By Pat KRAMER

On Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m., Map Librarian Glen Creason, from the Los Angeles Public Library, will depict the growth and history of Los Angeles through “Maps: 50 Fascinating Maps that Tell the History of Los Angeles, Including Sunland-Tujunga.” This presentation takes place at Bolton Hall in Tujunga.

Among the fascinating maps he has selected for this presentation is Ord Survey of 1849, the oldest map in the city’s collection.

“You could spend an hour on that map itself,” said Creason. “A lot of the downtown streets still exist or are on that map.”

Creason has served as the public library’s map librarian since 1989 and maps are his passion. Through the showing of these historic maps, one can see the very development of the City of Los Angeles in every aspect, including the charting of water resources, street cars, the way the freeways developed, and how the city sold land after its statehood.

The impetus for Creason’s presentation was an exhibit he co-curated back in 2009 called “Los Angeles Unfolded” for the library’s Getty Gallery at 630 W. 5th Street in LA. The exhibit featured the best maps from its 200,000 strong collection and was attended by over 30,000 people, making it the largest map exhibit ever presented on the West Coast. Shortly after, Creason began writing his first book, “Los Angeles in Maps,” which was published by Rizzoli Publishers the following year.

“It took a year to write the book – there were 72 essays – plus, I visited other major map collections and was able to get more materials to incorporate into the book,” Creason said.

Since the book was released, Creason has been speaking about maps and how they hold the key to the histories of different cities, states and even countries. In addition to serving as the map librarian for the LA Public Library, Creason now serves as a blogger for Los Angeles Magazine, where his subject is always interesting maps.

Glen Creason can be viewed discussing how a recent donation led to a doubling of the library’s map collection on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulAt-TpRms8.

“Maps: 50 Fascinating Maps that Tell the History of Los Angeles, Including Sunland-Tujunga” starts at 1 p.m. and is free to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Bolton Hall is an historic American Craftsman-era stone building in Tujunga. Built in 1913, it originally served as a community center for the Utopian community of Los Terrenitos. From 1920 until 1957, it was used as an American Legion Hall, the San Fernando Valley’s second public library, Tujunga City Hall, and a jail before being closed in 1957. In 1980, it was reopened and restored and is now operated by the Little Landers Historical Society as a local history museum.

Bolton Hall is located at 10110 Commerce Ave. in Tujunga.

  Pat KRAMER