Fourth Street from Main Street, looking west circa 1887

C. C. Pierce & Co. Photographers, Los Angeles, Cal., USA, negative # 2863. Written on the back, “Fourth Street from Main, looking west, about 1887. The Farmers and Merchants Bank now occupies the lower left corner. Across the street where the tree is where the Van Nuys Hotel was built.” While there are no trolley tracks or cars in this image, it is rare we get to see what Los Angeles looked like before any major development took place.

Michael Patris Collection