The Plaza Church, Los Angeles, CA, circa 1940
About this postcard
The Plaza Church in Los Angeles, a tan stucco mission-style building with a gabled facade topped by a cross, a bell-crowned side tower holding two bells, arched entrance doors, and a round window. A palm tree stands at right beside an arched gateway marked "OLD MISSION PLAZA CHURCH"; a street lamp and pavement fill the foreground. The caption calls the church the oldest landmark in Los Angeles and notes that the first chapel went up three years after the town's 1781 founding. The present church was finished in 1822 under the supervision of Jose Chapman, likely Joseph Chapman, whom the caption calls California's first Yankee.
Postcard Details
No address detected
Postcard record
| Series | 603 |
|---|---|
| Condition | Very good |
| Place depicted | Los Angeles, CA |
| Place mentioned | Los Angeles, CA |
| Notes | Linen-textured stock with visible crosshatch grain; narrow border around image. No writing on front. No postmark, address, or handwritten message. Divided-back linen-era card with printed descriptive caption; faint red smudge at top center (illegible, not a readable cancel); pencil dealer mark "#59" bottom right. |
Cite this card
The Plaza Church, Los Angeles, CA, circa 1940, postcard, c. 1930. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/the-plaza-church-los-angeles-ca-circa-1940. Accessed November 2, 2026.