The Amazing Pictorial Map That Captured the Soul of Los Angeles

In April, 1986, the Los Angeles Public Library’s historic Central Library on Flower Street went up in flames; the catastrophic (and still-unsolved) blaze consumed some 400,000 volumes and caused $22 million in damages to the 1926 building. Many collections were left without a home, including the reference department, where I’d worked for 10 years.

In the aftermath, we sorted through the ashes and saved as many books and artifacts as we could. In 1989, we were able to move into nearby temporary quarters (it wasn’t until 1993 that we returned to our home on Flower Street). By that time, the old map librarian had had more than enough of cartography questions and retired to Florida. I knew just a gnat’s eyelash more than anyone else about the map collection, which we had stuffed temporarily into an old bank vault of the one-time Title Insurance Company downtown. But the gig paid more; I fought to take on the job, and won.