Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
The fair Elena : a legend of the old fort at St. Augustine
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Rare Books
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
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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Visual Materials
The collection consists of approximately 6,700 photographs, which includes photographic prints and 4 x 5 inch and smaller glass negatives, glass positives, film negatives and lantern slides depicting Southern California (mainly Los Angeles and nearby communities). The collection provides quite a comprehensive picture of the growth and development of Los Angeles at the turn of the twentieth century. The smaller format items are mostly copy negatives (not originals) taken by Ellis of images in other collections. Ellis copied the photographic holdings of, among others, Bancroft, Behrendt, Tyler, Hill, Ingersoll, Forman, Rowan, Foxley, Guinn, Fryer, A.W. Francisco, McPherson, Charles Prudhomme and William Burton. The collection is particularly strong in images of Central Los Angeles from the 1880s to the 1910s and Los Angeles County beach communities in the 1900s and 1910s. Also of note are images of sites and themes of historic or cultural significance, and portraits. In addition to images of central Los Angeles, the collection includes images of Los Angeles County beach communities, Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, and Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The historic and cultural sites include photographs of missions and churches; commercial, municipal and residential buildings, including historic adobes; schools and parks; railroads, emigration, and stagecoach routes; Campo de Cahuenga; Busch Gardens in Pasadena; the Modjeska home in Santa Ana; the Lake Vineyard, Sunnyslope, and the Rowland properties in the San Gabriel Valley; and images of Native Americans and Native American culture. Portraits include those of California pioneers, prominent Angelinos and San Diegans, including J. Lancaster Brent, George Horatio Derby, Hillard Dorsey, the Ellis Family, Judge A.J. King and family, Vicente Lugo, Charles Prudhomme, Truman H. Rose, William Rubottom, Abel Stearns, 1st Worshipful Master of the California Masonic Lodge Levi Stowall, and the Workman family. Some of the 4 x 5 inch and smaller glass negatives and lantern slides depict historic sites of Northern California, including mining camps of the California Gold Rush. There are also miscellaneous images pertaining to themes with no direct relationship to California or the American West, such as Freemasonry and general United States history. The United States history images include copies of Abraham Lincoln portraits and the Lincoln home in Kentucky as well as early American figures including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
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Visual Materials
The collection consists of approximately 6,700 photographs, which includes photographic prints and 4 x 5 inch and smaller glass negatives, glass positives, film negatives and lantern slides depicting Southern California (mainly Los Angeles and nearby communities). The collection provides quite a comprehensive picture of the growth and development of Los Angeles at the turn of the twentieth century. The smaller format items are mostly copy negatives (not originals) taken by Ellis of images in other collections. Ellis copied the photographic holdings of, among others, Bancroft, Behrendt, Tyler, Hill, Ingersoll, Forman, Rowan, Foxley, Guinn, Fryer, A.W. Francisco, McPherson, Charles Prudhomme and William Burton. The collection is particularly strong in images of Central Los Angeles from the 1880s to the 1910s and Los Angeles County beach communities in the 1900s and 1910s. Also of note are images of sites and themes of historic or cultural significance, and portraits. In addition to images of central Los Angeles, the collection includes images of Los Angeles County beach communities, Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, and Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The historic and cultural sites include photographs of missions and churches; commercial, municipal and residential buildings, including historic adobes; schools and parks; railroads, emigration, and stagecoach routes; Campo de Cahuenga; Busch Gardens in Pasadena; the Modjeska home in Santa Ana; the Lake Vineyard, Sunnyslope, and the Rowland properties in the San Gabriel Valley; and images of Native Americans and Native American culture. Portraits include those of California pioneers, prominent Angelinos and San Diegans, including J. Lancaster Brent, George Horatio Derby, Hillard Dorsey, the Ellis Family, Judge A.J. King and family, Vicente Lugo, Charles Prudhomme, Truman H. Rose, William Rubottom, Abel Stearns, 1st Worshipful Master of the California Masonic Lodge Levi Stowall, and the Workman family. Some of the 4 x 5 inch and smaller glass negatives and lantern slides depict historic sites of Northern California, including mining camps of the California Gold Rush. There are also miscellaneous images pertaining to themes with no direct relationship to California or the American West, such as Freemasonry and general United States history. The United States history images include copies of Abraham Lincoln portraits and the Lincoln home in Kentucky as well as early American figures including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
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