94/2 v. 1 Mulholland Highway, City of Los Angeles, Board of Public Works, D.L. Reaburn, construction engineer. Book no.2. 1924

Item Overview

Title

94/2 v. 1 Mulholland Highway, City of Los Angeles, Board of Public Works, D.L. Reaburn, construction engineer. Book no.2. 1924

Alternative title

Mulholland Highway photographs during construction.

Date Created

May 15, 1924

Date

1924-05-15

Collection

Photograph album collection, circa 1850-1964

Notes

Summary

Two albums of photographs documenting the construction of Mulholland Drive and Mulholland Highway in May 1924. Between Mulholland Drive follows the ridgeline of the Hollywood Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains, running east from Woodrow Wilson Drive and Cahuenga Boulevard at the Cahuenga Pass, and extending west past the 405 Freeway to Encino, crossing (from east to west) Laurel Canyon, Coldwater Canyon, Franklin Canyon, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Glen Boulevard, Stone Canyon, and Sepulveda Boulevard along the way. The road offers views of Hollywood Park, San Fernando Valley, and Universal City. Just past Topanga Canyon Boulevard (California State Route 27), Mulholland Highway splits off from Mulholland Drive, and continues on southwest to end at Leo Carillo State Park on Pacific Coast Highway, near the Los Angeles and Ventura County border. These photographs document highway construction of Mulholland Drive, with views from all of the aforementioned points. In addition to construction scenes of workers blasting, drilling, and digging, and using steam shovels and mule teams, there are shots of construction camps of tents set up to house workers, and mountain-top fire lookout stations manned by fire lookouts. Other photographs show trees and plants in the area, such as eucalyptus trees and poinsettia gardens, and homes in various canyons, including the residences of "Mrs. Curlew," and film director Clarence Badger. There are also several views of the Encino Country Club. The group portrait, dated May 15, 1924, includes construction engineers, D.L. Reaburn among them, members of Los Angeles Water and Public Works Departments, including William Mulholland, the chief engineer for Water Department, for whom the road was named, Harvey A. Van Norman, Mulholland’s chief deputy, and Arthur Eldridge, commissioner of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works. Also pictured are Gen. M.H. Sherman, local capitalist and president of the Consolidated Electric Railroad Company of Los Angeles, Harry Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and Carman Runyon, coal magnate from the East, and Los Angeles capitalist, for whom Runyon Canyon is named. In other photos, Los Angeles mayor George Cryer views the construction.

Description

Album Title reads:"PHOTOGRAPHS OF MULHOLLAND HIGHWAYCITY OF LOS ANGELES BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS, D.L. REABURN, CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER, 1924, BOOK NO.2"

Physical Description

Dimensions

25 x 35 cm (albums)

Medium

b&w photographs

Keywords

Genre

Photograph albums

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Fire lookout stations--[California]--[Los Angeles]
Steam shovels
Santa Monica Mountains (Calif.)
Los Angeles (Calif.) --History --20th century --Photographs.
Road construction
Reservoirs--California--Los Angeles
Dams
Blasting--[California]--[Los Angeles]
Reservoirs