California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Panoramic view of Echo Park, looking north toward Mount Hollywood, December 1911

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Panoramic view of Echo Park, looking north toward Mount Hollywood, December 1911

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Photograph of panoramic view of Echo Park, looking north toward Mount Hollywood, December 1911. In the extreme foreground, a wide road extends from left to right. Several large trees sit adjacent to the road on one side. In the background at center, a variety of trees surround the serene lake. Among the many trees shown, an arc of palm trees can be seen along the shore closest to the foreground. A footpath circles around the lake. Residential sites are visible in the area beyond the park. Three separate roads are shown with clusters of homes crowded on both sides of the street. Mountain ranges are visible in the distance extending from left to right.; "Echo Park and its lake have always been a touchstone for the community that grew up around it. Initially, the area we now know as the park was a natural arroyo that filled with water from a spring-fed stream that originated at Baxter Street and flowed down what is now Echo Park Avenue. In 1888, Mr. Kelley and Dr. Wills donated the land to the city for the expressed purpose of creating a public park for the enjoyment of the people of Los Angeles. The paperwork was finally completed during the recession of 1889 and in 1891 park development began. The first Superintendent of Parks for the city was an English immigrant named Joseph Tomlinson who was assigned the task of creating the park. Mr. Tomlinson, being somewhat homesick for his favorite park in Derbyshire, England, decided to model the park after his favorite childhood place to play. At the same time, the reservoir was closed and the stream was capped. The park superintendent created a 16-acre lake where the reservoir had been. It cost $5,637.00 to create the lake that is now filled with city water. Once that was accomplished, the planting began on the other 15 acres of park. One day, while overseeing the work, Mr. Tomlinson thought he heard his workers talking during a break, but he knew they were across the park from him. The park had an echo! He knew what the name of the park would be! Unfortunately, the plantings he installed destroyed the echo, but the name remained. The park was dedicated and opened to the public in 1895. The famous bed of lotuses that grow in the lake at the northwest end of the park, the largest stand of lotuses outside Asia, is a mystery yet to be solved. One legend says that evangelical Chinese missionaries planted them for use as food, but no one knows the real story. They appeared some time in 1923 or 1924. Nonetheless, they remain a beautiful addition to the park and have inspired the city to sponsor the annual Lotus Festival that celebrates Asian and South Pacific Island cultures"

Asset Metadata

Title Panoramic view of Echo Park, looking north toward Mount Hollywood, December 1911

Creator Pierce, C.C. (Charles C.), 1861-1946 (photographer)

Publisher University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Date Created 1911-12-01

Subject Echo Park (formerly 2nd Street Park) (subject), Lakes (lcsh), Los Angeles -- Parks -- Echo Park (formerly 2nd Street Park) (file heading), Parks (lcsh), Parks (adlf)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Place California (states), Echo Park (city or populated place), Los Angeles (city or populated place), Los Angeles (counties), USA (countries)

Temporal Subject 1911-12-01

Type images

Format 1 photograph : photonegative, b&w ; 10 x 13 cm. (aacr2), negatives (photographic) (aat), photographs (aat)

Source California Historical Society (contributing entity), California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 (collection), Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960 (subcollection)

Repository Email specol@lib.usc.edu

Repository Name USC Libraries Special Collections

Repository Location Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Rights Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Copyright Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Access Conditions Send requests to address or e-mail given

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/chs-m3580

Identifier 5462 (accession number), CHS-5462 (call number), CHS-5462 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-4516 (legacy record id), chs-m3580 (legacy record id), USC-1-1-1-3655 (legacy record id), 1-91- (microfiche number), USC (project)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 4516

Unique identifier UC119291

Legacy Identifier CHS-5462.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 17.0 in × 13.6 in at 300dpi
43.1 cm × 34.6 cm at 300dpi

Inherited Values

Title Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Description The nearly 15,000 unique photographs of this collection contain the work of C.C. Pierce which cover the Los Angeles region city, street and architectural views, California Missions, Southwestern Native Americans, and turn-of-century Nevada, Arizona, and California. Pierce, active from 1886 to 1940, was one of the leading photographers of his day and amassed a collection of 15,000 images, including his own and those bought and copied from his contemporaries, George Wharton James and Charles Puck. The James collection contains over 2,000 images of portraits, customs, ceremonies, arts, and games of various groups of Southwestern Native Americans.

Date Created 1860/1960

Linked assets

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

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View of the lake at Echo Park, ca.1924

View of the water at Echo Park Lake, seen through thick tree foliage, 1924

View across Echo Park lake, ca.1924

Boys launching boats on a lake in Echo Park during the Echo Park Boat Tournament in Los Angeles, ca.1930

Birdseye view of the Echo Park District looking north towards Hollywood from Mrs. Stetson's residence, [s.d.]

Second Street Park looking southwest, ca.1887

View of Echo (Westlake?) Park, taken from the lake, 1924

View across the Echo Park Lake, showing the boat house, 1924

View of the lake at Echo Park in Los Angeles, [s.d.]

View of an Echo Park lake with two people standing on the shore, ca.1900

Man and a young girl in a rowboat at Echo Park Lake, 1924

Panoramic view of Hollywood looking west from Laughlin Park, 1905

View of the Echo Park Lake, showing a lake house through thick tree foliage, 1924

Pershing Square (formerly 6th Street Park) looking toward the Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, ca.1888

Farmland and the Los Angeles River looking north from Elysian Park toward Mount Washington, 1895-1915

Second Street Park viewed from the lake, near the corner of First Street and Glendale Boulevard, ca.1890

Panorama of Hollywood looking north from Mount Olive, California, ca.1921

Panoramic view of Pasadena showing the Echo Mountain Observatory, ca.1920

Panoramic view of the Tonopah Mining Park (now a historic site) and Mount Butler in the distance, Tonopah, Nevada, ca.1904

Panoramic view of Hollywood looking southeast towards Los Angeles from the corner of Rossmore Avenue and Rosewood Avenue, [s.d.]

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