Universal Studios in 1939, long before the production facility shared Universal City with a public studio tour and theme park.

Zoom in on this photo, part of our Dick Whittington Photography Collection, in the USC Digital Library.

In 1910, Joseph Fawkes built an experimental, propeller-driven monorail in Burbank. Discover the full story with L.A. as Subject’s latest post to Los Angeles magazine’s City Think blog.

A rainy day in Los Angeles, 1952. 

A Los Angeles Examiner photographer captured this scene in Sherman Oaks, at the intersection of Ventura Blvd. and Woodman Ave. Part of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection in the USC Digital Library.

With Thanksgiving just two days away, here’s a 1951 view of a Northridge turkey farm from the USC Digital Library.

Lankershim Blvd. at Weddington St. in North Hollywood, ca. 1926. The historic El Portal Theater appears on the left.

Panoramic c.1909 view of North Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. The road running diagonally across the photo is Lankershim Blvd., and the road running straight up-and-down is Vineland Ave.

Harvesters at work on a Van Nuys ranch, ca. 1898

Two women gaze at a largely undeveloped San Fernando Valley from the side of Mulholland Drive (then Mulholland Highway), circa late 1920s.

View looking north along Van Nuys Boulevard in 1911. Metro’s Orange Line busway crosses the boulevard today where the railroad tracks appear in the photo. In the distance, Virginia Street (since renamed Sylvan Street) is labeled.

Late 1940s Vons supermarket in the San Fernando Valley