LA as Subject

Who Eucalyptized Southern California?

2012-05-17T18:04:38+00:00

Although the orange and the palm loom large in Southern California's iconography, another imported tree -- the eucalyptus -- has been almost as prominent a feature of the region's landscape.…

From Plaza Abaja to Pershing Square: L.A.‘s Oldest Park Through the Decades

2012-05-10T03:09:13+00:00

Downtown L.A.'s emergence as a residential neighborhood has focused attention on the area's dearth of green park space and, with it, the perceived shortcomings of the city's oldest park:…

From Roosevelt Highway to the 1: A Brief History of Pacific Coast Highway

2012-05-03T02:10:16+00:00

Admired for its scenery and dreaded for its traffic -- as well as the landslides that occasionally render it impassable -- Pacific Coast Highway is perhaps Southern California's most iconic…

SoCal and Astronomical History: The Big Bang Theory, the Demise of Pluto & More

2012-04-26T01:00:25+00:00

With L.A.'s night sky shrouded in a veil of smog and light pollution, Southern California might seem an unlikely place for star-gazing scientists to congregate. But before population growth…

L.A.‘s Secret Gardens: The California Botanic Garden of Mandeville Canyon

2012-04-18T23:19:43+00:00

Now that warm weather has returned to the region, many Southern Californians are rediscovering the botanical joys of spring, from hillsides blooming with wildflowers to strolls through the…

How the Miracle Mile Got Its Name: A Brief History of L.A.‘s Unlikely Retail District

2012-04-11T23:20:03+00:00

In 1921, the stretch of Wilshire Boulevard now known as the Miracle Mile was a 20-foot-wide dirt road, flanked by oil wells and barley fields. Today, the strip is a busy thoroughfare, home to…

Canoga Park at 100: A Brief History of the Birth of Owensmouth

2012-04-04T23:18:54+00:00

One hundred years ago last Friday, a town named Owensmouth was born on the barley fields of the San Fernando Valley. "Like an eaglet bursting asunder the egg which nourished its embryonic life,"…

Rail Returns to the Westside: The Expo Line’s Historical Precursors

2012-03-29T22:34:28+00:00

When the long-awaited Expo Line opens on April 28, riders will be retracing a historic route through the city. Although its tracks, signals, and power lines are all new, much of the light rail…

Earth, Water, Air, Fire: A Historical Look at SoCal’s Troubled Relationship with Nature

2012-03-22T00:00:22+00:00

Is Southern California a paradise? According to classical thought, what distinguishes a paradise from a wild wasteland is a proper balancing of the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. A…

Photos: L.A.‘s First Railroads Connected the Region to the Global Economy

2012-03-15T00:00:07+00:00

In December, the city's Bureau of Street Services announced that it would remove the railroad tracks running down Alameda Street's center lane between First and Seventh streets. Lying dormant for…