Forgotten Los Angeles

Forgotten Los Angeles A deep dive into the history of Los Angeles. Join me as I travel through time. Started on Instagram. Never colorized. Never AI.

From 1905, these are the ruins of a forgotten California that stood long before that.These were taken by Los Angeles his...
09/04/2026

From 1905, these are the ruins of a forgotten California that stood long before that.

These were taken by Los Angeles historian George Washington Hazard, who moved here as a boy in the 1850s, back when it was still a town of just a few thousand people, and who died in 1914, when it was a bustling city of nearly half a million. He lived here for more than sixty years, yet he died before Los Angeles ever had an Art Deco building or the Hollywood Bowl. He never heard of Musso & Frank’s, never saw a neon light, never drove on a freeway or waited at a stoplight, and knew nothing of TV, radio, or feature-length films, in spite of living here three times as long as I have.

Here, he turns his lens on the California that predates him, looking back at ruins of old, dilapidated buildings, likely wondering about the lives of those who built them in a time before telephones and sewing machines, and before California ever had a train.

This has long been one of my favorite photo sets, and I love the visual metaphor of the past crumbling away as he races to document it before it goes “the way of all dobe,” as he puts it, making sure that when it’s gone, it’s still frozen in time.

__

Photos:

• 1-2. Location unknown
• 3. Workman Ranch in Rancho La Puente, located in modern day City of Industry, built 1842
• 4-5. The Yorba Hacienda, in modern Yorba Linda, built 1830s

• 6. The Frenchman Home in Malibu, built 1840s
• 7. The Spadra Chapel, “old and new,” replaced in 1866
• 8. Remains from a Drum Barracks building in Wilmington, built as a Union Army fort in 1862, abandoned 1872.
• 9-11. Locations unknown

• 12. El Monte adobe, built 1850
• 13-14. Taken at the Machado Ranch in Culver City
• 15. The Botillier Ranch near Yorba Linda, in Santa Ana Canyon

• 16. Ruins at San Juan Capistrano, est. 1776
• 17-18. Mission San Fernando, Mission Hills, est. 1797
• 19. The 90-year-old home in modern San Marino
• 20. An adobe building in San Gabriel

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All photos by Hazard, except 18 by C.C. Pierce.
All via The Huntington

08/31/2026

A quick breakdown of Porky’s path along Sunset Boulevard as he takes his daily drive into work. This comes from the 1940 short film “You Ought to Be in Pictures,” which was animated onto footage that looks to have been shot in 1937.

I know that this clip goes around a lot, but I’ve had Looney Tunes on the brain all weekend after seeing “Coyote vs. Acme,” and wanted to take a deeper look. For those who haven’t seen it before, the 20-second clip will play all the way once, uninterrupted, and then this will go back and cover the attractions on the sides of the road, including a handful that are not yet built.

On his drive, we see Porky cover about three blocks on Sunset, heading east from Argyle Ave to Beachwood Dr before it cuts to a steady shot at 1351 N. Van Ness Ave, which was where Leon Schlesinger Productions was located (…in the same building currently located at that address, though it no longer has an entrance on Van Ness.

Regarding the footage, there doesn’t appear to be any record of its origins or whether it came from another film, but considering that its starting point is directly outside of the historic Morgan Camera Shop, I actually think that it may have been filmed as a camera test for an old portable movie camera, like the Arriflex 35 which hit the market that same year.

—

Yep, this is me. I’m Scott. Today marks eight years of Forgotten Los Angeles, so I’m stepping ever so slightly out of th...
08/28/2026

Yep, this is me. I’m Scott.

Today marks eight years of Forgotten Los Angeles, so I’m stepping ever so slightly out of the shadows to say thank you to everybody for following and sharing these posts and for everything else that you’ve done to help make this what it’s become.

My anonymity here had never been the plan. It just sort of wound up happening that way because I always felt that my identity was far less interesting than anything that I wind up posting about. But, with the amount of time that I (and so many others) have recently been putting into the fight to protect this city’s history from being rewritten by the AI accounts that keep fabricating it, I’ve come to realize that there’s now an importance to showing you the human being that has written and thoroughly researched every post on this account and who wants to maintain your trust.

So, hello. And thank you again, for following and contributing, and for helping to make Forgotten Los Angeles what it’s become.

And I also want to say thanks to every library, photo archive, historical society, and museum who keep our history safe and accessible, as well as to every photographer, journalist, and eye-witness who captured the events of our past to begin with. And to every historian who works to piece it all together and to those who know when and how to tear it all apart.

We are an extraordinary city and we do extraordinary things. Keep making history.

Thanks,
Scott Collette

Meet Slaughter & Ono, star players of the Hollywood High football team way back in 1907.This is a new one to me. I stumb...
08/27/2026

Meet Slaughter & Ono, star players of the Hollywood High football team way back in 1907.

This is a new one to me. I stumbled across the 119-year-old team photograph in Slide 2 this afternoon, and was surprised to see that it included *any* non-white players, let alone two.

Compelled to know more, I’ve done some digging around and haven’t been able to find full names for any player on the team, but I can tell you that their African American wide receiver was named Slaughter (only on the 1907 team), and their Japanese American right tackle was named Ono (on the team 1905-1907), and both were noted as the stars in different years.

In the comments, I’ve included a 1905 headline describing Ono tearing up a Military Academy “like it was the Russian Army,” while Slaughter was repeatedly listed amongst the team’s best players.

Another article states that Ono and another Japanese pupil also put on a fencing and wrestling exhibition for the school.

—

Photo via UCLA

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcho-CGm3d3/?igsi=YTlsOTBlajEycGtu

08/26/2026

Absolutely love this cover of Sly & the Family Stone’s timeless hit “Everyday People,” performed here by the late, great Dolly Parton along with one-time suitor Kermit the Frog.

This was for her variety series “Dolly,” which was primarily shot at the ABC Television Center in Los Feliz (also known as Prosepect Studios), with additional segments shot on location in Nashville. Going to guess that this bit was here.

Found this on YouTube uploaded as an “extended remix,” which had some pretty clunky edits, so I’ve done my best to un-Frankenstein it here and reconstruct it with lower-res footage taped from broadcast. Apologies for the brief hiss.

From Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, home of the most famous cement in the world.Went to see The Odyssey at the Chinese this ...
08/25/2026

From Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, home of the most famous cement in the world.

Went to see The Odyssey at the Chinese this afternoon and spent some time wandering through the forecourt after the show. It’s been a while since I’ve posted shots from imprint ceremonies on this account, so I thought it would be fun to put together a whole collection.

1. Mary Pickford & Douglas Fairbanks on April 30, 1927 - this is either the first & second or second & third sets of handprints and footprints imprinted in cement at the theatre, depending on where you stand on the legend of how they began. The popular story is that silent star Norma Talmadge was actually first, when Sid Grauman witnessed her accidentally stepping into wet cement in front of the theatre, but many contest that account.

2. Gloria Swanson with Sid Grauman on June 10, 1927

3. Jean Harlow on September 29, 1933

4. Four Marx Brothers, on February 3rd, 1933

5. Bette Davis on November 6, 1950

6. Cary Grant on July 16, 1951

7. Mexican superstar Cantinflas on December 28, 1960

8. James Stewart on February 13, 1948

9. Carmen Miranda on March 24, 1941

10. Gregory Peck and Ann Baxter on December 15, 1949

11. Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell on June 26, 1953
Photo from the LA Times via UCLA

12. John Wayne on January 25, 1950. This would be Sid Grauman’s final ceremony before his death six weeks later (on the right, under Wayne’s left arm).

13. Ava Gardner on October 21, 1952

14. Sidney Poitier on June 23, 1967

15. Natalie Wood on December 5, 1961

16. Frank Sinatra on July 20, 1965

17. Debbie Reynolds on January 14, 1965

18. Steve McQueen on March 21, 1967

19. Eddie Murphy on May 14, 1987

20. Theatre owner & inventor of the Star-studded movie premiere Sid Grauman adds his own footprints to the collection on January 24, 1946, doing so alongside Gene Tierney who added hers the same day.

The Clifton’s dating board, a.k.a. “How I Met Your Great Grandmother” in 1938Love this. Never seen it before. Taken back...
08/23/2026

The Clifton’s dating board, a.k.a. “How I Met Your Great Grandmother” in 1938

Love this. Never seen it before. Taken back when one of the city’s most popular dating apps was an exchange board where the loneliest hearts of Los Angeles could post about themselves in hopes of finding their other half.

Listings include:
- “Young Lady 19 wants to meet a man, 21-25”
- “Physician & Surgeon wants to meet lady, 35-60”
- “High Type Widow owns home, wants to know man, 50-65”
- “Kansas Man wants to meet lady 25-35”
- “Brunette, nice appearing, wants to meet man 45-50”

—

Photos by Rex Hardy for LIFE

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcZl2sQD99Y/?igsi=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Incredible photos from a wedding at Clifton’s Cafeteria, back in early 1938.No idea who the couple was, or anybody else ...
08/22/2026

Incredible photos from a wedding at Clifton’s Cafeteria, back in early 1938.

No idea who the couple was, or anybody else (aside from Clifton’s founder/owner Clifford Clinton in Slide 18). These were taken for LIFE Magazine by Rex Hardy, but it appears as if they were never actually published.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcW4BBREnb2/?igsi=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Los Angeles in 1990, as captured by Hungarian photographer Szalay Béla.I don’t usually get into the 1990s on this accoun...
08/22/2026

Los Angeles in 1990, as captured by Hungarian photographer Szalay Béla.

I don’t usually get into the 1990s on this account, because I’m an 80s kid and the 90s never really feels like history to me, but I realize that, due to the relentless passage of time, these are 36 years old and I’m somehow even older. And what’s even crazier is that, as somebody who moved here in 2005, these are closer in time to Los Angeles as it was back when I first got here than I currently am today. Wild, because it shows the city as I knew it through so many of the movies that made me want to move here, but it already seemed so different when I arrived.

Anyway, enjoy!

Photos:

• 1. Pacific Avenue in Venice, near Windward

• 2. Taken at 553 South Broadway
• 3. Corner of Broadway & Fifth
• 4. Electronics store at 450 South Broadway
• 5. J.J. Newberry at 445 South Broadway
• 6. Retail shop at 333 South Broadway

• 7. The Guaranty Building at 6331 Hollywood Blvd.
• 8. Bo Jackson mural on the Guaranty Building
• 9. Preaching in front of the Chinese Theatre
• 10. The Hollywood McDonalds

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