From the Archives: Know Your City No. 8 — Buddhist Temple

The eighth image in the Know Your City photography series appeared in the Nov. 25, 1955, Los Angeles Times. The accompanying text reported:

KNOW YOUR CITY, NO. 8 –– This is very familiar to its 2300 members. And to thousands more. Even gives you the address: 119 N. Central Ave., near corner of E. 1st St. Just for fun of it, can you guess what it is? Find answer on Page 28, Part II.

ANSWER — As you might suspect from its Oriental architecture the building in the picture is the Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, a religious center in the heart of the city’s Little Tokyo. It has been around a long time, since 1927. This is run strictly for your amusement.

The temple was replaced in 1969 by a new Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple at 815 E. 1st St. The old temple is now part of the Japanese American National Museum.

The 250-image Know Your City photography series appeared in the Los Angeles Times in 1955 and 1956.

This post originally was published on July 27, 2015.