Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Early history of C. P. R. road
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Manuscripts
A collection of approximately 12,500 items from 1856 to 1930, it consists of letters, documents, account books, diaries, and letter books related to the business and personal lives of William S. Lowden and Henry L. Lowden. The collection contains family correspondence and records; business records of the three companies with which the Lowdens were involved: the Weaverville and Minersville Wagon Road Company, the Weaverville and Shasta Wagon Road Company, and the Lewiston Turnpike Company. Also included are miscellaneous land and legal papers as well as various mining and surveyors' reports, unsorted bills, receipts, and material related to the wagon road operations.
mssLowden
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Manuscripts
The collection consists of maps, field books, legal documents, business papers, and diaries related to the work of surveyors George Hansen, Alfred Solano, Sidney B. Reeve, and others. The maps and surveys in the collection are of the city of Los Angeles, Southern California ranchos, and subdivisions of the city of Los Angeles and neighboring towns. The collection contains over maps and sketch maps. Other subjects represented in the collection include: civil engineering, land subdivision, mines and mineral resources, and daily life in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.
mssSolano
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Visual Materials
This is a collection primarily of negatives and photographic prints depicting the growth of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California, from 1860s to 1980s. Many views are cityscapes or street views, showing buildings, storefronts, homes and roads, and documenting the use of railroads, trolleys, streetcars, and automobiles. There are many card photographs by early professional photographers, and also a number of snapshots made by amateurs, some in personal photo albums. The collection's scope also includes early views of many other communities in Southern California (and a few in other states); the beginnings of aviation in Santa Monica, including the first Douglas Aircraft Company buildings; a photo album of residents in Topanga Canyon, ca. 1913; automobile racing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, 1920s; maritime views; a photo album of U.S. troops in France during World War I; a 1949 real estate development in Apple Valley, California, and others. Besides photographs, a portion of the collection consists of scarce publications and historical ephemera, primarily related to Santa Monica and Los Angeles, including brochures, advertising cards, menus, event programs and other materials. Highlights of the Santa Monica images are aerial views of the buildings along the coast and pier (1920s); several views of the Arcadia Hotel (1880s); the Long Wharf and adjoining railroad and train depot; the first bath houses on the beach; the beach club culture of the 1920s and 1930s; the amusement piers of Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice; and the beginnings of the Douglas Aircraft Company. There is a large set of promotional photographs made late 1920s-1930s by Powell Press Service depicting people enjoying Santa Monica's beaches, clubs and outdoor recreation. An important subset within the collection is 407 negatives made ca. 1890 - 1908 by Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard (1842-1914). Hazard travelled around Los Angeles and vicinity photographing the adobes, houses, streets and storefronts that told the early history of the city. Many of Hazard's negatives have handwritten identifications, naming streets, former homeowners, ranchos, and other historical details. There are a large number of cabinet cards and other card-mounted prints and stereographs. There are 1,264 stereograph prints, highlighted by the works of photographic pioneers William M. Godfrey, Francis Parker, Hayward & Muzzall, and Carleton Watkins. Other formats represented are: glass and film negatives; panoramic prints; 7 photograph albums, photographic postcards, 20th-century color prints and transparencies; and a small number of tintypes, cyanotypes and a set of chromolithographs.
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Rare Books
34872
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Manuscripts
The collection chiefly consists of the administrative, scientific, and personal correspondence of Walter S. Adams spanning the years 1921 to 1956, including his work during World War II. Adams and the observatory staff worked, in secret, with the U.S. government and helped create prisms and optics for various types of binoculars and gun sights; the staff also assisted with aerial and naval defense and attack strategy. There is also material from Adams' retirement years. The collection also contains manuscripts and photographs (some of which are of the B-29 bomber), also dealing with Adams' astronomical work.
mssAdamsw
photCL 555