HISTORIC POSTCARDS FROM LA METRO COLLECTION

PRESERVING OUR VALLEY HERITAGE       2013

An important resource for Los Angeles transit history is in the Metro Library on the 15th floor of One Gateway Plaza next to Union Station. Here are three San Fernando Valley- related post cards from the Metro collection.

Little could these excited school children, riding on the last ride of cherished Pacific Electric Rail Road Motor Coach, know in 1955 they and their children would be paying a huge price to replace the Red Cars in 2013.  (click on image to enlarge it.)

In 1910, the Laurel Canyon Utilities Company ran the first electric trolly coach in America through historic Laurel Canyon.

When Norma Jean Baker was attending Van Nuys High School, and using the Red Car to get into the city, she might have been amazed that in 1956 a Metropolitan Coach Line would be used to promote her career as an actress and her new film "Bus Stop." 

THREE IMAGES OF OLD LOS ANGELES

2010  THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES

So that Liane Schirmer won't scold me, here's a continuation of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley's commemoration of the City of Los Angeles' big 230th birthday next year. We will be putting 230 historic images on our blog - Here are images 227- 226 - 225.

                                            
                                                  The Ambassor Hotel's Crystal Plunge 
                                              (click on image to enlarge)      August 15, 1939

" Mrs Emma H. Crowder 117 McGregor Street, Lebanon Tenn."
"Hello little girl, Suday afternoon. I am home, as blue as blue can be. Gee, how I wish you were here. Grammie Bell still very sick. Connie is better. Jean is spending the day with me, and Buddy has a broken toe. Too sad about Uncle Bill. Ethelbert has a new car. My mother was over to see Sue last Sunday, She is well. Lovingly yours forever, Maude "  

      When Tony Wilkinson and I were graduate students at USC, we lived at the edge of Saint James Park just off Adams and Figueroa in Los Angeles. This very beautiful Christian Science church was historic even then.  -  Historic postcards in the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - Gift from Gerald Fecht - December 2010 

Saint James Park - near Figueroa and Adams -

at the edge of the University of Southern California.

               Jan 1, 1910
"Miss Edna Buchannan, 584 Eath 9^th Street – Portland Ore. Having a fine time. Weather is fine. We see the airships. Went to a small moving picture show last night. Went to Westlake Park today and fed ducks.             Hazel"     

THE AUTOMOBILE COMES TO SAN FERNANDO IN 1910

2010 THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES

Automobile owned by the Tropel Family in 1910. Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - detail from a gift by Marc Wanamaker 2010 (click on image to enlarge)

Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Tropel are believed to have brought the first automobile to the City of San Fernando in 1910.


As The Museum Community grows, we expect to have Community Chairs for many elements of San Fernando Valley history. Transportation is already a main feature of The Museum's new website. Interested persons should contact Jerry Fecht (pronounced fate) at
1 (818) 347-9665

MONTIE MONTANA - BELOVED SAN FERNANDO VALLEY COWBOY

2010 THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES Northridge100

Montie Montana - Beloved Valley Cowboy Star - Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley 2010

Among the major celebrities who have lived and worked in the San Fernando Valley was Owen Harlen Mickel, better known as America's beloved Montie Montana. From his ranch home in Northridge, Montie worked at the world famous Republic Studios in Studio City and many other film studios in the Valley and Los Angeles.

Montie Montana was born on the 21st of June 1910, appropriately in Montana. He died on the 15th of December 2009 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Chatsworth. Montana's amazing riding and roping skills not only won him many roles in film but also caused him to be elected to the Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Always willing to lend his name and presence to Northridge charity events, Montie Montana is perhaps best known for his surprise, with the new president's permission, of roping Dwight D. Eisenhower during the inaugural parade.

A GREAT AUCTION IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

2009 - The Year of Valley History
Likely the auction of livestock from the Van Nuys and Lankershim Ranches in 1911 - Photo gift from David High - July 2009 Refer to photograph HC-27
Richard Hilton, Director of Tour Operations for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley comments:
" I am suspecting it is February 22, 1911, auction day in Van Nuys. It would be looking South from what is today Van Nuys Blvd. with the Santa Monica Mountains in the background. The train would be the Southern Pacific on the tracks just north of Oxnard Street. I have never seen this photo before. It's great! What a great find these shots are."
Note: Mr. Hilton is planning a special walking tour of downtown Van Nuys this fall.

More from Richard Hilton
Okay, now I am thinking that this was the Lankershim/Van Nuys auction of ALL their farm equipment, livestock, etc. of the several different ranches held by the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Co. It was held November 4, 1910 and was a huge event; over 2,000 people there. The Times reports 7 special RR cars packed to the gills and a 100 cars there. It was held at the Kester Ranch just South of the Southern Pacific tracks at Oxnard and Van Nuys Blvd. Another was auction was going to be held later at the Patton Ranch which is just Northwest of Rancho Los Encinos. So... I think now that this is that auction, especially if it said "auction" on the photo. I think this is looking north as the RR tracks are in the background and the cars would be parked south of the tracks because that is where the Kester Ranch was.
Richard


We are checking with Bill Carpenter of the historical museum at LA Valley college to see if this photograph, from the High Collection, matches similar images in the college's collection.

Your Museum is a proud member of the LA Heritage Alliance.

RARE LOS ANGELES AQUEDUCT PHOTOS FROM 1910 DISCOVERED

2009 - The Year of Valley History

Hydraulic mining for the Los Angeles Aqueduct 1910 - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley by David High: July 2009 (refer to photo HC-20

Hydraulic mining for the Los Angeles Aqueduct 1910 - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley by David High: July 2009 (refer to photo HC-21

When I first examined these two photographs from The Museum’s exciting new High Collection, I assumed they featured an hydraulic mining venture somewhere near the San Fernando Valley. After all, early placer mining occurred in the late 1850s under the auspices of the Missions San Fernando Rey de Espagña and Buenaventura, in the Newhall and Castaic areas north of the San Fernando Valley.
But a search of the wonderful photography collection of the Los Angeles Public Library revealed an exciting alternative. Looking under “hydraulic mining”, I found a photograph (number S-002-182.2 4x5) that showed almost identical features to the two photos in our collection. And, to my surprise, the hydraulic pressure hoses were being used to construct the Los Angeles Aqueduct around 1910.
The horizon reveals a possible square building in both the High Collection photos and the Water and Power photograph in the Library’s collection.

Want to join The Museum Community as a history detective? Call 1 (818) 347-9665 and make a difference.
The San Fernando Valley, in the heart of the Creative Center of the World, deserves a great Museum of history and culture.