership notice.

07/12/2026

Sunday Sign Skullduggery! Cole's French Dip is HCM #104 and this 1949 neon sign is a character defining feature protected from alteration or removal. Gary Leonard () shot the takedown https://www.instagram.com/p/Dassx3yQp_z/

[UPDATE: Scoop! The Cole's sign is still there AND the landmark has a new owner! Thanks Jeremy Fall for believing in this precious place and Cedd Moses for finding a new steward.

Support preservation pal & sleuth at Incense Route Aromatherapy & Crystals https://www.yelp.com/biz/incense-route-los-angeles-3
We're so grateful he ran over from his shop to check on the sign and found this newly posted change of ownership notice.]

[ORIGINAL CAPTION CONTINUES BELOW] The post sparks concern from commenters, who ask if it can be removed from the landmark without Office of Historic Resources approval.

The answer is no. Cole’s was extensively remodeled by current owner Cedd Moses (213 Hospitality, later Pouring with Heart) in the mid-2000s, and the case file for HCM #104 explicitly states that “neon signs placed above the doorway and on brackets from the façade are character-defining features. Though not from the original date of construction, they have acquired significance over time.” OHR’s direction was to “retain neon signage.”

The sign shown on the ground in Gary Leonard’s photograph was permitted on February 10, 1949, LA11707 for Neon Sign (perpendicular exterior wall sign). It should not have been taken off the building without OHR approval, nor without a sign removal permit. The LADBS permit portal for the massive Pacific Electric Building in which Cole’s operated is complicated, but we don’t see any sign removal permits.
https://www.ladbsservices2.lacity.org/OnlineServices/PermitReport/PermitResultsbyPin?pin=127-5A211%20%2056

We have reached out to OHR asking them to look into the matter, and will update our dedicated Cole's newsletter when we hear from them.
https://esotouric.substack.com/coles

07/11/2026

A mysterious archival document recently hit the City Planning portal: the record of a rejected Historic-Cultural Monument application for a sulphur-belching Volcano at the mouth of Elysian Park. We filed a public records request to learn more, then set out in the footsteps of a forgotten preservation hero of 1970s Highland Park, Frederick Morrison.

You can see the "volcano" in this video and learn more about this great Angeleno, and the mean things City staff said about him in the newsletter:
https://esotouric.substack.com/volcano

07/11/2026

Today! Join us at Grand Central Market at 10:30am for an incredibly strange tour of a lost world of Main Street fleshpots and hidden sin zones. We'll show you Downtown's only real untouched 1920s speakeasy tunnel and intimate relics of B-girl hygiene! https://esotouric.com/event/main-street-vice-summer-2026/

07/11/2026

part 10