Nathan Masters
Nathan Masters is host and executive producer of Lost L.A., an Emmy Award-winning public television series from KCET and the USC Libraries. The show explores how rare artifacts from Southern California's archives can unlock hidden and often-surprising stories from the region's past. Nathan’s writing has appeared in many publications, including Los Angeles Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. He also helps manage public programs and media initiatives at the USC Libraries, home to the L.A. as Subjectresearch consortium.
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Freeways once represented L.A.'s best hope for the future, as these photos illustrate.
Long before concrete, iron enabled L.A. to enter the modern age.
The progress concrete once embodied seems today as brittle as some of its aging structures.
Taken from a hot air balloon, it was probably the first aerial photo of L.A.
The unusual traffic hazards – the result of deliberate town planning – became local landmarks.
It opened one year after Venice of America – that other Southern California development boasting saltwater canals and an Italian name.
The California Branch State Normal School occupied a hilltop site in downtown L.A. The teacher's college later became UCLA.
The American Civil War inflamed passions in distant Southern California.
Ancient oaks and sycamores marked the boundaries of many Mexican-era rancho land grants.
With its 32 percent grade, how did Baxter Street ever get built?
In the 1850s, the Army tried to introduce the "ship of the desert" to the arid American Southwest.
In 1966, 516-foot Union Bank Square ended City Hall's long reign as the tallest building in Los Angeles.