You probably didn’t wake up this morning wondering how they moved palm trees in Los Angeles in 1913, but in case you did, this photo is for you. This palm tree was being moved from 1608 West 7th St in (what we now refer to as) downtown Los Angeles, and was bound for the Doheny Mansion at 10 Chester Place near the campus of the University of Southern California, south of downtown. Edward Doheny is the guy who discovered oil in California, so employing ten men and six horses to move a tree was easily affordable.

And here is another view of the Burkhard house and the freshly dug palm tree:

Doheny’s mansion is still there – and quite possibly that palm tree, too – and offers tours to the public.

The autocolorizer did a pretty good job with this one…although I wish it would color the sky with a nice shade of blue.