^?v.V. ^f^n COMPLIMENTS OF Los Angeles Commandery, No. 9 Knights Templar rv^e v\Aa-^ow^- Uo«i I\-^o,^\qs -K^^a^VTTs "tevwpj iV^. SOUVENIR OF LOS ANGELES PRESENTED BY LOS ANGELES COMMANDERY NO. 9, K. T., TO VISITING PRATERS OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER, NINETEEN HUNDRED & FOUR l'=fW ^^ .l'? A-. The Talifornia Pop>'Y THIS little souvenir of the pueblo of the Queen of the Angels, Los Angeles, the chief city of the "Land of the After- noon," and the commercial metropolis of the Great Southwest, is presented with the fraternal greetings of the five hun- dred and twenty-five members of Los Angeles Commandery, No. 9, Knights Templar, to their visiting fraters, from all parts of the world. September, 1904. TJERE is a bird's-eye view of the cen- ^ ^ tral portion of Los Angeles, the wonderful city of the Southwest, that has sprung up within less than twenty years, from a sleepy semi-Mexican set- tlement of adobes to a leading position among the important cities of the United States. During the past ten years Los Angeles has been growing more rapidly than any other city of its size in the country, and promises to make a still more rapid growth from now on. npHIS view shows one of the ideal res- ^ idence streets in the southwestern part of the city, within fifteen minutes' ride of the business center. Here, those whose lot has been so fortunate as to be cast in this favored land may, even in midwinter, take their rest under the feathery leaves of the pepper tree, whose bright red berries give a hint of Christ- mas in other lands, while all around the air is fragrant with the perfume of orange blossoms, heliotrope, jasmine and other delicate flowers, that run riot in appar- ently reckless profusion. I TT is not only the wealthy who may ^ enjoy beautiful homes in Southern Cal- ifornia. The man of modest means may, in an incredibly short time, smother his humble cottage in glorious climbing roses, bougainvillias, and other plants that soon cover the very roof of the house. South- ern California has been sometimes re- ferred to as a "rich man's country." It should rather be termed a "poor man's paradise." %:^M 'm ff [f ■ ■ ■ rij KM H rij sssr "T^HIRD STREET is one of the cross ^ streets running through between Main Street, Spring Street and Broad- way, and beyond. The tower and roof of the Gity Hall looms up in the back- ground. The structure in the foreground is the Conservative Life Building. In the background may be faintly discerned the elevated mesa of Boyle Heights, a resi- dence section on the east side of the river. A HALO of romance attaches to the '^ *■ missions of California, founded more than a century ago, by the self-sacrific- ing Franciscan priests. A chain of these missions extends about a day's journey, or thirty miles apart, from San Diego on the south to St. Francis Solano on the north, a distance of over six hundred miles. The mission shown here is one of the best preserved of these old edifices, regular services being still held there every Sunday. It seems almost like sac- rilege to see electric cars rushing by the doors of this relic of the past. The mission of San Gabriel is eleven miles from Los Angeles. ^ pERHAPS no novel relating to the ^ West has been so widely read as Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson's *'Ramona," in which she aimed to depict the sufferings of the native California Indians. A large part of the story is laid in and around the building shown on the opposite page, the country home place of the old Del Valle family, at Gamulos, in Ventura County, on the Southern Pacific Railway. [\ AANY striking contrasts in the way ■^ ^ ^ of scenery may be found in South- ern California, especially during the winter months, when the higher mountain tops are covered with snow, while a few hours' journey below, in the valley, the atmos- phere is heavy with the odor of orange blossoms. At Christmas time the visitor may take a dip in the ocean before breakfast, lunch amid the orange groves of the San Gabriel Valley, and dine amid the snow fields on Mount Lowe, and this without hurrying himself at all, as the trip from orange blossoms to snow balls may be made within a couple of hours. CPRING STREET— formerly called by ^ its Spanish name "Primavera" — is the leading business thoroughfare of Los An- geles, although it is now being close pushed by its western neighbor, Broad- way. During the afternoons, and on Saturday evenings, the sidewalks of Spring Street are often so crowded with pedes- trians that progress is difficult. The corner shown in the illustration is one of the busiest localities of Los Angeles. A DAMS STREET, in the southwestern -* *■ part of the city, is one of the show streets of Los Angeles. The large pep- pers shown in the illustration having the appearance of forest trees, are a little over twenty years old. A description equal to its beauties can hardly be writ- ten of Adams Street. 'T^HE mission style of architecture. ^ adopted from the style in which the old missions were constructed, has be- come popular for residences in Southern California during the past few years, the material used being cement. When the residence is large, there is often included an interior "patio" or courtyard, adorned with plants and a fountain. The pleasing variety and originality displayed in the residence architecture of Los Angeles is often commented upon by visitors. TJERE is another of the old missions of ^ ^ California. In the early days they served as hotels for the rare travelers, being the only places where one could obtain refreshment for man and beast. There is a project now on foot to build the Gamino Real, or King's Highway, over the route once followed by travelers between the missions from San Diego to San Francisco. The mission shown is that of San Juan Gapistrano. nALDWIN'S RANCH, about fifteen miles ^ northeast of Los Angeles, is a favor- ite resort for tally-ho parties. It is a part of the great Santa Anita ranch of "Lucky" Baldwin, who made his money in the Gomstock silver mines. Much of this ranch is like an English park, being studded with live oaks, as the evergreen variety of the California oak is termed. Fine race horses are bred on this estate. This ranch lies in the heart of the beau- tiful and historic San Gabriel Valley. In Chinatown npHE Chinese quarter of Los Angeles, ^ near the Plaza, the geographical center of the city, is always interesting, if not particularly odoriferous. Here, as elsewhere, the Chinese maintain a separ- ate little world of their own, keeping up the customs of the Celestial Empire. They have their own New Year's day, some weeks later than the Americans, which they celebrate with tremendous detonations of firecrackers, and a holiday extending over a week. The Chinese are averse to being photographed, as may be seen from the attitude of two of the women in the picture. Looking North on Broadway prom Fourth npWELVE years ago a picture taken ^ from this point would have shown scarcely a business structure, only rows of big pepper trees along the sidewalk, with residences in the rear. The city hall tower, a prominent landmark of Los Angeles, again looms up in the background. ..0^' " /^HESTER PLAGE, in the southwest- ^^ ern part of the city, is one of the most beautifully improved residence sec- tions of Los Angeles, with iron gates, that give it an air of exclusiveness. The place is brilliantly lighted at night, with clusters of incandescent lamps on artistic iron poles, that give it the appearance of fairyland. "^^Tf AS might be expected. Southern Calif- ornia has become a favorite residence section for artists, especially those who paint flowers and landscapes. The home of one of these, a flower painter of na- tional reputation, is depicted on the op- posite page. It is at Hollywood, a beautiful residence suburb, northwest of the city. I npHE Mission of San Juan Gapistrano ^ lies in a beautiful little valley, where the Santa Fe line to San Diego reaches the ocean, about fifty-seven miles south of Los Angeles. This mission, among others, has been recently restored to some extent by the Landsmarks Club, a company of public spirited citizens, or- ganized in Los Angeles for this purpose, the membership of which is widely dis- tributed. The mission was at one time very wealthy, with uncounted herds of cattle roaming over the hills. It is re- ferred to in Dana's interesting book, "Two Years Before the Mast." Mount Lowe Incline Railroad npHE cable incline section of the Mount ^ Lowe railroad, a short distance north of Pasadena, is a daring feat of engineer- ing, as may be seen from the illustration. The cable incline is literally as steep as the roof of a house. This part of the line is not long. The terminus at Echo Mountain may be seen from the summit. From that point a picturesque line of electric railroad winds along the face of the mountain to Alpine Tavern, at the foot of Mount Lowe, a mile above the sea, in the heart of a fragrant pine forest. LJERE is another view on Spring Street, * ^ from the corner of First, this time looking north. The large building is occu- pied by a department store. Further on, a block north of this building, is to be erected the new Los Angeles post office, costing over a million dollars. "pHERE is perhaps no city in the United States, of twice its population, in which women's societies of all kinds are so active and so influential as in Los Angeles. The view on the opposite page shows the handsome Woman's Club House on Figueroa Street, in the southwestern residence section. i ^T^HIS is a view of one of the most ^ charming resorts in Southern Cali- fornia. Gatalina Island, known as the "Magic Isle," is about twenty-eight nniles from the mainland and about thirty miles in length, and is almost entirely covered with rocky mountains. The bay of Avalon faces toward the mainland, there is no surf, the water and the surroundings re- minds the traveler of the Mediterranean. A submarine fairyland may be seen through glass-bottom boats. The fishing at Gata- lina is celebrated all over the world. The trip from Los Angeles occupies only about two hours and a half. CALIFORNIA does everything on a ^^ large scale. This is as true of man as of nature. The giant trees, the tow- ering mountains and the magnificent fruits are supplemented by the biggest vineyard in the world, grain fields as large as a German principality, and seed farms cov- ering hundreds of acres. Here is a view of what is said to be the largest pigeon farm in the world. It is in the northern part of the city, near the Los Angeles river. A few miles north is another kind of a bird farm, containing over one hun- dred monster ostriches. TTERE is an interesting and suggestive ^ ^ view of the heart of a city now on the border-line between youth and man's estate. True, Los Angeles is not young in point of age, as the lifetime of Amer- ican cities is counted, having been founded before the Declaration of Independence was written, but in reality, as an up-to- date modern city, Los Angeles has not yet attained its majority, the first forward movement having occurred in 1885. /hfe.i. J OS ANGELES has already entered ^ the stage of sky scrapers, although we have nothing yet quite so imposingly tall as some of those which align Broad- way, in New York. The building shown on the opposite page contains more floor space than any other building west of Chicago. It is the central station of the great network of electric railroads that converge in Los Angeles. Above are offices, and the two top floors, including a roof garden, are devoted to the use of one of the leading social clubs of Los Angeles. There were used in the con- struction of this building nearly 30,000 barrels of cement, 3,000 tons of steel, 3,000,000 red brick and 500,000 pressed brick. The floor space available for use is approximately eleven acres— more than sufficient to furnish all the office room that was required in the city of Los Angeles twenty-five years ago. A Private Driveway n^HE fan palm, with its serrated leaves, ^ is almost as distinctive a feature of the landscape in Southern California as the eucalyptus. The distinct suggestion of the tropics imparted by this tree has led to its general adoption for ornamental purposes, especially by those who are laying out new residence subdivisions. The fan palm is not an imported exotic, but a native to this section, there being groves of big palms in a little valley on the eastern edge of the Colorado desert. FACTS AND FIGURES Southern California Los Angeles County Southern California, as the phrase is usually understood, includes the seven southern counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Ven- tura and Santa Barbara. Area 45,000 square miles. Coast line 275 miles. Population 1880, 64,371, today (estimated) 450,000. Principal products: petroleum, citrus fruits, beet sugar, grain, deciduous fruits, nuts and vegetables, beans, gold and borax. Estimated annual value of all products, including manufactured products, $100,000,000. Area 4000 square miles. Shore line 85 miles. Population 1880, 33,881. Today (estimated) 250,000. Assessed valuation |170,000,000. Mortgage indebtedness (1903) 2 5 per cent. Similar indebtedness of state at large 9.5 per cent. Los Angeles bounded September 4, 1771, by a . small band of colonists from northern Mexico, under the protection of the Spanish government. Population, 1880, 11 ,311 . Today (estimated) 100,000. There are 250 miles of graded and graveled streets and over 20 miles of paved streets, with 400 miles of cement sidewalks. Bank clearings for 1903, $288,000,000. Los Angeles is a center of 12 lines of railroad, including 3 transcontinental lines, with a fourth nearing completion. There are 200 miles of electric railroad track within the city limits, and it is the center of a 500-mile network of suburban electric railroads. The building permits issued in 1903 amounted to over |13,000,000. \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 017 168 813 9 PRESS OF KIWQSLBY. MOLHS & OOLLINS OO. LOS ANOBLBS. OAL.