Emmanuel Lutheran Church in North Hollywood
This vintage postcard shows the striking mid-century exterior of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, located at 11919 Oxnard Street in North Hollywood. Although the church carries an Oxnard Street address, the image appears to feature the Radford Street side of the property, where its dramatic bell tower rises above the sidewalk.
The reverse side of the postcard describes Emmanuel Lutheran as “A Towering Witness for Christ since 1945” and notes that the church belonged to the American Lutheran Church. The description was certainly fitting, as the tall, narrow bell tower topped by a cross served as the building’s most distinctive architectural feature. Paired with the stone-faced sanctuary entrance and palm trees, the postcard captures a classic postwar San Fernando Valley scene.
Unlike many former Valley businesses and landmarks shown on old postcards, Emmanuel Lutheran Church remains remarkably recognizable today. A present-day view from Radford Street shows the bell tower still prominently standing, along with the original stone-faced entrance, cross detail and much of the church’s mid-century architectural character intact.
Naturally, the landscaping has matured and portions of the property have changed over the decades, but the comparison between the vintage postcard and the modern photograph reveals a rare example of a San Fernando Valley landmark that has survived largely faithful to its earlier appearance.
This postcard is more than a view of a neighborhood church; it is a wonderful architectural time capsule from an era when North Hollywood was rapidly growing with new homes, businesses, schools and places of worship. Decades later, Emmanuel Lutheran Church’s signature bell tower continues to rise above Radford Street as a familiar piece of North Hollywood history.
Postcard Details:
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
11919 Oxnard Street
North Hollywood, California
“A Towering Witness for Christ since 1945”
Published by Seabury & Company, Los Angeles, California
Postcard No. 85,553
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Marty Mcfly
Anything and everything about the San Fernando Valley. This blog will take you back in time when the valley was covered with dirt and orange groves to a leader in the space race to its current status as America's suburb. Come along and join me on this adventure, I guarantee you have been influenced/impacted by the San Fernando Valley in one form or another even if you have never visited or heard of the SFV.
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