Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Visual Materials
A view of houses in the Highland Park Villa tract in Los Angeles. The houses on this tract are southwestern in style, with adobe walls and tile roofs. The hills in the distance and a few of the lots between the houses are still undeveloped.
photCL Whitt 1124 ; Whitt neg. 0042
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.
photCL 555
Visual Materials
Image of a crowd watching children and parade floats lined up in front of a building with a sign reading "Casino Dancing" for the Ocean Park Baby Parade in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California. Motion picture cameras can be seen at lower left and a marching band is in the background.
photCL_555_06_1285
Visual Materials
Image of the entrance and sign to Sunset Municipal Park, present-day Will Rogers Memorial Park, with stairs, palm trees, street lights, fountain, and the Beverly Hills Hotel visible in the distance in Beverly Hills, California.
photCL_555_06_1714
Visual Materials
A panoramic view of Beverly Gardens Park, in Beverly Hills, at the corner of Beverly and Santa Monica. The Beverly Gardens Park extends on either side of Beverly, which is in the center of the image. The park has wide, flat lawns with a few flower beds, paths, and young trees. On the right a large sign reading "Beverly Hills" stands behind a wide, shallow pool. Both the sign and the house on Beverly on the right are still there. Most of the land beyond the park is undeveloped. Writing in white in the lower left corner reads "Pierce ; 8020".
photCL 470 (131)
Visual Materials
Panoramic view of city of Hollywood, showing businesses, automobiles and houses; the Mulholland Dam and the “Hollywoodland” sign in hills in background. Signs can seen on the buildings for "Hotel Christie," "Hotel Mark Twain" and "Hotel Selma." There is also a sign in the hills that says "Bryn Mawr" and the letter "H" on the far right hill for Hoover High School in Glendale, California.
photCL 555
