History of Los Angeles

[18] The Spanish system called for an open central plaza, surrounded by a fortified church, administrative buildings, and streets laid out in a grid, defining rectangles of limited size to be used for farming (suertes) and residences (solares).

In exchange for their work as farm workers, vaqueros, ditch diggers, water haulers, and domestic help; they were paid in clothing and other goods as well as cash and alcohol.

Padre Vincente de Santa Maria was traveling with the party and made these observations: All of pagandom (Indians) is fond of the pueblo of Los Angeles, of the rancho of Reyes, and of the ditches (water system).

During the Gold Rush years in northern California, Los Angeles became known as the "Queen of the Cow Counties" for its role in supplying beef and other foodstuffs to hungry miners in the north.

They roamed the streets joined by gamblers, outlaws, and prostitutes driven out of San Francisco and mining towns of the north by Vigilance Committees or lynch mobs.

A 1996 archaeological excavation at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles uncovered a red light district that closed down in 1909 as well as a residential neighborhood and commercial area.

Based on artifacts and tools often used for the labor field inside the business, female attire, hairpins, jewelry, cosmetic containers, and others, were often found in the rooms that were leased for the use of brothels.

The Santa Fe and Southern Pacific lines provided direct connections to the East, competed vigorously for business with much lower rates, and stimulated economic growth.

Harrison Gray Otis, founder and owner of the Los Angeles Times, and a number of business colleagues embarked on reshaping southern California by expanding that into a harbor at San Pedro using federal dollars.

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce feared Southern Pacific controlling the port, and so attempted to favor the San Pedro location, sparking the Free Harbor Fight.

Otis Chandler and his allies secured a change in state law in 1909 that allowed Los Angeles to absorb San Pedro and Wilmington, using a long, narrow corridor of land to connect them with the rest of the city.

At this site, there was a 90 cm deep artifact rich deposit containing Chinese ceramics, Asian coins, opium pipe fragments, and game pieces were found as well as Native American pottery, ground stone, and antler flakers.

The L.A. Times wrote: "radical and practical matters (were) considered, and steps taken for the adaption of such as are adequate to cope with a situation tardily recognized as the gravest that Los Angeles has ever been called upon to face.

"[78] The authorities indicted John F. and James B. McNamara, both associated with the Iron Workers Union, for the bombing; Clarence Darrow, famed Chicago defense lawyer, represented them.

MGM produced fake newsreel interviews with whiskered actors with Russian accents voicing their enthusiasm for EPIC, along with footage focusing on hobos huddled on the borders of California waiting to enter and live off the bounty of its taxpayers once Sinclair was elected.

Sometime between 1899 and 1903, Harrison Gray Otis and his son-in-law successor, Harry Chandler, engaged in successful efforts at buying cheap land on the northern outskirts of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley.

[citation needed] On election day, the people of Los Angeles voted for $22.5 million worth of bonds to build an aqueduct from the Owens River and to defray other expenses of the project.

It boomed into the cinematic heart of the United States, and has been the home and workplace of actors, directors and singers that range from small and independent to world-famous, leading to the development of related television and music industries.

[94][95] African Americans particularly benefited from defense jobs created in Los Angeles County during the war, especially Terminal Island, where it was one of the first places of integrated, defense-related work on the West Coast.

Many military personnel regarded the zoot suits as unpatriotic and flamboyant in time of war, as they used a lot of fabric, coupled with widespread racism against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans as unintelligent and inferior.

When the local street car system went out of business due to the gas/automobile industry, Los Angeles became a city shaped around the automobile, with all the social, health and political problems that this dependence produces.

The San Fernando Valley, sometimes called "America's Suburb", became a favorite site of developers, and the city began growing past its roots downtown toward the ocean and towards the east.

The repeal of a law limiting building height and the controversial redevelopment of Bunker Hill, which destroyed a picturesque though decrepit neighborhood, ushered in the construction of a new generation of skyscrapers.

[98] Examples of communities in Los Angeles that were built with racial restrictions in deeds are Thousand Oaks, Palos Verdes, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Westchester, Panorama City, Westside Village, and Toluca Woods among others.

[102] In the 1930s, Okies from the Central United States settled in the Northern ends of Downtown Los Angeles, mainly they were White, but a large percentage were Cherokee (Native Americans) from Oklahoma.

The San Fernando Valley, which represented a bastion of white flight in the 1960s and provided the votes that allowed Sam Yorty to defeat the first election run by Tom Bradley, is now as ethnically diverse as the rest of the city on the other side of the Hollywood Hills.

[112] A subway system, developed and built through the 1980s as a major goal of mayor Tom Bradley, stretches from North Hollywood to Union Station and connects to light rail lines that extend to the neighboring cities of Long Beach, Norwalk, and Pasadena, among others.

As a result, the original subway plans have been delayed for decades as light rail systems, dedicated busways, and limited-stop "Rapid" bus routes have become the preferred means of mass transit in LA's expanding series of gridlocked, congested corridors.

[citation needed] Social critic Mike Davis argued that attempts to "revitalize" downtown Los Angeles decreases public space and further alienates poor and minority populations.

Progress was made in the installation of subway, light rail, and bus stations, but by late 2024, the promise to be "car-free" was seen as an unfeasible goal as many transportation projects had been delayed past 2028.

Yaanga was the most prominent Tongva village in the area.
The Spanish founded Mission San Fernando Rey de España in 1797.
Felipe de Neve , 4th Governor of the Californias , led the Pobladores to found Los Angeles in 1781.
The Founding of Los Angeles mural at the Los Angeles Central Library
El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument at Plaza de Los Ángeles .
The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles , built in 1814 over the ruins of the 1784 Asistencia de Los Ángeles .
Map of the Zanja Madre , an irrigation system created by the Spanish. It was maintained by the Zanjero of Los Angeles .
Eulalia Pérez de Guillén Mariné (c. 1766–1878) reportedly lived to the age of 112, living through the Spanish, Mexican, and early American eras in California.
The Ávila Adobe , on Calle Olvera , is the oldest residence in Los Angeles, built in 1818 by Francisco Ávila .
Map of the Spanish and Mexican ranchos of Los Angeles County showing the city lands and limits of the Pueblo of Los Angeles at center.
Californio statesman Pío Pico , who served as the last Mexican governor of California , played an influential role in the development of Los Angeles in the late Mexican and early American eras.
Depiction of Los Angeles in 1847, near the end of Mexican rule in the city.
The 1847 Battle of Río San Gabriel was a decisive victory of American forces against the Californios during the U.S. conquest of California .
The Treaty of Cahuenga , signed at Campo de Cahuenga in 1847, by Californio Andrés Pico and American John C. Frémont , ended the U.S. Conquest of California .
Manuel Domínguez , a signer of the Constitution of California , represented Los Angeles at the Monterey Constitutional Convention of 1849 .
The boundaries of Los Angeles in 1850, at a time when the city was only four square Spanish leagues in area.
Tongva women in the San Fernando Valley , circa 1890.
Narcisa Higuera, one of the last fluent speakers of the Tongva language , played a crucial role in its preservation.
1887 aerial view of Los Angeles
Reginaldo Francisco del Valle was instrumental in the creation of the Los Angeles State Normal School in 1882, which became the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Merced Theatre was founded in 1870, as the first theater in the city.
Streetcars in Los Angeles began to be utilized in 1874, initially as horse-drawn trams .
The Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad was the first railroad in Los Angeles, photo ca.1880.
Arcade Depot was the main passenger station for the Southern Pacific Railroad , from 1888 until 1914.
Beale's Cut , carved into San Fernando Pass in 1872.
San Pedro harbor in 1899.
Old Chinatown existed from the 1860s until the 1930s.
Oil wells along Venice Beach .
View of Spring Street in 1900.
Bunker Hill in 1900, viewed from modern-day Pershing Square .
Broadway in the Historic Core 1917
Brothers Ricardo Flores Magón Enrique Flores Magón were arrested in Los Angeles in 1917 for promoting anti-war and Anti-American causes.
Los Angeles River flooding in 1903
Los Angeles River at Griffith Park , c. 1898–1910
Workers assembling pipes for the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1912, built during the California Water Wars .
The Silver Lake Reservoir , built in 1906, is one of the oldest reservoirs in Los Angeles.
The original Hollywood Sign , 1923
Built in 1923, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted the 1932 Summer Olympics .
California Churrigueresque style St. Vincent de Paul Church , built in 1925.
Map of annexations to Los Angeles through 1916
Venice in 1906.
Los Angeles City Hall , built in 1928
The Central Library of Los Angeles Public Library , c. 1935.
Paramount Pictures , c. 1940
Hangar No. 1 was the first structure at Los Angeles Airport , built in 1929.
During World War II , the California Shipbuilding Corporation on Terminal Island was among the many builders that made the Port of Los Angeles one of the largest shipyards in the country.
Japanese Americans being forcibly removed to the Japanese American internment camps , c. 1942-45
Mexican Americans ( Chicanos ) being beaten by the U.S. servicemen during the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943
The " Battle of Los Angeles " was a false alarm invasion by Japan in 1942
Circus elephants with a police escort in Downtown LA, 1953.
The former Los Angeles County flag, used from 1967 to 2004.
The Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel was one of the most premier nightclubs in Los Angeles, from 1921 until the 1960's.
The Richfield Tower , an Art Deco landmark of 1929, was demolished in 1969.
Destroyed buildings in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots
The 405 Freeway mostly empty in March 2020, due to quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic