The oldest building to remain in the district is located on 543 South Broadway Avenue—a three-story, 32,600-square-foot commercial space that is now occupied by Teresa's Bridals.

[3] The district became even more popular with the opening of Saint Vincent Jewelry Center, housed in the former Bullock's complex with a European-inspired alley of restaurants.

[8] Almost all of the buildings within the Jewelry District were designed for general office use with retail spaces on the street level,[9] with some large venues, such as the historic Loew’s State Theatre on 703 S. Broadway, which was built in 1923.

The buildings were limited to 150 feet by law, which was favored by architects and planners who saw the towering skyscrapers of the east coast metropolises as unsustainable and not conducive to the Southern California lifestyle.

Although many residents were living in apartment buildings at the time, the architects and planners argued that excessive vertical expansion would lead to inhumane overconcentration and congestion.