Past and present

TL;DR -- The 250th of the U.S. will allow lots of research to get some air, as the attention goes to the history of the country. We will follow that thread several ways, including a deep look at technology of computing with respect all aspects that we know, to date. We can compare different areas. One of these one-up looks will be NYC and LA, in order by age. LA is comparatively a youngster. The dynamisms of the two difer quit a bit, too. 

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Some locations kept good records via photographs of their change through time. At the same time, we have temporal issues such as Los Angeles being younger than New York City. Then we have technology bringing in abilities that can be pinpointed in time. For instance, we know that Gardner, the photographer, was active during the Civil War. We posted several photos from his era, including one from Lawrence, KS. We called the post with the photo "Frontier century" (April 2021); its themes were several: the great expansion in the middle after the revolution (deed done primarily by the 5th generation); families being lost in time as they escaped the heavy hand of documentation; and modern efforts at recovering evidence of their existence). 

We will continue to focus on the middle of the country but have, of late, been looking at Los Angeles and its Bunker Hill (west, we call it) that mainly appeared in the late 1800s and went away a century later to be replaced by high-climbing things that cast a long shadow. We have had lots of photos of the LA area and can be more intimate as we find older photos to match up with something recent. 

LA and NY City
across time

In this photo, the left side shows part of the train yard in LA at two different times. Reminder, LA was Old Spain and Mexico until the latter part of the 1830s. LA claims a start in the early 1780s which is associated with New Spain. The area settled is known, now, as Down Town LA (we'll use DTLA). A church built in the area in 1784 later burned. At that site, the Old Plaza Church (still standing) was built built in 1814.  

On the right of the photo, we have snaps of NYC's Manhattan starting with a photo from 1876. This an old area and was part of the colonies prior to the U.S. Revolution. With the 250th of that event coming up, we will have time to cover stories about all areas of the U.S. 

One of our themes will deal with the long reach (Mirror building; Settlements, temporary and otherwise; NEHGS events) of New England. There will be others, such as technology. 

Before moving on, we know that NY City has tall builidngs. Lots of them. The tallest now is the One World Trade Center at almost 1,800 feet. Wikipedia has a list of buildings taller than 600 feet (110 buildings). 

In DTLA, the tallest building is only 1,100 feet). The LA City Hall is 454 feet (it's shown on the left in photo) and is the 42nd largest building. The smallest (53rd in the Wikipedia list) stands at 352 feet. 

We mentioned Bunker Hill west. It got its name, of course, from the site of a Revolutionary battle. We will be looking more at that area in DTLA as it represents changes over time, as influx of population changes the dynamics of a location. With a great collection of photos from different periods, we find people taking photos from that same area and focus of direction. 

Related to Bunker Hill west is this one that show 101 early on and then later. In the meantime, St. Vibiana's was closed as a church (became an event's center) and moved up the hill from Main Street to the summit. Parts of that area had been lowered early. Houses and dirt were taken away to have proper foundation for buildings. One story to look at is the Central Library which experienced two fires by arson. During the time of recovery, maneuverings got the building limit raised from that related to the height of the City Center. So, the first one went up to cast a shadow over the library. The library sold its "air rights" as one means to fund getting back to its work. They had to replace $Ms in burnt books, for instance. 

LA Central Libray with its
"twin" (to the right)
U.S. Bank Tower

On the list of tallest, the "library tower" now is #2. 

Reminder: with respect to photos (such as we see from Water and Power Associates of CA), provenance needs to have special attention, always. How all of this influence from Gen AI plays out will be a thing to watch. The ease with which fakes can be generated will make the problems more diffficult to resolve, albeit there are known ways to attempt to obtain stable and safe environments. Technology will provide the means many times for its managment; a key choice concerns human involvement. Yes, we humans can handle the complexity. Unfortunately, we could have known more; that is to be discussed.  

Remarks: Modified: 09/27/2024

09/27/2024 --