Localities of the Pleistocene: The La Brea Tar Pits When this photograph was taken around 1910, the location depicted was described as the Salt Creek oilfields, 7 miles west of Los Angeles. Today, this spot is in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, eloquent testimony to urban sprawl, but the pools and deposits of asphalt still remain. For these are the La Brea tar pits, containing one of the ...