The ABANDONED Los Angeles Staircase - Forgotten Secret
Vložit
- čas přidán 13. 03. 2015
- www.AdamTheWoo.com - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE - Deep in the heart of downtown Los Angeles sits a flight of stairs forgotten to the world. So strange !
2nd channel / thedailywoo - Zábava
"Hey where do these stairs go?" "They go up" - Ghostbusters
They're the old Bunker Hill steps that were part of the Sunkist building before the whole area was redeveloped in the early '90s.
The reason they weren't developed/demolished was because of landowner's rights, no one knew who they belonged to, so they were essentially abandoned to avoid dispute..
But you can see what they originally looked like in the 1979 version of When a Stranger Calls. (the full movie is on CZcams and it appears at the 38:31 mark)
+Larry Bundy Jr That was very informative, cool, too bad I live forty miles east.
+Larry Bundy Jr Look at old film noir shot in L.A. much of it on Bunker Hill. There were Two funiciulars.. one called Angels Flight.. and the other next to these steps. any search of Angles Flight or Bunker Hill LA will pop them up.The less you know.. the more mysterious everything is.. Woo Hoo Voo Doo
+Larry Bundy Jr What the fuck are you smoking?? These stairs are NOT in that movie @38:31 totally different stairs ALL together.
+Capt Larry The Court flight and its stairs were much farther down by 1st St, between Broadway and Hill, much too far away to be a candidate. And the steps for the Angels Flight funicular were scraped away and the area buried by the battleship-sized Angelus Plaza. Even if part of them did still exist, the only way to see them would be to tunnel through the floor of some poor old Japanese pensioner's apartment. The stairs don't belong to either.
Angelus Plaza, South Hill Street, Bunker Hill was in Minority Report movie!
adam... only you can make a staircase entertaining.
The staircases lace the hillsides of certain L.A. neighborhoods, and are historical reminders of a time when this was not a city of cars. City planners and developers installed them as direct routes for pedestrians-housewives and children particularly-to get down the hills to school, the supermarket, and transit lines. The city at that time was well served by trolleys, streetcars, buses, and light-rail systems. The staircases were clustered around steep hillside communities near these transit lines, especially steep-streeted communities that developed in the 1920s. Staircases abound in Silver Lake, Echo Park, Mt. Washington, and El Sereno, and the elevated areas of Highland Park, Hollywood, and Santa Monica, and can be found as far from downtown L.A. as Pasadena, Pacific Palisades and Avalon, on Catalina Island.
The staircase-to-trolley system was so much a part of the landscape that developers in some areas built houses that had no other access to the outside world. These “walk-streets,” guides to which you will find on this website, were set on hillsides without driveways or garages. Everything going in and out had to employ the public staircase running, usually, across the front of the house. The trolleys and streetcars are gone, but the staircases remain. Many of them are forgotten paths, neglected and unused. Many of them are also direct routes into fascinating Los Angeles neighborhoods that many Angelinos have never even seen. So, come along.
Pick a staircase and start walking.
Thanks! I learned something new about my city today! Where did you learn this information and where can I learn more?
secretstairs - la . com / welcome . html
I separated the link with spaces so it doesnt go to spam... I googled it and found this. It was fun reading up on.
Cool thanks for the info!
stephanie lupu you're welcome :)
Pittsburgh has many staircases too. They were built for the same reasons. Ours led to the mills and the steelworkers would walk them from their South Side Slopes homes to work. My favorite stairs were condemned but there was a way to get down them if you were insane. Back when there were more Inclines there were stairs to get to them too.
I use to work at that building and I too have noticed those odd stairs while wondering the same thing about them! In addition to those being trolley and street access steps, the 5th and flower streets intersection use sit on a hill which has been divided up and leveled out through the years. That's why the upper floor of that building and it's neighbors all lead out to Hope Street. The Library that's located across the street was where a rundown hilltop boarding school for girls use to be located. If you go into the Panda Express restaurant located within the library you'll see pictures of the 5th and Flower street intersection as it use to look in its hilltop rural state. It's so sad to see that "progress" and industrialism have demolished the beauty of nature instead of trying to respectfully adapt to it!
They keep destroying our city
My thinking is that during the transition from pedestrian traffic to automotive a few drivers mistook those stairs as a road and accidentally drove down them.
jbarthol That's what I was thinking.
In Harry Potter books, they have many different portals into the wizarding world in the UK (brick wall, the space between train platforms, fireplaces, toilets etc). Maybe you stumbled onto one of the American portals? ✨
lol o"o
I like your theory.
stargatefansg1 good one, we like how you put that together.
You are so silly! I love you and adopting this theory!
I remember seeing that when I was a kid water used to flow out those 3 pipes.
Guess it was a slow week Adam?
Maybe you should change your name to "CaliforniaPicky" geez man.
I think that this was worthy of a daily vlog, but not a main channel video. Your slipping Adam from your usual greatness.
Not at all. Great as usual Adam!
Sir doucheery of douche town
This was a bit shorter than I usually like the main channel vlogs, but honestly, when something is weird enough, I feel it deserves main channel. This is pretty weird. If you told me there was a random unused staircase growing grass in the middle of LA, you would have to show me proof for me to believe you.
:)
I think it's not stairs but a fountain, that's why there's pipes. The water would roll off the "stairs."
brilliant
+James
Yes thats what this is. Its a cascading waterfall that cascades down thats why its next to actual stairs so you can see it from different heights . Ive seen fountains like this .Notice there is a small wall at the bottom of the waterfall to catch the water .Real stairs wouldnt have that small wall there. Also all of that grass started growing from the moisture , dirt and algea that grew out of this abandoned fountain. Grass doesnt grow on concrete stairs .That fountain is a focal point put in a small area that was not used for anything.
Love going back through these old episodes......haven't watched them in a while
Hard to beleive how grass will take over an abandoned spot like that.
Adam, you definitely should consider doing more old filming locations man.
It's insanely interesting seeing a lot of these areas and how they've aged.
A couple recommendations are From Dusk Till Dawn, Hills Have Eyes (first remake), The Thing (this would be beyond epic), Nightmare On Elm Street (various locations throughout the series), Blair Witch Project, The Ring and the list goes on and on.
There were tons of iconic areas in these movies that still exist today, and while some are a bit more modern...you can never go wrong with horror movie locals!
Keep up the amazing work, plus you should start a Patron account to help get additional funding to help with future trips and to cover lost wages from being away from home, so you can continue doing this! I'd definitely help and support the channel!
Visit the Laurel and Hardy Piano movers stairs a few minutes away.
More abandoned goodness! Something as simple as these stairs, I find fascinating! Wondering what the history behind them could be...very cool to see amongst the modern city surroundings. I'd love to see more of these little hidden gems! :)
Thank you soooo much Adam, I have missed these...
Another great video. Keep up the great work. Look forward to your videos everyday.
Ok, you got me on this silliness, I’m subscribing so I want more craziness. Keep it up 👍
Wow, I didn’t know that there was a forgotten staircase here in Los Angeles.
Man you're so close but I always miss you going some place, hopefully you had fun, I like the fact that you do abandoned places
I love your videos.Its fun to see abandoned stuff and secret stuff:D
You could always come to Woodstock,IL to see where Groundhog day was filmed. It always amazes me walking around the square.
Maybe, given that there are water pipes at the top, there maybe drainage at the bottom hidden under the grass. If this is the case it could have been a water stairway. That said it is in rather out of the way place for such a water feature.
+lockudlad
he is yankin your chain. those are vents not water pipes.
Adam you are the man bro. Love your vids.
Hi how did you get started at what you do finding and looking at abandoned places
My best guess? Insurance. The stairs look like they are eroding where visible, so the sub-strait in the concrete may be that kind made with a high calcium content from sea shells, and may not have survived the weathering. To prevent someone from getting hurt, the upper part was walled off so A) nobody would get hurt, and B) some city beautification to provide a "park" for public enjoyment.
I lived in LA my whole life and only discovered these stairs last year. Pretty odd. Plus I think the skeleton was that of a komodo Dragon.
Wow, this is the 1st time seeing this. Ever since I moved to LA in April 2014 and I currently live not too far from Downtown Area. But now that I've know about this, I've might need to give it a visit. Also hope explore some more areas of LA County as well as check out some abandoned places.
Great video adam
In my hometown in Sweden they had something just like this but bigger. It was a fountain. The pipes, the wall and how the stairs are separated from the walkway beneath indicates this also is a fountain. My guess is also that the stairs eroded from the water. The steps were built with the wrong material. You can see the eroded steps in this video. That is why it was left shut off.
You're so awesome adam.
Gosh I'm glad I'm still subbed to your channel!! I wouldn't want to have missed THIS!
my idea about this staircase is-BAD CITY PLANNING.
love it.--it proves, earth will take hers back. All of it. Thanks Adam.
Will sub your daily.
2:51 Ahhh the Bonaventure. Gorgeous hotel. ^w^ I loved staying there! I wish I would have known of the staircase!
i wish adam would hang out with the bums and runaway teens on the skid row section of l.a. on his daily vlog show!
That's interesting to see Adam. Thanks for sharing it with me. Stairs to no where.
LOVE your main channel vlogs! something about your style that is so much fun! not a ton of jaw flapping....
your an amazing person Mr.Woo!Thats why I have subscribed to your channels and are a huge fan of yours!if you dont mind me asking though,what city in Orange County do you live in? I myself live in Huntington Beach!
Me too, I live on Edinger Ave
"The stairs go all the way to the top" HAHAHAHA yup that's usually where stairs lead to.
Ah but sometimes they lead all the way to the bottom as well. 😆. Sorry, couldn't resist.
I think that was a fountain at one time, great video.
Adam, you should visit Pittsburgh,Pa._ there's a public stairs system that is really unbelievable! This stairs would take 30_ 45 minutes to climb but were actually a shortcut if you had to walk from one place to another. Some have been forgotten and really decayed. The whole area could keep your show going for years! Keep them coming,bud!
It was a fountain...my father remembers it and may have a picture.
Indeed, it was, but nobody will listen to the truth here it seems.
those stairs were leading to a lot of bullshit
Really cool! Thank-you Larry Bundy Jr. for the info!! Thank-You Adam!!
That's was some treacherous terrain. I enjoyed you getting down to the nitty gritty. BUT what is under the stairs? People..great adventure as always☮ #ATW
Wow a whole abandoned staircase! Just amazing
"You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you. God damn you all to hell!" Is there a half buried Statue of Liberty behind that wall?
That comes after the trip to space
Adam you should do some Adam the Woo videos at old town San Diego. A lot of history there.
I'd be down to meet-up for that. There's gotta be more San Diego fans that would join.
make your way to compton and watts while your over there! LOTS to explore!
I love all these surprises.Huggs,silky
This video is awesome!
My dad was an architect and I started to recognize with him all the disasters before Master Cad era. Who knows... probably those stairs were missed calculations.
You were on Bunker Hill. It was formerly a fancy residential neighborhood, then declined into a wonderfully eclectic slum, then in the 1960's the entire place was torn down and skyscrapers were put up. Actually, the last couple of empty lots that were created are only FINALLY NOW IN 2015 being filled in with the completion of the Broad Collection, 50 years after the original neighborhood was demolished. Anyway, the hill was loaded with tons of cool little architectural bits like Victorian mansions, funicular railways (there were two -- Angel's Flight is still there but broken) and many pedestrian staircases. In fact, when they destroyed the neighborhood they actually scraped off about the top 100 feet of the hill, so even Bunker Hill itself was demolished.
Enjoyed the video.. I love Los angeles..
I love you'r videos, but damn this was a bit of a stretch :) How about The Big Lebowski filming locations in L.A?
Some people might find this "Mysterious Staircase" extremely boring... But I find it incredibly interesting. What were the water pipes for? What is that wall doing there? How old is all of that stuff? Why were the stairs built? The questions go on forever. I know I'll probably never find them out, but I still think of it as a detective's case. A detective who's discovering important yet obscure history.
I recently went up those stair cases in the summer. The grass was dead and on the top was a old beat up mattress and it looked like a homeless person was living up there
you crack me up , thanks for another video , I hit that subscribe button and your right its free , LOL
Possibly left over from the older era when the original buildings were demo'd for the newer structures, they probably closed it off because the new owners didn't want people traversing across their property but were required by the city to keep the access open between the upper and lower street. Somewhere along the construction process or there after they were able to close the access off.
Its one of those things that make you go HUH?, I notice, the video is super clear now,, nice job
These short ones are great. boom 💥 here’s some information.
Wow!! Adam, I'm always in downtown having new adventures with my girlfriend, and I never knew that was there!! Thank you soo much!! I now plan to do a photoshoot or even film there!! Haha next time you're back in L.A., let me know! I have an actor who can probably collaborate on one of your new videos, as he plays different characters! I hope you see this comment haha
Well we have the bridge to nowhere. Why not have a stairs to nowhere. Great video again Adam.
What happened to the vids on this channel. They seem to have dropped off
I seem to remember those stairs being some type of an art installation & it had water too! Last time I was there was in 2003 & the remodel construction was taking place for the underground metro station. So whatever year the last huge downtown street fair took place, that's where the info on this street sculpture might be. Thinking in the late1980's- early 1990's? Brainfart. I just remember a lot of live bands on every corner & a lot of rebellion from the crowd toward the security crews wearing those red berets.
Looks like it was suppose to be a cascading waterfall.
If you run 88 miles per hour up the stair you will end up in the future. If you run 88 miles per hour down the stair you will end up in the past.
Didn't they go up to the library before it burned? Then when remodeling they closed them off?
Lol come with me shall you? that cracks me up😄
You should come check out the NRG Astrodome in Houston TX, its been abandoned since it closed its doors in 2002 and has alot of History so would be epic if you can get a shot inside and check it out
Adam you found the stairway to heaven!
What sunglasses you wearing Mr Woo Woo? I like them!
because that bottom step looks different and its got water taps of some type at the top
I think that was a water feature that never got around to being one.
I think this wall has something to do with the fire department connections on the street side of the wall. The pipes without handles are the drain for the standpipes and fire sprinkler system of the high rise, or parking deck, or both next door. They may have put the wall at the top of the stairs to house this building system, the question of why may be in the building code of LA. They abandoned the stairs because, what else are they going to do with them?
I like how you over examinate a staircase
I think that those stairs next to the one with grass was probably more more efficient and more modern then the others MYSTERIOUS STAIRS
Adam needs more subs
love the way you find these hidden gems. as we all can see eventually nature takes over what man abandons.
Best staircase video ever! lol. I have no idea why it's there, but I'd be surprised if that much dirt and grass grew there naturally.
It's not that hard to figure out - The stairs were designed for a world without cars. When cars began to use that roadway, a wall would be needed to make sure cars didn't take a wrong turn and drive down the stairs. The new staircase replaces the old one in a more car-friendly way.
I almost thought that this was the one with the little Angel tram-thing was... then it didn't look like there was as many stairs.
Maybe large volumes of water pool in the cul-de-sac. So they built the wall to mitigate spillover into the staircase & potential undermining of the building's foundations?
Adam, check Google Earth historical imagery. It appears that the top of the stairs is 5 feet or so below the sidewalk in the other side of the wall. Weird, but could just be an engineering error. Who knows, but it's an interesting thing. Thanks for the video. Good work!
Strange, maybe at one point it was a usable staircase but who knows it may have been close off due to security reasons.
Any chance you could find the long staircase that was used in the Laurel and Hardy "Piano" film? I think it's also in L.A., or Hollywood.
If I'm not mistaken there use to be a trolley that ran right beside those stairs (right hand side as you are looking toward the stairs) that would take people up to the street above. If I'm wrong about this, someone correct me. :) i'm always up for learning something new. :D Great video Adam, interesting that the stairs are covered with grass. I guess it looks more pleasant to the eyes than bare concrete stairs. :)
Wrong staircase.. Youre thinking of the one near "skid row" a short distance from this.
ChicosAddict Thanks. :)
Possible explanations:
1) ALIENS
2) Sarah Winchester had one more staircase in her arsenal
3) Downton LA is such an outdated warren of freeways, streets, and sidewalks that I just don't question wacky s**t there anymore. Maybe a better question is, "Why did they spend so much money on a cathedral that looks like crap" or "WTF is that weird waterslide-lookin thing on your left when traveling eastbound on the 101"
Have you been to Angel's Flight in LA?
Am sure when it was build was build in a wrong direction??
OMG this was sooooo exciting
Not definitive, but the stairs may have been built in anticipation of further towers that were never built. There were several plans into the 90s that were subsequently canceled with some preliminary utility work done.
That's definitely Mayan. Had you look under the staircase, you'd have found the tunnel that leads to the casino and pool area.
That is strang only thing I can think of is it was a old way to that road you showed some things are just a mystary
You have a spacex shirt!?!? I love spacex, plus the shirt is made in the usa!
Hello Adam big fan
I can't believe I watched the entire video!
was there a PACIFIC ELECTRIC station near-by ??
One step closer TO THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE, and i'm about to break!
Not a criticism...I liked this video. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to find out what exactly happened to this staircase to cause it's demise. Thanks for your great work, Adam!