A few years back I met my cousin Rio Healey-Diaz when he visited Los Angeles from New Zealand on his way to Mexico to discover his heritage. Rio is the great-great-grandson of Jovita García Díaz Higgins Cunningham. While Rio was here, my cousin David Hernández described to him the location of the graves of my… Read More


This fantastic image gives an idea of the glamour of Broadway at its zenith, when it was lined with luxury stores and movie palaces. I haven’t found a credit for the image, but it appears to be taken at the 1931 premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights.”… Read More


Corner view of front entrance of the old red sandstone courthouse with clock tower; Hall of Records to the right; statue of Stephen M. White fronts courthouse; large letters mown into lawn are the words: County Court House; streetcars; palm trees; buildings in background; people walking on sidewalk. The County built the Victorian style Red… Read More


As previously posted, I located an image of the residence of my great-grandparents José María and María de Jesús Alvarado from the late teens and 1920s at 543 S. Fremont Avenue in the USC Digital Archive, after researching a 1920s Baist map. Recently the USC Digital Archive has begun offering high-resolution downloads of its vast… Read More


From the California Historical Society Collection, about the time of the 1904 birth of my grandmother Consuelo Marin (Chavez) Stoltz in Chihuahua.… Read More


View looking north on Broadway, between 4th Street and 5th Street, ca. 1906. The Belasco Theatre is in the lower-right foreground. In the distance can be seen City Hall and, further back, the Broadway Tunnel. Water and Power Associates.… Read More


A few years ago a cousin discovered this photograph in a trunk full of Luján family historical records. On the back it was identified only as “Luján family.” Of course the next question was: Which Luján family? There were lots to pick from! I had a theory it was the family of Jesús Luján (1811-1871)… Read More


In recounting the various jobs of my great-grandfather Louis Stoltz, I have been looking for images of the various places he worked. I was able to find a vintage 1950s postcard of the location of the El Paso Billiard Club,317 E. Mills Ave., where he was manager in 1940. The club was located in the… Read More