The Street Seen: 2810-2818 Main St (Mathews)
2810-2818 Main Street @ Ashland Ave
In 1912, a 5-store commercial building (2810 to 2818 Main St) is constructed on the west side of Main St, just north of Ashland Ave. To accommodate the widening of Main St in 1926, the 1-story brick building is moved back (west) 40 ft.
[1912] Construction
In 1912, Peasgood Bros build the 1-story, brick building for J.H. Mathews on the west side of Main St just north of Ashland Ave. 1
Filling the entire 100-ft x 79-ft lot, the flat wood-roof and unreinforced brick wall building is a row of five stores (with addresses 2810, 2812, 2814, 2816, and 2818 Main St).2
The building front facade is pressed brick with small brick ornamentation, and slightly protruding brick piers separating the stores. The recessed entry and tall storefront windows are typical of the retail buildings that appeared across Southern California during the 1910s.
Early Tenants
J.H. Mathews builds the retail building as an income investment property. Below are some early tenants of note.
[1913] Enos-Park
When the building opens in 1913, Enos-Park Furniture Company,3 selling new home furniture, occupies the entire 8,200 sf space. Enos-Park claims to be the largest furniture store in California, outside of Los Angeles.
[1914 to 1916] Enos-Judson
Enos-Park soon fails, and Enos-Judson Furniture Company4 occupies the entire space from 1914 to 1916. In 1915, they acquire a second-hand goods permit.
[1917] Post Office
In 1917, the US Post Office accepts Mathews’ bid, and the Ocean Park post office moves from the Masons building on Marine St.5
[1926] Moved
To accommodate the widening of Main St in 1926, the 1-story brick building at 2810-2818 Main St is moved back (west) 40 ft by Schimmer for owner J.H. Mathews.6
[1957] Briggs
In 1957, Pacific Palisades real estate investor Robert Briggs7 acquires the property. Some tenants of note in this era are:-
The 79-ft by 100-ft 2810-2818 Main St property is Lots 19, 20, 21, and 22 of Block D of the Santa Monica Tract of 1893.
With five stores on 4 lots, the stores are slightly smaller than most on Main St (20-ft vs 25-ft wide).
E.W. Enos has a furniture store on Pier Ave. In 1912, J.W. Park joins with Enos to open Enos-Park Furniture Company at 2810-2818 Main St. They are agents for the Southern California based Hawthorn Furniture Manufacturing Company.
In 1914, L.C. Judson, son of local druggist J.J. Judson, joins with E.W. Enos to open Enos-Judson Furniture Company in the 2810-2818 Main St space. In 1917, E.W. Enos opens a furniture store back again on Pier Ave.
When 2810-2818 Main St is moved for the widening of Main St in 1926, the Ocean Park post office returns to the Masonic Temple building on Marine St.
J.H. Mathews, along with E.B Leepy, George Beidler, and C.C. Doran, is a member of the organizing committee for the 1926 widening of Main St.
In 1959, John Robert Briggs (1920 - 1971), after stopping to fill the gas tank and five-gallon can, drives a car with his wife Norma D. Nilson (1924 - 1997) and his mother-in-law Mary D. Nilson (1890 - 1964) to an isolated spot on Rustic Canyon Rd above Sunset Blvd. Briggs gets out of the car, and the car careens headlong 450 ft down Sullivan Canyon. Both women are thrown clear of the car and survive. Briggs is arrested at the scene.
Court testimony reveals that Norma is set to inherit more than $1.00 MM from her mother. Briggs has an income of about $3,000 per year, while Norma has an income of more than $50,000 per year. A week before the accident, at Biggs request, Norma signs a will making him her beneficiary. Briggs buys five $300,000 insurance policies, issued on the day of the accident, on himself, his wife, and children. His wife (“sure my husband meant no harm”) and his mother-in-law (“he tried to murder us”) give conflicting testimony at the trial.
In 1960, Briggs is convicted of two counts of attempted murder in Santa Monica Superior Court and sentenced to 1 to 20 years in prison. Briggs is released on bail pending an appeal. In 1962, his appeal is denied, and he is taken to state prison. In 1964, Briggs is granted a new trial by the California Supreme Court (People v. Briggs, 58 Cal.2d 385), but the prosecution’s star witness, Mrs. Nilson, is now too ill to appear in court and the case is dismissed.
Mrs. Nilson dies in 1964, leaving $2.70 MM to Norma. In 1965, Briggs files a $1.62 MM suit against the estate of Mrs. Nilson for malicious prosecution and unlawful imprisonment stemming from his conviction and the subsequent dismissal of charges - which Norma Briggs, as executrix of her mother’s estate, settles for $0.39MM. In 1965, Norma Briggs divorces Briggs. In 1976, his brother William Burton Briggs (1922 - 1995) divorces Hope E. Briggs (1924 - 2018) and, in 1978, marries Norma.
St. Matthew’s Thrift Shop, an outreach program of the Parish of St. Matthew in the Pacific Palisades, has occupied one of the stores in the building for nearly 70 years. Initially, in 1957, St. Matthew’s Thrift Shop is in the 2818 Main St space, and then the 2810 Main St space, before moving to its current space at 2812 Main St. The thrift shop channels 75% of its profits back into the Ocean Park/Venice community, with the other 25% also going to other charities. The thrift shop, staffed entirely by volunteers, is sponsored by St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church of the Pacific Palisades, but no funds go to St. Matthew’s.
Much to the consternation of city officials, from 1971 to 1972, Charles L. Creel operates Sinema X also known as The Baron - a 49-seat adult movie theater at 2814 Main St. (Also on Main St in the same time frame is the X-rated Vixen at 3007 Main St.)
