L.A. Scene / The City Then and Now
Capitol Milling Co., 1890, 1916, and1993
The
Los Angeles Time: Los Angeles, Calif.; Jun 14, 1993; Cecilla
Rasmussen;
Photo: Capitol
Milling Co. in the 1890s. At right is the old Los Angeles Cable
Railway, elevated over North Spring Street.
Middle Photo: Capitol
Milling Co.; At right,
some of the mill's employees, circa 1916, on a delivery truck.
Bottom Photo: Capitol
Milling Co.; Today, 1993, one of the original buildings is
visible over a mini-mall. / Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times
Next
to the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks at the edge of Chinatown is a forgotten
jewel of the city-a fading brick building belonging to the Capitol Milling Co.
that is the oldest commercial structure in Los Angeles.
For
162 years-the last 110 under the ownership of the same two families-the
three-story brick mill has produced flour for the city's bakeries.
Through
three generations of Loews and Levis, the mill has served such companies as
Ralphs Grocery Co. and Foix French Bakery.
"It's
provided a good livelihood," said Stephen N. Loew Jr., the current
president of Capitol Milling and a grandson of the company's founder.
The
brick mill, at 1231 N. Spring St., was built in 1831, 19 years before the
incorporation of the city, just north of what was then known as El Pueblo de La
Reina de Los Angeles. The bricks were brought from Philadelphia and the
millstones were imported from France.
The mill
was built by Massachusetts sea captain Abel Stearns, who settled in Los Angeles
and became the largest landowner in Southern California. It was first powered
by water that flowed from a man-made channel running along Alameda and North
Spring streets, known as the Zanja Madre, or Mother Ditch.
The
company had two other owners before it was purchased on April 18, 1883, by a
young German-born merchandiser named Jacob Loew.
Loew
had arrived in Los Angeles County in 1872. He bought a sheep ranch in Downey
and set up a small general store with a partner.
His
foray into ranching ended in disaster after 10 years when his sheep
inexplicably began dying by the hundreds.
Loew
was devastated and sold his grazing land for less than 25 cents an acre. It was
only years later, after oil wells began sprouting on his former property, that
he discovered what had killed his sheep. They had been poisoned by oil seeping
into the water.
According
to the Loew and Levi families, Loew later came to laugh at the strange
misfortune that caused him to lose money in both sheep and oil.
After
selling his ranch, Loew moved back to Los Angeles and bought the mill on Spring
Street. Within two years, he married Emily Newmark, daughter of historian
Harris Newmark, best remembered as the author of "Sixty Years in Southern
California." Loew teamed up with a nephew, Herman Levi, who had just
arrived from Germany. Levi, too, married a Newmark, a granddaughter of Harris.
Loew
and Levi immediately began to expand the flour mill, adding new facilities and
installing a state-of-the-art 150-horsepower steam engine.
The
mill soon tripled its output, producing 150 barrels, or 29,400 pounds, of flour
a day. Loew and a friend, John Foix, owner of Foix French Bakery, negotiated
their business over beers at a local tavern.
In
his later years, Loew was troubled by health problems. After suffering two
strokes, he grew increasingly despondent. On April 20, 1921, Loew locked
himself in his office at Capitol Milling and shot himself in the head. He was
74.
Herman
Levi took over the business. During Levi's tenure, the mill was remodeled, the
plant switched from steam power to electricity and production increased to
107,800 pounds of flour a day.
Today,
the office decor retains some of the charm of the 1920s. Old flour sacks have
been framed and hung in a conference room down the hall from oak-paneled
offices that were decorated by Barker Bros. in 1922. A ring used to tether
horses is still attached to the building. The original millstones were donated
in 1920 to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.
Today,
Capitol Milling Co. churns out up to 400,000 pounds of flour a day with modern
equipment. But two warehouses and the three-story brick mill remain from 1831.
The
company recently completed earthquake-strengthening of the old buildings.
Stephen Loew Jr. said no one has ever considered tearing them down.