It was where men celebrated the end of a hard day’s work. Or, the beginning.

It was the New York Saloon at Third and Spring. The year was 1881.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library

Crowds of patriotic Angelenos gather to buy war bonds, watch the beauty pageant, and see a B-25 bomber up close.

It was Pershing Square in Los Angeles. The year was 1942.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library

Their motto was “Daily at Your Door,” and daily they came. Covering hundreds of miles every week, the Helms Bakery coach was always stocked with donuts, cookies, pastries and candies, and freshly-baked bread. And you thought food trucks were new.

The year was 1936.

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The future of transportation is the automobile. Streets that no longer need streetcars, no longer need streetcar tracks. Such was the case at Piedmont and North Figueroa.

The year was 1958.

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David Horsley arrives in Los Angeles with his motion picture company, Nestor Films. They would become the first studio in Hollywood, at Sunset & Gower.

The year was 1911.

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Tom Bradley was being sworn in as the first African American mayor of Los Angeles. His inauguration was not without controversy.

The year was 1973.

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Men of stature. Men of soap. John A. Forthmann Sr., Horace Forthmann, and J.J. Bergin, with the Los Angeles Soap Company.

The year was 1874.

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Officers in the Van Nuys Division of the LAPD are caught off-guard. Is that what we think it is?

The year was 1951.

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Goods were transported by horse and carriage. Streets had yet to be paved. But, the streetcars were rolling down Broadway.

The year was 1909.

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The Thirty-Eights used to call it the Old Fire House. Others also called the Los Angeles Plaza building home, as a hotel and saloon.

The year was 1920.

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860 North Gower was home to one of the Big Five – RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. It’s latest film was considered a critical success, but a box office failure. How would history come to remember Citizen Kane?

The year was 1941.

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You could have lunch for 40 cents, in a blimp at Florence & Fig.

It was the Zep Diner. The year was 1931.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library.

In town for a story about that new Disneyland opening? Working with colleagues at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner? Maybe you stayed here. Across the street.

It was the Case Hotel, at 11th and Broadway. The year was 1955.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

If you ordered carpet, it most likely arrived by horse and buggy, from the very heart of the city.

It was the epicenter of commerce. Third & Spring, in Los Angeles.

The year was 1905.

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As a tribute to those who have died in service to Country, they marched on Spring Street. It was the Memorial Day Parade. American pride was on display in Downtown Los Angeles.

The year was 1915.

Photo from the USC Digital Library