Homer Laughlin Building, 1897 marketplace in Financial District, Los Angeles, United States.
The Homer Laughlin Building is a six-story structure on South Broadway with steel-reinforced concrete and houses the Grand Central Market on its ground floor. It stretches between Broadway and Hill Street, combining its early construction methods with active retail and food vendors under one roof.
The building was designed by John Parkinson in 1896 as the first fireproof structure in Los Angeles, introducing innovative steel reinforcement and concrete techniques. Over the early decades, it evolved from its original purpose as a department store into a major food market serving the city.
The ground-floor market reflects how Los Angeles residents from different backgrounds gather daily to shop for food and eat together. Visitors see how the space brings people from across the city into a shared food culture that has evolved over more than a century.
The building is accessible from multiple sides with good connections to transit stops and other transportation nearby. Visitors should know the ground-floor market is most active during daytime hours and can get crowded at peak times.
The architect Frank Lloyd Wright operated his office in this building during the 1920s while developing projects across Los Angeles. This connection to modern architecture history often goes unnoticed by casual visitors but matters to those interested in design heritage.
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