Los Angeles Co., CA

History ~ Biography ~ Maps ~ What's New ~ Lookups ~ Queries
Note:
It is not my intent to re-invent the wheel with regard to the long and very interesting History of Los Angeles County, there are enough kind folks who have labored and uploaded a multitude of interesting facts and figures about the County, rather I will be focused on resources that, for the most part, are out of the realm of 'traditional thinking' with regard to personal Genealogy and History.

History:
A Primer on California Land Grants and Ranchos
The Franciscan Fathers ~ General Santa Anna [Bio] and John C Fremont [Mutiny Article]
H C Bancroft: California Pioneer Register, 1769 - 1800

Biographies
I have a large collection of California History Books, many of which are related to Los Angeles County and Southern California.
The Indexes for all of them are all linked below:

California Historical Books / Biographies
History of Los Angeles County, CA, 1880 [Thompson & West]
History of Los Angeles County, CA, 1889 [Lewis Pub., Co.]
History of Southern California, 1890 [Lewis Pub., Co.]
Coastal Counties of California, 1893 [Barrows & Ingersol]
California Bench and Bar, 1901 [Shuck, O T, Ed]
History of Los Angeles & Vicinity, CA, 1901 [Guinn, J M]
Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California, 1902 [Guinn, J M]
History of the California Coast, 1904 [Guinn, J M]
Men of Achievement in the Great Southwest, 1904 [LA Times, Pub.]
History of Southern CA, Coastal Counties, 1907, Vol 1, [Guinn, J M]
History of Southern CA, Coastal Counties, 1907, Vol 2, [Guinn, J M]
History of the Santa Monica Bay Cities, 1908 [Ingersol, Luther A]
Greater Los Angeles & Southern California, 1910 [Burdette, Robert J, Ed]
History of Los Angeles County and Environs, CA, 1915 [Guinn, J M]
History of the Pomona Valley, 1920 [Historic Record Co., Los Angeles]
Los Angeles, 'From the Mountains to the Sea', 1921, Vols 2 & 3 [Groarty, J S]
History of the Harbor District, Los Angeles Co., CA [Ludwig, E. A., No date of Pub] Historic Record Co.] Index
Please use this Link to download the above Book [FS Catalog]
Who's Who in Los Angeles, 1926-1927 [Lang, CA]

Here are Indexes for a collection of Books for Southern California & Los Angeles County

Here are indexes for more Southern California Books: Please use this Link
If you cannot find the book online, send me a note and I will assist. Contact: Martha

Most, if not all of the books can be downloaded from the Archive.org Site or Family Search
But if you do not want to download the whole book, check this method out...

"How to..."
You can learn how to search books and publications on the Archive.org site without downloading the book.
Here is a Tutorial

Historical Maps
David Rumsey ~ Historic Map & Atlas Collection
Perry-Castaneda: Map Collection ~ Earthquake Fault Maps [CA}
American Georgaphical Society Library Digital Map Collection
Humboldt State University Map Collection
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for California~ Railroad Maps, CA
And, of course, Google Earth
MapGoose: Interactive County Map Tool

<<<What's New>>>
2 June 2025
California State Journal of Medicine

The California and American Medical Association began publishing Journals early in the 20th Century.
They contain a wealth of information which includes all sorts of Articles on Disease, Surgeries, and much
more.

Along with the Medical portion of the Journal are Memorials, Obituaries and Death Notices.
Additionally, there is a Section called the "Medical Board of Examiners" which tracks Crime within the Medical Community.

Here is a pdf with all of the information I have gleaned, included are links to all of the Issues

Family Search Collections Link to all of the Collections for the United States
The FamilySearch Folk continue to add records to their collections.
It is worth your time to check them out.
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Eclectic Books with a California Flavor

The Glendora Genealogical Society is working on a new set of pages:
Here is the link: Please check back shortly as the site is in the process of being updated.
Welcome Back: Glendora Gen Soc!

Los Angeles County Locations:
Books and Filmed Records from Family Search: Catalog
The Indexes for the Books below are here.
History of Long Beach, 1937, Case, W H, S J Clarke, Pub, Film # 1000110, Item 3 & 4, [Bios Images 782-1174]
History of Hollywood, 1937, Palmer, E O, Cawston, Pub, Film # 1000110, Item 2, [Bios are in Vol 2, Index: 188-189]
History of San Fernando Valley, 1934, Keefer, FM, Stillman Printing Co, Book is Here
History of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, 1930, S J Clarke, Pub. Book is Here
Monrovia and Duarte "Blue Book", 1943, Davis, C F, Cawston, Pub, Film # 1000110, [Bios Images 1215-1251]
Historical Record and Souvenir, Pioneer Soc of LA County 1923, Times Mirror Press, Pub, Book is Here
Marriage Records of R A Smith 1954-1978, Book is Here [FS Catalog]

Volunteers, Lookups and Queries
Volunteers
If you have access to local information and are willing to be a resource,
Please contact Martha

Lookup: Resources
I have access to the following Subscription Databases [Library Editions]
HeritageHub [Includes NewsBank and America's Obituaries and Death Notices]
Los Angeles Times ~ New York Times

'Free' Digital Newspapers

There is one Free Los Angeles County Paper in the Google Newspaper Archives
San Pedro Valley News-Sun
81 issues ~ Apr 19, 2006 - Apr 15, 2009

The California Digital Newspaper Collection has a large set of Local Newspapers for Los Angeles County
Please use this Link for Access

Name - Location - Dates of Publication		Name - Location - Dates of Publication
Antelope Valley Political Observer (Lancaster, 2010-2012)		Los Angeles Herald (L A,1873-1921)
Argonaut (Marina del Rey) (Marina del Rey, 2011-2012)		Los Angeles Mirror (L A,1949-1951)
Belvedere Citizen / Eastside Journal (Belvedere, 1968-1980)		Los Angeles Star (L A,1851-1870)
Boulevard Sentinel (Eagle Rock, 2012-2015)		Northeast Star Review (L A,1964-1975)
California Crusader News (L A,2010)		Occidental Weekly (Occidental, 1952-2015)
Campus News (EL A College) (Monterey Park, 2008-2019)		Opinión (L A,Calif.) (L A,1926-1942)
Central News Wave (L A,1971-1972)		Palos Verdes Peninsula News (Rolling Hills Est, 1937-1980)
Citrus College Clarion (Glendora, 1964-2023)		Pomona Clarion (Pomona, 1970)
Corsair (Santa Monica, 1929-2011)		Pomona Morning Times (Pomona, 1910-1912)
Crenshaw-Mesa Southwest wave (L A,1941)		Prensa (Los Angeles) (L A,1917-1922)
Crónica (L A,Calif.) (L A,1872-1889)		Press (Wilmington) (Wilmington, 1930)
Daily News (Los Angeles) (L A,1923-1954)		Rolling Hills Herald (Palos Verdes Estates, 1948-1967)
Daily News (Van Nuys) (Van Nuys, 1930-1960)		San Pedro Daily News (L A,1906-1928)
Eagle Rock Advertiser (Eagle Rock, 1928-1935)		San Pedro News Pilot (L A,1911-1950)
Eagle Rock Sentinel (Eagle Rock, 1910-1985)		Shin Nichibei (L A,1947-1966)
Eastside Journal / Belvedere Citizen (L A,1968-1980)		South Gate Daily Press-Tribune (South Gate, 1927-1953)
El Clamor Público (L A,1855-1859)		South Gate Press (South Gate, 1928-1985)
El Paisano (Whittier, 1964-2016)		South Los Angeles Wave (L A,1941)
El Sereno Star (L A,1953-1975)		South Pasadena Journal (South Pasadena, 1965-1988)
Evening Star News (Culver City, 1944-1952)		Southeast Wave Star (L A,1968-1972)
Evening Vanguard (L A,1939-1960)		Southern Californian (L A,1854-1855)
Gardena Valley News (Gardena, 1950-1965)		Southside Journal (L A,1968-1972)
Highland Park News-Herald & Journal (High Pk, 1906-1988)		Southwest News Wave (L A,1971-1972)
Highland Park Post-Dispatch (Highland Park, 1941-1942)		Southwest Topics-Wave (L A,1941-1972)
Hollywood Riviera Tribune (Palos Verdes Est, 1948-1967)		Southwest Wave (L A,1930-1972)
Independent (Los Angeles) (L A,1936-1946)		Southwestern Sun Wave (L A,1968-1972)
LA Downtown News (L A,2011-2017)		Topanga Journal & Malibu Monitor (Topanga, 1953-1967)
LA Evening Citizen News (Hollywood, 1944-1949)		Topanga Lookout (Topanga, 1964-1966)
Liberator (L A,1901-1913)		Topanga Messenger (Topanga, 1976-2016)
Lincoln Heights Bulletin-News (LA) (L A,1964-1975)		Walnut Park News (Walnut Park, 1924)
Los Angeles Citizen (L A,1903-1907)		Whittier Star Review (Whittier, 1936-1955)
Los Angeles Daily News (L A,1860-1872)		Wilmington Community News (Wilmington, 2000-2002)
Los Angeles Daily Star (L A,1870-1879)		Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, 1865-1909)
Los Angeles Evening Telegram (L A,1882)		Wilmington Press Journal (Wilmington, 1930-1986)

National and International Newspapers: Wiki List Online Archives

Library of Congress: National Newspaper Project

Purdue University
Free US Historic Digital Newspapers
Organized by Location: This is the Link for the West

Queries: Cyndi's List has a selection of Lists