LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- The Los Angeles Times ' headquarters aptly sits where the U.S. Army corralled camels during the Civil War , when Southern California was a desert with no natural resources . A new film on PBS explores how the Chandler family helped develop Los Angeles through their newspaper . Los Angeles ' development from an arid wasteland to a world metropolis and cultural capital is closely linked to the newspaper 's rise under the ownership of one family . `` It would still be a desert , '' documentary filmmaker Peter Jones said , if Gen. Harrison Gray Otis did n't arrive in the 1880s to take over the bankrupt Los Angeles Times and his son-in-law , Harry Chandler , was n't there to follow him . Jones ' documentary is a saga of four generations of the region 's most powerful family shaping Los Angeles as they pursued their own civil agendas -- and accumulated wealth . `` Inventing L.A. : The Chandlers and Their Times '' premieres Monday on PBS . Historian David Halberstam said in the documentary that the Chandlers dominated Southern California as no other family has dominated any major region of the United States . `` They did not so much foster the growth of Los Angeles as invent it , '' said Halberstam , who died in 2007 . Harrison Gray Otis , Harry Chandler , Norman Chandler and Otis Chandler succeeded each other at the helm of the Los Angeles Times over a span of 100 years . The city grew from a small desert town to the nation 's second-largest city , while the family became one of the nation 's wealthiest . The Chandler family dynasty ended when the general 's great-grandson Otis Chandler was ousted as chairman of the Times board of directors in 1985 . The family eventually sold its Times-Mirror Company to Chicago 's Tribune Company -- which is now in bankruptcy . Each man 's personality and strengths were tailored for what was demanded of their time , said Jones . `` For each era , they were up to that particular era , '' he said . `` You could n't actually rearrange them , '' said Harry Chandler 's namesake and the great-great-grandson of the general . `` You could n't have a General Otis in late 20th-century America , '' Chandler told CNN , referring to the dynasty 's founder who served as an Army general in the Philippine-American War before taking over the Los Angeles Times . `` His character was one of the period . ' I have a vision and everything I touch needs to support that vision and damn the consequences . ' '' Otis used his newspaper to scare the public about the threat of drought , drumming up support for a 230-mile aqueduct -- one of the modern engineering marvels -- to divert water from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles , Jones said . He was part of a syndicate that bought vast tracts of barren land in the San Fernando Valley with the inside knowledge the Los Angeles Aqueduct would bring water there . The scandal later inspired Roman Polanski 's award-winning film `` Chinatown . '' Otis also used the Times to influence the federal government 's decision to build the Port of Los Angeles , Jones said . `` He had the foresight to say 'We have to build a man-made harbor here in Los Angeles if we want to become a major port of trade , ' and today the Port of Los Angeles is the busiest port in the United States , '' Jones said . The general and his successor son-in-law promoted investment in and migration to the Los Angeles area with stories of sunshine and opportunity . More people moving in meant more readers for their newspaper and demand for the real estate empire they were building . Harrison Gray Otis and Harry Chandler used their newspaper to create a vision of Los Angeles as `` America 's Great White Spot '' -- free of crime and communism . They fought a decades-long battle against labor unions -- a battle that included the 1910 bombing of The Los Angeles Times headquarters . The Los Angeles film , aviation , high technology , shipping and oil industries grew from the Chandlers ' influence , Jones said . As a conservative Republican family , they helped launch Richard Nixon 's political career in post-World War II California . The story is not all about the men . Dorothy Chandler -- the strong-willed wife of Norman Chandler -- waged a relentless campaign to turn Los Angeles into a world-class cultural center , Jones said . She led a campaign to raise money to save the Hollywood Bowl and the Los Angeles Philharmonic . In doing so , she brought together the Westside Jewish community with the white Protestant establishment based in Pasadena , Harry Chandler said . Tom Johnson , who became first nonfamily publisher of the Times in 1980 , said one of Dorothy Chandler 's `` most remarkable '' contributions was the successful effort to make sure her son Otis succeeded her husband as publisher in 1960 . `` The very new approach that Otis took and his leadership of the newspaper was just astounding , '' Johnson said in an interview with CNN . Otis Chandler gave reporters editorial independence , opened news bureaus around the world and strengthened the paper 's coverage of the suburbs , Johnson said . Under Otis Chandler , it rose from being one of the worst major papers in the country to being one of the top three , Johnson said . `` It was his goal to make the Los Angeles Times one of the best newspapers , and he did it in 20 years , being the right publisher at the right time , '' Johnson said . But Otis Chandler 's transformation of the Times from a conservative newspaper into a Pulitzer Prize-winning rival to the New York Times and Washington Post angered many Chandler family members . `` Some Chandlers were members of the John Birch society ; his paper did an expose on it , '' Johnson said . Otis Chandler 's newspaper looked closely at the Los Angeles Police Department , `` which had a reputation to shoot first and ask questions , '' Johnson said . The deep family rift eventually led to the sale of the Times-Mirror Company to the Tribune Company -- and the end of the dynasty . Johnson , who left the newspaper in 1989 and later became chairman of CNN , said the paper declined in the years since because `` rather than going for people who were superb newspaper people , they went outside to pick people who , in my opinion , blew the place apart . '' Some Chandler family descendants cooperated with Jones ' efforts to explore the Chandler family 's dealings . `` He does n't whitewash , but he does n't dig into the dark side and linger too long , '' said Harry Chandler , the son of Otis Chandler . The documentary is `` on whole , a very balanced , very accomplished , incredibly well researched '' documentary , Chandler said . Jones said he avoided judging the motives of Gen. Otis and his successors . `` When these guys were going about building the city , sometimes they did things , I would n't say in an underhanded way , but in a very private way , '' Jones said . `` How do you ascribe motives to people who did things 100 years ago ? Was it for greed , avarice and duplicity ? History in general is this tangled web of good and evil . ''
`` Inventing L.A. : The Chandlers and Their Times '' premieres Monday on PBS . Historian : David McCullough, author of the best-selling biography of John F. Kennedy's brother Robert ( who was assassinated in 1963 ) will be a guest at the premiere. Los Angeles grew from small desert town to nation 's second-largest city . The Chandler family newspaper dynasty ended in 1985 .