Browse Items (1540 total)

Students studying the American Frontier

9_15.jpg
Fifth- and sixth-grade students studying the American Frontier were helped by teacher Margaret Ericson, a UCLA graduate who believed children learn by doing. She helped them make suits of burlap, wooden guns, and fur caps.

Topanga School teachers, 1940s

9_18.jpg
Topanga School teachers: Principal Elva Sigrist, Beulah Hendrix, Grace Wiley, Ivy Pearson, Florence Bruinsslot, May Peterson, Leon Hendrix, Rhoda Julian, Thelma Parker, Bertha Hangen, Jacqueline Wilson.

Topanga Elementary School contest winners, 1950s

9_19.jpg
Topanga Elementary School motto contest winners receive medals from Fire Department: Capt. Jack Connors, Heather Wallace, Connie Manlein, Bruce Haines, and Chief Harvey Anderson.

Messenger editor Colin Penno

9_27A.jpg
Messenger editor Colin Penno is honored by Topanga Elementary School students as a citizen from abroad (England).

School Booster Club leaders and teacher Bonnie Wallace

9_28A.jpg
Topanga Elementary School Booster Club leaders chat with teacher Bonnie Wallace: Sharon Morrison, Lynne Haigh, Rody Salkeld, Bonnie Wallace, Judy Heign.

Topanga Elementary School, Track and Field Day

9_28B.jpg
Topanga Elementary School, Track and Field Day, organized by Marathon world-record holder Jacqueline Hansen.

Arlene Plotkin and Michelene (Mike) Kelly

9_29A.jpg
Arlene Plotkin and Michelene (Mike) Kelly were familiar faces in the office at Topanga Elementary School.

Topanga Elementary School, Track and Field Day

9_29B.jpg
Topanga Elementary School, Track and Field Day, organized by Marathon world-record holder Jacqueline Hansen.

Ann Stalcup with her student folk dancers

9_31C.jpg
Teacher Ann Stalcup with her student folk dancers. Topanga Elementary School came through for Ann when her house burned down in the 1993 fire.

Sisters Candy Clark, Connie Clark, and unknown woman

9_35A.jpg
Sisters Candy Clark, Connie Clark, and unknown woman spinning and weaving. After the Barton School closed, the Clark family continued to live on the property.

Barton School teacher Hildor Barton

9_37.jpg
Barton School teacher Hildor Barton was never happier than when planning and constructing buildings.

Barton School teacher Nancy Gluck

9_38.jpg
Barton School teacher Nancy Gluck came in 1940 and stay until the end. She was a dear friend of the Barton family.

Barton School teacher Howard Gutmann

9_39.jpg
Barton School teacher Howard Gutmann was a German Jew and had escaped war and persecution.

Community House playground

9_41.jpg
Community House playground built by parents of Topanga Cooperative Preschool.

Kedric Wolfe at Children's Corner Fair

9_46.jpg
Kedric Wolfe plays flute at the Children's Fair at Children's Corner Preschool. At top left, Bernt Capra holds daughter Michele.

Charles Greenleaf, daughter Mabel, and grandchildren

10_2.jpg
Charles Greenleaf, daughter Mabel, and grandchildren Charles and Janet.

James Craig, who owned the General Store

10_4.jpg
James Craig, who owned the General Store, became Topanga Post Office postmaster in 1913

A Cheney family outing

10_5.jpg
A Cheney family outing. George Cheney (right) used this 1910 Garford to carry passengers and mail to the Post Office.

Mail carrier Fred Leavitt

10_5A.jpg
Mail carrier Fred Leavitt was a Republican, and his brother Les was a Democrat. Between them they kept the Topanga Post Office postmaster position for 25 years.

Mail carrier Les Leavitt

10_5B.jpg
Mail carrier Les Leavitt was a Democrat, and his brother Fred was a Republican. Between them they kept the Topanga Post Office postmaster position for 25 years.

Dan Bovee, Ralph Kewitt, Les Leavitt

10_9.jpg
Dan Bovee, Ralph Kewitt, Topanga Post Office Postmaster Les Leavitt (selling stamps and defense bonds), unknown, unknown, unknown.

Postal workers at shopping center

10_10.jpg
Postal workers at the Topanga Post Office's rented quarters in the shopping center. Gordon Gleave, Ivy Mumby, Fremont Smith, Helen Zilmer, Alice Terry, Betty Niklas, Postmaster Hal Rolve, and mascot Tippy (the dog).

Postmaster Albert Hoyt

10_11.jpg
Albert Hoyt, Topanga Post Office postmaster from 1963-1983.

Fireman Tom Cheney sprays hose

10_19.jpg
Fireman Tom Cheney sprays hose of Topanga's first fire truck. Cecil Gehr (center) became Los Angeles Fire Department Chief in 1952.

Topanga firemen, 1943

10_21.jpg
Topanga firemen: Captain Harvey Anderson, Jimmie Hansen, E. W. Monkman, Fred Van Syrc, and Captain Des Barton.

Fire Station 69

10_22.jpg
Firemen show off new fire trucks at Fire Station 69.

Firemen after dousing a guesthouse fire

10_25.jpg
Station 69 Firemen after dousing a guesthouse fire. Nolan Feldman, Captain Chase, Steve Ford, Scott Greenelch, and Jay Fernandez.

The "Topanga Canyon Survival Guide" committee

10_27.jpg
The "Topanga Canyon Survival Guide" committee: Alli Acker, David Dijkstra, John Hargraves, Gayla Hertzog, Assistant Chief Reginald Lee, Pat Mac Neil, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Dean Lehman, Lance Grindle, Robert Kamm, and Abigail Bok.

Janet Marlborough leads Jegg Zolper on horseback

10_29 crop.jpg
Janet Marlborough leads Jegg Zolper on horseback through Topanga State Park.

Bert Wilson selling native plants

10_37.jpg
Bert Wilson selling native plants at the annual Resource Conservation District (RCD) event.

Congressman Tony Beilenson

10_41.jpg
Congressman Tony Beilenson was interviewed while inspecting flood damage in Topanga. He authored the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area legislation.

Susan Nissman at Topanga Philharmonic concert

10_45.jpg
Susan Nissman, Senior Field Deputy to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, leads children onstage during a Topanga Philharmonic concert she coordinated.

The Topanga Watershed Committee

10_E4.jpg
The Topanga Watershed Committee being honored for their Wrecked Car Removal Project at a dinner thrown by the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Lucy Cheney at the bottom of the S-Turns

11_4.jpg
Lucy Cheney at the bottom of the S-Turns. She was the first to take a wagon down the rough road to Topanga Beach.

Stage and mail driver Joe Robison

11_6.jpg
Stage and Post Office mail driver Joe Robison with passengers near the "robber's hut" stone house at Topanga Forks.

Sentinel Rock

11_10.jpg
Road-building undermined Sentinel Rock in the S-Turns. It was later blasted away.

Topanga Highway in the S-Turns

11_11A.jpg
Topanga Highway in the S-Turns. Cars took over after the road was rebuilt in 1915.

Bridge near the old Post Office

11_12A.jpg
This 1920 bridge near the old Post Office was replaced when the road was realigned 10 years later.

Topanga Highway descends into San Fernando Valley

11_15.jpg
Topanga Highway descends into San Fernando Valley. The marker near the sign for Girard (later Woodland Hills) is the LA city boundary.

Fernwood Pacific Drive

11_16.jpg
Fernwood Pacific Drive was built to encourage 1920s development. Considered strategic, it was widened during World War II.

Milkman stopped by flood

11_17 crop.jpg
Arden Milkman stopped by flood on Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

Topanga firemen in front of Forestry Station

10_17.jpg
Topanga firemen in front of Forestry Station. SEATED: Jack Albright, Albert Carroll, Bill Santa Maria, Jack Connors, Bud Currier, Floyd Cunningham, Slim Pressler, Bob Butler. STANDING: Al Weinart, Cecil Gehr, Art Bishop, Freddy Stevenson, Jack…

Owl Falls

11_22C.jpg
Water flows abundantly at Owl Falls waterfall.

Outhouse on Robinson Road

11_23B crop.jpg
Due primarily to lack of water, outhouses were common through the 1940s, such as this one listing to its side on Robinson Road.

Jon Swenson in bathtub sink

11_24 crop.jpg
Shown here in the early 1950s, Jon Swenson was bigger than his bathtub.

Lee Conger, Bill Sloan, and Jerry Harold

11_25B.jpg
Lee Conger, Bill Sloan, and Jerry Harold lay water line in the 1940s near the junction of Old Topanga Canyon.

6 cartoons lambasting the Water Committee

11_26 (1).jpg
6 cartoons lambasting the foibles of the Water Committee, in the Topanga Businessmen's Association pamphlet.

Topanga Permanent Water Committee

11_32A.jpg
The Topanga Permanent Water Committee was formed by the Chamber to push for a reliable water supply. Elected in 1956, from left: Sherman Haeggquist, Dan McGovern, Tom McDougall, Peter Stimac, and Virgil Just.

Art Marshburn and family

11_32B.jpg
Art Marshburn, an Old Topanga Canyon leader involved in the water controversy, with his family in the 1950s.
From left back row: Robert, David, Arthur, Carol.
Front row: Jean, Tom.

Dean Perry, Judge John Merrick, Greg Venturi

11_33.jpg
Judge John Merrick, with Chamber officers Dean Perry (left) and Greg Venturi chaired a committee in the 1970s charged with developing solutions to the water crisis.

"Mose" Cheney inaugurates the first electrical pole

11_34.jpg
Columbus Callan "Mose" Cheney turns symbolic shovel of dirt while children sing, commemorating the installation of the first electrical pole at junction of Old Topanga and Topanga Roads in 1928, which finally brought electricity to the Canyon.

Topanga Fire, 1993

12_1A.jpg
"The Old Topanga Incident" was the name of this fire in 1993.

Smoke from fire, 1940s

12_1B.jpg
Smoke plumes over Topanga in the 1940s.

Oka Stewart, Camp Wildwood Owner, Ham Radio Operator

12_2.jpg
Camp Wildwood owner Oka Stewart sits at his ham radio, used by local journalist Hugh Harlan during the 1938 fire to issue national reports covering the incident.

Firefighters

12_4.jpg
Firemen fighting flames in Old Topanga Canyon, during the Fire of 1943.

Topanga Journal 1943 Fire Coverage

12_5.jpg
The Fire of November, 1943 pictured from the Post Office Tract looking west. Circles mark homes lost. Arrow points to dwellings on Valley View Drive behind the Fire Station.

Fire of 1943, Old Topanga Canyon

12_6 crop.jpg
Flames in the 1943 fire were halted 100 yards from the Defense Headquarters, situated at the junction of Old and New Topanga Canyons.

The Fire of 1943 Burns Home

12_8.jpg
Flames devour a home in Old Topanga Canyon during the Fire of 1943.

Mrs. Leona Soderstrom Homeless after The Fire of 1943

12_9.jpg
Homeless, Mrs. Leona Soderstrom and baby son Starr sit among what little was left after flames of the 1943 fire.

New Year's Eve Fire, 1958

12_12.jpg
The New Year's Eve Fire approaches the home of Evelyn McGovern on Saddle Peak in 1958.

Evelyn McGovern Surveys Fire Damage, 1958

12_13A.jpg
Evelyn McGovern, her son Michael and daughter Patricia survey the ruins of their home after the fire of 1958.

Oscar E. Hiltbrand surveys wreckage from the Fire of 1943

12_14B crop.jpg
Oscar E. Hiltbrand surveys wreckage from the Fire of 1943 at Earl Garber's house in the Bonnell Tract.

Mr and Mrs. James Merrin Lose Home, 1948 Fire

12_14C crop.jpg
Mr and Mrs. James Merrin and son Joel at the site of their Sylvia Park home lost in the fire of 1948. Merrin taught English at UCLA.

Hugh Harlan's Home Lost to New Year's Eve Fire, 1958

12_15.jpg
The gracious Hugh Harlan home, built by William T. Gibbon on School Road, burned overnight in the New Year's Eve Fire of 1958. The new school nearby was spared.

Forestry Crew Prepares to Reseed Hills, 1958 Fire

12_17.jpg
In the aftermath of the 1958 fire, a Los Angeles Fire Department forestry crew prepares to take off in a helicopter from the Speer Ranch to reseed the hills.

Arson Fire of 1961

12_19A.jpg
On November 6, 1961, folks gather near Pine Tree Circle watching smoke from an arson fire curl in the distance.

Flames Cross Topanga Canyon Boulevard, 1973

12_20 ps.jpg
Flames cross Topanga Canyon Boulevard in the Twin Poles area on October 31, 1973

Flames engulf home, 1977

12_21A.jpg
Flames engulf home in the Sylvia Park area, May 14, 1977.

Fireman sets a backfire, 1993

12_23.jpg
A fireman sets a backfire to save Old Topanga Canyon homes on the first day of the 1993 "Old Topanga Canyon Incident" fire.

Bomber drops fire retardant

12_26.jpg
Bomber drops fire retardant, 1993 fire.

Landslide at Topanga Summit, 1927

12_28.jpg
A landslide at Topanga Summit caused by rains in 1922 continued to obstruct Highway 27 in 1927. Men are shown drilling holes for dynamite, to blow off the projection.

Home of Ral Curren suffers flood damage

12_34 crop.jpg
Ral Curren, owner of The Corral, lost precious rock n' roll memorabilia when the creek scoured his home in the flood.

Car crosses 1980 Floodwaters

12_35.jpg
This sports car's owner was actually lucky; many cars were lost to the creek in 1980.

S-Turns Closed for Many Months

12_37.jpg
The S-Turns were open only to pedestrians and bike traffic for many months after 1980's "storm of the century" and flood.

Topanga Creek floods, 1992

12_38.jpg
The creek behind the market at flood stage in 1992. Due to tenants' demands, a wall was built to hold back flood waters.

Topanga General Store and Post Office

13_1.jpg
Topanga General Store and Post Office operated out of a pioneer's frame house, where Pine Tree Circle is today.

Topanga General Store and Post Office

13_2 crop.jpg
Topanga General Store owner Irvin "Smitty" Smith chats with customers on the porch.

Fred Solomon

13_4A.jpg
Fred Solomon built the first real shopping center in Topanga in 1946, using Quonset huts left over from World War II.

Alyn Ranson, Rosagua Trujillo, Eddie Gripp, and Pat Rasbury

13_4B crop.jpg
Alyn Ranson, Rosagua Trujillo (Rose Wiley), Eddie Gripp, and Pat Rasbury at Lee's Hitching Post in Fred Solomon's shopping center, a hangout for teenagers.

The Outside Inn

13_5A crop.jpg
After the Hansens bought Jim Fletcher's Outside Inn store, they added a restaurant and it became a local favorite.

Topanga Shopping Center, 1966

13_6 crop.jpg
Topanga Shopping Center featured the Best Food Center and Topanga Cleaners.

Fernwood Market, 1949

13_11 crop.jpg
Fernwood Market, 1949. Evelyn Russell, Paul Gripp, Joe Baker, Bill Smith, Mr. Crawford, Paula Crawford, Jim Lucas, and Mike Evans.

Mohn Springs restaurant

13_20.jpg
Mina Mohn's restaurant Mohn Springs in present-day Glenview.

Topanga Summit

13_24.jpg
Topanga Summit became a popular viewing spot after the road opened to cars in 1915.

King's Charcoal Bar-B-Q restaurant

13_25 crop.jpg
King's Charcoal Bar-B-Q restaurant on a rare snow day at Topanga Summit.

Ken's Pleasant Inn

13_29 crop.jpg
Grace Gaiser plays the accordion at Ken's Pleasant Inn.

Ken's Pleasant Inn

13_30 crop.jpg
Ken's Pleasant Inn. Whitey Marjenhoff, Ray McClure, owner Pleasant Buerge, unknown, owner Ken Buerge, Harry Long, Bob Ballentine, Chuck Russell, Jack Davis, Frank Romero. (Seated: Dewey Kemp.)

Wally High and Pat Burke

13_36B crop.jpg
Wally High and Pat Burke at Pat's Topanga Grill in Coulson Center soon after it opened.

Topanga Drug Store

13_39 crop.jpg
Topanga Drug Store, Henry Wilson's "biggest little drug store in California."