Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California Genealogy

United States California  Los Angeles County  Cities   Los Angeles First settled on September 4, 1781, Los Angeles grew from a small ranch town established by Spanish missionaries to the second largest city in the United States. Spanish rule, followed by Mexican rule in 1821 and then by the United States after 1847 means that the records created and sometimes preserved are very different for each period.

When Mexico won independence from Spain in 1820 Los Angeles had about 650 residents. The area had phenomenal growth after the 1945 end of World War II.

Archives and Libraries
Los Angeles Public Library has an impressive collection of genealogical material.

Cemeteries

 * Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes: Burials: 1948-present
 * Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuaries, Whittier, CA: Burials:1914-present, Obituaries: 2011-2012
 * Courtesy of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society: Pioneer Memorial Cemetery, Sylmar, CA: Burials: 1874-1959

Emigration and Immigration
A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

California, Los Angeles passenger (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Newspapers

 * Arcadia Bulletin - full-text digital issues in Google News Archive; covers 1940
 * Arcadia Daily Tribune - Google News Archive; 1930-1936
 * Arcadia Journal - Google News Archive; 1917-1931
 * Arcadia Tribune - Google News Archive; 1923-1936

Courtesy of the Whittier Public Library:


 * Whittier Daily News, Whittier Register, Whittier News: 1888-2007
 * Historical Photograph Collection: Images of the establishment of Whittier-late 1800s to mid-20th century