Los Angeles in 1877

Floating some 9,000 feet above the city in a hot-air balloon in 1887, Edwin H. Husher took what may be the first aerial photo of Los Angeles.

By 1887, the City’s population had grown to over 20,000 people with most of the new development having taken place south of the original Pueblo and LA Plaza as seen in the above photo.

Aerial photo of Los Angeles looking East on June 27, 1887 taken from a balloon. Note the farmland south of Second Street and east of Main Street to the Los Angeles River. The circular form of the Plaza is visible to the center left.

---