Tag Archives: 1800s
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
Looking north up Fair Oaks Ave past the Acme Hotel on the southwest corner of Dayton St, Pasadena, California, circa 1898
This photo takes us back to Pasadena in around 1898. We’re looking north up Fair Oaks Ave from the southwest corner of Dayton St. On the left we can see the Acme Hotel (surely they could have come up with … Continue reading
Engine Company 7 fire station at the corner of Maple and 24th Street, South Central Los Angeles, circa 1900
When was the last time you saw a fire station with a turret—or two? This one is a first for me. It was the Engine Company 7 fire station at the corner of Maple and 24th Street, South Central Los … Continue reading
Looking south along Grand Ave across Second St in front of the Richelieu Hotel, downtown Los Angeles, 1886
No matter how many photos I see of 19th century downtown Los Angeles, it’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it’s the same city I know so well. Case in point: this photo facing … Continue reading
Walking the shoreline of Newport Beach, California, circa 1890s
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I really don’t know how the Californians of the 1800s went to the beach dressed like this. I know it could have been winter and I know it was a more … Continue reading
Sacketts General Store (and Hollywood’s first post office) on the southwest corner of Hollywood and Cahuenga Blvds, Hollywood, 1898
Back—way back—when nobody had even heard of the movies, Hollywood was just a sleepy little town with a bunch of churches and no booze allowed. Central to the lives of the locals was this place: Sacketts General Store on the … Continue reading
Looking north up Main Street from Fifth Street, downtown Los Angeles, 1898
It’s hard to imagine that downtown Los Angeles ever had as much character as this. As a city grows—especially one that expanded as quickly as L.A. did in the first half of the 20th century—so does the demand for space, … Continue reading