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Description |
Photograph of a section of E.O.C. Ord's first map of the city of Los Angeles, drawn in 1849, bearing the designation "Plan de la Ciudad de Los Angeles, surveyed & drawn by E.O.C. Ord, Lt. U.S.A. & Wm. R. Hutton afst., August 29, 1849. The title is printed in the top of the map with the hills depicted just below it. The Los Angeles River is labeled in the bottom right hand corner. Labeled features include: "Bunker Hill", "Los Angeles River", "Plaza", "Grasshopper St.", "Flower St.", "Hope St.", "Charity St.", "Olive St.", "Hill St.", "Broadway", "Fort St.", "Spring St.", "Calle Principal", "Main St.", "Adobe", "Hornet St.", "Bull St.", "Eternity St.", "San Pedro St.", "Ninth St.", "Eighth St.", "Seventh St.", "Sixth St.", "Fifth St.", "Fourth St.", "Third St.", "Second St.", "First St.", "Temple St.", "Short St.", "High St.", "College St."; "Thanks to the efforts of two men we have a fairly good view of what the pueblo of Los Angeles looked like at the middle of the 19th century. Lieutenant Edward O.C. Ord surveyed the pueblo and his assistant William Rich Hutton sketched many scenes of the pueblo and drew the first map from Ord's survey. Ord was in California when the gold rush struck, with its resultant skyrocketing of prices. Since the military salaries no longer covered living expenses, his commander suggested that the younger officers take on other jobs to supplement their income. At about this time Los Angeles officials needed to have a survey of the public lands in order to sell them, and Ord was hired as the surveyor. He chose William Hutton as his assistant, and together the two mapped Los Angeles in July and August of 1849. The Los Angeles City Archives has the original map produced by Hutton from Ord's survey". -- unknown author. |
