Picking beans on the Hammel and Denker ranch in present-day Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, circa early 1900s

Picking beans on the Hammel and Denker ranch in present-day Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, circa early 1900sAs hard as it is to believe, these people are picking beans on what was known at the time as the Hammel and Denker ranch but later became known as Beverly Hills. This photo was taken circa early 1900s, when much of the 3,055-acre was ranch used to grow beans. But around this time, a group of investors formed the Amalgamated Oil Company and went looking for oil. So it’s possible that this crop of beans was the last to be farmed before Amalgamated Oil vainly searched for oil and was later forced to resort to their backup plan: a housing development. I’d say things worked out for them in the long run.

I thought this auto-colorized version did a pretty good job bringing this scene to life.

 

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4 responses to “Picking beans on the Hammel and Denker ranch in present-day Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, circa early 1900s”

  1. Paula Carr says:

    The stereotype of Los Angeles is as a land of orange groves, but when my parents bought their house in Culver City, they were told it had been a bean field. I think L.A. is more like the land of beans!

    • The story I was told was that they were lima beans because that was a cheap and plentiful source of protein, and which grew well in LA soil. It sounds reasonable to me!

      • Paula Carr says:

        It’s funny… my folks always said “bean fields.” They never specified which beans. Lima beans are as good as any, I suppose!

  2. ANTOINE MERKEL says:

    very interesting
    A.M.

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