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Nathan Masters

Nathan Masters (2018)

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.

Nathan Masters (2018)
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Sepulveda Canyon Road in 1930
How Sepulveda Canyon Became the 405
L.A.'s most hated stretch of freeway began as a bucolic country road through the Santa Monica Mountains.
A double-decker bus of the Los Angeles Motor Coach Company, circa 1932
When L.A.’s Buses Had an Upper Deck
When the double-decker transit bus arrived in Los Angeles, it came with a distinctly local innovation — an open-air top deck.
City Hall, Lost L.A.
This Was L.A.’s City Hall for 39 Years
Before Los Angeles’ municipal government moved into the imposing, neoclassical skyscraper we now know as City Hall in 1928, it was content with a more modest, three-story structure.
Aerial Swallow (experimental monorail, Burbank, 1910-12)
Before Its Time: Burbank’s Experimental Monorail of 1910
In 1910, a colorful inventor cleared a swath through his Burbank orchard and built an experimental monorail, the Aerial Swallow.
Knott's Berry Farm roadside fruit stand, circa 1926
When Knott’s Berry Farm Was an Actual Farm
The Orange County amusement park started as a roadside fruit stand.
Airplane parked at Rogers Airport with Rogers Aircraft Incorporated building in the background, ca.1922
How a Hollywood Director Almost Launched L.A.’s First Commercial Airline
Cecil B. DeMille had already pioneered one Los Angeles industry, and in 1920 he was on the cusp of launching another.
Mulholland Dam in the 1920s
The Mulholland Dam’s Vanishing Act
Why would L.A. conceal its gleaming concrete dam in the Hollywood Hills beneath dirt and vegetation?
L.A.'s First Automobile
L.A.’s First Automobile
Its May 30, 1897 test drive marked the dawn of the automobile age in Los Angeles.
Circular Bridge, circa 1910
The Mt. Lowe Railway’s Thrilling, Terrifying Circular Bridge
Call it 19th-century L.A.’s idea of a thrill ride.
Main Street, USA
How Disneyland's Main Street, USA, Changed the Design and Preservation of American Cities
At a time when many cities were tearing out their historic downtowns, Disneyland reacquainted Americans with pedestrian-oriented cityscapes.
The Largest Searchlight in the World on Echo Mount, Calif.
The World's Largest Searchlight Once Scanned L.A. From the Mountains Above
In 1894, an artificial sun dawned over the San Gabriel Mountains.
Los Angeles Plaza Church in stereo (thumbnail)
19 Stereoscopic Views of 19th-Century Los Angeles
These 3-D images were the closest many viewers would ever come to glimpsing Los Angeles with their own two eyes.
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