Banning ParkGeneral Phineas Banning, State Senator and pioneer in the development of transportation in Southern California, built this house in the 1850s, soon af... [click for more]
Beale’s Cut Stagecoach PassBeale's Cut is the only physical and cultural feature of its kind in the entire Los Angeles Basin. At the time of its construction in 1862, the actual... [click for more]
Bella Union Hotel SiteNear this spot stood the Bella Union Hotel, long a social and political center. Here, on October 7, 1858, the first Butterfield Overland Mail stage fr... [click for more]
Brand Park (Memory Garden)Brand Park, also called Memory Garden, was given to the city for a park November 4, 1920. It is a part of the original land grant of Mission San Ferna... [click for more]
Campo De Cahuenga'Here was made the Treaty of Cahuenga by General Andrés Pico, commanding forces for Mexico, and Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Frémont, U.S. A... [click for more]
Casa Adobe De San RafaelIn October 1784, José María Verdugo petitioned Pedro Fages, Governor of Alta California, for a grant of land. This grant was the first a... [click for more]
Casa De Governor PíopicoFollowing the Mexican War, Pío Pico, last Mexican governor, acquired 9,000-acre Rancho Paso de Bartolo and built here an adobe home that was de... [click for more]
Casa De San PedroThe first known commercial structure on the shore of San Pedro Bay was built here in 1823 by the trading firm of McCulloch and Hartnell to store cattl... [click for more]
Catalina AdobeSan Rafael was granted to José María Verdugo on October 20, 1784. Don José died April 12, 1831, leaving his estate to his son Jul... [click for more]
Cecil B. Demille Studio BarnCecil B. DeMille rented half of this structure, then used as a barn, as the studio in which was made the first feature-length motion picture in Hollyw... [click for more]
Centinela SpringsBubbling springs once flowed here from their source in a deep water basin that has existed continuously since the Pleistocene Era. Prehistoric animals... [click for more]
Chatsworth Calera SiteThe Chatsworth Calera is one of the few surviving representative structures of the early 19th century lime industry. This kiln marked the introduction... [click for more]
Christmas Tree LaneThe 135 Deodar Cedar trees were planted in 1885 by the Woodbury Family, the founders of Altadena. First organized by F.C. Nash in 1920, the 'Mile of C... [click for more]
Drum BarracksEstablished in 1862, Drum Barracks became the United States military headquarters for Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. It was a garrison ... [click for more]
E. J. Baldwin’s Queen Anne CottageDesigned by A. A. Bennett for entertaining, the cottage was constructed by Elias Jackson ('Lucky') Baldwin in 1881. Since there was no kitchen, meals ... [click for more]
El Monte 1st Southern California Settlement by Immigrants from United StatesEl Monte, on the bank of the San Gabriel River, played a significant part in California's early pioneer history. It was first an encampment on the Old... [click for more]
First Jewish Site in Los AngelesThe Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles (1854), first charitable organization in the city, acquired this site from the city council by deed of Ap... [click for more]
Glendora BougainvilleaPlanted in 1901 by the R. H. Hamlins, early citrus growers, the Glendora bougainvillea is the largest growth of this exotic plant in the United States... [click for more]
Grave Of George Caralambo, (Greek George)This is the grave of 'Greek George,' a camel driver from Asia Minor who came to the United States with the second load of camels purchased by the War ... [click for more]
Griffith RanchOriginally part of the San Fernando Mission lands, this ranch was purchased by David Wark Griffith, revered pioneer of silent motion pictures, in 1912... [click for more]
Hancock Park La BreaThe bones of thousands of prehistoric animals that had been entrapped during the Ice Age in pools of tar that bubbled from beneath the ground were exh... [click for more]
Harold Lloyd Estate (Greenacres)Greenacres, one of the greatest estates of Hollywood's Golden Era, was built in 1929 for the internationally known silent screen comedian, Harold Lloy... [click for more]
Hay TreeThe Hay Tree is an old, 50 foot high camphor tree standing in the middle of a grassy area in downtown Paramount. The tree is a rare remnant of t... [click for more]
La Casa De CarriónThis house, built in 1868 by Saturnino Carrión, was restored in 1951 by Paul E. Traweek. ... [click for more]
La Mesa BattlefieldLa Mesa Battlefield served as a campsite for the California forces under General Castro in the summer of 1846, during the United States' occupation of... [click for more]
LangOn September 5, 1876, Charles Crocker, President of the Southern Pacific Company, drove a gold spike here to complete his company's San Joaquin Valley... [click for more]
Liberty Hill SiteIn 1923 the Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union 510, a branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), called a strike that immobilized 90 ... [click for more]
Long Beach Marine StadiumCreated in 1932 for the rowing events of the Xth Olympiad, the Stadium was the first manmade rowing course in the United States. Its width allowed fou... [click for more]
Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumThis stadium was originally completed in 1923. It was partially redesigned and enlarged for the 1932 Olympic Games. Both designs were by architects Jo... [click for more]
Los Angeles PlazaA part of the original pueblo lands of El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula founded in 1781 under the Spanish Laws of the Indies during... [click for more]
Los Encinos State Historic ParkThe Franciscan padres used Encino as their headquarters while exploring the valley before establishing Mission San Fernando in 1797. In 1849 Vincente ... [click for more]
Lyons Station Stagecoach StopThis site was the location of a combination store, post office, telegraph office, tavern, and stage depot accommodating travelers during the Kern Rive... [click for more]
Manhattan Beach State PierDesigned by City Engineer A.L. Harris, this pier was constructed by the City of Manhattan Beach during the years 1917-1920. The roundhouse building wa... [click for more]
MentryvilleNamed after pioneer oil developer Charles Alexander Mentry, who in 1876 drilled the first successful oil well in California. His restored home and bar... [click for more]
Merced TheatreThe Merced Theatre, erected in 1870 on North Main Street next to the Pico House, was the first building built expressly for theatrical purposes in Los... [click for more]
Navy and Marine Corps Reserve CenterDesigned as the largest enclosed structure without walls in the world by noted California architects Robert Clements and Associates, this Art Deco bui... [click for more]
Nuestra Señora La Reina De Los AngelesLa Iglesia de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles-the Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels-was dedicated on December 8, 1822 during Californi... [click for more]
Oak of the Golden DreamFrancisco López made California's first authenticated gold discovery on March 9, 1842. While gathering wild onions near an oak tree in Placerita Canyo... [click for more]
Old MillThe Old Mill, El Molino Viejo, was designed by Father José María Zalvidea and built of fired bricks and adobe about 1816 to serve Missio... [click for more]
Old Salt LakeThe Indians of this area obtained salt from this lake. Sometime in the 1850s, Johnson and Allanson erected the necessary works to manufacture salt by ... [click for more]
Old Santa Monica Forestry StationIn 1887, the State Board of Forestry established the nation's first experimental forestry station. Located in Rustic Canyon, the station tested exotic... [click for more]
Old Short CutThis is California's first ranger station, built in 1900 by Louie Newcomb and Phillip Begue, early Forest Service men. The cabin took its name from th... [click for more]
Old Trapper’s LodgeTwentieth Century Folk Art Environments (thematic historical marker). Charles Kasling began sculpturing near Andrade in 1967, and his creations now fi... [click for more]
Paradox Hybrid Walnut TreePlanted in 1907 by George Weinshank and assistants under the direction of Professor Ralph Smith as part of an experimental planting for the University... [click for more]
Pioneer Oil RefineryIn 1875 the Star Oil Company, one of the predecessors of the Standard Oil Company of California, drilled its first Pico Canyon well, which yielded abo... [click for more]
Point DumeOn November 24, 1793, English explorer George Vancouver, commander of an expedition to determine the extent of settlement of the northwest coast of Am... [click for more]
Pomona Water PowerplantThe first hydroelectric installation in California for long-distance transmission of alternating current at high voltage was built in 1892 on San Anto... [click for more]
Portolá Trail Campsite (i)Spanish colonization of California began in 1769 with the expedition of Don Gaspar de Portolá from Mexico. With Captain Don Fernando Rivera v M... [click for more]
Portolá Trail Campsite, 2The expedition of Don Gaspar de Portolá from Mexico passed this way en route to Monterey to begin the Spanish colonization of California. With ... [click for more]
Rio San Gabriel BattlefieldNear this site on January 8, 1847, American forces commanded by Captain Robert F. Stockton, U.S. Navy, Commander in Chief, and Brigadier General Steph... [click for more]
S.S. CatalinaCommonly referred to as the Great White Steamer, the ship was specially built by William Wrigley to serve his Catalina Island as a passenger ferry. Sh... [click for more]
Santa Anita Assembly Center and Pomona Assembly Center, Temporary Detention Camps for Japanese AmericansThe temporary detention camps (also known as 'assembly centers') represent the first phase of the mass incarceration of 97,785 Californians of Japanes... [click for more]
Serra SpringsThe Portolá Expedition of 1769 encamped at this spring, and it is reported that in 1770 Father Serra said Mass here to the Indians of this area... [click for more]
Site Of Llano Del Rio Cooperative ColonyThis was the site of the most important non-religious Utopian experiment in western American history. Its founder, Job Harriman, was Eugene Debs' runn... [click for more]
Site Of Old Whaling StationThe whaling industry is said to have been started by Captain Clark in 1864. Captain Frank Anderson, a Portuguese, tried 2,166 barrels of whale oil at ... [click for more]
Site Of The Initial United States Air MeetAbout a half mile southeast of this spot, on Dominquez Hill in historic Rancho San Pedro, the first air meet in the United States was held during Janu... [click for more]
Site of Port Los Angeles Long WharfIn 1893 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company completed its 4,720-foot wharf, which served as a deep water port for the Los Angeles area. But after Sa... [click for more]
St. Francis Dam Disaster SiteThe 185-foot concrete St. Francis Dam, part of the Los Angeles aqueduct system, stood a mile and a half north of this spot. On March 12, 1928, just be... [click for more]
St. Vincent’s PlaceThis was the site of Saint Vincent's College from 1868 to 1887. The college, now Loyola University, was founded by the Vincentian Fathers in 1865 and ... [click for more]
The Angeles National ForestThe first national forest in the State of California and second in the United States, Angeles National Forest was created by proclamation of President... [click for more]
The CascadesThis is the terminus of the Los Angeles-Owens River Aqueduct, which brings water 338 miles from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the City of... [click for more]
The Los Angeles Star Newspaper (original site)Southern California's first newspaper, The Los Angeles Star, was founded in this block on May 17, 1851 and for many years exerted a major influence up... [click for more]
The Mirror Building (site of Butterfield Stage Station)The Butterfield Overland Mail Company took an option on this piece of property in August 1858 and acquired it on December 7, 1859. A large brick build... [click for more]
The Mojave RoadLong ago, Mohave Indians used a network of pathways to cross the Mojave Desert. In 1826, American trapper Jedediah Smith used their paths and became t... [click for more]
The Ortega-Vigare AdobeErected during mission days, 1792-1805, this is the second oldest adobe in this region. Originally 'L'-shaped, it is now only half its original size. ... [click for more]
Timms’ Point and LandingIn 1852 German immigrant Augustus W. Timms obtained Sepúlveda's Landing on the mudflats near here. He built a wharf, added a warehouse, corral ... [click for more]
Tuna Club of AvalonThe Tuna Club of Avalon marks the birthplace of modern big game sportfishing in 1898. Led by Dr. Charles Frederick Holder, the club's founding members... [click for more]
Watts Towers of Simon RodiaThe Watts Towers are perhaps the nation's best known work of folk art sculpture. Using simple hand tools, cast off materials (glass, shell, pottery pi... [click for more]
Well, Alamitos 1One of the world's most famous wells. Started on March 23,1921, it flowed 590 barrels of oil a day when it was completed June 25, 1921, at a depth of ... [click for more]
Well, CSO 4 (Pico 4)On this site stands CSO-4 (Pico 4), California's first commercially productive well. It was spudded in early 1876 under direction of Demetrious G. Sco... [click for more]
Western HotelErected by the Gilroy family in 1876 this building was purchased in 1902 by George T. Webber.... [click for more]
