THE MIRACLES THAT GAVE MIRACLE MILE ITS NAME
In a part of the city that holds such Los Angeles icons as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the La Brea Tar Pits, and a large portion of our most beautiful Art Deco buildings, you’d think that a great amount of potential was seen by investors as the area planted its roots. But like Los Angeles itself, it took a handful of great visionaries to get the area into the position that it could become a destination.
Nathan Masters tells the story of ”A.W. Ross, who in 1921 paid $54,000 for 18 acres of land” and sold pieces of it for as little as $100 a front foot. “Ross’ bean patch” and “Ross’ folly,” was then criticized by his detractors to the point that even friends who could help him simply laughed and wished him luck, Ross told the LA Times in 1939.
Nearly a century later, Miracle Mile is a premier destination in Los Angeles, saved largely by a leap of faith from LACMA after the sprawl brought on by the automobile culture adaptation threatened to kill what Ross had built up within the Mile. Check out the great story here.
