Los angeles
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Los Angeles
Most populous city in California, United States
"LA" and "City of Los Angeles" redirect here. For other uses, see Los Angeles (disambiguation), LA (disambiguation), and City of Los Angeles (disambiguation).
City in California, United States
Los Angeles | |
|---|---|
| Nicknames: L.A., City of Angels,[1]The Entertainment Capital of the World,[1] La-la-land, Tinseltown[1] | |
| Coordinates: 34°03′N118°15′W / 34.050°N 118.250°W / 34.050; -118.250 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| Region | Southern California |
| CSA | Los Angeles-Long Beach |
| MSA | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim |
| Pueblo | September 4, 1781[2] |
| City status | May 23, 1835[3] |
| Incorporated | April 4, 1850[4] |
| Named for | Our Lady, Queen of the Angels |
| • Type | Mayor-council[5] |
| • Body | Los Angeles City Council |
| • Mayor | Karen Bass (D) |
| • City Attorney | Hydee Feldstein Soto (D) |
| • City Controller | Kenneth M
Gold Rush Brings Hordes of ProspectorsBut in 1846, the Mexican American War broke out, and two years later California was annexed by the United States. The timing was fortuitous, as rich deposits of gold were discovered in the Sacramento Valley in 1848, igniting the Gold Rush. The hordes of ‘49ers flocking to California depended on beef and other foods from ranches and farms in the Los Angeles area. In 1881, after years of America’s “manifest destiny” expansion, Southern Pacific Railroad completed a track into Los Angeles, linking the city with the rest of the United States. This sparked a flurry of land speculation, and civic boosters were soon tempting winter-weary Easterners with promises of lush orange groves and boundless sunshine. But oranges and people need water, and L.A. looked to the Owens Valley, some 200 miles away, to slake its thirst. After years of backroom deals, bribery and other shenanigans, superintendent William Mulholland opened the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913 with the words, “There it is. Take it.” Hollywood Is Born, Oil Industry Moves InD.W. Griffi
The Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf: Life StoriesFor our Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf, we asked writers with deep ties to the city to name their favorite Los Angeles books across eight categories or genres. Based on 95 responses, here are the 14 most essential L.A. memoirs and biographies, from Hollywood tell-alls to immigrant sagas, hard lives (Luis J. Rodriguez) and spectacular flameouts (Freeway Rick Ross).
… Adobe Days by Sarah Bixby Smith, 1925 The book’s subtitle reads, in part, “Being the Truthful Narrative of the Events in the Life of a California Girl on a Sheep Ranch and in El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles While It Was Yet a Small and Humble Town.” From 1866-81, the Bixby family owned Rancho Los Cerritos (now a museum) in Long Beach. Although Smith’s well-meaning memoir is not free of the prejudices of its day, it provides an intimate look at Southern California’s remote agrarian past. — CK Laughing in the Jungle by Louis Ada Copyright ©dadtori.pages.dev 2025 |