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Chinatown and related neighborhoods in downtown Los Angeles (Views)
photCL 502  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Provenance
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Scope and Contents
  • Existence and Location of Copies
  • Arrangement
  • Processing Information

  • Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
    Title: Views of Chinatown and related neighborhoods in downtown Los Angeles
    Identifier/Call Number: photCL 502
    Physical Description: 0.75 Linear Feet (1 box)
    Date (inclusive): approximately 1933
    Abstract: This collection contains 131 black-and-white photographs (including some duplicates) of views of building exteriors and streets scenes in Old Chinatown and neighboring residential and industrial areas of downtown Los Angeles, California, that were taken prior to the demolition of the area beginning on December 23, 1933, to make way for the Los Angeles Union Station railroad passenger terminal. The views include images of industrial and commercial areas; retail storefronts; warehouses, manufacturing, utility and railroad buildings; houses and apartments with balconies; dirt streets and alleys; children; automobiles; and dilapidated and vacant buildings. Notably, almost all of the images are annotated with the street addresses of the buildings depicted.
    Language of Material: English.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

    Conditions Governing Use

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    Views of Chinatown and related neighborhoods in downtown Los Angeles. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Purchased from Dawson's Book Shop, 2011.

    Biographical / Historical

    Chinese immigrants began establishing businesses and residences in downtown Los Angeles in the 1870s, near the historic Los Angeles Plaza. By the 1880s, the Chinatown community had expanded to east of Alameda Street to land bordered by Macy Street (later renamed Cesar E. Chavez Avenue). In the 1910s, property near the Plaza that encompassed much of Chinatown and adjacent railroad and industrial land was identified as a potential site for a union passenger railroad terminal to be shared by the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. By the early 1930s, following years of litigation over the project, plans were finalized to build the terminal on the site. The project required the acquisition of the land, much of it owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad, the relocation of affected residents, and the razing of all buildings. The demolition of old Chinatown began on December 23, 1933, and the grand opening of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal occurred on May 3, 1939. "New Chinatown," developed by Chinese-American leaders, was built a few blocks north of the old Chinatown, opened in June 1938.

    Scope and Contents

    This collection contains 131 black-and-white photographs (including some duplicates) of views of building exteriors and streets scenes in Old Chinatown and neighboring residential and industrial areas of downtown Los Angeles, California, that were taken prior to the demolition of the area beginning on December 23, 1933, to make way for the Los Angeles Union Station railroad terminal. Photographs are gelatin silver prints; sheets 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 format).
    The photographs consist of eye-level street views focused on the area of downtown Los Angeles, around Apablasa Street (spelled Apalabasa or Apalabassa on the images), that was bordered by Alameda Street to the west, Aliso Street to the south, Date and College Streets to the north, and Lyon to the east.
    The views include images of industrial and commercial areas; retail storefronts; warehouses; manufacturing; utility and railroad buildings; houses and apartments with balconies; dirt streets and alleys; children; automobiles; and dilapidated and vacant buildings. The signage on retail buildings often reflects the Chinese and Hispanic heritage of residents and shop owners in the area.
    The photographer is unidentified, but presumably the photographs were created to aid in planning for the project, perhaps as part of the process of determining property valuation. Notably, Item 21 has a handwritten note, "on S.P. land not to be acquired." The locations for the majority of the photographs are indicated by street and building numbers at lower right that were written on the original negatives, and some also have parcel numbers written on the prints.
    The approximate year for the images is based on a photograph of the Familian Pipe & Supply Co. building (Item 17) that reads, "Moving to our new home corner Sacramento & Mateo St. Dec. 15, 1933." But differences in trees and foliage among views of the same buildings indicate the photographs were not taken all at once (see Item 19 versus Item 20 and Item 84 versus Item 85).

    Existence and Location of Copies

    This collection has been digitized in its entirety and the digital reproductions are available in the Huntington Digital Library. 

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged numerically according to the item numbers supplied by the cataloger.

    Processing Information

    Titles transcribed from items; titles devised by the cataloger are enclosed in square brackets.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Abandoned houses -- Photographs
    Business districts -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
    Chinese Americans -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
    Commercial buildings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
    Dwellings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
    Industrial buildings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
    Railroads -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- Photographs
    Storefronts -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
    Vacant lands -- Photographs
    Chinatown (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Photographs
    Photographs
    Union Passenger Terminal (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- History -- Photographs