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Round House, ca. 1885. While still the Garden of Paradise or soon after, the Old Round House veranda and porch were enclosed with siding, turning it into a 12-sided structure. Photograph courtesy of California Historical Society Collection, USC Libraries
Forgetting is famously what Los Angeles does best. But despite erasure, memories do have a place in Los Angeles. Some are official monuments. Some are in ruins and need critical excavation. Some require the imagination to be seen. Here are some places of memory lost to time.
A black and white photo of Edward Roybal, a middle-aged man in a full suit, sitting behind a large office desk full of stacks of papers. Roybal holds a landline phone up to his ear. Behind him are various plaques, framed documents and other accolades. The U.S. flag stands on the left and the California state flag stand on the right.
Edward Roybal served his constituents as California's first Latino in Congress for 30 years, yet it was his work as a Los Angeles City Councilman that not only laid the foundation for his national career but also speaks to a number of issues affecting Angelenos today.
A black and white collaged image of a newspaper ad overlaid semi-transparently over an image of oil wells. The newspaper ad reads, "'Everybody's Doing It' 'Doing What.'" In the center stands a C. C. Julian — a man in a tailored suit and fedora hat with his thumbs hanging off of his pockets.
Booster optimism, unregulated stock speculation, a culture of civic corruption, the power of new advertising media and the cunning of stock promoters fed the Julian Pete swindle — a scandal that defrauded tens of thousands of investors of over $150 million.
A painted postcard of a field of red poinsettia flowers scattered at the foot of a hill slope. A rectangular building can be seen at the top of the hill. The painting is framed by a yellowing cream color with, "779 Poinsettia Field, Hollywood, Calif." written on the top border.
While poinsettias had already been available at nurseries across the U.S. and Los Angeles, it was the Ecke family who transformed the poinsettia market from selling cut flowers as bouquets to selling them as indoor potted plants for Christmas.
A vintage colored photo of three vintage vehicles parked at the top of a dirt hill while people stand outside of the cars, looking at a large fire at an oil refinery below. Large, thick black plumes of smoke emerge from the orange blaze An oil well can be seen to the left.
On May 22, 1958, a series of oil spills and explosions ignited the Hancock Oil Refinery in Signal Hill, burning for two days and sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air. Writer D.J. Waldie, who was 9-years-old at the time of the fires, recalls the explosive event.
A black and white photo of a clocktower jutting out of a building with ornate, Art Deco-style architectural features. At the foot of the building is a marquee board, displaying various titles. The building is on a busy downtown city street, surrounded by other towering buildings. On the street, vintage carriages zoom on the street and pedestrians walk along the sidewalk.
In the mid-1800s, public clocks served as type of civic authority as they centralized the town's time while introducing the idea of organizing days around the hours and minutes of clock time.
A black and white aerial view of Los Angeles Harbor facing east. Visible: Terminal Island, San Pedro, Wilmington, Los Angeles Harbor Main Channel, Smith's Island, Mormon Island, Cerritos Channel, Dominguez Channel, Los Angeles Yacht Club, Fish Harbor and canneries, United States Customs, United States Coast Guard, United States Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, INS Bureau of Prisons, Long Beach Harbor.
The socially and historically complex Terminal Island has become a mono-culture of standardized, containerized commerce. Writer D.J. Waldie recounts a personal history of a once scruffy seaside that is now the nation’s top cargo port.
A library hall is full of various table booths set up with photographs propped up on easels and displayed on screens. Visitors walk through the aisles. Above, ornate vintage lights hang from the ceiling.
Every year, Southern California museums, libraries and archives come together at the annual Archives Bazaar to exhibit historic items and artifacts. Here are 8 collections and historical organizations whose archives tell a fascinating story of L.A.
A photo of avocados hanging off a small tree. The background is black and white while the tree and its leaves and fruit are a green shade.
The history of commercial avocados in California comes from a collection of chance discoveries, Indigenous heritages exploited and improbable survivals that were ultimately hitched to the power of California's industrialized agriculture.
Los Angeles, undated by William Reagh (Getty)
Authors, former students, colleagues and friends reflect on the legacy, impact and generous spirit of the late Mike Davis — a social historian and professor emeritus whose writings and teachings on power and social class in Los Angeles inspired and guided an entire generation of L.A. and urban historians.
A black and white archival image of a cemetery with gravesites sparsely scattered across the ground, marked various sized and shaped crosses. Many of the crosses are encircled with a wooden fence. Beyond, is a mountain and trees.
The deaths of early Angelenos didn't always lead to eternal rest. When the first Catholic, Jewish and Protestant cemeteries in Los Angeles were abandoned by 1910, the displaced dead were scattered to other cemeteries — but not all were found and reburied.
A black ink illustration of the Angels Flight in Los Angeles and a downtown storefront arranged side-by-side.
In November 1935, Los Angeles Times reporter Timothy Turner and staff artist Charles Owens began a year-long ramble through the historic core of downtown. The Times published more than 40 vignettes of the city's aging Victorian mansions, derelict theaters and other survivals of the 19th century.
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