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Historical Notes

The Cahuenga Pass has long been a convenient shortcut between the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles Basin. The first Southern Californians likely blazed a foot-trail millennia ago, and by the late 18th century the villagers of Cabueg-na or Kaweenga (the origin of the name "Cahuenga") near Universal Studios regularly trekked through the pass.

In 1852, a steep wagon road replaced the old trail.

Historical Notes

The pass was also the site of two major battles, the Battle of Cahuenga Pass in 1831 (a fight between local settlers and the Mexican-appointed governor and his men, two deaths), and the Battle of Providencia or Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass in 1845 (between locals over whether to secede from Mexico. One horse and one mule killed). Both battles were on the San Fernando Valley side near present-day Studio City, and cannonballs are still occasionally found during excavations in the area. Along the route of the historic El Camino Real, the historic significance of the pass is also marked by a marker along Cahuenga Boulevard which names the area as Paseo de Cahuenga.

Historical Notes

The pass was also the site of two major battles, the Battle of Cahuenga Pass in 1831 (a fight between local settlers and the Mexican-appointed governor and his men, two deaths), and the Battle of Providencia or Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass in 1845 (between locals over whether to secede from Mexico. One horse and one mule killed). Both battles were on the San Fernando Valley side near present-day Studio City, and cannonballs are still occasionally found during excavations in the area. Along the route of the historic El Camino Real, the historic significance of the pass is also marked by a marker along Cahuenga Boulevard which names the area as Paseo de Cahuenga.

Historical Notes

Cahuenga is the Spanish name for the Tongva village of Kawengna, meaning place of the mountain.

Historical Notes

The Eight Mile House, also known as the Cahuenga Tavern or Pass Hotel, was a prominent landmark at the summit of Cahuenga Pass, named for its location eight miles from downtown Los Angeles. Built in the 1870s, it served travelers until around 1920 as a hotel, toll station, and store. Nestled among eucalyptus trees, it was described as a "raunchy restaurant, saloon, and gambling parlor."

Historical Notes

The Eight Mile House was crucial in the development of transportation through the pass, acting as a rest stop for stagecoaches that crossed frequently by the late 19th century. The establishment fell into decay and was demolished around 1920, aligning with the modernization of transportation, including road widening and the rise of automobiles.

Historical Notes

In the center of the photograph was a coach stop where people could stay overnight. It was owned by Geronimo Lopez. The road was narrow enough so that if two teams of horses met, the heaviest one won, the lighter one had to back down. Lightning would hit the horses during storms and was considered a very dangerous pass to cross. Miguel Leonis was killed in the Pass.

Historical Notes

During the 19th century, Cahuenga Pass saw significant development. By the 1850s, ox-carts and mule-teams were crossing the hills through the pass, and in 1858, the Butterfield Overland Mail Company stage made its first crossing. The 1870s brought the construction of the Pass Hotel, also known as Eight Mile House, which served as a toll station and store.

Historical Notes

Cycling through Cahuenga Pass around 1900 presented several challenges. The road was primarily designed for ox-carts, mule-teams making the terrain rough and uneven for cyclists.

The road through the pass was continually widened to handle increasing traffic. In 1911, the Pacific Electric railway extended its tracks through the pass, and by 1920, traffic jams were common, prompting various improvement plans.

Historical Notes

As late as 1914, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille rented a wooden cabin in the pass as his home. He rode daily into his studio on horseback -- with a revolver on his hip.

Historical Notes

This is one of the earliest views of Highland Avenue entering Cahuenga Pass.

Historical Notes

The Pisgah Home movement begun by faith healer and social reformer, Finis E. Yoakum.  In 1900 Yoakum formed an institution that was initially known as Yoakum's Sanatorium at his house in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles. The home originally had room for only eight persons and was founded "to give free care to drunkards and outcasts who wished to reform."

By 1903, Yoakum's Sanatorium had become the "Pisgah Faith Home", named after the mountain peak from which the Bible indicates that Moses first saw the promised land. Yoakum used his barn as a tabernacle for church services and also as additional living space for patients. Yoakum and the Pisgah Home movement became well-known not only in Los Angeles but nationally and internationally. The Pisgah Home was supported by voluntary offerings, and no specific charges were made for care or treatment. As Yoakum's fame spread, donations came in from all over the world to support its operations. The inmates (as they were known) were fed simple home-cooked meals, instructed on the Bible, then bathed and put to work around the home. Among the tasks given to the residents was the construction of a lavish Tudor-style mansion which became Yoakum's new home at 140 South Avenue 59, and has itself been designated a historic landmark.

As the Pisgah Home movement became successful, Yoakum built other facilities. Pisgah Ark was built in Arroyo Seco where "wayward girls" and prostitutes were sheltered and taught midwifery under the direction of Sister Nell. Pisgah Gardens was built in North Hollywood, where beds were maintained for 100 patients suffering from tuberculosis, cancer and mental disorders. Yoakum also built the Pisgah Store in Arroyo Seco where donated clothing and other goods were distributed free of charge. There was also a gospel mission in West Los Angeles.

By 1914, Pisgah Home had outgrown its facilities, and Yoakum bought a 3,300 ranch in the Santa Susana Mountains north of Simi Valley, California. Yoakum paid $50,000 for the property, and there he built Pisgah Grande, a residential and religious utopian community that has since been reclaimed by nature.^

Historical Notes

In 1913, the Cahuenga Pass Road remained a primitive route, narrow enough that if two horse teams met, the heavier one would prevail while the lighter one had to back down. The road was unpaved, likely consisting of just a dirt track winding through the mountains, and lightning strikes on horses crossing the pass were considered a significant danger.

Historical Notes

In 1911, General Sherman (as he was called) added an extraordinary streetcar line. Built over Cahuenga Pass, through North Hollywood to the 1911 town site of Van Nuys, and on to the 1912 town site Owensmouth, now Canoga Park.

Along with the streetcar line, Moses Sherman also built the "$500,000 boulevard" named Sherman Way next to the tracks all of which were the key to the development of the Valley. By 1912, 45 minute streetcar service from Van Nuys to downtown and the "no speed limit" paved road (if you could get your "Model A" to do 30 mph) were key selling points.

Historical Notes

The original April 9, 1911, Los Angeles Times caption reported:

Electric Line to Van Nuys Through Cahuenga Pass. This picture shows the railroad as now laid to the highest point in the gap which unites Hollywood with the rich San Fernando Valley. The road will be in operation early in the summer. Express trains connecting the town of Van Nuys with Los Angeles will make only one stop, Hollywood.

Historical Notes

The 32-foot-high steel cross at 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard in the Hollywood Hills was erected in 1923 to the memory of Christine Wetherill Stevenson.

The Pilgrimage Play Theatre was built in 1920 by the author Christine Wetherill Stevenson.  She believed the rugged beauty of the Cahuenga Pass would provide a dramatic outdoor setting for The Pilgrimage Play. Together with Mrs. Chauncey D. Clark, she purchased this land along with that on which the Hollywood Bowl now sits. A wooden, outdoor amphitheater was built on this site and the play was performed by noted actors every summer from 1920 to 1929, until the original structure was destroyed by a brush fire in October 1929.

In 1976, the Pilgrimage Theatre was renamed the John Anson Ford Theatre in honor of the late L.A. County Supervisor's significant support of the arts.

Historical Notes

Greatest single truck shipment of lumber ever moved over American highways at one time parades through Los Angeles streets as 100 motor trucks and trailers, carrying almost a million board feet representing a year's supply for Universal Studios, is escorted across town from Los Angeles Harbor by a convoy of police.

Historical Notes

In 1976, the Pilgrimage Theatre was renamed the John Anson Ford Theatre in honor of the late L.A. County Supervisor's significant support of the arts. John Anson Ford (1883–1983) helped found the L.A. County Arts Commission, encouraged the Board of Supervisors to support the building of the Music Center and led the County's acquisition of Descanso Gardens, among many other achievements.

Historical Notes

The Cahuenga Pass was an essential route connecting Hollywood to the San Fernando Valley. In 1938, major infrastructure improvements were planned to ease traffic congestion, including the construction of a new freeway. At the time, the existing road handled both cars and Pacific Electric Railway trolleys. The "Cahuenga Pass Freeway" would eventually open in June 1940.

Historical Notes

The above section of Cahuenga Boulevard is located between the Hollywood Bowl entrance and Pilgrimage Bridge with the Hollywood Freeway seen on the right.

Historical Notes

This little nestle of buildings was known as the French Village. It was set on a triangular plot of land at the point where Highland Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard converged as they entered the Cahuenga Pass. This puts it roughly across the street from the front entrance of the Hollywood Bowl. It opened in 1920, and throughout the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, the French Village was home to a revolving community of actors, writers, costume designers, dance instructors and singing coaches.

In 1937, to relieve traffic congestion at this busy Cahuenga and Highland intersection, a tunnel was bored under Highland Avenue. Note: A large construction boring tractor can be seen at center of photo.

Historical Notes

The seriously complicated solution to the traffic pattern was largely eliminated in the coming years through the realignment and widening of Caheunga.

Historical Notes

This entire area would change pemanently with the construction of the Hollywood Freeway. The first segment of the Hollywood Freeway built was a two mile stretch through the Cahuenga Pass. That segment opened on June 15, 1940. It was then known as the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway." Pacific Electric Railway trolleys ran down the center of this freeway until 1952.

Historical Notes

When the two-mile stretch through the Cahuenga Pass opened in 1940, it was known as the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway." It was not yet called the Hollywood Freeway at that time. The designation as the Hollywood Freeway came later when the freeway was extended towards Downtown Los Angeles and officially renamed upon completion in 1954.

Historical Notes

In 1953, the Cahuenga Tunnel would be demolished and built over for the construction of the Hollywood Freeway Extension (Cahuenga Pass to Downtown LA).

Historical Notes

When it officially opened on December 27, 1924, Mulholland Highway was 24 miles long, running from Cahuenga Pass to Calabasas. The name was changed to Mulholland Drive in 1939.

Historical Notes

Built at a cost of $1.5 million and partly financed by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA), the two-mile Cahuenga Pass Freeway eliminated a notorious bottleneck at the place where one of the state's first highways -- El Camino Real -- crossed the Santa Monica Mountains.

Historical Notes

From left to right:  Tom Keene, honorary mayor of Sherman Oaks, Governor Culbert Olson, John B. Kingsley, president of Hollywood Chanber of Commerce, Mayor Fletcher Bowron of Los Angeles, actor and singer Gene Autry, honorary mayor of North Hollywood, Mayor Frank C. Gillson of Burbank, and actor Richard Arlen.

Historical Notes

The Cahuenga Pass freeway replaced a narrow, winding road between Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley with an eight-lane superhighway. A pair of Pacific Electric rails ran down the freeway's center divider.

Historical Notes

Also known as the 1st Evacuation Corps, the "Station Wagon Brigade" was formed in response to the fears that the anticipated Japanese invasion would require a massive evacuation of Southern California. Sort of like the “taxicab army” of the First World War, it was planned to organize and use civilian station wagons to evacuate families and individuals without personal transportation.

Historical Notes

The buildings nearest the freeway were demolished sometime between 1972 and 1980. The ones at the back of the lot, however, survive today. They are now in what seems to be the north parking lot of the Ford Theatre.

Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

This Valley Times photo-diagram shows where rail lines will be relocated down the center of the new freeway link. Traffic leading into the Valley will follow the lane on the right of the tracks; that leading to Hollywood will stream down a parkway at the left of the rail lines. Lankershim boulevard traffic onto the freeway's Hollywood-bound lane will go under the freeway and rise on a looped ramp as shown at left. Lankershim traffic into the Valley-bound freeway lane will follow the road at upper right. To get onto Lankershim from the right hand freeway lane, cars will use the road shown in right lower foreground.

Historical Notes

The bridge/tunnel was built as part of the Cahuenga Freeway; it is now known as the Lankershim/101 Freeway Bridge and Tunnel.

Historical Notes

Photograph caption dated April 30, 1956 reads, "May be city's busiest intersection - Pouring from all directions, cars meet at intersection of Vineland avenue and Ventura boulevard, labeled as 'possibly Los Angeles' busiest intersection' by Traffic Manager Lloyd Braff. Last count indicates 86,000 cars pass through here over 24-hour period." - Valley Times

Historical Notes

Snow is a rare occurrence in the Los Angeles Basin. While it's common in the region's mountains, the moderating effect of the Pacific means that at lower elevations temperatures rarely fall below the point necessary to create snow. Since records were first kept in 1921, snow has fallen on downtown Los Angeles only ten times—and not once since 1962.

Historical Notes

The Pacific Electric Red Car system was a network of electric streetcars that operated in Southern California from 1901 to 1961. The system's main line ran through Cahuenga Pass, connecting Los Angeles with the San Fernando Valley.

The Red Cars were a popular form of transportation for many years, and they played a major role in the development of the San Fernando Valley. However, the system began to decline in the 1940s and 1950s, as more and more people began to drive cars. The final Red Car ran on December 29, 1952, and the tracks were soon paved over to make way for the Hollywood Freeway.

Historical Notes

The view above is from the top of Barham Bridge which at the time had a stairway running down to the tracks.

Historical Notes

1952 was the last year Pacific Electric Railway trolleys ran down the center of the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway", (Hollywood Freeway).

Historical Notes

Operation of the Pacific Electric Red Car through the Cahuenga Pass to Owensmouth and San Fernando began in 1911 and was terminated in 1938; thereafter the terminus was at Van Nuys Boulevard and North Sherman Way.  On December 28, 1952, busses over the Hollywood Freeway replaced all rail service to the San Fernando Valley on this line.

Historical Notes

Ventura Boulevard turns into Cahuenga Boulevard east of Lankershim.

Historical Notes

The bridge/tunnel was built in 1948 as part of the Cahuenga Freeway; it is now known as the Lankershim/101 Freeway Bridge and Tunnel.

The corner where the billboard is seen (left of center) was named Yitzhak Rabin Square in 1995 in honor of the slain Israeli Prime Minister.

Historical Notes

Southbound US-101 structure (right background) replaced old two-lane tunnel that was the scene of many rear end accidents. Pacific Electric tracks in median (at right) were removed in 1953.

Historical Notes

The second section of the Hollywood Freeway that stretched from the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles opened on April 16, 1954 at a cost of $55 million.

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