No matter how many photos I see of downtown Los Angeles in the 1890s, I will always be amazed at how spread out and low-key and quiet it was before the discovery of oil and the development of the movies. In this photo, we’re looking northwest from Temple St between Broadway and Spring St in 1892. There are still many homes in the area, but commercial buildings like the one in the foreground have started to dominate. The large building in the right-hand background with the tower was LA’s second city hall and would be replaced by the now-iconic Los Angeles City Hall in 1928.