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Yacht Harbor proposed by LAAC
The Los Angeles Athletic Club proposed building a Yacht Clubhouse and Harbor south of Topanga Beach.
Topanga Christmas Card, 1920s
Postcard shows a sunset over the sea, framed by California Holly (toyon berries) and California Poppies. The caption says, "Season's Greetings from Topanga, California."
Ad for Laura Way Mathiesen's Marmont Studio
Marmont Studio
Topanga Canyon, One-Half Mile From the Beach
LAURA WAY MATHIESEN
ORIGINAL PAINTINGS
Montana, Yellowstone Park, Colorado, California
For Tourists—Souvenirs that are “different.’
For Residents—Home decorations that recall…
Topanga Canyon, One-Half Mile From the Beach
LAURA WAY MATHIESEN
ORIGINAL PAINTINGS
Montana, Yellowstone Park, Colorado, California
For Tourists—Souvenirs that are “different.’
For Residents—Home decorations that recall…
Topanga postcard: "Have You Forgotten...?"
Topanga postcard: "Have You Forgotten That I Am Still at Topanga? Then Why Don't You Write?"
Aerial view of Lower Topanga, 1928
Aerial photo of Lower Topanga, 1928, showing Cooper's Camp (motel) and the Rodeo Grounds.
Frank Hudson with son Charles Hudson
Frank Hudson with son Charles Hudson, who tried to canoe from Topanga Beach to Catalina Island.
Charles Hudson leaves Topanga Beach in a canoe
A cartoon shows Charles Hudson leaving Topanga Beach in a canoe after boasting that he could reach Catalina Island.
Aerial view of Lower Topanga, 1927
Aerial photo of Lower Topanga, 1927, showing Cooper's Camp (motel) and the Rodeo Grounds.
Aerial view of Lower Topanga, 1926
Aerial photo of Lower Topanga, 1926, showing Cooper's Camp (motel) and the Rodeo Grounds.
Aerial view of Topanga Beach, 1925
Aerial view of Topanga Beach, which is called "the probable future site of the finest Pacific coast estates."
Topanga Beach map, 1925
Topanga Beach map, 1925, shows Brookside Drive, Shady Lane, The Rodeo Grounds, Topanga Lane (Topanga Canyon Lane), Old Malibu Road, and the former site of Arch Rock (Natural Arch).
Elks ride in a wagon to the Topanga Beach rodeo
Prominent members of the Santa Monica Elks Lodge are shown riding in a wagon pulled by reindeer to the Topanga Beach rodeo. The photographic cartoon was created by Fred Coffey
Jack Curtis and Andy Andrews break ground for the rodeo
Jack Curtis and Andy Andrews break ground for the Elks' Rodeo at Topanga Beach. The Elks built a frontier village.
Rodeo performer "Tuck" Gibson rides his horse
Rodeo performer "Tuck" Gibson rides his horse Steamboat in the Rodeo Grounds.
A new coast road is built through Cooper's Camp
A new coast road is built through Cooper's Camp, and over a Native American burial mound.
Florence Spence gives Edna Mae Spence a bath
Florence Spence gives Edna Mae Spence a bath at their home on Topanga Lane, which would become Spence's Cabins.
Will Geer at his Theatricum Botanicum
Will Geer breaks ground for the Shakespeare garden at his Theatricum Botanicum.
Topanga Ranch Motel key
Topanga Ranch Motel cabin #19 was the home of Jack Lester Sr. and his sons Kim and Jack Jr. They lived in multiple cabins from 1963 until it closed in 2002... about half of the motel's existence!
Program for the Elks' Round-Up at Cooper's Ranch
A program for the Elks' Round-Up at Cooper's Ranch shows a list of prizes.
On June 2-3, 1923, the Elks threw a two-day rodeo at Cooper's Ranch (behind Cooper's Camp, in the Rodeo Grounds). The stated purpose was to raise money to send their band…
On June 2-3, 1923, the Elks threw a two-day rodeo at Cooper's Ranch (behind Cooper's Camp, in the Rodeo Grounds). The stated purpose was to raise money to send their band…
Dick Sherman drives a tractor
Richard "Dick" Sherman founded Topanga Underground in 1971, a business specializing in designing and installing septic systems, water mains, and underground utilities.
John Wiley and Laura Wiley sit on a motorcycle
John Wiley and Laura Wiley sit on a Triumph motorcycle in a publicity photo for the film "Premonition," directed by Otto Preminger's son, Otto Preminger Jr. The film was not completed.
John Wiley and Marguerite Wiley sit on a motorcycle
John Wiley and Marguerite Wiley sit on a Triumph motorcycle in a publicity photo for the film "Premonition," directed by Otto Preminger's son, Otto Preminger Jr. The film was not completed.
Dolores Trujillo drives a wagon through Topanga Creek
Topanga pioneer Dolores Trujillo (probably in the left front seat) drives through Topanga Creek in a horse-drawn wagon, transporting the chain gang's road-building equipment back to the beach.
Charlie Chaplin escapes from prison in "The Adventurer"
Charlie Chaplin runs away from the chain gang and prison camp at Topanga Beach, in his film "The Adventurer," 1917
A car parks at the bottom of the S-Turns
A man and woman park their car on the curb of the newly widened Topanga Canyon Road, at the bottom of the S-Turns.
A man in a suit and a woman in a dress stand beside a cave
A man in a suit and a woman in a long dress stand beside a large rock with a shallow cave on Topanga Canyon Road in Lower Topanga.
Women sit beside a large rock, holding flowers
Women, wearing dresses and large hats, hold flowers and sit with men in suits beside a large rock on the bank of Topanga Creek in Lower Topanga.
Men in suits and women in dresses on Topanga Canyon Road
Men in suits and women in long dresses pause on Topanga Canyon Road in Lower Topanga.
Five men in suits pose beside Topanga Creek
Five men in suits pose beside Topanga Creek in Lower Topanga. A jacket is draped over their car.
Two men in suits walk down Topanga Canyon Road
Two men in suits walk down Topanga Canyon Road in Lower Topanga. They have draped their coats over their shoulders.
Two cars park on the newly widened Topanga Canyon Road
Two cars full of people park on the newly widened Topanga Canyon Road in Lower Topanga. On the right, a man gets water from a spring.
Theodore Gegoux painting, "Topanga Canyon, Mountains on the Coast," 1915
Theodore Gegoux's painting, "Topanga Canyon, Mountains on the Coast," shows Topanga Beach, Topanga Lagoon, and the entrance to Topanga Canyon.
Jack Rabbit Lodge, a long barn, and a plowed field
Jack Rabbit Lodge, a long barn, and a plowed field were once beside the Topanga Lagoon at Topanga Beach.
Cars drive on a dirt road at Topanga Beach
Cars drive on a dirt road at Topanga Beach near the former site of Arch Rock.
The Topanga Canyon road between the coast and the grade
The Topanga Canyon road was once a narrow dirt road, as seen here between the coast and the grade.
Topanga Beach before the automobile age
Topanga Beach had only one house "before the automobile age." This photo was taken from Sunset Mesa.
D. W. Griffith directs a Western on horseback
D. W. Griffith directed the Western "Crossing the American Prairies in the Early Fifties" in Lower Topanga. He spoke through a megaphone from the saddle of a cream-colored horse. He included 200 cowboys from nearby ranches, 50 women and children, 120…
Western actors play Native Americans and settlers
D. W. Griffith directed the Western "Crossing the American Prairies in the Early Fifties" in Lower Topanga. He spoke through a megaphone from the saddle of a cream-colored horse. He included 200 cowboys from nearby ranches, 50 women and children, 120…
Western actors with rifles and wagons play settlers
D. W. Griffith directed the Western "Crossing the American Prairies in the Early Fifties" in Lower Topanga. He spoke through a megaphone from the saddle of a cream-colored horse. He included 200 cowboys from nearby ranches, 50 women and children, 120…
Native-American skulls discovered in Lower Topanga
William Wills Coolbaugh discovered the bones of Native Americans in a mound in Lower Topanga. At least one of the skulls had an arrowhead embedded in it. Others were crushed. A Stanford Archaeology class came to assist, and conjectured that the…
William Wills Coolbaugh holds a Native-American skull
William Wills Coolbaugh holds a Native-American skull that he dug out of a mound in Lower Topanga.
Native-American artifacts discovered in Lower Topanga
William Wills Coolbaugh discovered these Native-American artifacts in a mound in Lower Topanga. In addition to arrowheads, spearheads, necklaces, and skulls, they include an "idol" statue, made of polished bone, on which “The eyes and nose of the…
E. Roger Stearns fishes in Topanga Creek from his car
Car salesman E. Roger Stearns made a publicity stunt out of fishing in Topanga Creek from the seat of his red Velie,
Close-up of cable car used to measure Topanga Creek
A cable car was used to gauge the water level of Topanga Creek at the bottom of the S-Turns.
A swimming hole in Topanga Creek, near Camp Wildwood
The Greenleaf family stands beside a natural swimming hole in Topanga Creek, north of Camp Wildwood.
The last residents of the Rodeo Grounds 2/2
The last residents of the Rodeo Grounds gather on a couch at James Mathers's party.
BACK ROW: Christof Marquardsen, Michele Capra, Bernt Capra, Jean-Louis Bartoli, Kendall Perkins ("Lyf"), Robin Paz ("Lunch Lady").
FRONT ROW: Daisy Duck…
BACK ROW: Christof Marquardsen, Michele Capra, Bernt Capra, Jean-Louis Bartoli, Kendall Perkins ("Lyf"), Robin Paz ("Lunch Lady").
FRONT ROW: Daisy Duck…
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