CARMAGEDDON: Woman Designs 405-10 Interchange!
Speaking of CARMAGEDDON, here’s an April 6, 1964, profile by The Times’ Dorothy Townsend of freeway engineers Marilyn Reece, who designed the 405-10 interchange and Carol Schumaker, who designed and...
View ArticleFound on EBay – Arroyo Seco Parkway
This postcard of the new Arroyo Seco Parkway, a name that has been restored after decades of being called the Pasadena Freeway, has been listed on EBay. For more than a year, drivers have had to...
View ArticleL.A.’s Traffic Nightmare Threatens Downtown’s Future! Oct. 28, 1941
Oct. 28, 1941: Lee Shippey writes about Los Angeles’ congested streets (no, traffic is not a new problem – it’s a very old one that we are still trying to solve). Notice that Shippey says streetcars...
View ArticleU.S. Urged to Evacuate Japanese Immediately
Jan. 31, 1942: Members of Congress from the West Coast call on the U.S. to expedite the evacuation of “enemy aliens,” a term that includes native-born people of Japanese ancestry. Officials concede...
View ArticleL.A. Welcomes Harbor Freeway Extension With Four-Block Traffic Jam
Aug. 8, 1953: An extension of the Harbor Freeway carrying traffic into downtown Los Angeles opens — and is jammed immediately. Traffic engineers say the backup was caused by the timing of the signals...
View ArticleArchitectural Ramblings
A Trip to Oxford Avenue Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Here’s an interesting contrast: Oxford Avenue between Washington Boulevard and the Santa Monica Freeway and Oxford Avenue north of...
View ArticleJan. 27, 1907: L.A. Studies Elevated Trolley Line to Ease Traffic
Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 27, 1907 Los Angeles One thing you can say about Angelenos: We love to talk about traffic. The only thing we love more is to commission studies and draft...
View ArticleFeb. 28, 1907: Edison Crew Cuts Down 300-Year-Old Oak to Keep Power Line...
Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 28, 1907 Los Angeles An old and massive California live oak used to mark the division between three Spanish land grants lies in pieces on the ground...
View ArticleMarch 15, 1907: In Which We Begin
Note: This is the beginning of the 1907 blog, which I began March 15, 2006. This followed the original cycle of the 1947project, begun by Nathan Marsak and Kim Cooper on March 13, 2005. As I began to...
View ArticleSept. 13, 1947: The Light Rail That Failed — Transit Plan Calls for Trains on...
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Someday an inquisitive person studying the history of transportation and urban planning will tell the world exactly...
View ArticleNov. 24, 1907: Roving to Monrovia
Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Nov. 24, 1907 Monrovia The Times real estate section takes a look at what was then the distant suburb of Monrovia, 22 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The...
View ArticleNov. 30, 2006: Architectural Rambling
Here’s the former Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena, now the Grace Brethren church. Note: This is an encore post. Nov. 30, 2006 Los Angeles I don’t think anyone who knows both of us will...
View ArticleFreeway Trench Cave-In Kills Boy, 6
May 23, 1960: Kelly "Randy" Holmes of 2829 Allesandro St. is killed when he is buried under four feet of dirt while playing in a trench for the Golden State Freeway near what is now the interchange...
View ArticleNixon Rejects ‘Liberal’ and ‘Conservative’ Labels
June 21, 1960: E.W. Darby of the Chicago Sun-Times says Vice President Richard Nixon is "impatient with such labels" as "conservative," "liberal" or "progressive conservative." "I think it is...
View ArticleThe Arroyo Seco Parkway Revisited
Los Angeles Times file photo Photograph by Larry Harnisch / Los Angeles Times I did a series of posts two years ago for the 70th anniversary of the Arroyo Seco Parkway. You can find them here.
View ArticleMatt Weinstock, Aug. 17, 1960
Aug. 17, 1960: A motorist wins a battle over a parking ticket (it wasn’t filled out properly) … and one Whittier market has such a problem with kids stealing cigarettes it doesn’t even bother to...
View ArticleBus Strike Begins!
Nov. 16-21, 1960: Another bus strike ends after six days, with MTA mechanics winning a raise of 54 cents an hour to be given in three steps. Officials say that the raises will probably...
View ArticleJimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Dec. 30, 1940
Rose Queen Sally Stanton, Gov. Culbert Olson and Highway Patrol Chief E. Raymond Cato at the ribbon cutting of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway), Dec. 30, 1940....
View ArticleMTA Plans Rapid Transit Route From Century City to El Monte!!
May 15, 1961: The Metropolitan Transit Authority announces plans for a rapid transit system from Century City to El Monte! The proposed line, including 12 miles of subway, would extend...
View ArticleFound on EBay – 1947 Thomas Bros. Guide
A 1947 Thomas Bros. guide has been listed on EBay. These are terrific resources (the Daily Mirror HQ has a small collection of them) showing what Los Angeles looked like before freeways. The...
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