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The city of Los Angeles stayed within its original 30 square-mile area until the 1890s. The earliest large enlargements to the city were the districts of Highland Park and Garvanza to the north, and the South Los Angeles region. In 1906, the approval of the Port of Los Angeles and a change in state law allowed the city to annex the Harbor Gateway, a thin strip of land going from Los Angeles to the port. San Pedro and Wilmington were incorporated in 1909, and the city of Hollywood was added in 1910, making the city 90 square miles. Also added that year were the cities of Colegrove and Cahuenga, as well as part of Los Feliz.

The opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct gave the city with four times as much water as it needed, and the offer of water service became a powerful lure for nearby cities. The city locked in customers through annexation by refusing to supply other areas. By residential vote, 170 square miles of the San Fernando Valley were added to the city in 1915, almost tripling its area. Over the next two decades dozens of new additions brought the city's area to 450 square miles. Currently, it is about 470 square miles.

In the Second World War, Los Angeles developed as a center for production of war materials and ammunition. Thousands of African Americans and white Southerners migrated to the area to fill factory jobs.

By 1950, L.A. was an industrial and financial colossus created by war production and migration. Los Angeles made more automobiles than any place other than Detroit, made more tires than any city but Akron, and stitched more clothes than any location except New York. In addition, it was the national capital for the production of motion pictures, radio programs and TV shows. Building and construction greatly expanded as tract houses were built in suburban areas financed by the FHA.

Los Angeles continued to expand, especially with the development of the San Fernando Valley and the building of the freeway system in the 1940s. When the local streetcar line went out of business, L.A. became a locale entirely built around the motorcar.

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Matt Paolini is a architectural specialist for CityBook, the family-safe yellow pages online, which carries an extensive directory on Los Angeles vinyl doors and windows.