Is there anything better than fishing at Echo Park? Not when you’re Molly & Jane. No sir.

The year was 1958.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Decorative lanterns and stately lamp posts. Horse-drawn carriages and streetcars. Men and women, strolling about in the fashion of the day. Was there ever a more beautiful time or place?

It was Fifth and Hill, in Los Angeles. The year was 1910.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

A subway station? Here? Such a debate would have been absurd at a sleepy little corner like Wilshire & Crenshaw.

The year was 1934.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

In their first two years of operation, they would build new streetcar lines from Third and Hill to Vermont and Exposition.

They were the men of the Los Angeles Traction Company. The year was 1897.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Pedestrian-friendly. Horse-and-carriage-friendly. A neighborhood where the bank, gym, church, and dentist were all within steps of each other, at the California Bank Building.

The year was 1899.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

The only Valentine on Wayne’s mind was his mother. There was no girl to worry about. No wife to make happy. Just candy for mom. Of course, none of it concerned Yogi. He was just happy to be with Wayne, wherever Wayne went, in a town called Los Angeles.

The year was 1958.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Photo

The scene was set in the lobby of a bustling train station. But, this was not New York. Or, Chicago.

It was Los Angeles. The year was 1956.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Throughout the quiet wheat fields and peach groves of the Valley, a real estate development boom was underway. To attract prospective homeowners to the neighboring glamour of a new suburbia in Lankershim, they would soon call it North Hollywood.

The year was 1926.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

From Vine Street, you couldn’t miss the year-old sign for the new real estate in the hills. Especially at night, when thirteen 50-foot letters and four thousand 20 watt light bulbs would pronounce “HOLLY”… “WOOD”… “LAND.”

The year was 1925.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

On payday, you rode the streetcar to Citizens National Bank at Third and Main. Maybe you spent that hard-earned money upstairs, on a $15 overcoat at Foreman & Clark. Maybe you didn’t.

The year was 1913.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

With just two days of shopping left, the Christmas rush was on at Seventh and Broadway.

The year was 1951.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

The tallest building in town was under construction. It would rise 454 feet into the air, made with sand from each of California’s 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions. It would become the new home of local government and civic pride. It would become Los Angeles City Hall.

The year was 1927.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

As the prosecution began its case in the War Crimes Trials at Nuremberg, 3000 G.I.s were back home, waiting in line for Thanksgiving Dinner at Castle Steak House. They were guests of the Los Angeles Herald-Express.

The year was 1945.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library

Downtown Los Angeles was no stranger to adaptive reuse. Dr. Walter Lindley built California Hospital at 315 W. Sixth Street in 1887. Years later, you could yourself buy a hat for $2.00, or rent a room for 50 cents at “The Lindley.”

The year was 1912.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Halloween. Celebrated with free carnivals for kids at all Los Angeles City Recreations and Parks Department Playgrounds.

The year was 1961.

Photo from the USC Digital Library