If this had been a daytime shot, I doubt it would have even caught my eye, but with their signs lit up, I love the juxtaposition of having a store that sells shoes for $2.50 next to a bar. (The one of the other side sells seeds and poultry supplies, which you’d never find in downtown Los Angeles these days!) These stores were at 421 S. Main St when this photo was taken in around 1913, back when two bucks fifty probably bought you a halfway decent pair of shoes.
Andie P. says: “In 1912, the shoes would have been high top shoes, leather with cloth “uppers” and thinner soles (leather) than work boots for that price. All leather shoes would be more.”
Stanley G says: “Notice the double-track, dual-gauge street railway. The outermost rails on each track were used by standard-gauge Pacific Electric Ry. interurbans (the “Big Red Cars”) and streetcars. The rail closest to the center of the street on each track and the nearest rail away from that were used by the narrow-gauge streetcars of the Los Angeles Railway, ie the “Yellow Cars.”
There’s no trace of that building left. This is that same view in June 2022.
I’m surprised to see that a total eclipse of the moon was enough of an event to attract Angelenos all the way up to the Griffith Observatory on what seems to have been a chilly April 12th night in 1949. But there they all are crowded on the terrace that has a stunning view across LA. They were lucky the weather was clear that night and that the moon was very visible.
It’s amazing to think that downtown Los Angeles ever looked as genteel and regal as this. That huge home on top of Bunker Hill at 300 S. Olive was called the Crocker mansion. It was named after 
In this photo, we’re looking west along the south side of Wilshire Blvd past the Melody Lane restaurant coffee shop, over Beverly Dr. to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel at the Wilshire and Rodeo Dr. corner. This photo was taken in the 1950s before Rodeo Drive had evolved into a luxury shopping street. In the distance we can see the instantly-familiar hat-shaped sign of the Brown Derby on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Rodeo. (But don’t go there on a Thursday night. That was their busiest night of the week because it was the traditional maid’s night off.)
I couldn’t nail down a date for this photo of the Hollywood Bowl. The best I can do is that it must be after 1929 because that’s when the Bowl took on a concentric circle design. But with the on-stage choir organized in the shape of a cross, I’m guessing it was probably at Easter because the Bowl is famous for its Easter sunrise services. In fact, it looks like there was another huge choir standing four rows deep along the front of the stage. Together with the orchestra sitting stage left, I can only imagine the music all those people made that day.
This late 1950s photo is a little bit sad for me. We’re looking north up Highland Ave to Hollywood Blvd. The white building is the Hollywood First National Bank building on the northeast corner, which is still there. The church in the background is the Hollywood United Methodist Church, also still there. But the ugly gray-brown scaffolding on the left will soon become the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hollywood building, which opened in 1959, having replaced the Hollywood Hotel, which had stood on that corner since 1903. Yes, it was run down. And yes, it didn’t over private bathrooms which modern travelers required. But nevertheless it’s a shame we had to lose it. And for a boring, drab skyscraper whose only redeeming feature is that it’s no longer around.
This photo is a real early one! It was taken in 1888, when a group of around 30 passengers posed in front of Santa Fe Railway locomotive #13. They’re in the Arroyo Seco near Pasadena, which later became also the site of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, LA’s first freeway. It would have been a rough ride from Chicago back then, so I’m glad to see that most of them appear to be musicians. I hope they were able to provide some sort of entertainment.
I’m sure 1920s Angeleno drivers were used to see all kinds of craziness and kookiness when motoring around LA, but this sight must have swiveled the heads of even the most jaded locals. I don’t know what this guy was selling, but it seems he figured he’d attract attention if he rigged an ostrich to a cart and drove around town. He sure got noticed—by a cop who is pulling him over at 2922 W. Pico Blvd near Harvard Blvd. I don’t know exactly what he’d be charged with, but I’ve no doubt there was something in the cop’s handbook to cover even this situation.
This is photo dates all the way back to 1875, and shows horses and buggies lined up in front of the St. Charles Hotel (formally the Bella Union) on the 300 Block of N. Main St in downtown Los Angeles. (Of course back then, it was just “Los Angeles.”) Not only was the street not even paved yet, but as we can see from the “Rifle and Pistol Shooting” sign in the foreground, LA was still a wild west town.
Most photos of the cavernous 