Land ho! 1542. Imagine what it was really like to explore the California seacoast more than 450 years ago. Look for the elaborate diorama that recreates, in cross-section, the San Salvadore, the ship captained by Spanish sailor and explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. Details of the crew and supplies are based on actual records from the original ship log. Check out the California History Hall >
A little pueblo known as Los Angeles. How does L.A.’s current population compare to the early “founders” or “pobladores”? The city of Los Angeles has a current estimated population of almost 4 million. But the original settlement consisted of only 44 people — a total of 11 families. The pobladores were multi-racial of Indian, African and European origin — a preview of the city’s dynamic multi-ethnic population of today.
Come fly with me. Los Angeles has a longstanding reputation as an automobile-dependent town. But the city is not just about cars and freeways. L.A. has a significant history as an aviation center that goes as far back as the early 1900s when, due to its open geography and climate, the city was heavily promoted as a prime location to test and manufacture airplanes.
City of the future. Despite its rich history, Los Angeles is continually changing and reinventing itself. Evidence of the city’s past is sometimes quite elusive. If you’re seeking solid proof that L.A. didn’t just spring up overnight, inspect the fascinating aerial map of L.A in 1894 or survey the elaborate 3-D scale model of downtown L.A. in the 1930s, which catalogues the city, block by block. Time doesn’t stand still in L.A., but these snapshots bring the city’s invisible past into sharp focus.