Tuesday, December 21, 2010

1956 Overheads

These aerial view pictures were all taken in 1956 and show the Disneyland Hotel surrounded by citrus groves. I had never seen these before. The first four with very similar views are from February 16, 1956. Additional buildings located on S. West Street (center) intended to house services for Hotel guests were under construction. The 7 month old Disneyland is visible in the background.


The next photograph is from November 2, 1956.

This photo shows all of Disneyland and just a bit of the Hotel at the left bottom. The caption reads: Aerial view of Disneyland amusement park located at 1313 S. Harbor Boulevard as well as surrounding neighborhoods in Anaheim; view is looking northeast. The Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) and Harbor Boulevard can be seen beyond the park (horizontally, upper middle) and numerous orange orchards are scattered throughout.

For vintage Disneyland Hotel images, please visit: http://www.magicalhotel.printroom.com/


Our website for the definitive book on the history of the Disneyland Hotel is http://www.magicalhotel.com/

2 comments:

walterworld said...

These are wonderful views..!

Looks like the very first Harbor Blvd businesses were also breaking ground by during that early Spring of '56. Sure wish I could time-travel back to those days and see it in person!

Where did you find these?

Thanks for sharing all of this new(old) material :)

Brooke said...

I absolutely LOVE aerial photos, too. They tell so much more than a regular photo would - a) what was there in a particular spot b) it takes your imagination to what that space must have looked like at the time - how cool!
I've always remembered a really cool "forest" in the deep recesses of Disneyland when I was working thee from '83-'86 but wondered if it was just my faulty memory... looking at these aerials, I can SEE IT! SO cool. Thanks for doing this blog. :o)