Los Angeles,

Los Angeles, the most populous city of southern California and capital of Los Angeles county, is 483 miles SE. of San Francisco by the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is one of the oldest towns in the western states of America, and was already a thriving place when the Franciscan fathers established a mission here in 1781; its full name being Pueblo de la Reina de los Angeles. In 1835-47 it was the capital of the state of California. To-day it possesses a handsome opera-house, the University of southern California, a magnificent observatory, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and over one hundred Protestant churches. There are magnificent botanic gardens, parks, many fine public buildings, and a crematory. The Spanish population is rapidly disappearing, and of the 50,935 inhabitants in 1891 they formed an insignificant minority. The pop. in 1870 was only 5728; in 1880, 11,183. Los Angeles is the centre of the orange-growing industry, and in the city alone are two reservoirs, with a capacity of 850,000 gallons, used solely for purposes of irrigation. The residents are principally occupied in the cultivation and export of oranges, grapes, and other fruits, as well as the manufacture of wine. A great number of invalids and others seeking a fine climate resort to Los Angeles in the winter. See California of the South, by Lindley and Widney (1888).