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Changing Face of Southern California

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Changing Face of Southern California

Field of poppies, foot of Mt. Lowe, California.

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Field of poppies, foot of Mt. Lowe, California.

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Identifier	post_00169
Title	Field of poppies, foot of Mt. Lowe, California.
Creator	unknown
Date Created	1893-1900
Date Published	after 1907
Subject (Topic)	California poppy; Mountain resorts--California--Los Angeles County; Scenic railways--California--Los Angeles; Electric railroads--California--Los Angeles County;
Subject (Name)	Echo Mountain House (Los Angeles County, Calif.); Mount Lowe Railway (Los Angeles County, Calif.);
Subject (Place)	San Gabriel Mountains (Calif.); Lowe, Mount (Los Angeles County, Calif.);
Type	image
Form/Genre	Postcards
Physical Description	1 postcard : Color ; 9 x 14 cm.
Institution	Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University
Country of Creation	US
Copyright Status	public domain
Copyright Statement	https://library.lmu.edu/policies&procedures/librarycopyrightpolicy/
Publisher	Cardinell-Vicent Co.
Place of Publication	San Francisco, Los Angeles
Language	eng
Description	A view of poppy fields in Altadena, California with Echo Mountain and Mt. Lowe rising in the background. The Echo Mountain House resort appears in the top center portion of the image. The incline segment of the Mt. Lowe Railway appears as a narrow line up the side of Echo Mountain on the right side of the image. Mt. Lowe appears as a high peak in the distance.
Historical Background	The development of Mt. Lowe in the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, California, was mostly undertaken by Thaddeus Lowe who retired to Los Angeles in the late 1880s. In 1893, he organized the construction of the Mount Lowe Railway, along with engineer David J. Macpherson. The railway was developed in three parts including the Great Incline, which was a funicular railway which traveled up a steep grade of 48-62%. Hotels were constructed on Echo mountain, including the Echo Mountain House, Echo Chalet, and Rubio Pavilion. Other attractions included an observatory, a casino and dance hall, and a menagerie of local wildlife. The buildings were painted white, earning the nickname, "the White City." The resort opened in 1893 but eventually was destroyed by two fires. The first fire on February 5, 1900 destroyed the largest building, the 70 room Echo Mountain House. A second fire on December 9, 1905 destroyed all the remaining structures except the observatory. Although California poppies grew naturally in the fields below the mountains, the conductors on electric railway lines that passed through the area were known to throw poppy seeds from moving trains to enhance the landscape.
Additional Printed Matter	On front: "On the Road of a Thousand Wonders."
Publisher's Identifier	Series number: 6605
Source	Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection