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Hotels and other boarding establishments are essential for a growing settlement, offering a rewarding business opportunity for early settlers and a hospitable place to stay for travelers. Several hotels could be found in historic downtown Lancaster, including the Lancaster Hotel, the Antelope Valley Hotel (later renamed the Gillwyn Hotel and eventually the Western Hotel), the Hannah Hotel, the Lancaster Boarding House, and the Lancaster Inn. Featured here is a 1913 advertisement for the Lancaster Boarding House. This establishment was located on the west side of Antelope Avenue (now Sierra Highway) between Tenth Street (now Lancaster Blvd.) and Eleventh Street (now Milling St.), in the vicinity of the old Rendezvous Club. In addition to a comfortable bed to rest in, the Lancaster Boarding House also offered meals made regularly and by special order. Ads such as this one were frequently printed in the Antelope Valley Ledger Gazette. Also shown here are ads for the Western Hotel (c. 1904), as well as an ad for the Lancaster Hotel (c. 1904). The visible damage to the newspapers was sustained in the 1912 fire that ultimately destroyed the Antelope Valley Ledger Gazette headquarters. This 1912 fire was highly devastating, erasing a majority of the original newspapers archived on the site, leaving only a few and fragmented remains. "Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"

MOAH CEDAR; Ark Gallery; Chinatown Exciting art opened all over the greater Los Angeles area this past weekend, from Lancaster to Chinatown. Monica Wyatt’s exciting mixed-media show in Lancaster, “Continuum,” drew a crowd north on the freeway to MOAH: CEDAR, curated by Jill Moniz. The adjunct gallery space to the main Museum of Art and History building, Wyatt’s lustrous work filled the new space with bursts of light and texture. Monica Wyatt with her installation Large-scale and site-specific, When Shadows Chase the Light is a dazzling array of 4000 acrylic globes, 10,000 nylon hairnets, 23 industrial light lenses, fishing wire and lighting, that resemble an “organic, biomorphic form.” The artist’s series of wood and rock assemblages San Andreas Variations, along with larger-scale rock and wood sculptures are another highlight; inanimate objects imbued with life. Through March 3rd ; artist’s walk-through February 10th. Jill Moniz, Monica Wyatt In Chinatown, downstairs at Charlie James gallery, “It’s OK,” curated by Sacha Baumann, features seven artists in a rich exploration of adaptation. Works evoke strange plants, mysterious memories, or magical realms. Nadege Monchera Baer’s mixed media dazzles in textures and palette; Megan Mueller places objects—here, flowers—on a flatbed scanner, distorting and duplicating. Stephen Neidich’s kinetic, steam-punk sculpture is compulsive viewing. Also impressive: Molly Segal’s lustrous, intimate dream-like landscape; Luke Whitlatch’s deep, abstract world. With Kottie Paloma and Hayley Barker; through March 3rd. Art critic Shana Nys Dambrot with photographer Osceloa Refetoff at The Good Luck Gallery Across the plaza at The Good Luck Gallery, a solo show of the late Andrew Frieder’s woodblock prints offered a wide range of images to an appreciative crowd, many eager to purchase the self-taught inventor and artist’s vast collection of hybrid creatures, turtles, dragons and masks. It’s a seemingly limitless panoply of work, displayed through March 11th. Kristine Shomaker Shomaker's art Altadena’s Ark Gallery opened Kristine Schomaker’s intensely moving “Plus,” comprising fresh, joyful, luminous nude images. “Plus” was a spontaneous creation by the artist during a hotel stay, inspired by the light behind a frosted-glass sliding door, shot on the artist’s iPhone. The gallery was packed with an enthusiastic crowd; the changing quality of light on framed prints and suspended transparency films made the crowd linger. Through March 18th with an artist talk February 11th. All photos by Genie Davis

Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm) was an American singer and actress whose family relocated from Grand Rapids, Minnesota to Lancaster in June 1926. In May of 1927, Garland's father, Frank Gumm, began leasing the old Lancaster Theater located on the west side of Antelope Avenue. Along with changing its name to the Valley Theater, Frank installed a cooling system, replaced the old seating, and built a box office. With its large stage, this 500-seat theater was the perfect place for the young and talented "Gumm Sisters" to perform. While living in Lancaster, Garland would often tell neighbors she wanted to become a movie actress, singer, and dancer when she grew up. Another favorite spot of young Garland included the Jazz Candy Shop, located near the Valley Theater; this was a popular hangout for teenagers and local business people. Garland attended a few years at Lancaster Grammar School, as John Wayne did before her. The two-story brick building was located across the street from the Gillwyn Hotel (what is now the Western Hotel Museum) -- on your next visit, ask a docent to help you locate Garland's childhood footprints, imprinted in a cement slab in the courtyard of our historic museum! "Gurba, Norma H. Legendary Locals of the Antelope Valley. Arcadia, 2013. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"

Saloon owner Red R. Trusty and George Atmore play a game of pool in the Oak Bar on Antelope Avenue. Before owning a bar, Trusty had been a night telegraph operator for the Southern Pacific. The saloon was equipped with a pair of old-fashioned swinging doors at the entrance; one of the more distinctive features of the typical saloon. The doors operated on double action hinges and extended from chest to knee level. These "batwing" or "cafe" doors provided easy access while allowing people to see who was entering the saloon, they blocked dust from outside and provided ventilation. Most importantly, they shielded the goings-on within the saloon from those who might be passing by -- as usual with these establishments, women, and children were not allowed inside. "Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"

Water has been both a curse and a blessing for inhabitants of the Antelope Valley. In the beginning, farming was primarily raising cattle and sheep. It also consisted of fruit orchards that were watered by natural streams and creeks as well as cultivation of dry grain (i.e. wheat and barley). Dry farming does not use irrigation; however, it relies on rainfall. Many of Lancaster’s first settlers came hoping to establish their homesteads. In 1863, Congress passed The Homestead Act which offered free public land (in particular areas) to settlers that would inhabit and attain up to 160 acres of land for at least five years. Virtually anyone could claim a quarter-section of public land for only a $10 filing fee. The early 1890s were years of heavy rainfall which favored the local farmers. Water pipes penetrated the earth’s crust to reach underground water sources; this created pressure causing water to shoot up much like a geyser. The first recorded artesian well in Lancaster sunk between 1883 and 1884. Lancaster's earliest recorded engine-powered water pump was established roughly 11 years later in 1895. "Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"

By 1920, alfalfa was the principal crop in the Antelope Valley; by 1921, nearly 30,000 tons of alfalfa were produced annually. In the 1930s, agriculture took a hit due to the Depression and a drop in the water table, however farming alfalfa remained as one of the valley's major industries. Fernando Milling, built in 1933, was an alfalfa meal mill. It was located next to the railroad tracks in Lancaster, where sections of this business still exist today. During the 1930s, Fernando Milling and Tropico Gold Mine were the largest employers in Lancaster and the greater Antelope Valley region. In 1941, more than 100,000 tons of alfalfa were being produced with approximately sixty percent being used for dairy feed. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, alfalfa production was thriving as more efficient pumps recovered from a dropping water table. However, the industry began to decline due to hikes in energy costs and decreased acreage beginning in the early 1980s. "Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"

With the first week of the new year coming to an end on Sunday, Museum of Art and History (MOAH) in Lancaster held a zinefest/artist panel to celebrate and educate their community on the exhibition currently on display, Dark Progressivism: The Built Environment (L.A. TACO link here). Here are some photos from photographer/zinester Joe Forney, who was in attendance. Left to right: L.A. TACO contributor Desilu Munoz & Joe Segura of Applesauce Industries. On the left, exhibition participant Louis Jacinto displaying his photography collection. Photographer/zinester Alyssa Ruiz (right) slanging prints, zines, and film. Photographer/zinester Erwin Recinos next to his photographs for the exhibition. “New Noir” panel discussion with “Big Sleeps” Cavazos, Jim McHugh, Joe “Prime” Reza and Rafael Reyes of the band Prayers. The discussion was led by Dark Progressivism filmmaker/curator Rodrigo Ribera d’Ebre. Artist Alex Schaefer draws some loose sketches of the panel discussion. Big Sleeps signing some prints as the panel discussion and zinefest comes to and end. This is your last week to visit Lancaster Museum of Art History for the Dark Progressivism exhibition. Museum is open all week from 11 AM – 6 PM. All images provided by Joe Forney.

General stores of the early 20th century provided many necessities and comforts for pioneer towns and their populaces. The main location for shopping in early Lancaster was located at the southwest corner of Antelope Avenue and Tenth Street. Some items commonly sold at these early general stores include dried meats and fruits, locally caught game, axes and pickaxes, cutlery, rifles, and garments. One very popular local general store in the early 20th century was the Cram General Store, which was located in downtown Lancaster. The Cram General Store burned down in 1912. "Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"

The animals which have given the Antelope Valley its namesake are coincidentally not antelopes at all. Pronghorns (Antilocapra americana) have long been mistaken for and referred to as antelopes due to their close physical similarities with the true antelope of Eurasia. Pronghorns are endemic to North America and once ranged over the majority of the Western plains. There are many reports from early settlers, hunters, and travelers recording sightings of pronghorns in the Antelope Valley. Locally caught and butchered pronghorn meat was often sold to local hotels in the valley. This photo (c. 1903), shows Antonio Araujo and his daughter Sally at La Liebre Ranch. Sally is pictured standing next to a supposedly tame pronghorn fawn. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections

As we ring in a new year, it can be exciting to examine our past and observe just how much we have advanced technologically. In the year 2018, the vast majority of us make use of motor vehicles to get from one destination to the next. With all of the paved roads, freeways, and infrastructure built to accommodate our modern forms of transportation, it can be difficult to imagine that wild horses once ran across the Antelope Valley. A century and a half ago, wild horses were a common sight in the valley. In 1884, one Los Angeles based newspaper reported on an area approximately six miles southeast of Lancaster where wild horses could be found nearly every day. Due to their relative abundance in the Antelope Valley and surrounding areas, local horses and horse-drawn vehicles were an important and widely utilized form of transportation during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Local cowboys, many of whom frequented the saloon located at the Western Hotel, relied upon locally caught and tamed horses for their livelihoods. During this time, however, skills of horsemanship were not exclusively attributable to cowboys and ranchers. Given the limited infrastructure in the Antelope Valley and the fact that towns were located many miles apart, nearly everyone who lived in the area was required to possess some proficiency as a horse rider. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections

One of the most influential women in the Antelope Valley was Lancaster resident Anna “Mom” Evert. Mom was a kindly practical nurse and midwife who took care of the local sick and delivered many valley babies, many at the Western Hotel. She and her husband, Nick, a bootmaker and saloon keeper, came to Lancaster in 1891. Mom Evert’s house, at the northeastern corner of 10th Street and Beech Avenue, was the town’s “hospital” from the early 1900s until 1921. In addition to being a nurse, Mom Evert had an ice cream parlor and worked as a laundress. She later left the field of nursing to operate a boarding house on Beech Avenue. In one of the photos, Mom Evert can be seen with another leading Lancaster pioneer, Jane Porter Reynolds, who came to Lancaster in 1896. She was a cook at the Western Hotel where she met Maurice Reynolds Sr., a live-in tenant of the hotel. Love blossomed and the two married in 1897. In 1937, Reynolds donated land at Elm Avenue and 13th Street for a park, as she felt sorry for children who came to town and had no place to play. This is now a City of Lancaster park with a pool named for her friend, Myrtie Webber. Reynolds lived on 9th Street (Jackman Avenue) and is buried beside her husband in the pioneer Lancaster Cemetery. Other members of the Reynolds family still reside locally. Mom Evert had two important offices in her building on 10th Street: Dr. James Arwine’s medical office and Alice Rutledge’s real estate business, ”Antelope Valley Lands.” Dr. Arwine’s office was usually always busy and while Mom Evert delivered most of the babies, Dr. Arwine signed their birth certificates. On the occasion Dr. Arwine did deliver a baby, he charged approximately $15 for home delivery in 1912. Dr. Seth Savage also had an office at Mom Evert’s place, but when she became ill he decided to build a home which also became the town’s new hospital; the house’s four front rooms were devoted to patients and by July 1924, there was room for ten patients. By 1931, Lancaster enjoyed a fully equipped up-to-date hospital at 233 10th Street. Doctor Savage and dentist Percy Gaskill were once featured in “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” news article due to their unusually ”painful” sounding names.

This picture was taken during the Lancaster holiday parade and shows a segment of the parade on Lancaster Boulevard and Elm avenue. Santa Claus, riding in his horse bound sleigh, waves to the on-looking crowd in December of 1959. The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce sponsored the holiday parade and continues to do so today. Every year in early December, the holiday parade is attended by hundreds of Antelope Valley residents and their families. City-sponsored events such as the holiday parade and “A Magical BLVD Christmas” are held annually and provide Antelope Valley residents with festive and celebratory opportunities to truly get into the holiday spirit. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections