Nathan Masters
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About Me:
A writer specializing in Los Angeles history, Nathan Masters serves as manager of academic events and programming communications for the USC Libraries, the host institution for L.A. as Subject.
Tips? Questions? Email him at nmasters[at]usc.edu.
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My KCET.org Activities
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Long associated with Southern California's romantic mission past, the pepper tree was once the region's most iconic tree.
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In its early years, scented lemon groves surrounded a crossroads destined for fame but bearing an unfamiliar name.
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Remnants of the incline railway, which helped turn Avalon into a destination resort, still await adventurous explorers on Catalina's hillsides.
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Until 1889, Orange and Los Angeles counties were one.
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Black bears may be a surprisingly recent arrival to Southern California, but larger and more terrifying bears once roamed the Los Angeles area.
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A famous family of child actors became a family of news photographers, creating an indispensable visual record of 20th-century Los Angeles.
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From the 1880s through the 1920s, Southern Californians plunged into large, indoor pools just steps away from the Pacific Ocean.
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How did a real estate developer transform Mt. Washington's chaparral slopes into a residential community? He built an incline railway.
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Elysian Park, one of L.A.'s oldest parks, exists today because its rugged land was considered worthless.
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Native to the Los Angeles area, sycamores can grow to massive proportions, inspiring romantic tales and standing as tangible connections to the region's past.
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A popular outdoor retreat in the 1880s, Second Street Park became a casualty of industrial progress when L.A.'s first oil boom gripped the city in 1892. Today, not a trace of it remains.
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In 1877, parts of Los Angeles' Eastside began to resemble New York's second borough -- in name, at least.
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Angels Flight is a remnant of an earlier age. Incline railways once climbed hillsides and conquered steep grades across Southern California.
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Located in present-day Lincoln Heights, Eastlake Park was once the crown jewel of L.A.'s public park system.
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Thanks, Eric! I actually do have those numbers, which you can find in "Green Spaces in the Auto Metropolis" by Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, part of the 2012 book "Planning Los Angeles." It would seem that Griffith Park does not make up...
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When Los Angeles created Westlake Park in 1886, the site's use as a neighborhood dump had marred the beauty of its naturally occurring lake.
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Many of the city's earliest parks were created out of marshes, hills, and other lands then considered worthless.
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For as long as Southern Californians could remember, Castle Rock and Arch Rock stood sentinel along the shore between Topanga Canyon and Santa Monica.
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Winged rats? Until destroyed by a flood in 1914, a Los Angeles pigeon farm home to 100,000 of the birds was a big tourist draw.
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Wildflowers once blanketed hillsides and plains throughout the Los Angeles area where strip malls, suburban homes, and industrial warehouses prevail today.
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Spreading giants imported from Australia, Moreton Bay fig trees have become a cherished part of Southern California's arboreal heritage.
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The original canals of Abbot Kinney's Venice of America are lost to history, long ago filled in, paved over, and converted into residential streets.
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It must be at least 140 years old now. I snapped a photo of it a few months ago: http://instagram.com/p/MtuSQaNBJb/...
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It must be at least 140 years old now. I snapped a photo of it a few months ago: http://instagram.com/p/MtuSQaNBJb/...
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Posted Why Did a 1542 Spanish Voyage Refer to San Pedro Bay as the 'Bay of the Smoke'?
in SoCal FocusWhen Spanish explorers first visited the Los Angeles shore in 1542, they named the area the "Bay of the Smoke." -
In 1786, a sergeant in the Spanish army sketched what was likely the first map of Los Angeles.
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Thanks for the comment, Brady. You're right that the sketches cover other parts of California and do include a few views from outside the Golden State. And you're in luck, for they actually have been collected into a book. The...
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Well said, Massiel. You're right about the church and the Avila Adobe....
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The Los Angeles sketched by William Rich Hutton in July 1847 is virtually unrecognizable today.
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Its origin story is something of a mystery. Who took the photo, and when?
Recent Actions from Nathan Masters
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Thanks, Eric! I actually do have those numbers, which you can find in "Green Spaces in the Auto Metropolis" by Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, part of the 2012 book "Planning Los Angeles." It would seem that Griffith Park does not make up...
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It must be at least 140 years old now. I snapped a photo of it a few months ago: http://instagram.com/p/MtuSQaNBJb/...
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It must be at least 140 years old now. I snapped a photo of it a few months ago: http://instagram.com/p/MtuSQaNBJb/...
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Thanks for the comment, Brady. You're right that the sketches cover other parts of California and do include a few views from outside the Golden State. And you're in luck, for they actually have been collected into a book. The...
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Well said, Massiel. You're right about the church and the Avila Adobe....
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Great piece on a complicated subject. I recently wrote an essay myself about the myth of the Los Angeles desert. It's remarkable how common the notion is -- even among L.A.'s most incisive commentators -- that under our freeways and...
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Commented on El Aliso: Ancient Sycamore Was Silent Witness to Four Centuries of L.A. History
in SoCal FocusFinding El Aliso in those old photos was simply a matter of triangulation, and the tree certainly stands out among the city's one and two-story buildings. The 1857 date for that photograph comes from a caption by C.C. Pierce on... -
Thanks for the fascinating information, Paul!...
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Really interesting trivia, Walt. Thanks for sharing!...
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Thanks so much for your kind comments, Ryan and Philip! I'm glad you enjoyed the piece....
Responses to Comments from Nathan Masters
No recommendations yet.
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Long associated with Southern California's romantic mission past, the pepper tree was once the region's most iconic tree.
-
In its early years, scented lemon groves surrounded a crossroads destined for fame but bearing an unfamiliar name.
-
Remnants of the incline railway, which helped turn Avalon into a destination resort, still await adventurous explorers on Catalina's hillsides.
-
Until 1889, Orange and Los Angeles counties were one.
-
Black bears may be a surprisingly recent arrival to Southern California, but larger and more terrifying bears once roamed the Los Angeles area.
-
A famous family of child actors became a family of news photographers, creating an indispensable visual record of 20th-century Los Angeles.
-
From the 1880s through the 1920s, Southern Californians plunged into large, indoor pools just steps away from the Pacific Ocean.
-
How did a real estate developer transform Mt. Washington's chaparral slopes into a residential community? He built an incline railway.
-
Elysian Park, one of L.A.'s oldest parks, exists today because its rugged land was considered worthless.
-
Native to the Los Angeles area, sycamores can grow to massive proportions, inspiring romantic tales and standing as tangible connections to the region's past.
