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Photo, Print, Drawing Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA

View 366 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS CA-2159  ]

More Resources

[ Data Pages from Survey HABS CA-2159  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS CA-2159  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Los Angeles Downtown People Mover Authority, sponsor
  • Frank, Myra L, historian
  • Hatheway, Roger G, historian
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency, sponsor
  • City of Los Angeles, sponsor
  • Architectural Resources Group, contractor
  • Parsons Brinckerhoff, contractor
  • John Ash Group, Architects, contractor
  • Maley, Bridget, historian
  • Judd, Bruce D, photographer
  • Farneth, Stephen J, photographer
  • Griesbach, Monica, photographer
  • Ash, John, photographer
  • Fukuda, Takashi, project assistant
  • Roeder, Brad, project assistant
  • Balogh, Kelly, project assistant
  • Shulman, Julius, photographer

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  city & town halls
  • -  government facilities
  • -  California--Los Angeles County--Los Angeles

Notes

  • -  Significance: When the City of Los Angeles wanted an impressive and monumental edifice to serve as a symbol of progressivism and modernism, they selected three of the most prominent architects of the period to design the building: John Austin, John Parkinson, and Albert Martin. City Hall was for many years the tallest structure in the city and was an attempt to impart a new building style to the city through its use of the neoclassical skyscraper form. The landscaping and open spaces surrounding the structure serve to make this an important social as well as architecturally important building. The interior spaces of City Hall are remarkable for their carvings, bronze doors, murals, tile mosaics, and ornate lighting fixtures. There are twenty-seven different types of marble found in City Hall. Among numerous other contributions, decoration is by Herman Sachs and Antony Heinsenbergen.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N303
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-145
  • -  Survey number: HABS CA-2159

Medium

  • Photo(s): 337
  • Color Transparencies: 29
  • Data Page(s): 29
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 33

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,51-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ca1261

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,51-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Sponsor Los Angeles Downtown People Mover Authority, Myra L Frank, Roger G Hatheway, Sponsor Federal Emergency Management Agency, Sponsor City Of Los Angeles, Contractor Architectural Resources Group, et al., Judd, Bruce D, Stephen J Farneth, Monica Griesbach, John Ash, and Julius Shulman, photographer. Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. Los Angeles Los Angeles County California, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca1261/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Los Angeles Downtown People Mover Authority, S., Frank, M. L., Hatheway, R. G., Federal Emergency Management Agency, S., City Of Los Angeles, S. [...] Balogh, K., Judd, B. D., Farneth, S. J., Griesbach, M., Ash, J. & Shulman, J., photographer. (1933) Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. Los Angeles Los Angeles County California, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca1261/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Judd, Bruce D, et al. Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/ca1261/>.