Los Angeles, Spring Street

Well, Los Angeles sure doesn't look like this anymore. While this image looks like it could be a painting, it's very probable that the original image was a black & white photograph that was hand colored, and until proved otherwise, it qualifies for inclusion on a photography blog. Printed on the back of the card, "No. 1260. SPRING STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. The full name of Los Angles is "La Tuebla de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles" (The City of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels), a name as beautiful as it is long, and in keeping with the proud position of the city as the "Belle of the Pacific Coast." It is situated twenty miles from the mouth of the Los Angeles River, fifteen miles from the Pacific Ocean, as the crow flies. It was founded by the Spaniards in 1781 and passed into American possession in 1846. It was, however, of no great importance till after 1880, when it underwent an almost unprecedentedly rapid increase in population and wealth. It's population rose from 11,183 in 1880 to 50,395 in 1890, and to 102,479 in 1990, and it's former adobe houses have almost entirely been replaced by stone and brick houses and blocks of tasteful wooden residences. It is now a crowded and lively town of wide streets and spacious sidewalks, with an extensive and beautiful residential quarter, and over 130 churches." And yes, Tuebla is what it says on the card.