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Apparently getting the hell outta L.A. is sometimes all it takes to appreciate the city. As I'm off exploring the rest of the US I keep randomly running into LA history/trivia. So I know many of you **AHEM, yes you know who i'm talking bout** have lots of random LA knowledge and bits of history so I figured ya'lls can help me learn a lil more bout the city that I love to hate.
I'll start off first:
Did you know? In 1781 a small settlement was established near a river and named El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula then simplified to El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles. and now is just known as Los Angeles, or L.A...
So that wasn't really obscure LA trivia/history cuz I read it in the airport, and crossreferenced it with wiki...
Most people that have never lived in LA let alone have visited it will say LA is not a cultural city. For all the problems the city has I can't think of a better place with rich vaults of culture, art and recreation.
L.A has small pockets of historic sites buy I think thats what makes it so obscure, of course its 100 years younger than the east coast but I guess demolishing historic buildings and building new ones on top of em IS all part of L.A's culture.
Gizzard responding to a comment by sack or crack you choose
08.8.11 - 1:24 pm
Holy shit, that cycle roads of CA map... is that for real? Looking at that makes me feel like I was born 100 years too late. I love the ad for cycling clothing. And just barely does Levi's decide that's a market they want in on. Thos E. Kent for me good sir.
Hollywood high school was originally Hollywood Union High School. It's one of the oldest high schools in the west coast. Its original location was around three miles south of sunset and highland closer to LA high.
Here are some then-and-now photos of LA that someone shot from the LAPL archives.
There's also this archive of the street name history series that KPCC put together a few years ago, which is kind of neat.
And then there's a street name history video put together by the NHM, but I rarely have the patience to watch video on the web, so I don't know how good it is.
Speaking of the city as subject (and background, and character), if any of you haven't watched Los Angeles Plays Itself, you really should do so. Pronto.
Wrigley Field Los Angeles served as host to minor league baseball teams in the region for over 30 years, and was the home park for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League as well as a current major league team, the later Los Angeles Angels, in their inaugural season, 1961. The ballpark was also used as the backdrop for several Hollywood films about baseball, as well as TV series such as Home Run Derby.
Pershing Square was one time a place where people gathered to exchanged idea. It had gazebos that acted as soap boxes for people to speak to crowds. Over time it has transformed into a place that is not so people friendly and devoid of personal exchanges. I would love to see it transformed to place where people could get together and talk and exchange ideas, popular or unpopular. It would be a great issue that OccupyLA could take up.
Just in case you guys haven't checked this out, it's worth a look!
LAPL Facebook it's awesome that there's actually stuff that's worth reading on FB, but if you don't have an account, you can always check out the LAPL website to search for archived pictures.I can spend hours on here!
oops! i forgot to mention its the photo collections website, i'm sure the library has its own fb and twitter and whatever the hell is cool now a days :|
It's been a while since I read Joan Didion's Where I Was From, but it covers some similar territory - the influence of the railroad, the mythologies that were constructed around the "settlement" of California, &c. What's maybe more interesting than the history is the way she follows how the (generally quite flawed) stories that people told themselves about character and class and connection to the land have been carried through to today.
It's not really an LA-specific book, but it does have an extended section on the collapse of the aerospace industry in Southern California that's very much worth reading. I mean, the whole book is worth reading, but that's the LA part, which is the part that's relevant to the LA History thread.
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There are some nifty maps of LA and stuff, with full-size scans for downloading (!!), to be found on the 
