I recently moved to Downtown Los Angeles and became aware of the true
extent of the excavation of what is popularly called Bunker Hill. Most
of the downtown hills were removed to make way for the Hollywood/Santa
Ana Freeway around 1960.

Is it possible to say where that dirt is today? I'm interested in any
mention of this anywhere. But thorough please, no hit and run

Hello timquinn-ga,

As a one-time transplant to southern Cal myself, this question struck
a chord, so I headed to a database that contains the historical
archives of the LA Times, and started -- ahem -- digging.

I had suspected, at first, that the dirt may have wound up on the
bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but lo and behold, I was quickly shown to
be mistaken.

An article dated October 3, 1949 appeared on page 2 of the newspaper,
and was titled:

Elysian Park Gets Mountain Addition

with a sub-head:

Ft. Moore Hill Rising Again in New Site as Excavations Progress for Highway Project

For copyright reasons, I cannot reproduce the full article here.  I've
included some relevant excerpts.  Any librarian should be able to come
up with the original article, if you care to see it in full.

=====

--Surprising sight, looking north on Broadway to where Ft. Moore Hill
used to be and seeing nothing but sky.  Ft. Moore Hill practically
is--no more.

--It is no longer doing business at the same old stand, that is.  Mere
man has moved it.

--as a result, a man-made mountain is rising adjacent to Elysian Park.

--The hill is being enlarged...because waste dirt from
three...projects on the Hollywood-Santa Ana Freeway...is being piled
there.

--[some of the dirt is being stockpiled] for that far future day when
construction of the Harbor Freeway reaches low, swampy lands.  Then,
this pile [at Ft. Moore Hill] will be used for fill.

=====

So...look for a big old hill just north of Dodger Stadium:

http://mapblast.com/(1prvlgfqjkrq2355dd4u0p45)/map.aspx?L=USA&C=34.07916%2c-118.23542&A=7.16667&P=|34.07916%2c-118.23542|1|835+Academy+Rd%2c+Los+Angeles%2c+CA+90012|L1|

and that should be your Freeway excavation dirt (except for any that
was moved once again for the Harbor Freeway fill).

If anything here isn't clear, just let me know by posting a Request
for Clarificatiion, and I'll be happy to assist you further.

Enjoy your stay in sunny LA.

pafalafa-ga



search strategy:  searched the LA Times archives for:

[ hollywood and santa ana (freeway OR parkway) and excavation ]

Google Answers Researchers never cease to amaze me.

When I first read this question, I said to myself, "Well, here's a
question that probably won't be answerable." Yet, a little more than
an hour later, my colleague pafalafa-ga comes through with a stellar
answer.

I love this place! I learn something every day. It would never have
occurred to me that the history of dirt might be something verifiable.

Pink...thanks, but you know you can *always* count on me to dig up the dirt!

paf