Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-22
Part IV
PROSPEROUS LOS ANGELES-CITY OF MARVELLOUS PROGRESS

II OLdteS ludl iltNt ntto bbCh a AC-
Il markable and varied career as Los
Angeles, the chief city of Southern Cal
ifornia, and the commercial metropolis
of the southwest section of the United
States Few cities of this size. more
over, are so we'll known throughout the
length and breadth of this country, and
abroad. The rapid growth of Los Ange-
les. from an insignificant semi-Mexican
town to a metropolitan city, has been
told and retold, until 1t is familiar to
millions of Americans. while the at
fractions offered by the city to health
seekers, pleasure seekers and tourists
have been spread abroad by hundreds of
thousands of visitors who after one
trip to this section. are usually anxious
to return, and who frequently become
permanent residents.
During the past twenty years Los An
geles has grown from a population of
110O0 in 1880, to 102,479 by the census OF
1900 The present population Is 100000. !
There are three leading features that
have contributed to such growth. These
are climate. soil and location. Any one
Of these advantages would be sufficient
to build up a large city. but taken to-
gether they insure the future of Los
Angeles as the metropolis Of the south
western portion of the United States.
Original Name Of City
The original name Of the pueblo or
town of Los Angeles. following the
custom that then prevailed among the
Latin races. of giving religious names to
places, was Nuestro Sonora de Los An
geles sometimes written fNuestra Sonora
la Reina de Los Angeles--"Our Lady.
the Queen of the Angels This has been
shortened by the practical Yankees to
Los Angeles. They might have gone a
little further and made 1t Angeles" as
1t was frequently written by officials of
the old pueblo Los Angeles was founded
on September 4, 1881. by a small band of
pobladores. or colonists. who had been
recruited in the Mexican states Of Sina-
loa and Sonora, and brought here under
command of a government officer. to
fourd an agricultural colony, for the
purpose of raising produce for the SOL
diers at the presidios.A The first census
of the little city, taken In August, 1880,
gave the total population at 141. They
were a mixed class, composed Of one Eu-
ropean, seventy-two Spanish-Americans
seven Indians, twenty-five mulattos and
thirty-nine mestizos. AS recently as 1881,
fifty years after the founding of the pueb-
10. the population was only TO. In
January 1S47. the population was 1900
The census of 1880 gave Los Angeles
a population of 11,311. Business was dull,
and there was no sign that the city was
on the Seve of marvellous growth. Five
years later, on November g. 1885, the last
spike was driven in the Atlantic and
Pacific railway, at the Cajon pass, thus
completing a new overland route from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. and providing
Los Angeles with competition in over
land railroad transportation. From that
time the growth of the city was wonder
fully rapid. The great real estate boom
of 1867 is a matter of history as Is also
the wonderful manner in which Los An
geles held up under the reaction that in
evitably followed the collapse OF the over
speculation of that period.
Considering that twenty years ago 1t
had not single paved street, Los An!
geles has made remarkable progress in
street improvements. There are now
over 400 miles of graded and graveled
streets. 80 miles Of paved streets and
$50 miles of sewer Los Angeles has
a complete sewer system, including an
outfall sewer to the ocean.
At night Los Angeles presents brill
liant appearance. 1t was the first city
in the United States to entirely aban-
don gas for street lighting and replace
it by electricity, which was done over
twenty years ago, and it is now one OF
the best lighted cities in the Union. Many
of the lamps are on high masts. Seen
from one Of the surrounding hills, the
view OIL Ln6 CITY dl Ilt6ht 10 AiiOoh pSeNaNA7
full and striking. Broadway and Spring
street are now lighted their entire length
by clusters of electric lights on hand
some iron electroliers hundred feet
apart, paid for by the property owners,
the city supplying the Juice" A SIM
liar lighting scheme has been installed
on Main street to Tenth, and also on
Hill street to Pico.
Great Commercial Center
That Los Angeles is, and will always
remain the commercial metropolis or
Southern California. admits of no doubt
The city possesses the great natural ad-
vantage of being located on the shortest
route, by the easiest grades, between the
Pacific ald the Atlantic oceans. The
merchants Of Los Angeles do large
business with section of country ex-
tending from the eastern limits of Ari-
zona to Fresno on the north. The prin-
cipal articles of export are fruits, fresh
and dried; potatoes and vegetables.
beans, wine, and brandy wool, honey,
canned goods, sugar. wheat, corn. bar
ley. petroleum and by-products.
The banks of Los Angels are noted
throughout the country for their solid
and prosperous condition, with deposits
aggregating s1OO5OO,oOO. The clearings of
the Los Angeles city banks for, the year
1906 amounted to $5S0,000.000. Los Angeles
has been leading all cities of the United
States in increase of bank clearings The
strength of the Los Angeles banks has
been shown by the success with which
they have ridden out financial storms
during the past fifteen years.
The assessed valuation of property In
the city this year. including personal
property, is $269, ,445,109-
Los Angeles possesses the advantages
of four transcontinental lines. These are
the "Sunset route" of the Southern Pa
cifie by way of Ell Paso and New Or
leans. the Ogden route Of the same COM
pany. connecting with the Central and
Union Pacific, the Santa Fe route, by
way of Albuquerque, and the recently
completed San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt
Lake railroad, the operation of which
began ON May l. 1906 opening up a COM
paratively unknown section in Southern
Utah and Nevada, that is wonderfully
rich in precious and useful minerals.
The Southern Pacific has two lines be-
tween Los Angeles and San Francisco,
one through the San Joaquin valley and
the other along the coast. The Santa Fe