Snapshots of the Past

Reservoir [and] water system, Los Angeles, Ca. – Vintage Wall Art

Reservoir [and] water system, Los Angeles, Ca., 1939 — historic photograph
Reservoir [and] water system, Los Angeles, Ca., 1939. Historic photograph from the Los Angeles collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of Reservoir [and] water system, Los Angeles, Ca.. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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Reservoir [and] water system, Los Angeles, Ca.

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From the air, this view shows a reservoir and its surrounding water system in Los Angeles, with roads running nearby. It appeared in 1939 as an illustration in a Public Works Administration survey of completed projects, a federal effort from the New Deal years to document the public buildings and structures funded during the Depression. Los Angeles depended on reservoirs and conduits to store and move water from distant sources, so an aerial view like this one shows how engineering shaped the city's landscape. The survey recorded design alongside function, which makes the image useful for seeing how public infrastructure looked in the 1930s.

Created / published1939
Medium1 photographic print.
GenreBook illustrations 1930-1940.Aerial views 1930-1940.Photographic prints 1930-1940.
NotesIllus. in: Survey of the architecture of completed projects of the Public Works Administration / C.W. Short, Public Works Administration [and] R. Stanley-Brown, Procurement Division ; Committee on Architectural Surveys.... [Washington : s.n.], 1939, v. 2, p. 0270.
SubjectsReservoirs--California--Los Angeles--1930-1940. Roads--California--1930-1940.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan5,342 × 4,266 px · prints to 18 × 14 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-213837

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