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Photo, Print, Drawing Los Angeles County Poor Farm, Power Plant Complex, 7601 Imperial Highway; bounded by Esperanza Street, Erickson Avenue, Descanso Street, and Hawthorn Street, Downey, Los Angeles County, CA Rancho Los Amigos, Los Angeles County Building Nos. 1300, 1301 & 1302 Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center

View 20 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS CA-2800-C  ]

More Resources

[ Data Pages from Survey HABS CA-2800-C  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS CA-2800-C  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Los Angeles County Poor Farm, Power Plant Complex, 7601 Imperial Highway; bounded by Esperanza Street, Erickson Avenue, Descanso Street, and Hawthorn Street, Downey, Los Angeles County, CA

Other Title

  • Rancho Los Amigos, Los Angeles County Building Nos. 1300, 1301 & 1302 Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Sapphos Environmental, Inc., contractor
  • County of Los Angeles Chief Executive Office, sponsor
  • Ostermann, Wanda, field team
  • Lee, David, photographer
  • Backes, Clarus, photographer
  • Carmack, Shannon, historian
  • Silva, Rebecca, historian
  • Howell-Ardila, Deborah, historian
  • Carias, Laura, historian
  • Heumann, Leslie, historian

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  power plants
  • -  California--Los Angeles County--Downey

Notes

  • -  Significance: Constructed in three phases from 1909 to 1925, the Historic Power Plant Complex consists of the original 1909 steam plant (later, ice house and machine shop); the former laundry (the 1911 Addition to the 1909 Original Building); and the 1925 Power Plant building and its associated, freestanding Chimney. The Power Plant Complex was opened as a component of the City of Downey’s first electric light plant. The building was located at the Los Angeles County Poor Farm and provided complete electricity to that institution. The County Poor Farm began in 1887/1888 as an agricultural facility that provided work, housing, and medical care for the indigent to relieve the overburdened Los Angeles County Hospital system. By the 1910s, an increasing number of inmates with chronic medical disorders were being admitted to the Poor Farm, causing a transition from providing rehabilitative, short-term treatment for the impoverished to a long-term patient care facility that eventually became the Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center. The Patient Ward Buildings were the first buildings constructed at the institution strictly to provide ward space for these chronically ill patients. Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center is significant as an example of early twentieth century healthcare of Los Angeles County’s indigent population and for its later treatment of those in Los Angeles County with chronic illnesses, both mental and physical. In 1995, seventy-six buildings located in the South Campus area of the former Poor Farm were determined eligible for listing as a historic district in the National Register of Historical Places, and as a result, the South Campus was automatically listed in the California Register of Historic Resources. The Historic Power Plant Complex was listed as a contributor to the Historic District.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1620
  • -  Survey number: HABS CA-2800-C
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1909-1925 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1911 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1925 Subsequent Work

Medium

  • Photo(s): 20
  • Data Page(s): 19
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 2

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS CA-2800-C

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ca3512

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 CA-2800-C
  • 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, Inc Sapphos Environmental, Sponsor County Of Los Angeles Chief Executive Office, Wanda Ostermann, Shannon Carmack, Rebecca Silva, Deborah Howell-Ardila, Laura Carias, and Leslie Heumann, Lee, David, and Clarus Backes, photographer. Los Angeles County Poor Farm, Power Plant Complex,Imperial Highway; bounded by Esperanza Street, Erickson Avenue, Descanso Street, and Hawthorn Street, Downey, Los Angeles County, CA. Los Angeles County California Downey, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca3512/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Sapphos Environmental, I., County Of Los Angeles Chief Executive Office, S., Ostermann, W., Carmack, S., Silva, R. [...] Heumann, L., Lee, D. & Backes, C., photographer. (1933) Los Angeles County Poor Farm, Power Plant Complex,Imperial Highway; bounded by Esperanza Street, Erickson Avenue, Descanso Street, and Hawthorn Street, Downey, Los Angeles County, CA. Los Angeles County California Downey, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca3512/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Lee, David, and Clarus Backes. Los Angeles County Poor Farm, Power Plant Complex,Imperial Highway; bounded by Esperanza Street, Erickson Avenue, Descanso Street, and Hawthorn Street, Downey, Los Angeles County, CA. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/ca3512/>.