Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Visual Materials
Visual Materials
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Visual Materials
Image of Lourdes Grotto, a devotional garden with religious statues at the Church of the Immaculate Conception located on Ninth Street (now 1433 James M. Wood Boulevard) in Los Angeles, California.
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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
Image of buildings, automobiles, street, and traffic lights on Wilshire Boulevard as seen from the intersection of Irolo Street, with the Wilshire Christian Church at center left, in Los Angeles, California. Various signs on the boulevard read "Elise Helen excellent full course dinners" "KFAC," which is attached to the radio station transmission tower, the "Gaylord" building, "Standard Oil Products," "Standard Stations Inc." A double-decker tour bus, gasoline service station, and the Brown Derby restaurant are also visible.
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Visual Materials
Image of the Church of the Good Shepherd with twin bell towers and frontispiece in Beverly Hills, California. Railroad tracks and a bench which reads "Eastern" can be seen in the foreground.
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Visual Materials
Image of the bell towers, frontispiece, stairs and church doorway of the Mission Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California.
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Visual Materials
Looking southeast at the Flower and 5th Streets intersection towards Los Angeles Central Library. Steel skyscraper, 515 South Flower Street, of City National Plaza (formerly ARCO Plaza) taking form at right. Church of the Open Door, with its Jesus Saves rooftop sign, to the right of the library. Crocker Citizens Bank skyscraper towers over its neigbors.
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