Tag Archives: 1800s
2nd St looking west from Spring St, downtown Los Angeles, circa late 1800s
There’s a lot of life going on in this pre-horseless-carriage photo taken in the late 1800s of downtown Los Angeles. Specifically, we’re looking west along 2nd Street from Spring St, only a couple of blocks south of where Union Station … Continue reading
Poppy fields around the intersection of Woodbury Rd and Lake Ave, Altadena, California, 1895
You’d never know it, but these six people were picking poppies at what is now around the intersection of Woodbury Rd and Lake Ave in Altadena, north of Pasadena. I don’t know if this was a poppy farm or these … Continue reading
Looking north up Main St from the John H. Jones residence toward Fifth St, downtown Los Angeles, circa late 1800s
In the late 1880s, John H. Jones was a bit of a big deal. He was a very successful real estate developer and active in city politics. That’s his house on the far left, but it’s not what I find … Continue reading
Sisters’ Orphans Home at 7th Street and Boyle Avenue in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, circa 1899
This rather spectacular estate was the Sisters’ Orphans Home. Built in 1890 by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul at 7th Street and Boyle Avenue in Boyle Heights just east of downtown, it was Los Angeles’ main … Continue reading
The ornate Bradbury Mansion, 147 N. Hill St, just south of Court St, downtown Los Angeles, circa late 1800s
This mansion is striking in a black-and-white 130-year-old photo; imagine how impressive it must have been to see it in real life. Built in 1886, it was known as the Bradbury mansion, named after Lewis L. Bradbury, who was hugely … Continue reading
Mansions and regular homes seen at Hill St near Fourth St in the Bunker Hill neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, circa 1880s
In the early days of Los Angeles, the rich built their fancy mansions on or near the top of the Bunker Hill neighborhood of (what we now call) downtown L.A. Not only because of the views, but the tops of … Continue reading
Incredibly ornate late Victorian mansion on Bunker Hill, downtown Los Angeles, late 1800s
I have no information on this house other than it stood on Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles in the late 1800s. Whoever owned it must have been very wealthy because all that incredibly detailed fretwork wouldn’t have come cheap, … Continue reading
Looking west across Los Angeles St. between 8th and 9th Streets, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1900
I guess this was the circa 1900 version of finding a place to park your car in downtown L.A. In this photo we’re looking west across Los Angeles Street between 8th and 9th. With all those wagons hitched to those … Continue reading
Panoramic view of Los Angeles Plaza and Old Plaza Church, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1869
Taken circa 1869, this is one of the oldest photos I’ve ever posted. It’s a panoramic view of Los Angeles Plaza and Old Plaza Church in what we now refer to as “downtown Los Angeles” but back then, of course, … Continue reading
Intrepid Angelenos cross the Circular Bridge on the Mt. Lowe Railway, San Gabriel Mountains, north of Los Angeles, circa late 1890s
The Mt. Lowe railway transported Angelenos from Altadena (just north of Pasadena) to a 70-room Victorian hotel called the Echo Mountain House and its neighbor, the 40-room Echo Chalet. Getting there entailed taking more than one form of railway and … Continue reading