Santa Monica Beach from Hotel Arcadia, 1893. (Charles C. Pierce (1861–1946, albumen print, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens)

The Huntington Library has acquired a treasure trove of original photographs that depict the city of Los Angeles and the beach suburb of Santa Monica from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The rarely seen photos show Los Angeles' early landscapes and structures consisting of beach shacks, hotels and early signs of the city's tourism trade — long before L.A. becameTinseltown and a hub for glamorous silver-screen stars.

The 4,600-image collection was purchased from Ernest Marquez, a descendant of Mexican land grantees who owned what became Santa Monica and Rustic canyons and parts of Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. It records Santa Monica’s transformation from rustic hamlet to international symbol of the California good life, with prints from the 1870s to the 1950s, according to The Huntington.

(MORE: Vintage Photos of Tourists Traveling in Style)

In the mid 1870s, the Southern Pacific Railroad was on the brink of connecting upstart Los Angeles to the rest of the nation, and the new township of Santa Monica welcomed city dwellers to its beachside tent cities. Photographers opened studios catering to the incipient tourist trade, and the illustrious San Francisco photographer, Carleton E. Watkins, visited in 1877 and 1880.

“This photo archive was amassed over a 50-year period by a descendent of Mexican land grantees who owned the 6,000-acre Rancho Boca de Santa Monica or present-day Rustic and Santa Monica Canyons, Pacific Palisades, and portions of the city of Santa Monica,” said Jennifer A. Watts, curator of photographs at The Huntington. “The resulting group of photographs is the best and most comprehensive collection of its kind in private hands.”

(MORE:Rare, Vintage Beach Photos)

Alongside the rare photographs, the collection also includedmaps, pamphlets, and tourism materials promoting Southern California's beachside attractions. The images are currently being catalogued by The Huntington and will be on view once a special exhibition is organized.

For more information, visit The Huntington's website.