A Trip to the Past: Identifying places in old photos

Google Street View has been a useful tool for me to identify the location of some of our old family photos. However, it didn't help me identify the school in Glendale, California, where my mother posed with her Girl Scout troop. I've always been fascinated with this particular photo, as my mother loved her Girl Scout troop and their energetic leader Bunny. Bunny even led the girls on a hike up to the Griffith Park Observatory!

They were dressed as Circus performers. One of the wagon in front belonged to my mother's family.

I recalled seeing a street number on the building in the photo, but I didn't think to look at a city directory. Fortunately, someone on Facebook helped me identify the school as Columbus School. This person used a city directory to identify the school. 

Upon further research, I discovered that Columbus School was founded in the 1890s with only 30 students, and has been rebuilt and added on to multiple times since. The buildings in my mother's time dated back to the 1920s, but the school was rebuilt again in 1949 and no longer bears any resemblance to the school my mother attended in the 1930s. Therefore, Google Street View would not have been helpful in this case.

I was also unsure where a mission photo was taken. My mother's family often visited both the San Gabriel Mission and the San Fernando Mission, but I wasn't sure which one it was. I visited the San Fernando Mission for the first time yesterday and confirmed that it was the one in the photo. I could have used Google Street View or online photos to identify the mission, but it wasn't necessary in the end.

Old family photo of the San Fernando Mission

Taken yesterday

Taken yesterday

The Forgey family, my mother's family, frequently visited the mission in the 1930s when they lived in Glendale. My mother particularly loved Brand Park, which is located across the street. During my recent visit to the San Fernando Mission, I was unable to walk around the park due to Quinceañera photo shoots, but I still enjoyed the beautiful gardens there.

On a side note, Bob Hope and his wife Dolores are buried in a garden at the mission. 

As I walked around the mission grounds, I felt a deep connection to my family's history in California. It was a poignant reminder of the memories and stories that have been passed down through the generations, and I feel grateful to be able to continue learning about and exploring my family's past.