LA History

A Guide To The Historic Signs That Helped Build Hollywood

In the new book "Hollywood Signs: The Golden Age of Glittering Graphics and Glowing Neon," author and graphic designer Kathy Kikkert takes readers on a visual journey through Hollywood, celebrating the vintage and vibrant signs that have come and gone (and many that remain).

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The front cover of Kathy Kikkert's new book "Hollywood Signs" with a shot of Hollywood styled with various neon signs.

Travel Back 100 Years Ago To LA’s First Bus Taking Off Along Western Avenue

Now, around 2,000 of them roam the city everyday.

A black-and-white photo featuring an old public bus with the words "Los Angeles Motor Bus Co." on it. The upper deck of the bus is filled with passengers posing for the photo.

The Last Time A Tropical Storm Hit LA, It Was 1939. Nearly 100 Died

Hurricane Hilary is poised to dump several inches of rain on L.A. this weekend. It could also go down in history as the first tropical storm to make landfall here since 1939.

A black and white photo showing a wall of waves crashing against a sea wall in Belmont Shore, Long Beach. The waves appear to be larger than six feet tall.

DTLA Gets New Square Honoring Cooper Do-nuts And Nancy Valverde, Two Local LGBTQ+ Icons

A plaque will be placed to recognize a safe place in the 1950s for gender non-conforming Angelenos.

A black and white photo looking at a building from the street view. It shows a big sign for Evans Cafeteria and a smaller sign in the window for Cooper Donuts.

Remembering The East LA Walkouts, More Than 55 Years Later

Garfield High School unveiled a plaque honoring the legacy of the student protests.

A brown and gold frame plaque with a description of the East L.A Walkouts.

How West Hollywood Became LA’s Fabled And Flawed LGBTQ+ Haven

The story of West Hollywood is complex. We look at some key times through history that shaped LGBTQ+ community in the city.

Here's The Winning Design For LA's Memorial To The 1871 Chinese Massacre

The design from the L.A. artistic duo of Sze Tsung Nicolás Leong and Judy Chui-Hua Chung was selected from more than 170 entries from around the world.

An artist's rendering of a memorial made up of several sculptures resembling tree trunks, located among pepper trees.

This Historic Sanitarium For Women Once Hosted Hollywood Stars. A Preservationist Group Fears Its Decay

The site of the former Rockhaven Sanitarium was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 “as one of the best extant examples of an early twentieth century woman-owned, women-serving private sanitarium in the State.”

A black and white photo depicts the gates of Rockhaven Sanitarium. The gates are wrought iron and the name of the institution is spelled out in capital letters in an arc above the gates, with low stone walls on either side.

Why The Biltmore Hotel, 100 Years Old This Year, Plays A Big Role In Oscars History

It was home to the first Academy banquet, the fourth awards ceremony — and, legend has it, where the Oscar statuette was first sketched on a napkin.

A drawing of the oscar statuette on a napkin, next to a fountain pen and an elegant cup and saucer filled with tea

Auf Wiedersehen, Alpine Village. Shop Owners Pack Up On Notice That Longtime German American Hub Is Closing

Shop owners got 30-day notices to vacate this week but said the new owners reached out to extend that another 30 days. This comes after its weekly swap meet permanently shut down earlier this month.

A building with a peaked roof has a sign reading Alpine Village Chapel with a long picnic bench out front. To the side is a row of storefronts including one touting piano lessons.

Wattstax Drew 100,000 People — This 1972 Concert Was About Much More Than Music

Although the fight for racial equality is ongoing, Stax co-owner Al Bell says so is the hope for a better future envisioned by Wattstax a half-century ago.

How The Suicide Squad’s Not-So-Golden Record Left A Lasting Legacy At Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

We take one more long, lasting look at the group of pioneering thinkers known as the "Suicide Squad."

In this photo illustration, a pair of golden records are floating over and to the left of a what appears to be a satellite, which is at the bottom right.

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