Tag Archives: Oil
Panorama photo of oil derricks blanketing Long Beach, California, May, 1923
It amazes and shocks me to think that Southern California’s Long Beach ever looked like this. It was covered with so many oil wells that you can begin to think of counting them. (I bet somebody probably did, but they … Continue reading
Oil wells dot the La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, 1910
Lest we forget that the land north of Wilshire Blvd—now home to the La Brea Tar Pits Museum, the Park La Brea housing development, and The Grove shopping mall—was once empty land, here’s a photo of oil well dotting the … Continue reading
Pacific Electric Red Car heads south along Pacific Coast Highway near Huntington Beach, Los Angeles, August 24, 1946
Of all the streetcar rides you could take around Los Angeles, I would imagine this one might have been one of the more scenic routes. This is a Pacific Electric Red Car heading south parallel to the Pacific Coast Highway … Continue reading
Looking north over the wing of a plane showing the intersection of Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles. circa 1922
It’s not often we glimpse the aircraft from which aerial photos of Los Angeles are taken, but seeing the tip of a wing in this one makes it all the more dramatic. The intersection at the center of this photo … Continue reading
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Airports Aircraft Airlines, Oil, Wilshire Blvd
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Large white mansion surrounded by oil wells, Signal Hill, Los Angeles, circa 1930
I haven’t been able to establish where this photo was taken other than it was somewhere in Los Angeles. To my mind, the location is beside the point. What’s striking about this image is the contrast between the sprawling, luxurious … Continue reading
Mercury Aviation airplanes and a blimp parked at Chaplin Airfield, Fairfax and Wilshire Boulevards, Los Angeles, 1919
Back when Los Angeles was more open field than urban sprawl, Charlie Chaplin’s brother, Syd, leased property bounded by what is now Wilshire, Fairfax, and San Vincente, and named it Chaplin Airfield. In 1918, Cecil B. DeMille started the Mercury … Continue reading
Pacific Electric streetcar travel through Redondo Beach, south of Los Angeles, 1939
I would imagine that this would be one of the more scenic streetcar routes in all of Los Angeles. Here we’re seeing a Pacific Electric car on a track paralleling Redondo Beach, which is the third beach south of L.A. … Continue reading
Oil derricks crowd Huntington Beach, California, circa 1960s
I don’t know about you, but when I think of sunny days spent lazing on golden California beaches, I’m not picturing a forest of oil derricks chugga-chugga-chugging as far as the eye can see. In this circa 1960s shot, it … Continue reading
Looking north around an oil derrick in the middle of La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, 1938
I guess motorists of the 1920s and 30s got used to driving around Los Angeles and seeing oil derricks scattered across the landscape. But I wonder if any of these motorists driving on La Cienega Blvd (at around where the … Continue reading
Goodyear blimp at Culver City Airport, Los Angeles, circa late 1940s
When I came across this photo of the Goodyear blimp at Hughes Airport, I was struck by how little the design of the Goodyear blimp has changed over the years. This photo is circa 1940s but that blimp could be … Continue reading
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Tagged Airports Aircraft Airlines, Color photo, Goodyear blimp, Oil
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