I love it when I find a shot by a photographer who has taken some time to line up an interesting angle. In this particular case, the photographer was standing in the forecourt of what was then the brand-new Los Angeles City Hall, which opened in April 1928. That double line of arches stand at top of the steps that lead down to Spring St. On the other side of the street, beautifully lined up through the arches is the old LA County Courthouse. It’s long gone now, of course, which is a shame, but it probably wouldn’t have survived any of LA major earthquakes.
Here are those same arches in June 2022.
In this photo we’re lucky enough to have had someone on hand with a camera, which I doubt would’ve have been too common in 1896. This scene shows us the April 1st opening of the electric railway from Los Angeles to Santa Monica. Judging from the size of the crowd, it looks to have been a highly anticipated event. I’d say there are far more people than there are available seats on the inaugural run. (I was unable to learn where this photo was taken, so if anyone knows, I’d love to hear from you!)
Until 1922, the Hollywood Lodge of the Masons stood on the site now occupied by the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars are held. I’m unclear about why, but they relocated across the street to 6840 Hollywood Blvd next to the El Capitan Theatre. Fortunately for them, their lodge master was Charles E. Toberman, who had built the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman’s Chinese, Roosevelt Hotel and the Max Factor Building, so getting the three-story building constructed wasn’t a problem. In 1942, the El Capitan reopened as the Hollywood Paramount Theater, so without any cars or women’s fashions to go by—it’s not often we see a deserted Hollywood Blvd—I’m guessing this photo is circa 1940s.
In this shot we’re seeing Germany race Italy in the Long Beach Marine Stadium during the Los Angeles Olympic Games in August 1932. The locals watching this race probably barely even noticed the forest of oil wells in the background, but I do wonder what out-of-towners and international competitors made of this sight. I also wonder what the television cameras would have done with them as they don’t exactly make the most scenic of backdrops to the competition.
This color aerial gives us a bird’s-eye view of what Disneyland looked like in 1963. It’s a reminder that 8 years after it opened, the place really wasn’t that big—at least, not compared to the two-park behemoth it is these days. Past that vast parking lot, it looks like a lot of that Anaheim land was still empty. And if you look near the bottom left corner, you can see a road breaking the perimeter tree line. Surely people couldn’t just walk in the back door like that?
Yesterday, I was researching the cavernous La Monica Ballroom on Santa Monica pier (that’s the place with the ten turrets in the background) when I came across this photo. That’s when I learned that there was something called the Catalina Steamer, which took people to Santa Catalina Island, which as the popular song taught us, was “Twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin’ for me.” This photo is from 1936, and from hordes of day-trippers, I’m guessing it was summer, and a VERY popular destination.
Every New Year’s Day, the city of Pasadena hosts the Tournament of Roses parade, in which the floats are made of flowers. This shot was taken on January 1st, 1946 and shows us, in vivid color, the float put together by the City of Los Angeles. Naturally, they went with the most iconic building downtown: LA City Hall. I’m not entirely sure, but I think the regal woman in the red cape and silver crown represents LA’s original name: “El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Angeles” which means “The town of the Queen of Angels.”
The triangular-shaped movie studio lot in Culver City bordered by Washington Blvd, Culver Blvd, and Overland Ave has been many incarnations over the years. When this aerial photo was taken in 1922, it was home to Sam Goldwyn’s Goldwyn Pictures. This was still the silent era, so those large buildings weren’t soundstages but filming stages. And in the bottom right corner we can see their large backlot. Two years after this photo was taken, Goldwyn sold his company, which became part of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer merger.
The degree of detailing that went into turn-of-the-century buildings never ceases to amaze and impress me. This was the Bryson-Bonebrake block on the corner of Second St and Spring St in downtown Los Angeles in 1905. It’s got balconies, arches, vertical motives, chevroning—and most of it above the second story where pedestrians will never see it. And you have to love the banner on the right: “Pasadena Floral Parade and Chariot Race.” Yes, that’s right, 
This is a turn-of-the-century image taken from a stereoview card of a palm-tree-lined street known as the “Avenue of Palms” which used to exist near the intersection of Adams Blvd and Figueroa St south of downtown Los Angeles and north of the USC campus. The street wasn’t paved yet, so during the winter, those horses pulling the carriage would have had a tough time of it between the mud and the loose palms fronds strewn across the street after a storm.