Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Historical Notes

The area was long inhabited by the Tongva people (or "People of the Earth"), who were later renamed the Gabrieleños by the Spanish missionaries, after the nearby Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.

In 1798, José María Verdugo, a corporal in the Spanish army from Baja California, received the Rancho San Rafael from Governor Diego de Borica, formalizing his possession and use of land on which he had been grazing livestock and farming since 1784. Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish concession, of which 25 were made in California. Unlike the later Mexican land grants, the concessions were similar to grazing permits, with the title remaining with the Spanish crown.

Historical Notes

In 1860, José María Verdugo's grandson, Teodoro Verdugo, built the Verdugo Adobe, which is the oldest building in Glendale. The property is the location of the Oak of Peace, where early Californio leaders including Pio Pico met in 1847 and decided to surrender to Lieutenant Colonel John C. Frémont.

Historical Notes

In 1884, residents gathered to form a townsite and chose the name "Glendale" (it was bounded by First Street (now Lexington Drive) on the north, Fifth Street (now Harvard Street) on the south, Central Avenue on the west, and the Childs Tract on the east). Residents to the southwest formed "Tropico" in 1887. Residence to the north lived in the Casa Verdugo community.

Glendale incorporated in 1906 and annexed Tropico 12 years later, in 1918.

In March of 1926, a vote for annexation passed and Casa Verdugo also became a part of the city of Glendale.

Historical Notes

Here was drafted the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 12, 1847, signed the following day in Cahuenga Pass. When the home was owned by Dr. and Mrs. Ernest G. Bashor, they named it "El Roble de la Paz" ('The Oak of Peace').

Although the tree died from natural causes in 1987, remnants can still be seen at its original site.

Historical Notes

The adobe had previously been the home of Fernando Sepulveda and his wife, Rafaela Verdugo de Sepulveda, whose father had owned the vast Rancho San Rafael.   The restaurant was originally to have been called La Ramada (“The Arbor") but soon became known as Casa Verdugo after a Los Angeles reporter incorrectly identified the Adobe as the home of Teodoro Verdugo, Rafaela's nephew.  The name stuck, Casa Verdugo opened on January 21, 1905, and the restaurant was an immediate success.^

Historical Notes

Leslie C. Brand and Henry E. Huntington purchased hundreds of acres of what had been the famous and vast Rancho San Rafael which included the Casa Verdugo adobe. They decided to remake the old house into a tourist destination in the form of a restaurant specializing in Spanish dishes intended to delight the tourists and give them a real “taste” of old California in the most literal sense of the word.^

Historical Notes

In 1905, the Casa Verdugo restaurant opened in the Sepulveda Adobe, operated by Piedad Yorba Sowl. Brand and Huntington recruited Mrs. Sowl due to her experience in the restaurant industry. Her first restaurant, El Famoso, also served authentic dishes of Mexican origin. The restaurant capitalized on the romanticized image of Old California that became widely popular during the late 19th century. Casa Verdugo quickly became an early tourist attraction in Glendale as evidenced by local ads and postcards of the restaurant. The area around it became a popular destination as evidenced by the growth of the population of Casa Verdugo area in 1910 from 1,200 to 1,500 persons.*

To make the old adobe accessible to the tourists, Huntington arranged for his Pacific Electric Railway to extend up Brand Boulevard, adding a terminus station at the entrance to the restaurant and its surrounding park, which was named “Casa Verdugo” in honor of Maria Sepulveda’s great-grandfather, Jose Maria Verdugo, the original “Don” of Rancho San Rafael.

Historical Notes

Surrounded by pepper trees and other mature vegetation, the picturesque old adobe had a commanding vista towards downtown Los Angeles from its wide sheltering corridor that ran the entire length of the long narrow facade.

Historical Notes

Huntington and his development syndicate expended thousands not only on the adobe itself, but in transforming the surrounding acres into a lush park with meandering pathways winding their way around exotic plantings including varieties of cacti and a fragrant grove of oranges that was intended to represent the type of gardens found in the old California days.^

Historical Notes

From the time of its opening in early 1905, the Casa Verdugo was a big hit. Heavily advertised by the Pacific Electric, the Casa Verdugo rode the crest of the wave of public fascination with the romantic days of California’s Spanish and Mexican past and visitors made their way in droves “Out Glendale way” to partake in a Spanish dinner and stroll about the lush grounds.

During its heyday, Casa Verdugo regularly entertained hundreds and sometimes even thousands of visitors at a time including a memorable 1907 Shriners outing that brought 5,000 visiting potentates to the old adobe.^

Within a few years of the restaurant opening a small community had developed and called itself Casa Verdugo after the restaurant.  A commercial district grew along Brand Boulevard and Central Avenue, including a department store, groceries, a meat market, hardware store, drug store, the Mission Theatre and a post office where tourists could have their picture postcards of the restaurant postmarked “Casa Verdugo, California.”  The droves of tourists, and the postcards they mailed home, helped make Casa Verdugo a well-known destination throughout the country; visitors had to see the missions, the Mt. Lowe Railway, Santa Catalina Island and the famous Casa Verdugo.    

Historical Notes

Both the food and the setting were real treats. Diners could enjoy their peppery selections in a variety of inviting locations, from the fireplace-warmed main sala with its thick adobe walls and old beamed ceiling festooned with strings of red peppers to al fresco settings under venerable pepper trees or vine-covered bowers. A most popular spot was, no doubt, the wide veranda where the pleasure of a sunset dinner was enhanced by the heady scent of orange blossoms wafting through the dusky air.

Although its setting was charming in the extreme, Casa Verdugo’s true success was the result of its exceptional proprietress, Piedad Yorba de Sowl, whom Huntington and Brand had wisely granted a five-year lease to run the property upon its opening in 1905. Under de Sowl, Casa Verdugo rapidly became a “must do” for anyone visiting Southern California.

In 1910, because of a disagreement with de Sowl, the Pacific Electric would not renew her lease and hired another proprietor. de Sowl, however, had both trademarked and copyrighted the name “Casa Verdugo” and now claimed infringement. A nasty court battle followed, which de Sowl decisively won in 1911 and the Pacific Electric was forced to suck lemons and come up with a new name. They ultimately settled on “La Ramada”. de Sowl opened a "New" Casa Verdugo Restaurant in her nearby residence and over the next decade the two restaurants operated side by side in an uneasy truce, but one clearly favored by de Sowl. In evicting de Sowl, the Pacific Electric had naively thought people had come to Casa Verdugo to see a building. They hadn’t. They came for an experience, and de Sowl was the one who provided it.^

On May 1, 1923 the original Casa Verdugo Restaurant (formerly the Sepulveda adobe), located in what is now the 1200 block of North Maryland Avenue, was demolished.

Historical Notes

Because of her success at the original Casa Verdugo Restaurant, Senora Piedad Yorba de Sowl and her husband Charles had been granted by a then grateful Pacific Electric the northeast corner of the Casa Verdugo property where, in 1907, they built a beautiful Mission-styled home, which the couple dubbed “Soledad.” 

In 1910, when de Sowl could not get an extension of her lease at the original Casa Verdugo Restaurant because of a disagreement with Pacific Elelctric, she simply reopened “Casa Verdugo” in her former dwelling, taking the staff and most all of the patrons with her, and which she pointedly advertised as “not the railroad place.”

Historical Notes

When Piedad Yorba Sowl moved her restaurant around the corner (literally) after the Pacific Electric Railway declined to renew her lease in 1910, she had a set of postcards printed featuring the new location. This is the first one.

Historical Notes

Piedad Yoba de Sowl’s new Casa Verdugo brought the same charms that were so successful to Casa Verdugo vieja. As before, diners could choose indoor or al fresco dining. Those choosing indoor seating had their choice of a series of charming spaces, each with its own unique name and personality such as the Indian, the Red or the Green Room. And to make sure diners didn’t have to rely on the hated Pacific Electric to visit the Casa, de Sowl had a beautiful garage constructed, that housed any number of visiting machines in Mission-styled splendor.

Piedad Yoba de Sowl was such a success she opened a “Casa Verdugo  Segunda” at 736 South Spring Street in 1913 so diners in downtown Los Angeles could enjoy the same style food and service found “Out Glendale Way.” 

Operating in this location until April of 1921, de Sowl and the Pacific Electric both sold out to a consortium of three school teacher sisters, Ida , Jeannette and Myrtle Baldwin from Dayton, Ohio.  The combined transaction for the two properties being described as the largest real estate deal to date in Glendale area for the considerable sum of $100,000.  The Casa Verdugo name remained a potent one in L.A. restaurant up into the 1960’s.  By that time, however, Piedad Yorba de Sowl had long passed, dying at the age of 84 in 1948.  Her former home and restaurant, however, has survived, an accomplishment as remarkable as the woman herself, and remains today a treasured landmark in northern Glendale (1235 North Louise Street at the corner of Randolph).^* Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

In October 1784, José María Verdugo petitioned Pedro Fages, Governor of Alta California, for a grant of land. This grant was the first and one of the largest made. When parts of Rancho San Rafael were sold, Tomás Sánchez, Sheriff of Los Angeles County, purchased a tract of 100 acres and in 1865 built this artistic adobe of the hacienda type, restored in 1932.

Historical Notes

Casa Adobe de San Rafael has been designated a California Historical Monument (No. 235). It is located in a city park and is now furnished with furniture, cooking utensils and other relics of its time. Location:1330 Dorothy Dr, Glendale.

Historical Notes

During the area's first little boom, the Hotel Glendale was built at a cost of $60,000 in 1887-1888. It was a grandiose structure, but it didn't even open! The boom busted too fast, and the hotel became a school (St. Hilda's Hall, School for Girls). It later became the Glendale Sanitarium until 1924 when the building was razed.*

Historical Notes

Glendale Sanitarium opened in 1905, a year before Glendale was incorporated as a city. It occupied the beautiful 75-room Victorian structure (Hotel Glendale) and stayed until moving out in 1924 to a new location at 1509 Wilson Terrace.  There it evolved into the well-known Glendale Adventist Health Center that exists today.

Historical Notes

CCasa Verdugo was originally a part of the Rancho San Rafael land grant that was given to Jose Maria Verdugo in 1784. Verdugo’s granddaughter, Rafaela Verdugo de Sepulveda, subsequently owned the land after the Great Partition in 1871.

In 1883 the real estate firm Wicks, Wright, Hodgkins, and Watts purchased 500 acres of land from Valentine Mand, which included the Sepulveda Adobe. A portion of the property was sold to clergyman George Baugh in 1886 who subdivided the tract and lived in the Sepulveda Adobe with his family. In 1900, Baugh sold the property to J.D. Bliss who with the help of his brother operated Bliss Ranch on the property.

Finally, in 1903 Leslie Brand, who would become a civic leader in Glendale, purchased Bliss Ranch and 175 acres of surrounding land. In 1904, Brand sold a stake of the tract to Henry Huntington, the owner of the Pacific Electric Railway Company. This resulted in the creation of the Glendale line that ran from downtown Los Angeles to Broadway in Glendale. At the time, the Los Angeles Interurban Railway served as the operator, which was later succeeded by the Pacific Electric Railway. In November 1904, the line was extended a half-mile north along Brand Boulevard to Mountain Street.**

Historical Notes

The Glendale Line was pioneered by L.C. Brand and associates starting in October, 1902, through their corporation, "The Los Angeles & Glendale Electric Railway". On June 29, 1903, Brand received a franchise from the Los Angeles City Council for an electric railway line running from Los Angeles to Glendale.  The franchise was soon sold to Henry E. Huntington, owner of Pacific Electric Railway Co., who would bring the "Red Cars" to Glendale by 1904 under the name of Los Angeles Interurban Railway (later changed to Pacific Electric).

A 1906 San Rafael Investment Co. and Pacific Electric Railway promotional brochure reads:

The fame of this ride, decidedly the most picturesque to any suburb, attracts thousands of tourists, requiring many additional cars on Sundays and holidays, while the hundreds of commuters going daily to and from business and home are rapidly increasing in numbers. 

The passage through the city, passing Central Park, traversing Figueroa Street, Lake Shore Drive (today, Glendale Blvd.), skirting Echo Park, through Edendale and the Pass between Elysian and Griffith Parks to the point where the most enchanting of all valley panoramas burst upon the view, is accomplished in fifteen minutes.  The scene is framed on the north, in ascending order, by the San Rafael hills, Verdugo mountains and the San Gabriel range, showing Mts. Lowe and Wilson in the foreground, while far to the east Mt. Cucamonga’s dome and the other snow-capped peaks of the San Bernardino mountains rising eight thousand and nine thousand feet are discovered.  The flight along the borders of Griffith Park, over the trestles spanning Los Angeles River, and through Tropico to the fine depot at Brand Boulevard and Fourth Street (today, Broadway), Glendale occupies but ten minutes. 

Here, midway the broad valley, its beauties and surpassing advantages are fully realized.   But five minutes are required for the remainder of the trip down the center of Brand Boulevard, a thoroughfare 130 feet in width, flanked by seventy-two monoliths, eleven and one-half feet high, capped by electric lights, with the space between the broad cement walks and curbs filled by graceful palms, on to Mountain Avenue.  Here at the end of the line is found the choicest residential portion of the valley, at the foothills.  This is not a picture of a dissolving view, but one as eternal as the everlasting hills.*

Historical Notes

The Inter-Urban streetcar route began at the Huntington Building (aka Pacific Electric Building) in downtown Los Angeles, passing Central Park, traversing Figueroa Street, Lake Shore Drive (today, Glendale Blvd.), skirting Echo Park, through Edendale and the Pass between Elysian and Griffith Parks, over the trestles spanning Los Angeles River, through Tropico and then down the center of Brand Boulevard to the depot at Brand Boulevard and Fourth Street (today, Broadway), and finally further north on Brand to the end of the line at Mountain Avenue, the location of Casa Verdugo.

Historical Notes

The Edendale Cut was an unpaved road (some of which is now known as Silver Lake Ct.) and was the former route of the Glendale and Burbank interurban railway lines operated by Pacific Electric. The line crossed Fletcher Drive over a viaduct before continuing along a hillside ledge to the Monte Sano stop at Glendale Blvd. and Riverside Drive.

Historical Notes

The Edendale Cut was part of the Pacific Electric's Glendale-Burbank Line, which had one terminus in Downtown LA and the other in Burbank, passing through Edendale/Silver Lake along the way.

The cut was a deep trench carved through the hills to allow the rail line to pass through the area without steep grades.

Homes and other buildings lined the sides of the cut, with the rail line running through the bottom.

In 1960, many of these homes were demolished to make way for the construction of the Glendale (2) Freeway, which followed a similar route through the cut.

Today, remnants of the old rail line like bridge footings and dirt paths can still be seen in the area, serving as reminders of LA's once-extensive rail network.

Historical Notes

In 1904, a nearly 454 foot long bridge, the Fletcher Viaduct, was built by Pacific Electric over Fletcher Drive, which ran forty feet below. The viaduct stood until 1928 when it was replaced by a steel structure bridge. Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

As a result of transportation innovations and the success of the restaurant, a commercial district was created in the Casa Verdugo neighborhood at the corner of North Central Ave. and West Stocker St. A theatre, various stores, a school, and a post office were established in the area, providing a solid economic foundation and increasing population growth that spurred residential construction. A flurry of developers, companies, and individuals participated in the purchase and subdivision of tracts in Casa Verdugo.

The development of Casa Verdugo was not the effort of any single developer or builder, but rather a number of individuals who produced a network of various tracts. Real estate investor James Wyvell played an active role in the subdivision and development of the neighborhood. From 1906 to 1908, Wyvell subdivided and sold a number of tracts both within and surrounding the proposed district. This included land adjacent to the Casa Verdugo restaurant property and lots sold as home sites to individuals. Wyvell’s own Casa Verdugo tract and the Casa Verdugo Villa tract spoke to the growing identity of Casa Verdugo as its own distinct community. ^^

Within a few years of the Casa Verdugo restaurant opening a small community had developed and called itself Casa Verdugo after the restaurant.  A commercial district grew along Brand Boulevard and Central Avenue, including a department store, groceries, a meat market, hardware store, drug store, the Mission Theatre and a post office where tourists could have their picture postcards of the restaurant postmarked “Casa Verdugo, California.”  The droves of tourists, and the postcards they mailed home, helped make Casa Verdugo a well-known destination throughout the country; visitors had to see the missions, the Mt. Lowe Railway, Santa Catalina Island and the famous Casa Verdugo. ^   

Historical Notes

Bliss was named for Bliss Ranch, owned by brothers John Dallett Bliss and Robert Parker Bliss from about 1894 to 1900, when LB Brand bought the property. He then sold a tract to Huntington for Pacific Electric. The Bliss stop was at the base of the Verdugo mountains, just after the Casa Verdugo stop (corner of Brand Boulevard and Mountain Street).

Historical Notes

Glendale, the Casa Verdugo community, and surrounding area experienced a significant growth spurt beginning around 1904, due in large part to the arrival of the Pacific Electric line.

Casa Verdugo held on to the unique identity that emerged during this time and refused to annex to the city of Glendale for sixteen years. Opponents desired an independent city while those in favor wanted the advantages of utilities and services offered by the larger city. In March of 1926, a vote for annexation passed and Casa Verdugo officially became a part of the city of Glendale on April 17, 1926.

Historical Notes

Brand Boulevard was named after Leslie Coombs Brand, “The Father of Glendale”. Brand was an important civic booster who built an estate in 1904 called El Miradero featuring an eye-catching mansion whose architecture combined characteristics of Spanish, Moorish, and Indian styles (today’s Brand Library and Art Center).  His most important contributions to Glendale, though, was when he partnered with Henry E. Huntington to bring the Pacific Electric Railway, or the "Red Cars," to the area also in 1904.

The First National Bank of Glendale seen above was the city’s second bank. It was founded by Leslie Brand in 1905. Brand's friend and business partner, Dan Campbell, served as the bank's vice president and manager.

Historical Notes

The Glendale Line was pioneered by L.C. Brand and associates starting in October, 1902, through their corporation, "The Los Angeles & Glendale Electric Railway". On June 29, 1903, Brand received a franchise from the Los Angeles City Council for an electric railway line starting at the Southern Pacific's Arcade Station at Fifth, Central & Ceres Street in Los Angeles via Ceres, Sixth, Olive, Seventh, Figueroa, Second, Lake Shore Ave. (Glendale Boulevard) to Sunset Boulevard, and then northerly to the city limits. In Glendale, the line was to enter via a new thoroughfare, Brand Boulevard, thus creating a new business artery to the west of the then central business section on Glendale Ave. where the steam trains of the Los Angeles Terminal Railroad (U.P.) offered the only transportation via rail to the city.

Historical Notes

The Glendale Line was soon extended east on Broadway to Glendale Avenue where all cars terminated for a short time.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Brand Boulevard (1920 +)

Historical Notes

Note the two phone numbers at the top of the truck (S.S. 82 and HOME 682). Between 1906 and 1918, the San Fernando Valley Home Telephone Company and Sunset Telephone both operated in the Glendale area. Unfortunately, neither was compatible with the other therefore requiring patrons to have two lines--one for each company.

Historical Notes

In 1909, L. C. Brand invested heavily in the Home Telephone Company and installed new switchboards in company office at the Central Hotel Building on Brand Boulevard.***^

Historical Notes

From 1913 to 1918, the Glendale police and fire departments operated as a single entity out of Fire House No. 1 on Broadway between Louise and Kenwood Streets. Police officers and firemen were often required to perform double-duty when needed. In the upper right window are the twin sons of George Herald: Frank and George, Jr.***^

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Glendale Police Department (1919 +)

Historical Notes

The Glendale Bank was the first bank in Glendale. The building was constructed by Mr. Ayers.***^

Historical Notes

From 1909 to circa 1922, the Glendale Bank was located in this building. The wires and tracks of the Pacific Electric Railway are visible running down the middle of the street. The Pacific Electric local line ran along East Broadway from Brand Boulevard to Chevy Chase Drive.***^

Historical Notes

This building was lost to the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake.

Historical Notes

Tropico was put on the map as a fertile agricultural spot in the late 1800s. Shortly thereafter, the town began distancing itself from the rest of Glendale. In 1918, the neighborhood formally succeeded in becoming an independent entity for a short time.

Historical Notes

Tropico was the name of the southern portion of Glendale, south of Windsor Road, between the late 1800s and 1918. The name "Glendale"  had originated in the 1880s and was utilized north of Windsor Road. Political factions had divided the town in two.   By the turn of the century, the commercial center of Tropico was at Central and San Fernando Road and its population was 700.*

Historical Notes

Tropico was just a sleepy little village in the early 1900s. The business district included a few wooden buildings containing a general store, a blacksmith shop, meat store, livery stable, real estate offices and a few other small concerns. The buildings were all clustered near the intersection of San Fernando Road and Central Avenue. But within a few short years, the wood-frame buildings were replaced with brick, business boomed and the community became vibrant. The Tropico Art Tile Works stood just west of the railroad tracks, employing many people, and Tropico also became the shipping center for the strawberries raised in the area.

Because of its proximity to Los Angeles, the area became a popular residential spot. The Tropico Chamber of Commerce organized in 1910, along with the Bank of Tropico, and soon the community realized it needed a city government.

With so many of its residents commuting into Los Angeles, many favored annexing to Los Angeles. Others, seeing Glendale's successful example of home rule, wanted to be part of Glendale, which had incorporated in 1906.^

Historical Notes

With so many of its residents commuting into Los Angeles, many favored annexing to Los Angeles. Others, seeing Glendale's successful example of home rule, wanted to be part of Glendale, which had incorporated in 1906.  They felt that since the two communities were adjacent and in the same valley, they should be affiliated. Those favoring annexation with Glendale (mainly in the northeast part of Tropico) approached Glendale officials in 1911 and asked that an election be called.

The publishers of the Tropico Sentinel vehemently opposed annexation, and the issue failed. Instead, Tropico incorporated as its own city, with Elkanah W. Richardson, son of Tropico's founder, W.C.B. Richardson, serving as a member of the board of trustees.

The new city government immediately embarked on a badly needed improvement of the roads, but the annexation issue didn't go away.  Petition after petition was filed, each one eventually failing, until finally, in 1918, the annexation proposal passed.  The upper half of Tropico voted to go with Glendale, and the lower half voted to merge with Los Angeles. Today, that portion makes up the area known as Atwater.^

Historical Notes

The Tropico Post Office building was owned by WCB Richardson and was located near the corner of Central Avenue and San Fernando Road.

Historical Notes

Edward Henry Weston has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography."  Over the course of his 40-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of subjects, including landscapes, still-lifes, nudes, portraits, genre scenes and even whimsical parodies. It is said that he developed a "quintessentially American, and especially Californian, approach to modern photography" because of his focus on the people and places of the American West. In 1937 Weston was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship.

In 1910 Weston opened his own business, called "The Little Studio", in Tropico. His sister later asked him why he opened his studio in Tropico rather than in the nearby metropolis of Los Angeles, and he replied "Sis, I'm going to make my name so famous that it won't matter where I live."*

Weston photographed many of the early buildings and local events in Glendale.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Glendale Police Department (1938 +).

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Glendale Police Department (1938 +).

Historical Notes

The name Chevy Chase actually comes from an ancient Scottish ballad called "The Ballad of Chevy Chase". The "chase" refers to a hunting party, and the "Chevy" is from the Cheviot Hills, which are located along the English/Scottish border.

Some parts of Chevy Chase Drive were originally named Park Avenue and Sycamore Canyon, but in the mid 1920's a real estate agent named E.R. Austin worked to create an additional entrance into Glendale from Los Angeles and was able to convince L.A. and Glendale officials to change the name of this route to Chevy Chase Drive for the entire length of the street, as well as extend the street in various places. All this combining of names and extending made Chevy Chase Drive the longest street in Glendale.^

Historical Notes

Southern California was the principal center for the development of drive-in markets between the mid-1910s to the early 1940s. Other notable early drive-in markets included: Mandarin Market (Hollywood), Plaza Market (LA), and the Sunset Clock Market (Beverly Hills).

Historical Notes

Los Feliz Boulevard in Glendale was formerly called Tropico Boulevard. ^

Glendale Union High School

As Glendale evolved from a quiet farming community into one of Southern California's fastest growing cities, its schools expanded just as rapidly. In 1901, residents of Glendale, La Crescenta, Burbank, Eagle Rock, Ivanhoe (now Silver Lake), Tropico, and West Glendale joined together to establish Glendale Union High School, giving local students the opportunity to attend high school without traveling to Los Angeles.

During its first quarter century, the school occupied four homes as enrollment grew from just 29 students to more than 1,000. Beginning in the dining room of the Glendale Hotel, it moved to the little yellow "Cheesebox," then to an impressive brick campus on Harvard Street, before finally settling at its present location on East Broadway. The school's history mirrors Glendale's remarkable transformation from a rural village into a thriving city.

The photographs in this section trace those formative years while also capturing everyday student life, from the library reading room to the football field. Among the players in the 1924 team photograph is senior class president Marion Morrison, better known to his classmates as "Duke." The world would later know him as John Wayne.

Historical Notes

Glendale Union High School opened in September 1901 in the dining room of the vacant Glendale Hotel with principal Llewellyn Evans, two teachers, and 29 students. Until then, local schools ended at the eighth grade, requiring students seeking a high school education to travel into Los Angeles.

The following year, a permanent school was built at Brand Boulevard and Broadway. Completed in late 1902, the bright yellow two story frame building quickly earned the nickname "The Cheesebox." George U. Moyse became principal that same year and would guide the school through 35 years of remarkable growth. By 1907, enrollment had more than tripled, and the little schoolhouse was already too small for Glendale's rapidly growing population.

Historical Notes

Rapid enrollment soon outgrew the Cheesebox. Construction began in 1908 on a new two story pressed brick high school on Harvard Street, and students occupied the building in September 1909. It was Glendale's first brick school, reflecting both the community's growing confidence and its commitment to public education.

Three additional acres were acquired in 1913, allowing two more classroom buildings to be constructed as enrollment continued to climb. Even these improvements could not keep pace with Glendale's explosive population growth during the following decade.

Historical Notes

By the early 1920s, Glendale Union High School had developed into a full academic institution with student government, language clubs, debating, and its weekly student newspaper, The Explosion. The library became the academic heart of the campus, providing students with books, newspapers, magazines, and reference materials at a time when Glendale itself was still a young and rapidly developing city.

Like libraries everywhere before the digital age, it served as both a place for study and discovery, where generations of students developed the research skills that would prepare them for college, careers, and civic life.

Historical Notes

Enrollment reached approximately 800 students in 1920 and 1,050 the following year, stretching the Harvard Street campus beyond its capacity. Temporary classroom buildings were added, but it soon became clear that a much larger campus was needed.

Voters approved bond measures to purchase a 21 acre lemon orchard at Broadway and Verdugo Road, where Glendale High School opened its new campus in 1924. The Harvard Street buildings remained in use for several years before becoming home to Glendale Junior College. Glendale High School has remained at 1440 East Broadway ever since.

Historical Notes

Football helmets during the 1920s were made of padded leather and offered only limited protection. Many players still chose to play without them, and helmets did not become mandatory in college football until 1939. Plastic helmets gradually replaced leather models after World War II.

Seated in the front row, third from the right, is Marion Morrison, better known by his nickname "Duke." A standout football player, senior class president, and sports editor of The Explosion, Morrison graduated from Glendale Union High School in 1925 before attending USC on a football scholarship. After losing his scholarship, he entered the motion picture industry and eventually achieved worldwide fame under the screen name John Wayne, appearing in more than 170 films over five decades and becoming one of Hollywood's most recognizable and enduring stars.

Today, known simply as Glendale High School, the institution has grown far beyond its beginnings as Glendale Union High School. From just 29 students meeting in a hotel dining room in 1901, it has evolved into one of Southern California's oldest public high schools. More than 120 years after its founding, Glendale High continues to educate new generations of students while preserving the rich legacy established during its formative years.

EL MIRADERO

High on the lower slopes of the Verdugo Mountains stands one of Southern California's most distinctive historic homes. With its gleaming white domes, slender minarets, and graceful scalloped arches, El Miradero has overlooked Glendale for more than 120 years. Built in 1904 by developer and civic leader Leslie Coombs Brand, the mansion reflected both his success and his extraordinary vision for the community that was taking shape below.

Designed by Brand's brother-in-law, architect Nathaniel Dryden, the mansion drew inspiration from the East Indian Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Its exotic Saracenic design blended Spanish, Moorish, and Indian architectural influences, making it unlike any other residence in Southern California. Beyond its striking appearance, El Miradero became the center of Glendale's social life and a symbol of the city's growing prosperity.

The estate would also play an unexpected role in Southern California's aviation history. Fascinated by the new world of flight, Brand built a private airfield below the mansion where pilots gathered for fly-in parties during aviation's earliest years. After Brand's death in 1925, his estate was given to the City of Glendale to serve forever as a public park and library. Today, El Miradero lives on as the Brand Library & Art Center, preserving not only an architectural masterpiece but also the remarkable legacy of the man whose vision helped shape the Glendale we know today. More than a century after its construction, El Miradero remains one of Glendale's most cherished landmarks, reflecting the vision, generosity, and enduring legacy of Leslie C. Brand.

Historical Notes

Born in Missouri in 1859, Leslie Coombs Brand came to Southern California in 1886 during the region's first great real estate boom. After achieving success in the title insurance and real estate business, he began investing in land on the lower slopes of the Verdugo Mountains overlooking the young community of Glendale. There he assembled an estate of more than 1,000 acres and, between 1903 and 1904, built the magnificent residence he named El Miradero, meaning "The Lookout" or "The Overlook."

More than simply a grand home, El Miradero reflected Brand's confidence in Glendale's future. Its commanding hilltop location offered sweeping views across the San Fernando Valley, Griffith Park, and downtown Los Angeles. Local residents soon nicknamed it "Brand's Castle," and today the mansion is preserved as the Brand Library & Art Center, one of Glendale's best-known historic landmarks.

Historical Notes

Leslie Brand commissioned his brother-in-law, architect Nathaniel Dryden, to design a residence unlike any other in Southern California. Completed in 1904, the mansion was inspired by the East Indian Pavilion displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Dryden adapted its exotic appearance into a striking Saracenic design featuring graceful scalloped arches, slender minarets, bulbous domes, and decorative details influenced by Spanish, Moorish, and Indian architecture.

Behind its palace-like exterior stood a comfortable thirteen-room family home designed for entertaining. Surrounded by gardens, a greenhouse, stables, a tennis court, and a swimming pool, El Miradero quickly became one of Glendale's best-known landmarks and the center of many of the city's social gatherings.

Historical Notes

When this photograph was taken, Glendale was still surrounded by citrus groves and open countryside. Leslie Brand recognized that reliable transportation would be essential to the community's future and worked with Henry E. Huntington to bring Pacific Electric Railway service to Glendale in 1904. The arrival of the famous Red Cars made the growing town far more accessible to Los Angeles and encouraged the rapid residential and commercial development that soon followed.

Brand's influence extended well beyond transportation. He invested in local water, power, and telephone companies, helped guide Glendale's early growth, and played a leading role in shaping the community's modern identity. His lasting contributions are remembered today through Brand Boulevard, Brand Park, and the Brand Library, all of which bear his name.

Historical Notes

The broad covered porches and open arcades were among El Miradero's most distinctive features, providing shaded outdoor living areas where Leslie and Mary Louise Brand could relax and entertain while enjoying cooling breezes and panoramic views of Glendale, Griffith Park, and the Los Angeles Basin. The mansion was thoughtfully designed to take full advantage of Southern California's mild climate, blurring the line between indoor and outdoor living.

Like the rest of the estate, the porch reflected Brand's hospitality. Family, friends, business associates, and civic leaders were frequent guests at El Miradero, where elegant surroundings and sweeping vistas made the mansion one of Glendale's best-known gathering places during the city's formative years.

Historical Notes

The name El Miradero was well chosen. From the mansion's terraces and arched verandas, Leslie Brand enjoyed sweeping views across Glendale and the valley below toward Griffith Park and downtown Los Angeles. At the time this photograph was taken, the landscape below was still largely rural, with orange groves, scattered homes, and open fields stretching toward the city.

Everything changed with the arrival of aviation. In 1912, Griffith Park Aerodrome opened just across the Los Angeles River, well within view of El Miradero. Watching the early airplanes take to the sky sparked Brand's fascination with flight. Within a few years, he transformed part of his own estate into one of Southern California's earliest private airfields, launching a remarkable new chapter in the history of El Miradero.

Historical Notes

Around 1916, Leslie Brand established a private grass airfield on approximately fifteen acres below El Miradero. Known as Brand Field, it featured a 1,200-foot rolled dirt runway, a distinctive Moorish-style hangar designed to complement the mansion above, and carefully landscaped grounds that reflected Brand's pride in the property. Because of the steep hillside, airplanes took off downhill toward Kenneth Road and landed uphill toward the estate.

Brand Field was among the earliest private airfields in Southern California and reflected the excitement surrounding aviation during its pioneering years. What began as a personal hobby soon became one of Glendale's most unusual attractions, drawing aviators from throughout the Los Angeles area and helping establish the city as an early center of aviation.

Historical Notes

Although photographs like this one show numerous airplanes gathered at Brand Field, only a few were permanently based there. Most arrived during Brand's popular fly-in gatherings, when pilots from across Southern California landed on the hillside airstrip to enjoy an afternoon of flying, food, and fellowship.

Brand also acquired several surplus Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" trainers following World War I. Like many aviation enthusiasts of the era, he enjoyed restoring, maintaining, and occasionally flying these legendary aircraft, while others remained in storage on the estate. His enthusiasm reflected the nationwide fascination with aviation during the years immediately following the war.

Historical Notes

Despite his wealth and success, Leslie Brand took a personal interest in maintaining every aspect of El Miradero. This photograph captures him mowing the grass in front of the Moorish-style hangar, which he built in 1916 to complement the architecture of the mansion above. With its corner turrets and decorative details, the hangar reflected the same distinctive character as the estate itself.

Brand's passion for aviation went far beyond owning airplanes. He kept the airfield carefully maintained and welcomed fellow aviators to share his enthusiasm for flying. His hands-on approach reflected the energy and curiosity that had shaped both his business career and his vision for Glendale.

Historical Notes

Brand Field became famous for its fly-in luncheon parties, among the earliest aviation gatherings of their kind in Southern California. The only requirement for attending was simple: guests had to arrive in their own airplanes and bring passengers. Pilots from across the Los Angeles area landed on the grassy hillside while visitors gathered beneath the shadow of El Miradero for an afternoon of flying, conversation, and hospitality.

These events reflected the optimism and excitement surrounding aviation during the early 1920s. Long before commercial air travel became commonplace, Leslie Brand had transformed his private estate into a welcoming destination where friends shared a common passion for the newest form of transportation.

Historical Notes

By the early 1920s, El Miradero had become one of Glendale's best-known landmarks. Surrounded by gardens, orchards, and sweeping lawns, the estate reflected both Leslie Brand's personal success and his enduring belief in Glendale's future. The mansion welcomed civic leaders, business associates, neighbors, and visitors from throughout Southern California, serving as both a family home and a center of community life.

As his health declined, Brand began planning for the future of the estate he loved. He arranged for El Miradero and much of the surrounding property to pass to the City of Glendale after the death of his wife, Mary Louise. His gift came with one condition: the estate was to be preserved forever as a public park and library, ensuring that future generations could enjoy the place that had meant so much to him.

Historical Notes

Following the death of Mary Louise Brand in 1945, ownership of El Miradero passed to the City of Glendale, fulfilling Leslie Brand's wish that his estate become a public park and library. The grounds were opened to the public, preserving one of the city's most recognizable landmarks for future generations.

The graceful entrance gate, with its stone pillars, decorative ironwork, and distinctive "Miradero" arch, has welcomed visitors for more than a century. Beyond it, the mansion began a new chapter in its history. In 1956, El Miradero reopened as the Brand Library, becoming the art and music branch of the Glendale Public Library while retaining the architectural character that has made it one of Southern California's most distinctive historic homes.

Historical Notes

Today, El Miradero remains one of Glendale's cultural treasures. Carefully restored and modernized over the years, the former mansion continues to serve the community as the Brand Library & Art Center, offering art exhibitions, concerts, lectures, and one of Southern California's finest collections of art and music resources.

Surrounding the mansion, Brand Park has grown into one of Glendale's most popular public spaces. Visitors can enjoy walking trails, picnic areas, the historic Doctor's House Museum, a Japanese Friendship Garden, and panoramic views of the Verdugo Mountains. High on the hillside overlooking the estate rests Leslie Brand himself, buried beneath a distinctive pyramid-shaped monument that quietly watches over the city he helped build.

Historical Notes

More than eighty years separate these two views, yet remarkably little has changed. The graceful arch, stone pillars, decorative ironwork, and tree-lined approach remain much as visitors would have experienced them during Leslie Brand's lifetime. While the dirt road has given way to pavement and the surrounding landscape has matured, the entrance continues to convey the same sense of arrival that greeted guests more than a century ago.

What was once the gateway to a private estate now welcomes everyone. Leslie Brand's home became Brand Park. His mansion became the Brand Library. His vision became part of Glendale's identity. More than 120 years after El Miradero was built, its greatest legacy is not its architecture, but the generosity of the man who ensured that future generations would always be able to enjoy it.