Los Angeles Map Prints, The Growth of LA

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Joey Phelps | 0 comments

In 1877 Los Angeles was nothing more than a tiny, barely visible purple blob. Back then the city that would one day be referred to as The Entertainment Capitol of the World, was home to fewer than 4,400 occupants, with vineyards and orchards growing where houses, shops and hotels now stand. This map animation shows how Los Angeles grew from such humble beginnings to some of the most desirable southern California real estate.

The map shows a burst of growth from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, showing the city's transition from a village of 5,000 people to over 100,000 occupants. This rapid growth took place along with industrial expansion and the help of developers who wanted to turn it into a great city. The railroads also had a hand in Los Angeles' growth. The first one ran 21 miles from San Pedro to LA. The city saw significant growth after connecting to the Central Pacific Railroad in the late 1870s and the Santa Fe system in 1885. Watch the coastline take shape and expansion take place as we move into the 1940s and 50s. Los Angeles became an industrial and financial giant, producing aircrafts and war supplies for World War II and assembling more cars than any other city other than Detroit. Los Angeles also came in second behind Akron in the tire making business, made more furniture than the city of Grand Rapids and came in right behind New York in clothing production. All of this manufacturing was somewhat short lived. The auto factories shut down in the 1990s after the tire and steel factories were already long gone. The furniture industry's hub was now in Mexico and the agricultural and dairy operations moved to other counties.

However, these economic changes didn't stop the city of Los Angeles from eventually becoming the second most populous city in the United States. In fact, LA bounced back, reinvented itself and becoming a global city with a culture like no other which is why we had no choice but to create a vintage Los Angeles map print to represent this great city.

Click Below to View our Los Angeles Map Prints!

Posted in LA map, LA map print poster, LA wall map, los angeles map print, map of los angeles, Vintage map of LA, Wall map of LA