author
Harris Newmark
1834–1916
A Prussian-born merchant who arrived in Los Angeles in 1853, he became one of the city’s sharpest early observers. His memoir offers a firsthand look at Southern California as it changed from a small frontier town into a growing metropolis.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1834 in Prussia, Harris Newmark immigrated to the United States as a young man and settled in Los Angeles in 1853. He built a successful career in business and real estate, and he became part of a family deeply involved in the region’s early growth.
Newmark is best remembered today for Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853–1913, a memoir-history drawn from his own experiences. Because he knew many of the people who shaped early Los Angeles, the book preserves vivid details about daily life, commerce, and the city’s transformation over six decades.
Alongside his work as a businessman, he was also known for philanthropy and for his role in the Jewish community of Los Angeles. He died in 1916, leaving behind one of the most valuable firsthand accounts of Southern California’s early development.