Comments on: Angeles Abbey, Compton, CA, 1955

By: Marilyn Shingleton Shea

Marilyn Shingleton Shea — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:09:00 +0000

I have enjoyed reading these comments and I too walked past the mausoleum on my way home from Roosevelt Jr. high. We attempted to get in the elevator a few times but we’re always too scared. Also I do recall a man that scared us too which made us turn and run out. This was back in the 50s.

By: Chuck Vande Wetering

Chuck Vande Wetering — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:42:56 +0000

I lived two blocks east of the Mausoleum on San Vincente St. when I attended Roosevelt Junior High School. I cut through the yard on my way to school or the Tower theater and one day I and some friends got up the nerve to enter and look around. It was scary but sacred. We were teenagers but never had a thought of doing any damage as would probably happen now unless it were kept locked. The years were 1946-’49.

By: Patricia (McCown) Olson

Patricia (McCown) Olson — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:18:20 +0000

I grew up in Compton. My friend Terri and I used to walk past Angeles Abbey quite often going between her house and my house. (This was in the mid-1960′s.) We lived about two miles apart. We would knock on the concrete wall by the sidewalk as we walked along. One time someone (or something) knocked back. We never walked on that side of the road again. My mother, who moved from Michigan to Compton in the early 1940′s, went into the abbey with a friend – they were teenagers – and they were practically scared to death by a maintenance worker who jumped out at them from behind a curtain in a doorway. They never entered the abbey again after that. As kids we were told that the blood that was drained out of the deceased people was poured onto the plants around the abbey and that’s why they were always so beautiful. I found out years later that was not true. It was truly a scary place for kids . . . especially as Halloween drew near. But as I grew up I realized it was a just a beautiful, quiet, peaceful place that I eventually enjoyed wandering through and around now and then. I think about Angeles Abbey now and then. I’m glad I looked it up online.

By: Patty Sims

Patty Sims — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 23:27:02 +0000

Hello,
I have been visiting the Abbey since I was a small child. My grandfather, grandmother, great uncle and two uncles from my Sims family are entombed in the small mausoleum on the left.
My mother grew up in Compton and unknowingly she and her cousins played around the buildings which already held my father’s father and youngest brother.
I never found anything scary about the Abbey. It seemed to be a place of peace to me. We came in reverence for those who had passed. I have not been back in many years and hope it is in some kind of decent condition today.

By: Dawn Smalley Hollis

Dawn Smalley Hollis — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:39:58 +0000

Hi,
I can attest to the beauty of this unusual building having seen it throughout my childhood in Compton. When I went to the Tower Theatre across the street from the Abbey,or El Jay Drive In was all were on the corner of Compton Blvd and Atlantic Blvd. Whenever I went to the movies, on a dare I would go into the scary abbey and run the elevator up and down and it almost always quit between floors and I would push the buttons like a madwoman trying to get off. My Sister wouldn’t go with me on the elevator and waited below screaming till I got back down. We were so scared each time, but I could hardly wait till the next trip. This story is one of the family favorites for us to tell on each other.

By: Sandra Padilla

Sandra Padilla — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:38:24 +0000

My brother is interred in one of the buildings at Angeles Abbey, but I cannot find any records. He was interred there in 1945. Any suggestions on finding his records? The oldest building is locked and can’t be entered, but I think he is in the second building. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

By: BRIAN KAISER

BRIAN KAISER — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:02:41 +0000

THE THREE MAUSOLEUMS AT ANGELES ABBEY ALSO REPRESENT SEVERAL OF LA’S FINEST TILE MANUFACTURERS. THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS CALCO TILE, MADE IN SOUTH GATE. THE ONE IN THE BACK IS AMERICAN ENCAUSTIC TILE, MADE IN VERNON. AND I BELIEVE THE MAIN MAUSOLEUM IS CALCO AND CLAYCRAFT. THERE IS A LOT OF TILE INSIDE THE MAIN BUILDING, BUT NOT IN THE OTHERS. THEY HAVE BEEN THROUGH SOME VERY BAD FINANCIAL TIMES OVER THE YEARS. THERE IS A VERY LARGE ONION DOME ON THE BACK OF THE MAIN BUILDING, AND I BELIEVE IT WAS ONCE COVERED WITH ISLAMIC STYLE TILE. THERE IS NO TILE LEFT ON THE DOME NOW. IN IT’S DAY, ANGELES ABBEY WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE THREE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAUSOLEUMS IN LA COUNTY. THE OTHERS WERE FOREST LAWN, GLENDALE, AND SUNNYSIDE MEMORIAL IN LONG BEACH. SUNNYSIDE, IN LONG BEACH, NOW BELONGS TO FOREST LAWN, AND THE MAUSOLEUM THERE IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. GLADDING MCBEAN AND CALCO TILE, TIFFANY STAINED GLASS, HAND PAINTED WALLS AND CEILINGS, ONE OF ONLY THREE FUCAULT PENDULUNMS IN LA, ETC. WELL WORTH A TRIP!!! I OWN THE HOME OF RUFUS KEELER, MANAGER OF THE MALIBU POTTERIES, SO I KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TILE. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:27:52 +0000

I enjoyed your Downtown tour and look forward to your lecture at the Gamble House
Jack

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:26:50 +0000

Thanks, Charles for that bit of history! This is where the remains of my grandparents are interred. You gave me an appreciation for a place I thought was only weird.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:13:15 +0000

This is truly an undiscovered treasure, indeed! Thanks for letting us all know about it. Who woulda thought…in Compton of all places. Very interesting. Gotta go see this one!