**UPDATE** THIS IS ACTUALLY A PHOTO OF A MODEL OF WHAT 1850 LOS ANGELES WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE. (Scroll down for further info.)
After posting a daily vintage photo of Hollywood/Los Angeles/Southern California for more than 10 years, I suspect this might be the earliest known photo I’ve ever posted. Evidently, it was taken from a balloon in 1850. We’re looking at what was then the whole of Los Angeles (but of course is what we now think of as downtown LA.) Those two parallel streets are Main St and Los Angeles St, which are still there. It’s a little hard to see in this photo, but they’re leading to the circular plaza that’s also still there in front of Olvera St. Practically all the remaining land is wide open and cheap for the taking.
This is roughly how that view looked in 2024.
Could you imagine what land cost back then? A dollar an acre? Or trade it for a good horse? It was Hollywood (and air conditioning!) that brought everybody to LA, but that was a long time yet to come. Best story concerned the Warner Brothers, who gobbled up a lot of sandy lots in Burbank and made a film studio!
Thanks for the scenic memories. A real treat for all us locals!
You can really see how high those hills on the west used to be. Wow.
Happy Thanksgiving, Martin!