During Hollywood’s heyday, the movie studios had large ranches in the San Fernando Valley, where land was still cheap. It gave them lots of room to create expansive backlot sets. In this aerial shot, we’re looking at RKO’s ranch in Encino. (For the record the ranch was located approximately between Louise Ave on the west, Balboa Blvd on the east, Burbank Blvd on the south, and Oxnard St on the north.) On this property their Western street intersected with New York street (It’s all about where you point the camera!) The building on the right with the three pointed arches was Notre Dame in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” (1939) This is also where Frank Capra built 4 acres of sets for “It’s A Wonderful Life.” I don’t have a date on this photo but I’ve see other photos from the early 1950s that looked similar to this one.
** UPDATE ** – Craig M. “The Genesee St set was not built for It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s the original Modern St set from the film Cimarron in 1931, and was redressed for IAWL in 1946.
Gary H. says: “I believe the aerial photo was taken in 1953. The It’s a Wonderful Life set is in your photo, running east/west from about Louise Ave to Wish Ave, 6 houses north of Hatteras Ave.”
The ranch was sold in 1954 and is now half housing and half sports grounds. This image is from 2024.
** UPDATE ** Gary H. says: “The soccer and baseball fields are outside of the original lot. In the old photo, the tall tree line on the east side is the divider.”
You can see more more pictures of the RKO Encino Ranch HERE.
Starting in the 1930s, the windmill-topped Van de Kamp bakeries were a common and welcome sight for hungry Angelenos in search of delicious baked goods. (And let’s face it, who isn’t?) But I suspect this one at San Fernando Rd and Fletcher Dr. in Glendale was the very first one they built because that long, pale building behind it was the company’s headquarters (built in 1930.) So I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to suppose that they would build their first windmill café next to their factory. This photo is dated 1936, proving traffic jams existed back then, too!
When this photo was taken on May 4, 1939, the Los Angeles Times building at the corner of First and Spring in downtown Los Angeles had been open for four years. The Art Deco building had quickly become an iconic part of the LA skyline—and still is, even though it’s now empty. This shot was taken from the gardens of LA City Hall, which must have been a nice respite for city workers looking to eat their lunch in the shade.
Following on from 
Attached to the Biltmore Hotel at the intersection of Fifth and Olive Sts in downtown Los Angeles, Biltmore Theatre was a popular venue for live shows from 1924 to 1964. But the opening of the Music Center a few blocks away meant it was no longer needed, so down it came in late ‘64. And that’s what we’re seeing in this photo looking southeast along Fifth St. But it’s easy to be distracted from that unfortunate event by the streetlight in the foreground. Being so tall, we seldom get to see one this close up, so this is a rare opportunity to appreciate their ornate design, and marvel about how much thought and detail went into something that most Angelenos would never see up close.
In this circa 1928 photo, we’re looking north up the 600 block of S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. We can see signs for Desmond’s (men’s clothing), Schaber’s Cafeteria, and See’s Candies. Look at the detailing on all that decoration above See’s sign and embedded in the building and along the top of the Schaber’s building. And don’t miss the sidewalk. It was quite common on those days for businesses to lay terrazzo in eye-catching patterns to attract the attention of passers-by with the hope of luring them inside. A lot it is still around and would probably work better nowadays with everyone staring down at their phone.
Kress opened its five-and-dime store at 6066 Hollywood Blvd in 1935, but I don’t know if JJ Newberry came later or was already there. But either way, I’m left to wonder if they fiercely competed with their neighbor to wrestle the nickels, dimes, and quarters out of the pockets of Hollywoodians. But it must have been convenient for the locals – if Newberry didn’t have what they were looking for, they could go next door to see if Kress did. But aside from all that, look at how gorgeous the architecture was—and they were just five-and-dime stores! This photo was taken in 1937, and from the holiday wreath on the left, I’d say it was around Christmastime.