Transit Maps: 1925

Historical Map: Comprehensive Rapid Transit Plan for the City and County of Los Angeles, 1925

April 18, 2014

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Historical Maps

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1925, California, cartography, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Railway, Pacific Electric, planning, rapid transit, streetcar, USA

This is one of the earliest plans commissioned by the City and County of Los Angeles. The consultants – Kelker, De Leuw and Co. of Chicago – were asked to create a plan to accommodate a future city population of three million. Metro’s own history archive has this to say about the project: The plan shows a number of proposed immediate and future subways: one across Hollywood to La Brea Boulevard, another from downtown to […]

Historical Map: Los Angeles Pacific Electric Network, 1925

February 1, 2013

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Historical Maps, Prints Available

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1925, California, cartography, commuter rail, Los Angeles, Pacific Electric, Red Car, USA

A beautifully rendered (just look at those lovingly drawn mountain ranges!) old-school map of the famous “Red Car” network at its absolute zenith. It was pretty much all downhill after this: real estate sales from land that had been opened up by the network (the real money that allowed the rail service to continue to run despite operating losses) began to decline and many rural services were converted to cheaper buses around this date. In the […]