Los Angeles Co., CA

History ~ Biography ~ Maps ~ What's New ~ Lookups ~ Queries
Note:
It is not my intent to re-invent the wheel with regard to the long and very interesting History of Los Angeles County, there are enough kind folks who have labored and uploaded a multitude of interesting facts and figures about the County, rather I will be focused on resources that, for the most part, are out of the realm of 'traditional thinking' with regard to personal Genealogy and History.

History:
A Primer on California Land Grants and Ranchos
The Franciscan Fathers ~ General Santa Anna [Bio] and John C Fremont [Mutiny Article]
H C Bancroft: California Pioneer Register, 1769 - 1800

Biographies
I have a large collection of California History Books, many of which are related to Los Angeles County and Southern California.
The Indexes for all of them are all linked below:

California Historical Books / Biographies
History of Los Angeles County, CA, 1880 [Thompson & West]
History of Los Angeles County, CA, 1889 [Lewis Pub., Co.]
History of Southern California, 1890 [Lewis Pub., Co.]
Coastal Counties of California, 1893 [Barrows & Ingersol]
California Bench and Bar, 1901 [Shuck, O T, Ed]
History of Los Angeles & Vicinity, CA, 1901 [Guinn, J M]
Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California, 1902 [Guinn, J M]
History of the California Coast, 1904 [Guinn, J M]
Men of Achievement in the Great Southwest, 1904 [LA Times, Pub.]
History of Southern CA, Coastal Counties, 1907, Vol 1, [Guinn, J M]
History of Southern CA, Coastal Counties, 1907, Vol 2, [Guinn, J M]
History of the Santa Monica Bay Cities, 1908 [Ingersol, Luther A]
Greater Los Angeles & Southern California, 1910 [Burdette, Robert J, Ed]
History of Los Angeles County and Environs, CA, 1915 [Guinn, J M]
History of the Pomona Valley, 1920 [Historic Record Co., Los Angeles]
Los Angeles, 'From the Mountains to the Sea', 1921, Vols 2 & 3 [Groarty, J S]
History of the Harbor District, Los Angeles Co., CA [Ludwig, E. A., No date of Pub] Historic Record Co.] Index
Please use this Link to download the above Book [FS Catalog]
Who's Who in Los Angeles, 1926-1927 [Lang, CA]

Here are Indexes for a collection of Books for Southern California & Los Angeles County

Here are indexes for more Southern California Books: Please use this Link
If you cannot find the book online, send me a note and I will assist. Contact: Martha

Most, if not all of the books can be downloaded from the Archive.org Site or Family Search
But if you do not want to download the whole book, I am happy to send along a scan.
Contact: Martha

Historical Maps
David Rumsey ~ Historic Map & Atlas Collection
Perry-Castaneda: Map Collection ~ Earthquake Fault Maps [CA}
American Georgaphical Society Library Digital Map Collection
Humboldt State University Map Collection
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for California~ Railroad Maps, CA
And, of course, Google Earth
MapGoose: Interactive County Map Tool

<<<What's New>>>
[Native American: CA Agency Enrollment Records]
[Modesto Bee: Obituaries]
[Books: Who's Who & Bench and Bar Histories]

"Northern California Agency Enrollment Records, 1952"
Please use this Link for more information: California Corner
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Modesto Bee [Newspaper] Obituaries
1988 > 2006
"The Modesto Bee Obituaries, Modesto, Stanislaus Co., California"
Creator: Eisenga, Jean Palma y Mesa; The Modesto bee (Modesto, California)
Digital Images of Books and Films that are located in the FS Catalog
The Chart Below will be a guide to the Films and Books
Please use this link for more information: FS Films and Books "California Corner"

Note: Even though the Modesto Bee is in Stanislaus County,
there are references to many California Counties as well as other States,
so... check the indexes for names of interest and because the books
are fully searchable pdf's, locations may be found using the Search Function.
???*☺*???

More "What's New"...
Histories of the Bench and Bar ~ Who's Who [California]
Please use this new link: "California Corner"
Titles:
"American Women : The official who's who among the women of the nation"
"History of The Bench and Bar in California" 1887
"History of The Bench and Bar in California" 1889
"History of the Bench and Bar of California" 1901
"History of the Bench and Bar of California" 1912
"Bench and Bar of California: 1937-38"
???*☺*???

Here is a nice selection of "Who's Who" Books,
These all have interesting bits of information about a lot of Folks
Please use this new link: "California Corner"
Titles:
"Who's Who In California ~ A Biographical Directory: 1928-29"
"Who's Who In California" ~ A Biographical Reference Work 1942-1943
"Capitol's State Who's Who Combined with Who's Who for the Western States: July, 1953 Issue"
"Moore's Who Is Who In California" 1958
Who's Who In California: 1961
"Who's Who in California" ~ Seventeenth Edition: 1988

"Heroes of California"
The story of the founders of the golden state as narrated by themselves or gleaned from other sources
By George Wharton James
Author of "Through Ramona's Country," "The Old Missions
of california," "The Wonders of the Colorado Desert," "In and Around the Grand Canyon," etc.
Boston
Little, Brown, and Company: 1910
[Note: There is an Index, TOC, and List of Illustrations]
???*☺*???

Mercantile Guide To Cities and Suburbs
Of The
United States of America
California and Northwest Edition: 1893
Volume 3
Issued Annually
Copyrighted and Compiled By A Marks
Copyrighted at Washington D C, April 14th, 1890
San Francisco, Cal:
Published by the Mercantile Guide Co
403 Sansome Street

This is a really interesting Booklet.
It contains not only the Names of People, but their Business Name, Occupation and local Address.
Here are Page Images for some Los Angeles County Cities: Please use this link
Long Beach ~ Monrovia ~ Pasadena ~ Pomona ~ San Fernando ~ San Gabriel ~ San Pedro ~ Santa Monica

The Glendora Genealogical Society is working on a new set of pages:
Here is the link: Please check back shortly as the site is in the process of being updated.
Welcome Back: Glendora Gen Soc!

Books and Filmed Records from Family Search: Catalog
The Indexes for the Books below are here.
History of Long Beach, 1937, Case, W H, S J Clarke, Pub, Film # 1000110, Item 3 & 4, [Bios Images 782-1174]
History of Hollywood, 1937, Palmer, E O, Cawston, Pub, Film # 1000110, Item 2, [Bios are in Vol 2, Index: 188-189]
History of San Fernando Valley, 1934, Keefer, FM, Stillman Printing Co, Book is Here
History of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, 1930, S J Clarke, Pub. Book is Here
Monrovia and Duarte "Blue Book", 1943, Davis, C F, Cawston, Pub, Film # 1000110, [Bios Images 1215-1251]
Historical Record and Souvenir, Pioneer Soc of LA County 1923, Times Mirror Press, Pub, Book is Here
Marriage Records of R A Smith 1954-1978, Book is Here [FS Catalog]

Lancaster Cemetery Records [No Date of Publication] Book is Here [FS Catalog]
The file is a 'Register' which contains the following information:
Lot #, Name, Age, DOB, DOD and Burial Date
Listings are Chronological and begin 25 June 1892 and end 5 September 1945
The Register is hand written so is not text searchable.

Los Angeles County Baptism's: 1771 - 1873, FIlm #844433, Item #2
Explanation is Here, TOC is Here
San Gabriel Mission and Plaza Church [Catholic]
These records are from the Thomas Workman Temple II Collection
Indexed and Typed by DAR Members in 1945: The Records are all in Spanish
Index Image Range for San Gabriel: 225-348 [Typed Pages Follow 352-715]
Index Image Range for Plaza Church: 716-782 [Typed Pages Follow 829-1011]

Volunteers, Lookups and Queries
Volunteers
If you have access to local information and are willing to be a resource,
Please contact Martha

Lookup: Resources
I have access to the following Subscription Databases [Library Editions]
HeritageHub [Includes NewsBank and America's Obituaries and Death Notices]
Los Angeles Times ~ New York Times

'Free' Digital Newspapers

There is one Free Los Angeles County Paper in the Google Newspaper Archives
San Pedro Valley News-Sun
81 issues ~ Apr 19, 2006 - Apr 15, 2009

The California Digital Newspaper Collection has a large set of Local Newspapers for Los Angeles County
Please use this Link for Access

Name - Location - Dates of Publication		Name - Location - Dates of Publication
Antelope Valley Political Observer (Lancaster, 2010-2012)		Los Angeles Herald (L A,1873-1921)
Argonaut (Marina del Rey) (Marina del Rey, 2011-2012)		Los Angeles Mirror (L A,1949-1951)
Belvedere Citizen / Eastside Journal (Belvedere, 1968-1980)		Los Angeles Star (L A,1851-1870)
Boulevard Sentinel (Eagle Rock, 2012-2015)		Northeast Star Review (L A,1964-1975)
California Crusader News (L A,2010)		Occidental Weekly (Occidental, 1952-2015)
Campus News (EL A College) (Monterey Park, 2008-2019)		Opinión (L A,Calif.) (L A,1926-1942)
Central News Wave (L A,1971-1972)		Palos Verdes Peninsula News (Rolling Hills Est, 1937-1980)
Citrus College Clarion (Glendora, 1964-2023)		Pomona Clarion (Pomona, 1970)
Corsair (Santa Monica, 1929-2011)		Pomona Morning Times (Pomona, 1910-1912)
Crenshaw-Mesa Southwest wave (L A,1941)		Prensa (Los Angeles) (L A,1917-1922)
Crónica (L A,Calif.) (L A,1872-1889)		Press (Wilmington) (Wilmington, 1930)
Daily News (Los Angeles) (L A,1923-1954)		Rolling Hills Herald (Palos Verdes Estates, 1948-1967)
Daily News (Van Nuys) (Van Nuys, 1930-1960)		San Pedro Daily News (L A,1906-1928)
Eagle Rock Advertiser (Eagle Rock, 1928-1935)		San Pedro News Pilot (L A,1911-1950)
Eagle Rock Sentinel (Eagle Rock, 1910-1985)		Shin Nichibei (L A,1947-1966)
Eastside Journal / Belvedere Citizen (L A,1968-1980)		South Gate Daily Press-Tribune (South Gate, 1927-1953)
El Clamor Público (L A,1855-1859)		South Gate Press (South Gate, 1928-1985)
El Paisano (Whittier, 1964-2016)		South Los Angeles Wave (L A,1941)
El Sereno Star (L A,1953-1975)		South Pasadena Journal (South Pasadena, 1965-1988)
Evening Star News (Culver City, 1944-1952)		Southeast Wave Star (L A,1968-1972)
Evening Vanguard (L A,1939-1960)		Southern Californian (L A,1854-1855)
Gardena Valley News (Gardena, 1950-1965)		Southside Journal (L A,1968-1972)
Highland Park News-Herald & Journal (High Pk, 1906-1988)		Southwest News Wave (L A,1971-1972)
Highland Park Post-Dispatch (Highland Park, 1941-1942)		Southwest Topics-Wave (L A,1941-1972)
Hollywood Riviera Tribune (Palos Verdes Est, 1948-1967)		Southwest Wave (L A,1930-1972)
Independent (Los Angeles) (L A,1936-1946)		Southwestern Sun Wave (L A,1968-1972)
LA Downtown News (L A,2011-2017)		Topanga Journal & Malibu Monitor (Topanga, 1953-1967)
LA Evening Citizen News (Hollywood, 1944-1949)		Topanga Lookout (Topanga, 1964-1966)
Liberator (L A,1901-1913)		Topanga Messenger (Topanga, 1976-2016)
Lincoln Heights Bulletin-News (LA) (L A,1964-1975)		Walnut Park News (Walnut Park, 1924)
Los Angeles Citizen (L A,1903-1907)		Whittier Star Review (Whittier, 1936-1955)
Los Angeles Daily News (L A,1860-1872)		Wilmington Community News (Wilmington, 2000-2002)
Los Angeles Daily Star (L A,1870-1879)		Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, 1865-1909)
Los Angeles Evening Telegram (L A,1882)		Wilmington Press Journal (Wilmington, 1930-1986)

National and International Newspapers: Wiki List Online Archives

Library of Congress: National Newspaper Project

Purdue University
Free US Historic Digital Newspapers
Organized by Location: This is the Link for the West

Queries: Cyndi's List has a selection of Lists