Earlier this year, we digitized a photograph album of Southern California from 1919-1920. The people in the scrapbook are unidentified, but they did label and date their excursions around Southern California. Locations pictured include many places in the greater Los Angeles area and the San Fernando Valley, San Diego, and Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara happens to be my hometown and I love taking then & now photographs (previously: Paris and the USA), so I took some comparison shots while I was home on vacation in June. The people in the photo album took their trip to Santa Barbara in 1919, so these photos are 97 years apart.

Wave coming in to shore, 1919.

Wave coming in to shore, 2016. There were no distinguishable landmarks on the 1919 beach, so I chose Goleta Beach, near my parents’ house.

Unidentified woman with kelp, 1919.

Laura with kelp, 2016.

Unidentified woman and man, 1919.

Liz and David, 2016. My parents joined in on the photo recreating fun!

Santa Barbara Mission, 1919.

Santa Barbara Mission, 2016.

Because they cut off the height of the Mission, I also took a broader view of the facade, 2016.