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Memorial Branch

Architect
John C. Austin
Style
Gothic Revival
City
Los Angeles, CA
Memorial Branch
Photo: Los Angeles, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Memorial Branch opened in 1930 across from Los Angeles High School, built in the Gothic Revival style by John C. Austin and Frederic M. Ashley, the same team behind Griffith Observatory, and named to honor LAHS alumni killed in the First World War.

the building

War memorial window. Judson Studios created a large heraldic stained-glass window for the library that works the names of the fallen LAHS students, including aviator Greayer Clover, directly into the glass.

the style

Austin and Ashley used Gothic Revival forms, more commonly reserved for churches and university buildings, to give a neighborhood library the solemnity of a war memorial.

More on Gothic Revival

the architect

John C. Austin and Frederic M. Ashley, the architects of Memorial Branch, were also responsible for Griffith Observatory, one of the most recognized buildings in Los Angeles.

significance

The branch joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as part of a thematic nomination of Los Angeles library branches. It closed for a major restoration in the mid-1990s, operating from space near John Burroughs Middle School, before reopening in 1996, and later appeared on-screen as a school in the film Bedtime Stories.

nearby

All 315 buildings in Los Angeles