In this photo we’re looking east along Sunset Blvd from Fairfax Ave. It looks like the city is in the process of turning Sunset from a dirt path into a sealed road. And it’s a good thing, too, because this photo was taken in 1902, so the onslaught of horseless carriages is on the horizon, and after that, the morning peak hour isn’t too far away.

Matt H. says “t first glance, I thought that person was standing in what we would see today as a center median, something quite unnecessary in 1902! He is standing in what is known in roadway engineering as the “parkway” – the landscaped area between the roadway curb and the sidewalk. Since we’re looking east, this is the north curb (no gutters to collect rainwater yet), and the curb return to northbound Fairfax. Power lines are visible on poles in the parkway, with trolley poles, to the right, with their cantilevered arms, in what would be the median of the Sunset roadway.”

This is roughly that same view in February 2021.