Browse Items (449 total)

  • Collection: Lower Topanga

Evening Outlook Race trophies won by Topanga Yacht Club

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Fifteen sailors finished the first Evening Outlook Trophy Race, on Sunday, September 2, 1934. Seven were members of the Topanga Yacht Club (names in bold below). The winner was presented a bronze trophy by "beach beauty" Marilyn Connon. Others…

A 1930 map marks Lower Topanga as a future park

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A 1930 map ("Diagram of Beach Frontage") marks Lower Topanga as the site of a future park, and the Santa Monica / Venice coastline as a future harbor.

A beach house wrecked by a storm and big waves

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Just west of the Topanga Beach Lagoon, a house is wrecked by a storm and big waves.

A boy rides a horse by Shriner's Wayside Stand

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A boy rides a horse by Shriner's Wayside Stand. He is being watched by Lucie Loggins, who bought the restaurant and renamed it Step Inn Cafe.

A bridge crosses the Topanga Lagoon

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A bridge crosses the Topanga Lagoon, near Cooper's Camp and De Long Cafe. Plans were afoot to replace the bridge, which happened in 1933. This photo comes from a 1930 report submitted to the Citizens' Committee on Parks, Playgrounds, and Beaches, by…

A car parks at the bottom of the S-Turns

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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 couple stands by the chimney of their house lost to fire

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A man and woman stand by the chimney of the house at Brookside that they lost to the 1938 fire.

A diver searches for the Ameco, off Topanga Beach

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A diver searches for the Ameco, off Topanga Beach.

The fishing boat "Ameco" capsized off Topanga Beach, and 16 people drowned on Memorial Day, May 30, 1930. This remains the worst boating accident in the Santa Monica Bay.

A fire burns to Topanga Canyon Blvd.

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Firemen watch as a fire burns to Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Lower Topanga.

A flood engulfs a house in Lower Topanga

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The Topanga Creek flood engulfs a house and van in Brookside in Lower Topanga.

A horse carriage pauses in front of Arch Rock

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A man stands beside a horse carriage, in front of Arch Rock

A horse wagon carries passengers across Topanga Creek

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A horse wagon carries passengers across Topanga Creek, while two women walk along the bank. The caption says, "Going up 'Topango' Canyon -- crossing a little stream is Emma and Jim on front seat, Mrs. H. Esther next, Mother S. sitting in back --…

A man in a suit and a woman in a dress stand beside a cave

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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.

A man watches a house wrecked by the flood

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A man watches a house that the Topanga Creek flood had carried for half a mile in Lower Topanga Canyon.

A new coast road is built through Cooper's Camp

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A new coast road is built through Cooper's Camp, and over a Native American burial mound.

A non-native tree is sprayed with blue herbicide Roundup

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A non-native arundo tree is sprayed with the blue herbicide Roundup by State Parks in the lower Topanga Creek bed. The health impacts of the glyphosate-based Roundup, as well as its effects on the environment, have been at the center of substantial…

A prison camp in Lower Topanga housed a chain gang

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A prison camp in Lower Topanga housed a chain gang while they built the Topanga Canyon Road.

"The great dormitory sits in the center of what will soon be a beautiful garden. The prisoners have already marked off the plot for flower…

A woman in a dress stands under Arch Rock

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A woman in a dress stands under Arch Rock. The retaining wall has been erased from the colorized version of this photo.

A woman stands on a hill above the Topanga Lagoon

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A woman stands on a hill above the Topanga Lagoon, holding flowers.

Actress Lindsey Wagner at Topanga Beach

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Lindsey Wagner starred in "The Bionic Woman," a TV show that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978.

Actress Natalie Talmadge's house on Las Tunas Beach

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A lit cigarette, left on the couch, set ablaze the Las Tunas Beach house of actress Natalie Talmadge (1896-1969) on September 25, 1943, at 2:30 a.m. Fire Captain Tom Cheney concluded this because the couch burned through the floor.

Natalie’s…

Ad for Laura Way Mathiesen's Marmont Studio

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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…

Aerial view and map of Lower Topanga, 1970

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Lower Topanga aerial photo and map show Topanga Beach, the Snake Pit, the Rodeo Grounds, Brookside, and Sunset Mesa.

Aerial view of entrance to Topanga Canyon, 2022

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Aerial view of entrance to Topanga Canyon shows Oasis Imports, the Malibu Feed Bin, and 7-Eleven gas station.

Aerial view of Lower Topanga, 1926

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Aerial photo of Lower Topanga, 1926, showing Cooper's Camp (motel) and the Rodeo Grounds.

Aerial view of Lower Topanga, 1927

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Aerial photo of Lower Topanga, 1927, showing Cooper's Camp (motel) and the Rodeo Grounds.

Aerial view of Lower Topanga, 1928

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Aerial photo of Lower Topanga, 1928, showing Cooper's Camp (motel) and the Rodeo Grounds.

Aerial view of Lower Topanga, 1997

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Lower Topanga aerial photo shows Topanga Beach, the Snake Pit, the Rodeo Grounds, Brookside, and Sunset Mesa.

Aerial view of Topanga Beach, 1924 (3/3)

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Aerial photo of Topanga Beach and Las Tunas Beach, 1924 (3/3)

Aerial view of Topanga Beach, 1925

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Aerial view of Topanga Beach, which is called "the probable future site of the finest Pacific coast estates."

Aerial view of Topanga Beach, 1926

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Aerial view of Topanga Beach, Cooper's Camp, and Rodeo Grounds

Aerial view of Topanga Beach, 1938

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Aerial view of Topanga Beach shows the motel, Topanga Lagoon, Old Malibu Road, Topanga Lane, Shady Lane, and the Rodeo Grounds.

Aerial view of Topanga Beach, 1940

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An aerial view of Topanga Beach shows the auto court motel, Topanga Lane, and the Rodeo Grounds.

Aerial view of Topanga Beach, 1980s

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Aerial view of Topanga Beach, from Las Tunas Beach to the Charthouse Restaurant, along Pacific Coast Highway.

Aldo Vidali

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In 1930, Aldo was born to an Italian family in Ixelles, Belgium. As a child he went to Italy and from there he began his life of traveling. His travels have taken him to almost every continent in the world. He has studied at the University of…

An XB-19 bomber plane flies over Topanga Beach

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An XB-19 bomber plane flies over Topanga Beach. At the time this postcard was mailed, 1943, the bomber was the third largest airplane in the world.

Arch Rock drawing, 1894

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Arch Rock drawing, 1894. "The wonderful Arch Rock of Santa Monica."

Aricia Halley, Woody Stuart, Carole Winter, Mike Perry

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Aricia Halley, Woody Stuart, Carole Winter, and Mike Perry sit on the sand in front of a beach house.

Armand Riza, Las Tunas Beach

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Armand Olaf Riza, Las Tunas Beach resident, wears wetsuit and windsurfing gear. Behind him are a boat and his neighbor's house, La Esperanza.

Armand Riza's surfboards at Las Tunas Beach

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Armand Olaf Riza's surfboards, at his home on Las Tunas Beach, are covered by a banner that says, "Malibu Surf & Sail, 18904 Pacific Coast Highway." The better-looking boards are for windsurfing. The others have weathered yellow and brown.

Arthur Kennedy, Kirk Douglas hitchhike to Topanga Beach

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Actors Arthur Kennedy and Kirk Douglas hitchhike to Topanga Beach in the film "Champion" (1949).

At the entrance to The Topango

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The Topanga Creek and Lagoon are barely visible "at the entrance to The Topango." In the background are a field of crops and Jack Rabbit Lodge.

Back view of Lower Topanga business center

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Back view of Lower Topanga business center shows fire station, Los Angeles Athletic Club office and Rust's Barbecue

Barefoot Topanga Beach fishermen show off their fish

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Barefoot Topanga Beach fishermen show off their fish. The man on the right is Greek immigrant John Foundoukos.

Big money encroaches on Topanga, Jody Roberts, 1992

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Artist Jody Roberts drew this comic map for the "Messenger" newspaper, showing "Big Bucks Estates" and "Big Development" encroaching on Topanga.

Bikini girls eat popsicles at The Raft restaurant

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Two bikini girls eat popsicles at The Raft restaurant at Topanga Beach.

Bill and Ruth Wylie's Bait and Tackle shop, 1946

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Bill and Ruth Wylie's Bait and Tackle shop. They lived in the house in back. The employee in the photo is unidentified.

Bill Sykes with his children Beverly and Dave

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Bill Sykes lies in the sand with his children Beverly and Dave at their house on Topanga Beach,