California history

Here's what Los Angeles looked like before the stars came.

Some things are different, others are shockingly similar.

“Let’s go for a nice, long Sunday drive down to Long Beach,” they said. “We’ll get out of the city and take in some of that fresh sea air,” they said. “It’ll be fun!” they said. They lied. (Long Beach, California, circa 1935)

The eucalyptus, or gum tree, is an invader from an alien botanical world. It arrived from Australia in the 1850s.

The oldest place in Northern California is a little-known gem that you'll definitely want to visit.

Interested in visiting the 21 California missions? Check out this guide that shows you how to visit them all in 7 days and what to expect while at each one. It is a fantastic road trip along El Camino Real. #california #travel #photography #hiking #bucketlist #food #roadtrip #travelblog #adventure

1533: Spanish ships reach the tip of Baja California. 1535: Hernán Cortez reaches Baja California. 1539: Francisco de Ulloa confirms that Baja California is a peninsula. 1542: Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo arrives in San Diego Bay. He later sails as far as the Oregon coast. 1579: Francis Drake lands near San Francisco. 1602: Sebastián Vizcaíno sails

Searchable history of the Santa Clarita Valley (Los Angeles County) in pictures and text.

5. Catalina Island in the early 1900s.

Theodore Lent carried his wife with him; both alive and dead. Julia Pastrana, who was labeled the "ugliest woman in the world" and would not be buried until she had been dead for more than 150 years.