In 1957 the mayor of Los Angeles helped install a plaque at 7th and Main streets downtown commemorating the birth of the local film industry at that spot. (It's where, supposedly, scenes from The Count of Monte Cristo were filmed on the roof of a Chinese laundry in 1907.) Recently, Larry Harnisch, who writes the blog Daily Mirror, went looking for the plaque.

Although I didn't locate the plaque, I at least found where it used to be (the story of so many historic sites in Los Angeles).

This intersection, which I have now named "Charles Bukowski Square," is home to Craby Joe's, apparently Bukowski's favorite watering hole. However, the Daily Mirror gave up bars that open at 10 a.m. many years ago, so there are no pictures of the interior.

He did find someone at Dearden's department store who thought the plaque had been on the store's facade. The spot is now covered by a layer of metal, so it could well be under there. Harnisch observes: "I have to say that going through the doors at Dearden's is like stepping back to the department stores of my childhood: Toys, major appliances, kitchen gadgets and furniture (no clothing, however). And the store was packed."