Help me find historical images of San Diego street signs

December 19, 2011 6:05 AM

San Diego research question: I need a photo of a street sign for a residential street as it appeared in the late 1950s and/or early-to-mid 1960s. I am working on an illustration and I want to use the sign as part of the composition.

In case neighborhood matters, the street I want is "Alice Street." It would be especially great if the image also had a major cross-street in it (e.g.: El Cajon Blvd).

Thanks!

posted by artlung to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

Best answer: The Department of Public Works probably has a bunch of photos in the archives that might match what you're looking for. I found a ton of generic street scenes in my city's DPW files that were really helpful when I wanted to figure out what shops used to be where. (They also might be available online via your public library.)
posted by vickyverky at 8:06 AM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: There are extensive photo archives at the San Diego History Center - contact at [e-mail].
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:58 PM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ultimately the solution was to look longer and harder on the web in photo sites. Eventually I found photos like this one, which shows the older style and served as photo reference for the important details for my drawing.

Thanks so much for the help!
posted by artlung at 2:29 PM on January 18, 2012