Story Created:
Mar 11, 2010 at 1:23 PM PST
Story Updated:
Mar 11, 2010 at 1:23 PM PST
DOWNEY — A pictorial book about the history of the city has been published by the Arcadia Publishing Company and is available at local book stores, online bookstores and the publisher for $21.99.
Written by Larry Latimer, with help from the Downey Historical Society, the book is entitled “Images of America — Downey” and contains a number of pictures showing scenes of the city.
A lifelong resident of Downey, Latimer also is a member of the Downey Aerospace Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving the city’s legacy as the base of Americas space program in the 1960s and 1970s.
He will speak and sign his book at a free program at 7 p.m. March 18 at the Downey Library, 11211, Brookshire Ave.
The 128-page book is dedicated to John Vincent, longtime president of the Downey Historical Society, which has provided Latimer with some 200 photographs from the mid-1800s to the present time.
Early photos show the city’s namesake, John Gately Downey, a former California governor, and pictures of the Vultee Aircraft Company in the early part of the 20th century to shots of rocket and space shuttle manufacturing.
Nostalgic shots include the Rives House, Paramount Boulevard at Third Street, built in 1911 and still standing; the first building in the Taco Bell chain, founded in Downey in the early 1950s along with the first McDonald’s opened in 1954 and still in operation at Florence Avenue and Lakewood Boulevard.
A set of 15 postcards showing historical scenes of Downey is available for $7.99.
Information: (888) 313-2665 or visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.
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