Water and Power Associates

Early Views of Hollywood (1850 - 1920)

Historical Photos of Early Hollywood

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(1860)* - View of the Duin residence, a small ranch house at Western and Lemon Grove Avenues in Hollywood in 1860. Two women and a child as well as two men with their horses pose for the camera at the ranch.

Historical Notes

In 1853, one adobe hut stood in Nopalera named for the Mexican Nopal cactus indigenous to the area. By 1870, an agricultural community flourished in the area with thriving crops of many common and exotic varieties. The area was known to these residents as the Cahuenga Valley, after the pass in the Santa Monica Mountains immediately to the north (Cahuenga is the Spanish name for the Tongva village of Kawengna, meaning place of the mountain). Soon thereafter, land speculation led to subdivision of the large plots and an influx of homeowners.*^


(ca. 1874)* - Farmer Dennis Sullivan farms a section of land where L.A. City College presently stands, on Vermont Ave. The location was the site of UCLA until the university moved to Westwood.

Today, Vermont Avenue effectively marks the eastern end of Hollywood. It starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a one-lane divided road (it is known as Vermont Canyon Road north of this point) and at the intersection with Los Feliz Boulevard, it widens to a two-lane road. Vermont Avenue passes to the east of the Barnsdall Art Park at the intersection with Hollywood Boulevard and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles at Sunset Boulevard.


(1877)* - "Birdseye view" drawing of an 1877 land promotional plan for a community to be known as Cahuenga, "the model suburb of Los Angeles, eight miles from the city, eight miles from the sea." Its northernmost street is Sunset Boulevard. It was never built as shown, with circular streets, etc., but some of its street names were later used elsewhere in the Hollywood area.


(1880)* - View of the many orange trees that line the hills of Krotona Hill, located near Gower and Beachwood Drive, in Hollywood. A man can be seen standing in the orange groves.


(ca. 1880)* - View of J. B. Rapps's pineapple plantation in Hollywood, located at the northeast corner of Gower and Franklin.


(ca. 1880)* - The Cahuenga Valley Railroad, a steam railroad built in the 1880's to provide access to Hollywood. The locomotive and passenger car is shown on Hollywood Boulevard, then Prospect Avenue.


(ca. 1880)^ - In this photo the Cahuenga Valley Railroad line cable car is also called the "Dummy line." Note the inside of the cable car is actually hollow with wooden chairs being used for sitting.


(ca. 1880)* - View of the Cahuenga Valley R.R. on Hollywood Boulevard, ca. 1880. The old Hurd residence is in the background, corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox Avenue.

Historical Notes

E. C. Hurd made his fortune from the mines of Colorado and invested it in a prime Hollywood tract, on which he built a mansion and planted a lemon grove. He purchased the Cahuenga Valley Railroad and extend the line to Laurel Canyon, opening it to residential development.***


(1882)* - Before roads and rail lines were built traveling through the Cahuenga Pass was by wagons and horses or on foot. This picture was taken at the summit. There is a saloon concealed among the trees.


(1882)* - A closer view of the summit of Cahuenga Pass with a saloon situated between the trees.


(n.d.)* - Exterior view of Cahuenga Tavern in Cahuenga Pass.


(n.d.)* - View of early Cahuenga Pass. The road runs around and through a cultivated area.


(ca. 1885)* - Exterior view of Six Mile House, a bar offering wines and liquors, located on Sunset Blvd. at Gower Street in the 1880s. Just six miles from Los Angeles, it was a stopping point for 20-mule teams coming out Sunset Blvd. into the San Fernando Valley.

Historical Notes

Sunset Boulevard was dedicated in 1888. Earlier called Bellevue Street--and with some small sections called Short, Bread and Marchessault streets (after Mayor Damien Marchessault)--it started on U.S. Sen. Cornelius Cole's hill in what is now Hollywood, which afforded a fine view of the sunset over the Pacific. By 1937, 11 streets in Hollywood were named after the Cole family.

Gower Avenue was dedicated in 1893. Named because it ran along the west side of the ranch belonging to George T. Gower. California's first films were made on the corner of Gower and Sunset Boulevard in 1911.^*^


(Early 1900s)* - Two women and a man pose at the side exterior of the Six Mile House Hotel. A sign on the roof reads "Martin Labaig and Laurent Etchepare, proprietors", and ice cold beer is advertised at 5 cents a pop.


(ca. 1885)* - A group of people is seen on Mount Hollywood, having climbed it circa the 1880s. Some are holding walking sticks, and one man holds a gun. Three children are seated on the ground, with two women. Metal buckets and a pan are also on the ground. In the background, a river flows on the flat land below. The people are formally dressed, as was the custom at the time.

(ca. 1887)* - Drawing of the first map of Hollywood, issued by real estate agent H.H. Wilcox in 1887. Tracts and lots are numbered on the map. The Hotel Hollywood inset never was built as shown. Wilcox' residence is another inset. His office was located at 34 North Spring Street, where people could inquire for particulars concerning the development. Various other sites are listed at right and numbered accordingly on the map. Railroad routes are also included. At left is the Pacific Ocean.

Historical Notes

Harvey Henderson Wilcox, the first subdivider of Hollywood, used as its name the suggestion made by his wife, Daeida. They had purchased 160 acres in 1886, which they subsequently subdivided and sold. (Prospect Avenue was the original name for Hollywood Blvd., and Weyse Avenue was the original name for Vine Street.)*

The name Hollywood was originally coined by H. J. Whitley, the "Father of Hollywood". Whitley arranged to buy the 500-acre E. C. Hurd ranch and disclosed to him his plans for the land. They agreed on a price and Hurd agreed to sell at a later date. Before Whitley got off the ground with Hollywood, plans for the new town had spread to General Harrison Gray Otis, Mr. Hurd's wife, Mrs. Daeida Wilcox, and numerous others through the mill of gossip and land speculation.*^

Daeida learned of the name Hollywood from her neighbor in Holly Canyon (now Lake Hollywood), Ivar Weid, a prominent investor and friend of Whitley's. She recommended the same name to her husband, H. H. Wilcox. On February 1, 1887, Harvey filed a deed and map of property he sold with the Los Angeles County Recorder's office. Harvey wanted to be the first to record it on a deed. The early real-estate boom busted that same year, yet Hollywood began its slow growth.*^


(1888)* - Little steam engine and carriage of the Cahuenga Valley Railroad, which ran from Temple Street, Los Angeles, to Hollywood. Photograph is taken at Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox Avenue.


(ca. 1890)* - Wilcox Ave. from south of Hollywood Blvd. as an unpaved, tree-lined road.


(ca. 1890)* - A man stands near the entrance to his Hollywood property while two women ride in a horse-drawn carriage travel down the unpaved driveway to where is standing. A glimpse of a large orange grove is visible on the right.


(ca. 1890)* - People are seated in front of the first hotel in Hollywood, the Glen-Holly Hotel, at the corner of Ivar and Yucca Streets. The Hotel was run by C.M. Pierce and his wife (shown standing at right).


(1892)* - Before roads and rail lines were built traveling through the Cahuenga Pass was by wagons and horses. Here a group of people have stopped to camp and cook something to eat. Another horse drawn vehicles passes them by on the road.


(ca. 1894)* - Two groups of wagons and horses traveling through the Cahuenga Pass.


(ca. 1894)* - Students of the Cahuenga Pass School in Hollywood pose for a class photograph outside of the newly completed school building.


(ca. 1895)* - A couple poses outside of the large colonial revival residence located on Carlos Avenue in Hollywood, identified as once having been the home of E. W. Twist.

Historical Notes

In 1916 this house became the first location of the Hollywood Studio Club, an organization and home designed to provide actresses with safety and security while they pursued their careers in Hollywood.*


(ca. 1895)* - Orange grove and ranch of Mrs. Wakeman located near Western and Hollywood Boulevard, in Hollywood.


(ca. 1895)* - Two women and a small child are shown on the porch of a two-storey wooden farmhouse located at what is now the corner of Hollywood and Western identified as once having been owned by Mary Penman Moll. A small water storage tower is visible just to the right of the home and in the background is a barn.


(1896)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood looking north toward the later Vermont Ave. and Los Feliz Blvd. area from Olive Hill in 1896. A few small farms and orchards are seen.

Historical Notes

Los Feliz Boulevard was dedicated in 1888. It was named after Rancho Los Feliz, a Spanish land grant issued to Cpl. Jose Vicente Feliz, who led the first non-Indian expedition to what became the Pueblo of Los Angeles. Feliz led 11 families here from Sonora, Mexico, in 1781. Most of Feliz's land was the Silver Lake area and the higher slopes of Griffith Park. Rancho Los Feliz sold in the 1850s for $1 an acre.^*^


(1896)* - Early view of Sunset Boulevard just west of Western Ave, looking north. In the foreground is a woman selling melons from a table.

(1896)* - Photograph of the front page of the Hollywood newspaper, "The Cahuenga Suburban," dated April, 1896. It includes an agricultural drawing and a photo of a Hollywood lemon grove. The drawing includes an electric railroad car and a close-up of various fruits and vegetables. Subtitled, "An Illustrated Monthly descriptive of The Cahuenga and Santa Monica by the Sea," the price is five cents or one dollar per year, 50 cents to eastern subscribers. Click HERE to see Early Views of Santa Monica.


(1896)^^ - Bicycle race on Western just north of Santa Monica Boulevard, 1896.

Historical Notes

Western Avenue, apart from Sepulveda Boulevard, is one of the longest north–south streets in Los Angeles. The name of the street is derived from its history as the westernmost border of Los Angeles before annexations in the early 20th century expanded the city.

Western Avenue eventually ends north of Franklin Avenue in the Hollywood Hills. It swerves to become an east/west street, Los Feliz Boulevard, a major thoroughfare for Los Feliz.*^


(1897)* - Early travel through the Cahuenga Pass, which connected Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley, was done on bicycles by some. This area would later become Cahuenga Blvd., just south of Whitley Terrace. Click HERE to see more Early Views of the San Fernando Valley.


(1898)* - Exterior view of Sackett's, located on the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga in 1898. The building houses a small store and post office. A horse-drawn carriage is parked next to the sidewalk.

Historical Notes

Horace David Sackett and Ellen Sackett built the hotel in 1888 at Prospect (Hollywood Boulevard) and Cahuenga, an intersection that became an early Hollywood commercial center. Their dauther, Mary Sackett, served as the first postmistress of the Hollywood post office located at the hotel.*

(1898)* - The extended Sackett family in front of the Sackett Hotel, in 1898. From left to right: Betsy Otis, H.D. Sackett's aunt; Mrs. Sackett; Lyman Hathaway, cousin of Mary Sackett; William H. Sackett; unknown; Mary Sackett; Zella Sackett, married to George Dunlap; unknown; Lilly ? ; Dora Miller. The post office was added in 1898. H.D. Sackett hardware is visible at right. Two of the women and two men are shown seated on bicycles, and a dog's legs are visible at right.


(1898)* - Panoramic view of the Charles Harper Victorian home and property, standing at the entrance to Laurel Canyon in Hollywood. A man, perhaps Charles Harper, stands in the foreground in 1898. Harper, a merchant, had a hardware store on Spring near Temple Streets.


(ca. 1898)^^ - View of workers grading the roadbed and installing streetcar tracks on Hollywood Boulevard.

(ca. 1898)* - Visitors walk through the extensive flower gardens at the Mission Revival/Moorish style Hollywood residence (background) of artist Paul de Longpré. Two men in the foreground appear to be wearing Shriner fezes, suggesting that a special event for the fraternal organization was taking place. The flower garden of the home, located on the west side of Cahuenga Blvd. at Hollywood Blvd., included at one time over 4,000 roses. The residence was a popular destination for tourists who enjoyed the beautiful home, de Longpré's personal art collection and the gardens.


(1899)* - Visitors gather at the entrance of the Mission Revival/Moorish style Hollywood residence of artist Paul de Longpré.


(1899)* - View looking up Gower and Beachwood from Krotona Hill, in 1899. The road as seen above was established in the 1870s by Henry and George Claussen. It leads to a two-story home and farm buildings. Beachwood Drive now runs along the bottom of the canyon, and Gower Street runs up the hill by the windmill.

Historical Notes

Beachwood Dr. was named after Hollywood developer Albert H. Beach for whom Beachwood Canyon is also named after. The Canyon was originally known as Claussen Valley (after pioneer resident Henry Claussen).

Krotona Hill was named after the Greek school founded by Pythagoras. It was named by the Albert P. Warrington, head of the Theosophical Society settlement, and refers to the 11 acres of land he bought west of Beachwood Canyon and north of Franklin Avenue, below where the Hollywood sign stands today, to create an Adyar utopian settlement. In 1924, because of the LA sprawl, the community moved to Ojai, where the Krotona School of Theosophy continues today.*^*


(ca. 1900)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood taken from hills near Gower Street and Temple Hill Drive. Some recently-planted orchards are visible.


(1900)* - Exterior front view of the Victorian style E. C. Hurd residence at 6594 Hollywood Blvd. at Wilcox Avenue. Hurd was a member of the Cahuenga Valley Water Co., formed in 1894. A railroad car, labeled Santa Monica, is on the street in front of the house. Also a couple are sitting in an open-air automobile, and the woman wears a lap robe.

Historical Notes

In 1900, date of this photograph, the Hurd home was bought by farmer and banker H.J. Whitley, a director of the State Bank of Owensmouth. Known as the "Father of Hollywood," Whitley Heights is named for him.*


(ca. 1900)* - Exterior front view of the two-story Victorian Hollywood residence of E. C. Hurd, member of the Cahuenga Valley Water Company in Hollywood.

Historical Notes


(1900)* - View of the Hammel and Denker Ranch. Two men sitting in a horse-drawn carriage watch as workers pick peas in winter.


(1900)* - Early view of Sunset Boulevard as a dirt road bordered by pepper trees planted by H.H. Wilcox in 1883. View is looking west from Wilcox near Edgemont.


(1900)* - View of what is now known as West Hollywood, as seen from Harper Ranch.


(ca. 1900)* - Two men stand on Olive Hill in Hollywood circa 1900. A panoramic view of Hollywood extends to the southwest across what later became Sunset Blvd. at the foot of the hill. Here we see the Prospect Park station, post office, and other buildings. Olive Hill was also known as the Mount of Olives.


(ca. 1900)* - Two men stand on Olive Hill in Hollywood circa 1900. A panoramic view of Hollywood extends to the north toward the mountains from what would become Barnsdall Park, looking toward a later Hollywood Blvd. and Vermont Ave. area.


(1900)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood in 1900, looking across empty space toward a farm and Weid Canyon beyond.


(1901)* - Undeveloped area of what is now Hollywood and Cahuenga Blvds. The little boy in the lower right of the photograph stands at what will be the northeast corner where the Security Trust & Savings Bank building is later built.


(1901)* - A man walks through a sweet pea field located at about Fairfax and Sunset, in West Hollywood.


(1901)* - Fields, farm buildings and distant mountains mark the future site of Hollywood High School. Six and a quarter acres were purchased for the high school for $8,000 in 1904. Photo dated: 1901.


(1902)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood, looking southeast from Laughlin Park at Franklin and Western Avenues in 1902. Numerous orchards are seen, with a few homes and farm buildings.


(1902)* - Tree-lined, unpaved Santa Monica Blvd. at Western looking west in 1902. A few houses are shown along with a man sitting on a log. The house on the left is on the southwest corner.


(1902)* - East on Sunset Boulevard from Fairfax Avenue in 1902.


(1902)* - Residences on Wilcox Avenue in 1903, looking north from Hollywood Boulevard.


(1903)* - This was Hollywood's first grocery store, established in the 1890s on the northwest corner of Sunset and Cahuenga. This two-story structure has a few signs on the side of the building which read, "Hollywood cash grocery", "Choice family groceries", "Ask for German family soap", and "Flour feed and grain". A horse and buggy are parked along the store entrance.


(1903)* - View of the Hollywood Hotel on April 26, 1903, showing a gathering of people, five with identical open-air automobiles. Only the original portion of the hotel had been built at this time.

Historical Notes

The first section of the hotel was built by a developer eager to sell residential lots among the lemon ranches then lining the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and opened in December of that year. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue, the small stucco structure fronted on a dusty, unpaved road with pepper trees that would eventually become Hollywood Boulevard. Whitley was instrumental in the completion of the boulevard. Within less than three years he would be compelled to build an additional wing onto this elegant hotel.

Soon after the Hollywood Hotel was opened, an eccentric millionaire spinster from Iowa, Almira Hershey, who was then staying in a hotel at Grand Avenue and 4th Street in Los Angeles, rode out to see the new hotel in Hollywood that was being advertised in the Los Angeles Times. She then became a guest; lured, the legend goes, by the cuisine, particularly the apple pie. She fell in love with the hotel and bought shares, eventually becoming sole owner.

In 2001, the Hollywood and Highland entertainment complex, which includes the Hollywood and Highland Center, the current home of the Academy Awards, was constructed on the site.*^


(ca. 1903)* - Vine Street headed north into the hills from Hollywood Boulevard. George Hoover’s home is on the far left and the Bartlett residence is at the right. The empty field in right foreground is now the Pantages Theatre.**^


(1904)* - Photograph taken of three ladies in a 1904 Oldsmobile at a loction west of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, Hollywood, California, 1904.


(1904)* - Franklin Avenue Bridge near Bronson Ave. in 1904.


(1904)* - Two passengers in an antique car are diving on an unpaved Hollywood Blvd. near Sunset Blvd. alongside street car tracks.


(ca. 1905)^^ - Hollywood's unpaved Cahuenga Pass, ca.1905. There is a narrow dirt road winding its way through a mountainous pass covered with trees and bushes. In the lower left corner, there are two horse-drawn wagons and a single pedestrian.

(ca. 1905)* - Photograph of the residence of A.G. Bartlett on Hollywood Boulevard between Vine Street and Gower Street, ca.1905. A plowed field is separated from crop rows by a picket fence, behind which a mansion, next to which a windmill stands, is visible on a hill, overlooking the crops. To its left, steps with railing lead down the hill to a smaller house, possibly a barn. Beyond this property, divided by yet another fence, more houses can be seen in the distance in front of the mountains.


(1905)* - View of large residential homes in Hollywood, north from near Sunset and Highland.


(ca. 1905)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood, seen from Whitley Heights circa 1905. A few houses are scattered about, and a winding street is seen. The curved configuration of Highland between the East and West sections of Franklin Ave still exists today.

Historical Notes

Whitley Heights is a residential neighborhood in the Hollywood district named for Hobart Johnstone "HJ" Whitley, the "Father of Hollywood". Whitley Heights was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

In 1918, HJ Whitley commissioned architect A.S. Barnes to design Whitley Heights as a Mediterranean-style village on the steep hillsides above Hollywood Boulevard, and it became the first celebrity community. The neighborhood is roughly bordered on the north and east by Cahuenga Boulevard, on the west by Highland Avenue, and on the south by Franklin Avenue. It overlooks the tourist district of Hollywood, including the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater. The neighborhood was bisected and some landmark homes destroyed when U.S. Route 101, a.k.a. the Hollywood Freeway, was built after World War II.

Among Whitley Heights' many famous residents have been Rudolph Valentino, Barbara Stanwyck, W.C. Fields, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, William Powell, Tyrone Power, Ellen Pompeo, Gloria Swanson, Rosalind Russell, Judy Garland, and Marlene Dietrich.*^


(ca. 1905)* - Exterior view of the original Moorish/Mission Revival style building on the campus of Immaculate Heart College, located at 5515 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood. A cow can be seen grazing in the field in the foreground.

Historical Notes

In 1903 the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary purchased fifteen-acres in Hollywood on which to develop a school. Two years later on April 24, 1905 a ground-breaking took place for the first campus building (shown here), which included classrooms for high school and elementary school students, boarding facilities, as well as living quarters for the nuns.*


(ca. 1907)* - View of the original campus of Immaculate Heart College, located at 5515 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, as it appears in the early years of Hollywood when there were few homes (foreground) and large open spaces for agriculture, seen throughout this image.


(1905)* - Tourists visiting the famous De Longpre Art Gallery on Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevards in 1905, traveling via electric cars.

Historical Notes

Perhaps the most famous Hollywood transplant of the time was Paul de Longpre, a French horticultural painter who arrived in Los Angeles with his family in 1889. After de Longpre discovered his ideal flowers growing in Hollywood, he met Daeida Wilcox, who was so anxious to attract culture that she gave him her homesite, three lots on Cahuenga just north of Prospect (later Hollywood Blvd.), for his estate.

The mansion and gardens Paul de Longpre built not only drew Hollywood society but served as a lure for new property buyers and tourists. So many visitors came to see “Le Roi des Fleurs” that the P.E. Railway added a trolley spur on Ivar Avenue to deposit them closer to the estate. Tours of the house and gardens, along with prints of his floral paintings, supported the de Longpre family until the artist’s death in 1911. After his family returned to France, the house and gardens were demolished for their valuable real estate, and de Longpre’s paintings–romantic still-lifes of roses, orchids and the like–fell permanently out of fashion. If not for De Longpre Avenue, most Hollywooders today would not recognize his name, let alone his art.***


(ca. 1905)* - Exterior view of the Mission Revival/Islamic style Hollywood residence once owned by artist Paul de Longpré. The home was located on the west side of Cahuenga Blvd. at Hollywood Blvd.

(ca. 1905)* - Interior of the Mission Revival/Islamic style Hollywood residence and art gallery once owned by artist Paul de Longpré. Several of the artist's rose paintings are on display throughout the room shown here. The flowers depicted in the paintings came from his famed garden, which at one time consisted of approximately 4,000 roses. The home was located on the west side of Cahuenga Blvd. at Hollywood Blvd. on property Longpré obtained from Mrs. Wilcox Beveridge after he moved to Los Angeles in 1889. The artist, who was born in Lyons, France, desired the 65-foot-deep lots for an extensive flower garden. The residence was a popular tourist destination for several years and was demolished in 1927.


(ca. 1905)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood circa the early 1900s, with scattered houses on the city blocks. In the center of the photo with two towers is the rear of the Paul DeLongpre residence at Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevards. Highland Avenue is in the foreground.


(1905)* - View of Hollywood Boulevard looking east from a point west of Highland Avenue in 1905. The large area on the right is a strawberry patch. A streetcar can be seen in the center of the photo.


(1905)* - View of Western Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, below Sunset in 1905. The ornamental house seen in the background belonged to the Hampton family. Four children, two boys and two girls, stand along the road posing for the camera. In the distance is Mt. Hollywood, the highest peak with an elevation of 1,657 feet. Photo dated: 1905.


(1905)* - Early view of Sunset Boulevard as a dirt road with real estate tracts being developed alongside. A team of horses (?) is seen in the middleground and low hills are in the background.


(1905)* - View of the Hollywood Hotel in 1905 just after it was enlarged to cover the entire block. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue, the stucco structure fronted on a dusty, unpaved road with pepper trees that would eventually become Hollywood Boulevard.

Historical Notes

Today, this is the site of the Hollywood and Highland Center, the current home of the Academy Awards.


(ca. 1910)* - Carriage drawn by six horses in front of the Hollywood Hotel circa 1910. Several people are seated in the carriage.


(ca. 1905)* - Original building of Hollywood High School designed by Burnham and Bliesner in the "Ionic architecture" style. With two stories and a basement, it accommodated 400 students.

Historical Notes

In September 1903, a two-room school was opened on the second floor of an empty storeroom at the Masonic Temple on Highland Avenue, north of Hollywood Boulevard (then Prospect Avenue). Hollywood was incorporated as a municipality in November 1903.*^

The original school building (above) opened in 1905 and consisted of the consolidated school districts of Hollywood City, Laurel, Coldwater, Lankershim, Los Feliz, Cahuenga, and The Pass.

In 1910, Los Angeles and Hollywood consolidated and the high school was turned over to the L.A. Board of Education.*

Click HERE to see the complete list of Notable alumni.*^


(1905)* - The 1905 Hollywood High School Football team pose in their uniforms on the steps of the high school. A player holds a football with "05" painted on it. A glass bottle in a wicker holder is on the step in front of the team. The caption reads "Mr. Nevius and football team".


(1906)*^ - Hollywood High School (at center), 1906, one year after it opened.


(1905)* - Hollywood Blvd. looking east from Gower Avenue. There are residences to the left and right and a streetcar is seen in the middleground. Barely visible in the background are the Silver Lake Hills.


(1906)* - Exterior view of the old flower-covered wooden police station in Hollywood, located at 131 of an unidentified street, in 1906.


(1906)* - Large rural area with a few houses and trees. The future site of Melrose and Normandie, 1906. Mt. Hollywood peak can be seen in the upper right of the photo.

Historical Notes

The above farm is where the Hollywood Frwy crosses Melrose Avenue today. Just to the west and out of view is the location of the McCarthy Ranch. In 1887 E. A. McCarthy named Melrose Avenue after his hometown of Melrose, Mass.^*^


(1906)* - View is looking east from the hill towards Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga Avenue.


(1906)* - Early view of Highland Avenue north of Hollywood Boulevard in 1906. Some buildings are visible with hills in the background.


(1907)* - Photograph is captioned: Looking north from Hollywood Memorial Church, showing residence of A.G. Bartlett. The church building is not visible. The photograph shows a large residence on the left with orchards and fields all around.


(1907)* - Exterior view of the Hollywood residence and gardens owned by artist Paul de Longpré. The home was located on the west side of Cahuenga Blvd. at Hollywood Blvd. on property he obtained from Mrs. Wilcox Beveridge after he moved to Los Angeles in 1889. The French born artist desired the 65-foot-deep lots for a large flower garden.


(ca. 1908)* - A photo of a flyer advertising real estate: "Choice building lots in the Holly tract, now platted and ready for sale at $150 to $400 per lot." These residential lots are being sold by R.W. Poindexter Co. and George P. Swan. Their addresses are given on the flyer. Photo dated circa 1908.


(1907)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood in 1907, looking north from the Hollywood High School campus. A number of houses are seen, and electric power poles are visible.

(1907)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood in 1907, looking southeast from Franklin Avenue near Orange Drive. Hollywood High School is in the center of the photo, facing Highland Avenue, with vacant lands beyond. The Hollywood Hotel is at left, facing Hollywood Blvd. Orchid Street is at left. Quite a few houses are seen, and electric power poles line the streets. (Some prints identify the date as 1905.)


(1908)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood in 1908, looking toward the hills from the Hollywood High School campus, the later site of the Roosevelt Hotel. An athletic field is in the foreground. A number of houses are seen, and electric power poles are visible.


(1909)* - Hollywood Union High School athletes, both baseball and track, are in their uniforms on the field in back of the high school. An English half-timbered style house is next to the school.


(Early 1900s)* - Early view of Franklin and La Brea Avenues with residential buildings in the foreground and hills in the background.


(1909)* - Panoramic view of West Hollywood, showing a few houses and much open space in 1909, when much of the area was agricultural. The view is from the rear of Wattles Gardens, a mansion and large formal garden bounded on the south by Hollywood Blvd. and on the west by Curson Avenue and the east by Sierra Bonita Avenue.

Historical Notes

The forty-nine acre estate known as the Wattles Estate included a mansion, known as "Jualita," and large formal garden and was developed by Gordon W. Wattles, a wealthy banker and railway company president from Omaha, Nebraska. The home and garden are the work of architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey. The property is bounded on the south by Hollywood Blvd. and on the west by Curson Avenue and the east by Sierra Bonita Avenue. The rise of the property from the south to the foothills in the north is 1000 feet. The gardens were later turned over to Hollywood Heritage, Inc., which rented the building for private functions, such as weddings and film shoots.*


(ca. 1910)* - Exterior rear view of the Spanish Revival Wattles Estate, looking southwest towards smaller homes, farms and orchards in Hollywood and what is now West Hollywood.


(1909)* - A conductor leads a musical ensemble playing to a large crowd of visitors outside the Mission Revival/Moorish style Hollywood residence of artist Paul de Longpré. This well attended event celebrated the completion of the Hill Street tunnel in downtown.


(1909)* - Pacific Electric Railway Hollywood car via the Hill Street Tunnel in 1909. Its sign says, "Beverly, Sawtelle, Ocean Park, Venice."


(1909)* - Panoramic view of Hollywood in 1909, taken from Laughlin Park at Franklin and Western Avenues. Numerous orchards are seen, and a horse-drawn carriage is at right.


(1910)* - Tree-lined Melrose Avenue, probably in 1910, at Western Avenue. Trees were planted in the early 1880's and felled on the right side in 1922 and on the left side in 1923. This was a favorite street for horse and buggy rides on Sundays.

Historical Notes

Melrose Avenue was by ranch owner E. A. McCarthy after his hometown of Melrose, Mass. The McCarthy Ranch occupied most of area bounded by Western to Wilton and Melrose to Santa Monica Blvd.^*^


(ca. 1910)* - A view of the Sackett Hotel, facing Cahuenga Blvd at the southwest corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Cahuenga, about 1910. The hotel was built in 1898 by Horace Sackett. A post office was added in 1900, and the hotel stood until 1910 or 1911.


(ca. 1911) - Construction is in progress on one corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Cahuenga in this picture taken around 1910 or 1911. Possibly the same corner at which the Sackett Hotel stood.

(1913)* - The first motion picture studio in Hollywood was built by David Horseley for Christie Film Co. Automobiles are lined up at Sunset Blvd., with Gower Street at right. The sign above the building reads "Christie Film Co.", and "Nestor Comedies, Universal Films." The photo includes Charles Christie, Horace Davey, Al Christie, Nadgi, head cameraman; George French, Gus Alexander, Harry Rattenburg, Lee Moran, Eddie Lyons, Billie Rhodes, and Eddie Barry. The photograph is signed "Witzel."

Historical Notes

On October 27, 1911, Nestor opened the first movie studio actually located in the Hollywood area. It was at the Blondeau Tavern building on the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. The first motion picture stage in Hollywood was built behind the tavern.*^


(1913)* - Exterior view of Castle Sans Souci, the mansion of Dr. A.G. Castles in Hollywood. He was originally called Dr. Alfred Guido Rudolph Schloesser, but during World War I, due to anti-German sentiment, he changed it to Dr. A.G. Castles. He also changed the name of the residence from Schloesser Terrace to Castle Sans Souci in honor of the summer residence of Frederick II.

Historical Notes

At the turn of the century, after striking it rich in the Nevada silver mines, Castles and his family moved to Hollywood, where the doctor built Glengarry, a copy of his wife's ancestral home in Inverness, Scotland. Soon this castle proved too small for his burgeoning social life and medical practice. So in 1912, he built Castle Sans Souci on a three-acre plot at Argyle and Franklin avenues.

As an investment, the eccentric doctor who always wore a frock coat, heavy makeup and top hat, tore down Sans Souci and built Castle Argyle Arms apartments in 1928, attracting a new breed of royalty: movie makers. Guests there over the next two decades were to include Clark Gable, Howard Hughes, Ronald Reagan and Cecil B. DeMille.*#


(ca. 1912)* - A trackless trolley, "The First in America," traveling to and from bungalow land in Laurel Canyon, Hollywood, in the early 1900s. Fare was 10 cents.

Historical Notes

In 1912 Charles Mann, a realtor, and Richard Shoemaker, an engineer, introduced these trackless trolleys to stimulate land sales in Laurel Canyon. The trolleys operated from Sunset Blvd. to the Tavern at the junction of Laurel Canyon and Lookout Mt. Road. They were discontinued in 1918.^^


(Early 1900s)* - View of trackless trolley in early 1900s. It ran through Laurel Canyon and was the first in the United States.


(Early 1900s)#* - This was the nation's first trackless trolley, built by Charles Spencer Mann in 1910 to promote vacation lots in Laurel Canyon.

Historical Notes

The trolley ran along Laurel Canyon's dirt road and connected Sunset Boulevard to the base of the current Lookout Mountain Avenue where there was a small inn. The Laurel Tavern served lunch to tourists and prospective customers of Mann's Bungalow Land properties. The ride cost 10¢. More adventurous travelers could continue up Lookout Mountain Avenue for a breathtaking view of Hollywood from the area around the current Appian Way.#*


(1916)* - Aerial view of the Lookout Inn, south from Lookout Mountain in Hollywood. Notice the vast undeveloped expanse below.

Historical Notes

The Lookout Inn, which burned down in 1920, is shown in the photo above taken in 1916. Charles Mann, the original developer of Laurel Canyon, is not the same Charles Mann who founded the real estate office at Kirkwood and Laurel Canyon Blvd, and there is no relation. Just a coincidence of history.#*


(1916)* - Exterior view of the L.A.F.D. Fire Department, Engine 27, and the L.A. Police station, sharing the same building at 1629 Cahuenga Avenue in Hollywood.


(1924)* - Police officers stand on the street outside of the Hollywood police station, Division 6, located at 1629 Cahuenga Avenue, just north of Selma Avenue. Neighboring businesses, a hotel (left) and a shoe shop (right), are also captured in the image.


(ca. 1916)* - Exterior view of Cahuenga Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, located at 4591 Santa Monica Boulevard. It opened in 1916 and was intended, at the time, to serve a community of workers in the then nearby orange and avocado groves and wheat fields.

Historical Notes

Cahuenga Branch is the third oldest branch library in the Los Angeles Public Library system. Located at 4591 Santa Monica Boulevard in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, it was built in 1916 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie. Architect C.H. Russell designed this Italian Renaissance style building. He was also associated with Norman F. Marsh in building the Venice canals.*^

One of three surviving Carnegie libraries in Los Angeles, it has been designated as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 314 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Click HERE to see the complete list of LA Historical Cultural Monuments.


(ca. 1916)* - Aerial view of Hollywood, looking south on Western, circa 1917. Two orchard fields are in the foreground.


(1919)* - Northeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Western Avenue. S. Robinson & Co. real estate and investments office is located on the corner. A man with a dark suit and hat can be seen leaning against the building next to one of the widows. It appears that a small field of flowers is to the right, and houses in the background. A lone automobile is parked along Western Avenue.


(ca. 1920)* - Photograph of stores, shops and street traffic near intersection of Crescent Heights and Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. Sam Seelig Co.’s Crescent Heights Public Market on left.

Historical Notes

Sam Seelig Company was founded in April 1912 by Sam Seelig, who had come to California from Arizona in 1911. Seelig opened a single grocery store in Los Angeles at the corner of Pico and Figueroa streets. The chain had grown to 71 stores by 1922. After World War I, the firm became deeply indebted to its main grocery wholesaler, a firm owned by W.R.H. Weldon. In a swap of stock for debt, Weldon assumed control of the chain, leaving Seelig in charge of retail operations. Seelig then left the company in 1924 to enter the real estate business, forming Sam Seelig Realty.

As a result of Seelig's departure, the company held a contest in 1925 to develop a new name, the result of which was Safeway. The original slogan was "an admonition and an invitation" to "Drive the Safeway; Buy the Safeway.” The point of the name was that the grocery operated on a cash-and-carry basis; it did not offer credit, as had been traditional for grocers. It was the "safe way" to buy because a family could not get into debt via its grocery bill (as many families did, especially during the Great Depression). By 1926, Safeway Stores had 322 stores centered in Southern California.*^


(1922)* - An aerial view of Hollywood High School from the southeast. There is practice of some kind on the athletic field where two basketball courts have also been marked off.

Historical Notes

The school with a student body of 2500 is three blocks from Charlie Chaplin's studio and six blocks from Mary Pickford's and Douglas Fairbanks' studios. The homes bordering the upper side of the campus were just condemned by the city to make room for additional buildings. The original 1905 building is on the bottom right, the Household & Fine Arts building is in the middle of the quadrangle, and the gymnasium is top, center.*


(1920)* - A view of Hollywood High School campus, or quadrangle, looking northwest from Highland Ave. Cars are parked in front of fan palms that need to be trimmed. Yucca trees grow by the stairs leading to the entrance of the original 1905 building. "Hollywood Union High School" is chiseled over the entrance.


(ca. 1920s)* - A policeman stands on a low box in the middle of the intersection in Hollywood, directing traffic, including a streetcar with a sign on the front for Santa Monica. In the background can be seen the back of the Hotel Christie.


(ca. 1905)^^ - View of the Cahuenga Peak near Hollywood, ca.1905. The lush mountain terrain looks like ripples (or waves) along the mountainside. Other mountain ranges are visible in the distance.

Historical Notes

Howard Hughes acquired the Cahuenga Peak and surrounding acreage in the 1940 with plans to build a house for his love interest, actress Ginger Rogers. Rogers broke up their engagement, so the area was left undeveloped.

In 2002, a group of Chicago-area investors named Fox River Financial Resources purchased the 138 acres parcel along the ridge including Cahuenga Peak from the Hughes Estate for $1,675,000 according to Los Angeles County property records. The investors considered constructing five luxury estates on the property.

Los Angeles city officials said City Hall had received hundreds of letters pleading for the peak's protection, which prompted a campaign by city leaders and conservationists to raise $6,000,000 which they thought would be sufficient to buy Cahuenga Peak and turn it into an extension of nearby Griffith Park.

On February 13, 2008, Chicago investment firm Fox River Financial Resources released plans to sell the property for $22 million. That same month, The Trust for Public Land launched the Save Cahuenga Peak campaign to purchase the land from the investment firm for $12.5 million. As part of the campaign they draped the Hollywood Sign so that it read "SAVE THE PEAK". On April 26 it was announced that the campaign was successful. Though funds came from many sources, including $1.7 million in public money, it was the final hour donations of $500,000 from The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and Aileen Getty and $900,000 from Hugh Hefner that enabled the purchase. In July 2010, 100 acres around Cahuenga Peak was officially added to Griffith Park.*^


(ca. 1920s)^** - Aerial view of the Hollywood Hills annotated to show the mountain peaks in relationship to the Hollywoodland Sign.

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