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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.*^

Historical Notes

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.

Historical Notes

The new community of Cahuenga was never built as shown above, with circular streets, etc., but some of its street names were later used elsewhere in the Hollywood area.*

Historical Notes

In 1911, the Theosophical Society of Krotona established a colony on the above land located just north of the J.B. Rapp farm.  The hill began to be known as Krotona Hill.^#^

Historical Notes

J.B. Rapp began as a lemon grower but expanded into more exotic fruits–dates, avocados and pineapples, among others. Although it is likely that these fruits had their origins on local ranchos, Rapp was among the first to grow them commercially. At a time when oranges and lemons were rare delicacies for most Americans, pineapples and avocados must have caused a sensation. Hollywood’s frost-free climate made the cultivation of these crops possible.^#^

Historical Notes

The Cahuenga Pass connects the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley and is the lowest pass through the mountains.

It was 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

In the 1870s, a primitive hotel -- named the Eight Mile House because Los Angeles was eight miles down the road -- rose among a stand of eucalyptus trees inside the canyon. #^^

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

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.^*^

Historical Notes

The description above comes from the LAPL image libarary.  Gregory Paul Williams in his book The Story of Hollywood states that this business’ actual name was La Baig’s Casa Cahuenga (commonly referred to as the Six-Mile House). It was on the northeast corner of Sunset and Gower. Frenchman Martin La Baig convinced Harvey Wilcox to sell his French friends The Blondeaus 5 acres across Gower Ave from him. The Blondeaus built their home there in 1887, and in 1889 they built an additional to turn it into The Blondeau Tavernl.*

Historical Notes

Cahuenga Valley Township School in 1884 had a limited student body and faculty. Some reports noted that the horse in the photo was used to bring students to and from school, just like the "big yellow buses" of today. ++

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. (per Wikipedia)

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. (per Wikipedia)

A 2ND version about the naming of Hollywood:  “Regarding H.J. Whitley’s  coining the name, Whitley's great-granddaughter Gaelyn Whitney Keith invented this story out of whole cloth. (She wrote a "biography" of Whitley that reads like a romance novel.) Loads of old newspapers very clearly place H.J. Whitley in North Dakota throughout 1886-1887. He later moved to Oklahoma and didn't come to L.A. until 1894 – seven years after the Wilcoxes named Hollywood. So the whole story of Whitley trying to buy 500 acres from E.C. Hurd in 1886, then the Wilcoxes stealing the "Hollywood" name before Whitley could close the deal, is bunk, blarney, B.S. It's shameful that Ms. Keith has spread this lie around the internet, just to sell her book.” *

Historical Notes

In the mid-1880s, H.J. Whitley arrived in Southern California. He was well known as a land developer and many tried to follow on his coattails. As president and major shareholder of the Los Angeles Pacific Boulevard and Development Company, he orchestrated the building of the Hollywood Hotel, the opening of the Ocean View Tract and construction of a Bank which were located on the corners of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland.

Besides his land developments, Whitley was also the President of the National Loan & Trust Company, Guthrie, Oklahoma, Vice President of Home Savings Bank, President of First National Bank of Van Nuys, State Bank of Owensmouth and Bank of Lankershim; General Manager of the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company, principal in the Bank of Hollywood, The Whitley Land Company and owner of the H.J. Whitley Company jewelry store.*^

Historical Notes

The Barrow family moved from Illinois to California in 1880 and purchased land with boundaries of Beverly Boulevard on the south, Rosewood Avenue on the north, Vermont Avenue on the east and Normandie on the west.^

Historical Notes

The beginnings of a railroad which would link Los Angeles with far off Cahuenga Valley occurred on January 11th, 1887 when James McLaughlin obtained a franchise to build a steam dummy line connecting to the 2nd Street Cable Railroad at Diamond (Beverly Boulevard) and Texas (Belmont Avenue) Streets. The line would extend north along Texas to Temple and then westward to the Los Angeles City Limits at Hoover Street and beyond. #*^

Historical Notes

The diminutive steam train would begin its journey to Cahuenga Valley from Diamond (Beverly Boulevard) and Texas (Belmont Avenue). Leaving the city limits, the little train wandered west across open fields eventually finding County Road where it turned north. County Road later became Western Avenue. Next stop, Coleville or Coles Crossing (later, Santa Monica Boulevard). At this point, the Cahuenga Valley line crossed the steam dummy line to Santa Monica. The train continued north to Prospect Avenue (Hollywood Boulevard) where the line turned west. That was called Grand Round. Today we know it as Hollywood and Western. Next stop, Midway (later called Bronson Avenue). The end of the line was at Prospect Avenue (Hollywood) and Wilcox. It was here that McLaughlin built himself a rather imposing “McMansion” on the northwest corner of that intersection. #*^

Historical Notes

Hollywood Boulevard was named Prospect Avenue from 1887 until 1910, when the town of Hollywood was annexed by the City of Los Angeles. After annexation, the street numbers changed from 100 Prospect Avenue, at Vermont Avenue, to 6400 Hollywood Boulevard.*^

Historical Notes

In 1890 the Cahuenga Valley RR was sold to E. Hurd and S.E. Mattison who extended the line westward along Prospect Avenue to Laurel Canyon, opening it to residential development. ^^^

In addition to selling his railroad, McLaughlin sold his beautiful mansion on the norhwest corner of Prospect (later Hollywood) and Wilcox to E. C. Hurd.

Historical Notes

In May of 1896 Hurd and Mattsion sold the CVRR to Moses Sherman and Eli Clark, operators of the Los Angeles Pacific electric railway, which was in turn sold to Henry Huntington and became part of the Pacific Electric Railway.

Historical Notes

E. C. Hurd made his fortune from the mines of Colorado and invested it in a prime Hollywood tract. In 1890, he and S.E. Mattison bought the Cahuenga Valley RR from James McLaughlin.

Historical Notes

In 1899 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.*

Historical Notes

The following paragraph is taken from an article published in March 1937's Hollywood Magazine, entitled: "Hollywood Is Just a State of Mind."

"As early-day residents or visitors trekked back to homes or inn, they always stopped at the front door, took down the inevitable feather duster that was hanging at the knob, and carefully dusted their shoes before they stepped over the sill! It was an old Hollywood custom - not to say an odd one. But very saving on carpets."

Historical Notes

The Glen-Holly Hotel was constructed in 1895 on Ivar Avenue at Yucca Street and is the 2nd hotel to be built in Hollywood (after the Sackett Hotel, 1888).  It was built by Joakim Berg, a noted artist of the 1890s in the region. At its opening it had 20 rooms and one bath. A horse carriage called a tallyho took guests from downtown LA to the hotel.

The original owner, Mr. Charles M. Pierce, also became the operator of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad's Balloon Route in 1904, the line opened in September 1901. The hotel was a stop on the line going from downtown Los Angeles to West Los Angeles and the beaches on the west side. The Balloon Route used the hotel as lunch stop.

D. L. Allen later took over management of the Glen-Holly Tavern. He added billiard hall, bowling alley, and livery service.

It became a landmark of the area, though was later demolished. *^

Historical Notes

The farm was started about 1890 and was located on Bagnoli Avenue (named after the family) which ran between Sunset and Carlton. By 1906 the family had returned to Firenze, Italy. The death of two sons in an accident made it impossible to maintain the farm. ++#

Historical Notes

The Pass School was located at today's intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street. The school was constructed in 1894 and contained three classrooms. ++

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.*

Historical Notes

Daniel Penman, Scottish stonemason from San Francisco owned twenty-eight acres at Prospect and Highland Avenues, on the south side of the street to La Brea, where he grew strawberries. Penman’s daughter, Mary Moll, lived in a farmhouse next to the strawberry field.  She taught at the Pass School on Sunset Boulevard.  After her husband’s death, she successfully subdivided the property over the next two decades.  She built a commercial block at Hollywood and Highland and the Bonnie Brier housing tract.

Mary Moll was a founder of the Hollywood Business and Professional Woman’s Club.  She demolished her farmhouse (seen above) for a commercial building and built a craftsman-style house for herself farther west where the Roosevelt Hotel now stands (see next photo).^

Historical Notes

According to historian Gregory Paul Williams, author of the ‘The Story of Hollywood’, Mary Penman Moll, Hollywood’s first school teacher, owned a ranch near the corner of Hollywood and Highland next to a strawberry field. A prominent figure in early Hollywood real estate and civic circles, she is credited with petitioning fellow city leaders to change the name of Prospect Avenue to Hollywood Boulevard in 1910—over the fierce objections of her arch-nemesis Daieda Wilcox.*

Historical Notes

Mary Moll demolished her first house on the corner of Highland and Prospect (Hollywood Blvd) for a commercial building. She built her second house further west at 7002 Hollywood Blvd, where the Roosevelt Hotel now stands as seen above.

Mary Moll’s donation of a strip of land through her property made Highland Avenue official.  It was graded, but not paved, in 1901.  Highland was the name of the local blacksmith’s wife, Highland Price, who lived with her husband near Fountain.  As the first person buried in the Hollywood Cemetery when it opened in 1900, Mrs. Highland Price got a street named in her honor.^

Historical Notes

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 in 1911 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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more on the Sackett Hotel on the S/W corner of Cahuenga and Hollywood Blvd.

Historical Notes

The Wilcoxes owned a 160-acre ranch named Hollywood, from Gower to Hudson and from Franklin to Sunset.

Historical Notes

One of the earliest farming estates was owned by Charles F. Harper, and it dominated the entrance to Laurel Canyon. Harper was a Civil War veteran who immigrated to California and made his fortune in the hardware business.  He owned a hardware store on Spring near Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles.*

Harper retired in 1895 and moved to Hollywood, where he "enjoyed the evening of his days" on his 480-acre estate in Laurel Canyon.

Historical Notes

Harper Avenue in West Hollywood was named after the Harper family.

Historical Notes

The family called the 480-acre estate Cioela Vista but it is generally remembered today as the Harper Ranch.

Charles Harper’s son, Arthur Cyprian Harper, who later inherited Cioela Vista, was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1906. He was forced to resign in 1909, however, when he was threatened with a recall over corruption charges, including allegations he speculated on sugar and that he spent too much time in brothels.

Historical Notes

In 1908, Sunset Boulevard and Laurel Canyon stood on the brink of major growth. The year before, a new dirt road, which would be named Laurel Canyon Boulevard, was built, giving much easier access to the area. That same year, the Lookout Mountain Park and Water Company was established, acquiring 280 acres on Lookout Mountain to create subdivisions, vacation properties, and ambitious projects like the Lookout Mountain Inn and Wonderland Park. While Sunset Boulevard had been around since the late 1800s, it was still evolving from a simple cattle trail into the famous road it is today. Developers like Charles Spencer Mann were drawn to the area and would soon introduce new transportation options, including the nation’s first commercial trolley bus line, which connected Sunset Boulevard with the top of Lookout Mountain Road. This era marked the beginning of Laurel Canyon’s shift from a quiet, rural area into a popular vacation and residential spot, paving the way for the lively community that would develop over the coming decades.

Historical Notes

Crescent Heights was a pastoral 160-acre tract opened by Charles E. Norton and William H. Hay in 1905 on former Hay family property. At that time, nearby Fairfax Avenue was known as Crescent Avenue, making it fitting for this uphill tract to be called "Crescent Heights." The central road originally ran only between Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards and temporarily borrowed Sunset’s name until 1913, when it officially became Crescent Heights Boulevard. In the 1920s, it extended further south to encompass additional subdivisions, including Carthay Circle, where Crescent Heights briefly changed names twice—to McCarthy Vista and Carrillo. To travel north from Crescent Heights to Laurel Canyon, one had to zigzag at Sunset Boulevard until the two boulevards were realigned in 1968.*

Historical Notes

Many people think that Crescent Heights Boulevard changes names to Laurel Canyon Boulevard at Sunset Boulevard, but that’s not the case. Crescent Heights actually continues past Sunset, merging with Laurel Canyon Boulevard at Selma Drive. From there, it takes on the name Laurel Canyon Boulevard as it winds through the Hollywood Hills.

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.

Historical Notes

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.

Historical Notes

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.

Historical Notes

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 residence was a popular tourist destination for several years and was demolished in 1927.

Historical Notes

By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, and two markets along with a population of 500 people. Los Angeles, with a population of 102,479 lay 10 miles east through the vineyards, barley fields, and citrus groves. A single-track streetcar line ran down the middle of Prospect Avenue from it, but service was infrequent and the trip took two hours. The old citrus fruit-packing house was converted into a livery stable, improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood.*^

Historical Notes

The town of Colegrove began as a 500-acre payment for a former U.S. senator's political influence. In the 1870s, the Hancock family needed help confirming its title to the sprawling Rancho La Brea. In return for the legal services -- and political connections -- of Cornelius Cole, a onetime friend of Abraham Lincoln's, the Hancocks deeded over to Cole a 500-acre tract in the rancho's northeastern corner. Cole subdivided the parcel, named the new settlement after his wife (born Olive Colegrove), and relocated his family to a house on the northwest corner of Santa Monica and Gower, even as he remained with his law practice in San Francisco.

Historical Notes

The Cahuenga Valley Railroad consisted of a steam train that would begin its journey to Cahuenga Valley from Diamond (Beverly Boulevard) and Texas (Belmont Avenue). Leaving the city limits, the little train wandered west across open fields eventually finding County Road where it turned north. County Road later became Western Avenue. Next stop, Coleville or Coles Crossing (later, Santa Monica Boulevard). At this point, the Cahuenga Valley line crossed the steam dummy line to Santa Monica. The train continued north to Prospect Avenue (Hollywood Boulevard) where the line turned west. That was called Grand Round. Today we know it as Hollywood and Western. Next stop, Midway (later called Bronson Avenue). The end of the line was at Prospect Avenue (Hollywood) and Wilcox.

Historical Notes

On Oct. 19, 1909, the town's residents voted 84-22 in favor of annexation. Colegrove -- along with other subdivisions in what was known as the Colegrove Addition -- became part of the city of Los Angeles.

The following year, Hollywood joined Colegrove by consolidating with Los Angeles. Unlike Hollywood however, Colegrove soon lost its identity as a separate neighborhood. Prior to annexation, the town had referred to its main road as Colegrove Boulevard. But after annexation, Los Angeles insisted that the street be named Santa Monica Boulevard.

Historical Notes

Colegrove was originally located in central Hollywood but it eventually stretched as east as Hoover Street and as south as 10th Street (today’s Olympic Blvd).

There are several streets now named after the Cole family including:

◆ Barton Avenue -- Barton Jones, grandson of Cornelius Cole.
◆ Cole Avenue, Cole Place — Senator Cornelius Cole
◆ El Centro Avenue — Center of Cole Ranch
◆ Eleanor Street — Eleanor Cole, daughter of Seward Cole
◆ Lodi Place — Lodi, New York; birthplace of Cornelius Cole
◆ Seward Street — Seward Cole, son of Cornelius Cole
◆ Townsend Street — Maiden name of Cornelius Cole’s mother
◆ Vine Street — Through Cornelius Cole’s vineyard
◆ Waring Avenue — Capt. Howard Waring, son-in-law of Cornelius Cole
◆ Willoughby Street — Willoughby Cole, son of Cornelius Cole *

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.

Historical Notes

The description above comes from the LAPL image libarary.  Gregory Paul Williams in his book The Story of Hollywood identifies this as Jacob Muller’s (who had been the local meat delivery man) “Hollywood Cash Grocery,” which was Hollywood’s first meat market. He says it was located a little further East on Sunset between Ivar and Vine and dates this photo 1893.*

Historical Notes

In August, 1903, a petition was submitted to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors requesting the incorporation of the City of Hollywood. The election for city hood was held on November 14, 1903 with voting lasting until 5:00 PM. After all the ballots were counted, the vote was eighty-eight for incorporation and seventy-seven against. Hollywood became a city with geographic boundaries extending from Normandie on the east, to Fairfax on the west, and from the top of the Santa Monica Mountains on the north to DeLongpre and Fountain avenues on the south.

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