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Sources for The Air-Raid Sirens Became Street Furniture

Published Oct 10, 2026

Sources Used

  1. SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Guidelines for Evaluating Resources Associated with Military Institutions and Activities

    Los Angeles City Planning, Office of Historic Resources / 2019 / primary

    The citywide civil-defense context; postwar reactivation; the end of federal upkeep by 1980; the 1985 termination of monthly testing; SurveyLA eligibility standards and siren types.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  2. Building, Structure, and Object Record: Siren Nos. 8 and 93

    S. Murray and F. Smith for the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation / 2009-04-27 / primary

    Downtown siren locations; circa-1956 SD-10 installation; Federal Enterprises manufacture; the $500,000 system, 216 city sirens, telephone activation and reported 95-percent coverage.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  3. Service Manual: Outdoor Warning Sirens, Models 2, 5, SD10, STH10 and STL10

    Federal Signal Corporation / circa 1982 / primary

    The rotor-and-stator mechanism; pulsed-air sound production; omnidirectional operation; SD-10 housing and simultaneous dual-tone output.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  4. From the Archives: Air-Raid Sirens Installed in Los Angeles

    Scott Harrison / 2017-02-22 / secondary

    The January 1942 plan for 204 sirens, $47,000 cost, mounting strategy, block-scale coverage and January 19 traffic-signal test.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  5. The Region: Air-Raid Sirens Silenced

    Los Angeles Times Archives / 1985-01-30 / secondary

    The Board of Supervisors’ decision to end monthly tests; the approximately 400-siren county system; Kenneth Hahn’s false-security argument; consideration of disaster-warning reuse.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  6. Question Mark

    Los Angeles Times Magazine / 1992-01-26 / secondary

    The loss of federal siren funding, deterioration of the network and the absence of removal funding that left equipment in place.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  7. Historic Resource Report: Air Raid Siren No. 74

    Los Angeles City Planning / 2026-10-12 / primary

    The location at Avalon Boulevard and East 48th Street, identification as an SD-10 wire-spool siren and eligibility findings based on integrity and civil-defense significance.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  8. L.A.’s Old Air Raid Sirens Won’t Do Much in Case of an Attack, but Are Still Treasured by ‘Siren Hunters’

    Hadley Tomicki / 2022-03-11 / secondary

    Present-day visibility of surviving sirens, public interest in locating them and preservation concerns surrounding removed examples.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

  9. Air Raid Siren Los Angeles

    jondoeforty1 / 2009-02-04 / image-source

    Cover photograph identification, Boyle Heights location, creator, capture date and CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

    Accessed 2026-10-14

Image Sources

  1. A surviving air-raid siren on a pole in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.

    jondoeforty1 / 2009-02-03 / CC BY-SA 2.0

    Permission contact: No separate permission required when the CC BY-SA 2.0 license terms are followed; creator contact is available through the Flickr profile.

    Original file: https://live.staticflickr.com/3054/3251251101_3ea1d7d94a.jpg