There’s a lot of life going on in this pre-horseless-carriage photo taken in the late 1800s of downtown Los Angeles. Specifically, we’re looking west along 2nd Street from Spring St, only a couple of blocks south of where Union Station is now, but back then was home to Chinatown. How different the city must have felt back then with streetcars and horses providing most of the transportation, and the quickest way to reach someone was to pop into the telegraph office on the left and send a message to your cousin in Boise.

** UPDATE ** – The building with the turrets on the right in this photo was the Bryson-Bonebrake Block. The building on the left with the turret was the Hollenbeck Block/Hotel.

This is that same view in February 2021. It’s a shame we’ve lost those gorgeous Victorian buildings with the turrets, but at least the building on the right has been replaced by much-needed green space.