Naud Junction was an area in northern

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It was located at the junction of Main Street and

Alameda Street Alameda Street is a major north-south thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California. It is approximately 21 miles in length, running from Harry Bridges Boulevard in Wilmington; and through Carson, Compton, Lynwood, Watts, Florence-Graham, ...

, where

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

trains veered off Alameda to tracks along Alhambra Avenue and the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

History

It is named for French-American warehouseman Edouard Naud, who built a warehouse at the junction in 1878. Naud Junction was marked by a signal tower built at Alameda and Ord streets in 1898. This was torn down in 1940, after

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

was built.

Boxing pavilion

From 1905 to 1913, Naud Junction was the location of the city of Los Angeles' primary boxing pavilion, which was built by promoter Thomas McCarey. The pavilion paid host to both the world middleweight championship between Hugo Kelly and Tommy Burns, a heavyweight championship bout between Burns and Marvin Hart, and a featherweight championship bout between

Abe Attell Abraham Washington Attell (February 22, 1883 – February 7, 1970), often referred to by newspapers as "The Little Hebrew", was an American boxer who became known for his record-setting, six year consecutive reign as World Featherweight Champion ...

and Frankie Nell. McCarey said the greatest fight he ever witnessed was a match at Naud Junction between "two Negro fighters," Jack Johnson and

Denver Ed Martin Edward "Denver Ed" Martin (September 10, 1881, or 1877 – May 11, 1937) was an American boxer who was the World Colored Heavyweight Championship, World Colored Heavyweight Champion from February 24, 1902, when he beat Frank Childs, until Februar ...

. McCarey told a reporter, "Neither of them made a mistake for twelve rounds, and Denver Ed finally thought he had fooled Johnson, and we saw one of the greatest exhibitions in ring history from then on. Johnson finally won a decision that time and later stopped Denver Ed. I believe either one could have whipped any man that ever lived at that time." Naud Junction was also witness to a

Billy Sunday William Ashley Sunday (November 19, 1862 – November 6, 1935) was an American evangelist and professional baseball outfielder. He played for eight seasons in the National League before becoming the most influential American preacher during t ...

crusade in 1909. The Naud Junction boxing arena burned down on September 22, 1915.

References

{{Northwest Los Angeles Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles Defunct boxing venues in the United States Central Los Angeles Northwest Los Angeles Boxing venues in Los Angeles Rail junctions in the United States Former Southern Pacific Railroad stations in California Road junctions in the United States

History

Boxing pavilion

See also

References