L.A.'s Priceless Photo Chronicles

Great piece in Tuesday's L.A. Times by Larry Harnisch about an unsung L.A. hero: Photographer C.C. Pierce, whose amazing shots of Los Angeles showcase our city as it grew from a sleepy, dusty 1800s village to a metropolis just a few years later.

The Huntington Library purchased Pierce's collection before he died. And thank goodness -- the collection is now prized by historians. Larry writes:

With each click of his camera shutter, Pierce captured a mesmerizing split second of history as Los Angeles changed before his eyes. His work is an unsurpassed visual record of the city's commercial blocks and street corner businesses; mansions and rose-covered cottages; parades and fiestas. It remains the Huntington's most heavily used collection.

"How amazing to be there in the 19th century, to stand on Bunker Hill and see to the San Gabriel Mountains, with the savannas of oaks and no structures or just some very small buildings," says Jennifer Watts, the curator of photographs at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

Pierce's well-organized archive is so comprehensive that it is nearly impossible to pick up a book or magazine article on early Los Angeles without seeing one of his photos.

Pierce first moved to L.A. from Chicago in 1886 at the age of 25, and died in 1846 at the age of 84.

The Huntington Sustains Wind Damage, Looks to Recover

The Huntington, during a previous visit. I wrote a few days ago about how we attempted to visit The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens on Saturday, only to find it closed. The Huntington re-opened on Sunday, but sustained quite a bit of damage from last week's heavy winds. Huntington President Steven S. Koblik sent this message to members yesterday:

Many of you have asked how The Huntington fared after the extraordinary windstorms that buffeted Southern California and especially the San Gabriel Valley. Unfortunately, The Huntington was significantly affected. We believe that by the time we finish with debris removal, as many as 100 specimen trees from the collections will have been lost (more than 50 major trees are down; many others have been so badly damaged they will have to be removed). Large areas have been closed to visitors pending safety assessments for weak and broken limbs. Fortunately, there were no injuries, and only minor damage to structures and garden statuary.

As I write, the Gardens staff is fully involved in clearing, removing, and grinding debris into mulch. Among the high priorities are opening safe walkways in the gardens and clearing the parking lot and perimeter areas. Work will be ongoing at full capacity for weeks, if not months. At the same time, we'll begin the process of renewing the affected gardens.

The Huntington has set up a fund called HARP—the "Huntington Arboreal Recovery Project" -- to start accepting donations to restore the grounds.

If Many Trees Fall in a Crowded Urban Setting

On Saturday afternoon, the Franklin Avenue Quartet decided to head over to the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino to enjoy their annual holiday festival. Of course, we should have checked beforehand to see if they were even open -- and sure enough, due to last week's windpocalypse, the Huntington was still closed on Saturday. (It re-opened on Sunday, and will hold a makegood day for its holiday festival next Saturday, Dec. 10).

But even though we missed out on the Huntington, it gave us an opportunity to finally try out Pasadena's Slaw Dogs (review to come) and drive around town to witness the jaw-dropping tree destruction first hand.

The visual of this collapsed massive oak, off Hill, was enough for us to stop the car and snap some photos. They still don't do justice to the sheer size of this toppled tree and its roots.

Thankfully for the home owner, somehow the tree knew exactly where to fall -- in the driveway. But nonetheless, it did some serious damage, destroying the driveway and ripping up both the sidewalk and the street. How even a fierce gust of wind can topple over such a giant is fascinating to me. A friend of ours suggested that all of these non-native trees in L.A., because they rely more on watering than on any deep water under the surface, have shorter roots and are less entrenched in the ground than in other parts of the country.

It's going to be a good Christmas for the San Gabriel Valley's tree trimmers. More pics of that tree:

Lazy Saturday at the Huntington Library

Quite possibly the best Groupon we've purchased so far has come from San Marino's Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens. We purchased a year-long membership to the facility -- good for the entire family -- and I can tell we're going to be using it a lot.

Founded in 1919 by railroad, utility and real estate magnate Henry E. Huntington, the private, nonprofit institution has developed its land into quite an attractive, peaceful property.

That includes a children's, Chinese and Japanese gardens. It's a good spot to bring the kids on a weekend -- or a school holiday -- when there's nothing else to do.

Some shots from our most recent visit:















Huntington holds free days on the first Thursday of every month; check for other free days sponsored by companies such as Target.

The Huntington is open Monday through Friday (except Tuesday) from noon to 4:30 p.m. and on the weekends from 10:30 to 4:30.

Entry for adults is $15 on weekdays, $20 on weekends; $10 for students; $6 for kids 5-11; and free for children under 5.

Maria's Thursday Three

1. Target Meal: We were caught at Target one day when BT declared that he was hungry. We ended up getting him the Target snack bar's kids' meal -- and were impressed (of course we were -- it's Target, after all.)

The mean included had a hot dog, apple sauce (the menu promised organic yogurt but they gave us apple sauce instead) and organic milk, all for $1.99. I know a hot dog is not the best food for him, but it could've really gotten ugly if the hungry toddler was not fed. I thought the applesauce and organic milk made this meal a good bargain. Anyway, check out that box the meal came in: loaded with illustrations by J. Otto Seibold!

2. The Huntington Library Free Day: The Hungtington Library offers free admission today (every first Thursday of the month) -- but you must order advance tickets to get in. Good if you have your act together and have tickets for today, bad if you are a last-minute kind of person like me.

3. Year Of The Rat: The Lunar New Year Festival is happening in Chinatown this weekend. Avoid the traffic mess by taking the Gold Line, perhaps from South Pasadena.