Colorado Boulevard circa1880 (Photo – California Historical Society Collection at the USC Libraries).
Colorado Boulevard has the distinction of possibly being one of the few places in the nation where a piece of 2 x 4, and an iPad, were both sold on the same stretch.
By Rena Kurlander
Judging from the lumber sign on the photo above, dating back to the year 1880, we can safely say that this street-turned-boulevard possibly shares this distinction with few other streets in the nation.
With technology advancing so fast, we may even see a hovering bike being sold on the famous Boulevard in the near future.
The photo’s view is looking west on Colorado Street. The dirt street is crowded with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages. Several commercial buildings, and at least one residence, are visible. Ward Block on southwest corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Street is seen at left. Vacant lots are on the front of the street in left foreground. As the mountain range is visible in the background, few legible signs are seen in the foreground that say: “Lumber yard” and “Carpenter shop”.
Times have changed, and now the “funny-looking” diagonal crosswalks are a common sight on the Boulevard.
The photograph proves undeniably that humanity is barely at the beginning of its evolution. 1880 was only a nanosecond ago in paleontological terms.