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

Historical Notes

Jack Woods, a pioneer stage and mail driver, built what is thought to be the oldest inhabited structure in Topanga Canyon.  The stone cabin on Old Canyon property was later the Frederick Mezet ranch and winery. Since then, the property was bought and sold about ten times. Its owners and tenants included John Bonnell, a real estate developer who subdivided a portion of the property, which he named Topanga Park and was later known as Bonnell Park or Bonnell Flats. Rock star Neil Young was a 1960s tenant. His famous three-day party there resulted in the arrest of Young, as well as Eric Clapton, and led to the breakup of Young’s group, Buffalo Springfield.*

Historical Notes

Topanga is the name given to the area by the Native American indigenous Tongva tribe, and may mean "a place above". It was the western border of their territory, abutting the Chumash tribe that occupied the coast from Malibu northwards. Bedrock mortars can be found carved into rock outcroppings in many locations.*^

Historical Notes

Topanga was first settled in 1839 by the Trujillo and Cheney families. Much later, during the 1920s, it gained popularity with the denizens of Hollywood. As an ideal getaway not far from urban conveniences, it was the perfect site for weekend cottages, which actors and other industry people built there at the time.

Historical Notes

The location of this photo is about two miles up the canyon from Topanga State Beach. The bridge in the photo, along with a handful of others, was built across Garrapata Creek when the road opened up for automobile traffic in 1915. Click HERE to see this same bridge in 1938 on the cover of a December 1938 California Highways publication.

Historical Notes

The first road through Topanga Canyon opened in 1915. The road was an adventure to drive, with a few hundred turns to navigate before arriving at the other end. In 1925, officials began studying how to alter the road for easier travel, with actual restructuring occurring in 1930.

Historical Notes

The Summit is the highest point along Topanga Canyon Highway, with an elevation of approximately 1,560 feet. This vantage point provides sweeping views of the San Fernando Valley to the north and the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains.

Historical Notes

The first road through Topanga Canyon opened around 1915, following the path of Topanga Creek.

By the 1920s, the Summit had become a popular stopping point for travelers.

Historical Notes

By the mid-1920s, the Summit had become a popular stopping point for travelers. The area was developed with amenities for visitors, including parking areas, viewing platforms, and refreshment stands.

Historical Notes

From the Summit, visitors could see expansive views of the San Fernando Valley, which in the early 20th century was largely undeveloped agricultural land.

Historical Notes

Eastside was a Los Angeles beer in the early 1900s, brewed by the Los Angeles Breweing Company (later Eastside Brewing Co.).  It was called Eastside because the brewery was located on the east side of the Los Angeles River.  Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

Some people confuse the “Summit” with the current "Top of Topanga Overlook" at 3400 North Topanga Canyon Blvd. Both served a similar purpose in that they offered great views of the San Fernando Valley and surrounding mountains, but they are not at the same location.

Historical Notes

From the Summit, visitors could see expansive views of the San Fernando Valley, which in the early 20th century was largely undeveloped agricultural land.

Historical Notes

Victor Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acres in the area from Chandler's group and founded the town of Girard in 1922. He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing an infrastructure, advertising in newspapers, and planting 120,000 trees. His 300 pepper trees forming an arch over Canoga Ave. between Ventura Boulevard and Saltillo St. are Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #93 in 1972. The community of Girard was eventually incorporated into Los Angeles, and in 1945 it became known as Woodland Hills.

Historical Notes

The town Girard was founded in 1923 and named after its developer, Victor Girard Kleinberger. By 1941, the community was renamed Woodland Hills.

Historical Notes

Victor Girard is credited for planting more than 120,000 sycamores, eucalyptus, fir pine, and pepper trees across the townsite for which Woodland Hills would later be named for.

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Girard.

Historical Notes

The area was originally named Owensmouth by Los Angeles Suburban Home Company's general manager, Hobart Johnstone Whitley, with a real estate salesman's exaggeration that it was the new mouth of the Owens River, after the Los Angeles Aqueduct would be completed the next year. The town was founded on March 30, 1912, and the Suburban Home Company contracted with the Janss Investment Company, to sell properties.

Historical Notes

The event seen above was the first annual San Fernando Valley Fair and Market that took place on September 15-18, 1920 in commemoration of what the aqueduct has done for the San Fernando Valley. There were horticultural and industrial exhibits to wow the crowds with lots of news clippings about it.

Per the Van Nuys News (9-17-20 – Page1), the management of the fair gave a reception in the Owensmouth HS auditorium Sept 15 1920. Sept 17th was designated "San Fernando Day".

Historical Notes

A well-thought pre-development scheme brought Pacific Electric streetcars and an all-purpose highway (Sherman Way) out all the way from Hollywood through Cahuenga Pass, through the previously subdivided Van Nuys (1911). Highlighting the "opening day barbecue" was the display of the "Owensmouth Baby", a race car that could go up and down the paved Sherman Way at the incredible speed of 35 mph—as you could do—in an age without pavement or speed limits.*^

Historical Notes

Owensmouth, as the junior San Fernando Valley city to Van Nuys, promoted itself with the "baby" motif—using storks in their advertisement—the "baby city" of the Valley. And Owensmouth remained a very small community.*^

Historical Notes

The lack of an independent water supply made annexation to the City of Los Angeles inevitable, and on February 26, 1917 Owensmouth joined with its larger neighbor. The name was changed to Canoga Park in 1930. It is believed to be named after Canoga, New York, which derived its name from the Native American village "Ganogeh". Eventually, the area's zoning was rural/agricultural and its industry was small farms involved in production of fruits, vegetables, melons, some livestock, horses, movie/television studio and stunt location work.

The Canoga Park Airstrip occupied the area now known as "Warner Center" (as shown on the street map 1955 Thomas Guide)*^

Historical Notes

Parthenia Street was named for Miss Parthenia Staton of Lafayette Park, Calif. in 1916, when it opened between Van Nuys Blvd. and Kester Ave.

Kester Ave was named for Kester Ranch, a major wheat-growing concern—part of the Lankershim-Van Nuys empire—from the 1870s to 1909.^*

Reseda was named after a fragrant North African yellow-dye plant, Reseda odorata, whose English name is mignonette and which grows in hot, dry climates—replaced Marian as a designation for a stop on the Pacific Electric interurban railway running along Sherman Way. The name "Reseda" was given first to a siding on a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the south San Fernando Valley.

Zelzah Avenue was part of the 19th-century wagon route from San Fernando to the Hawk Ranch, which became the town of Zelzah (a Biblical name for "oasis," or "watering place in the desert").  In 1929 the name was changed to North Los Angeles.  In 1938, the name changed again to Northridge Village and promptly shortened to Northridge.*^

Click HERE to see more SFV Street Name Origins.

Historical Notes

The above photo appeared on the front side of a postcard mailed by the owner of the house in 1918. See next photo for the reverse side of postcard.

Historical Notes

Chatsworth Boulevard was a dirt road that ran from the City of San Fernando all the way to the town of Chatsworth Park located at the west end of the San Fernando Valley.  It followed present-day Chatsworth Street and Zelzah Avenue, then continued west on Devonshire Street to Santa Susana Avenue (Now Topanga Cyn Blvd).

Historical Notes

Francis Marion ("Bud") Wright, an Iowa farm boy who migrated to California as a young man, became a ranch hand for Senator Porter and later co-developer of the 1,100-acre Hawk Ranch, which is now Northridge land. Wright continued to farm the land with Colonel Henry Hubbard from 1887 until 1910, when it was sold for subdivision to the Valley Farms Company. Before the first small farm homes had been sold, Bud Wright's wife, Emily Vose Wright, a deeply religious woman, had christened the development Zelzah, a Biblical name for "oasis," or "watering place in the desert." Zelzah became a Southern Pacific depot town at the Henry Hubbard & "Bud" Wright Hawk Ranch.*^

Historical Notes

Zelzah Grammar School opened in 1914, one year after the Los Angeles Aqueduct was completed.  The citizens of Zelzah formally voted for annexation to the City of Los Angeles and Owens River water rights in 1915.  William Mulholland, engineer of the mammoth project, lived nearby and maintained one of many large rancho tracts remaining from the Spanish, Mexican, and Californio land grant days.*^

Historical Notes

Nordhoff Street was named for famed 19th-century health seeker and writer Charles Nordhoff.  Hired by Southern Pacific rail baron Henry Huntington in 1873, journalist Charles Nordhoff wrote the book California for Health, Pleasure and Residence.

Click HERE to see more SFV Street Name Origins.

Historical Notes

A water source at the intersection of Parthenia St. and Reseda Blvd. served as the watering hole and gathering place for the Gabrielino Indians and later the Spanish who established Missions in the area.  The area, fed by underground streams, was very fertile and soon a development christened "Zelzah," a Biblical name for oasis, became important. #*^

Zelzah Acres became the name of one of those early housing tracts carved from the former enormous Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando lands joining nearby towns of Chatsworth Park, Lankershim, Owensmouth, San Fernando and Van Nuys. Through the 1920s, Zelzah grew up, linked to Los Angeles by annexation, water, city government taxes, and transportation. A group of citizens joined forces and on July 1, 1929, christened this post office and train depot North Los Angeles, a name they considered more suitable and more memorable.*^

Historical Notes

At the suggestion of Carl Dentzel, a local resident and director of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, North Los Angeles became "Northridge Village" and was promptly shortened to Northridge. The sign on the depot was changed again, and the new name became permanently affixed on Oct. 1, 1938.*^

Historical Notes

This winding ridgeline road in the Santa Monica Mountains was dedicated in honor of William Mulholland, the water engineer who designed the Los Angeles Aqueduct, on Dec. 27, 1924. Originally dirt and called Mulholland Highway, the name was changed to Mulholland Drive in 1939. Portions of the original road remain unpaved.

^Moses Sherman served on the water board while he also participated in plans to develop the San Fernando Valley, which became the outlet point for the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Sherman's double role has been the source of conspiracy theories with regard to the aqueduct.

Historical Notes

Mulholland Drive has its origins in 1921 as a scenic drive, with the “working name” of Skyline Drive, engineered by DeWitt Reaburn.  The scenic drive was engineered in small sections, with work actually beginning at several points along the route simultaneously.  The road was originally planned to encompass a right of way of 200 feet and intended to be 20 miles long, taking a mere two years to complete. 

For reasons, some to honor Mulholland, but mostly to use his stature and accomplishments to silence opposition, the most traveled scenic highway conceived as Skyline Drive became Mulholland Highway.*

Historical Notes

On the morning of the opening (Dec 27), William Mullholland dedicated the road with, what else, a bottle of aqueduct water. (Being prohibition, he couldn't use champagne).

Historical Notes

When it officially opened on December 27, 1924, Mulholland Highway was 24 miles long - the solid line, running from Cahuenga Pass to Calabasas. The dotted line shows what was still to be constructed, Topanga Summit to the Ocean. Originally the road was of gravel surface treated with oil.

Historical Notes

An article in the Oxnard Press Courier provides additional details of the event:

“The first part of the festival program will be held at Calabasas, beginning at 11 o’clock, when a wild west performance and rodeo will be staged by the world’s greatest riders and ropers under the direction of Tom Mix.  Other novel features are being arranged for this part of the celebration, which will include one of the most spectacular aerial demonstrations ever witnessed in this state, with more than 50 military and civilian airplanes participating.  Hair-raising flying stunts will be performed and the military planes from Clover Field and San Diego will engage in battle manoeuvers and combat demonstrations.”

Historical Notes

Curving ingeniously through the eastern Santa Monicas, the Mulholland Drive motorway once brought a heavy slew of Angelenos into the Valley. In the early 1970s, however, 5,000 local activists successfully prevented the cement paving of most of that stretch. To this day, that section is known as 'Dirt Mulholland', and is only open to cyclists and pedestrians. From the famous Mulholland Bridge east, Mulholland Drive completes its creator's vision, and winds through the affluent Hollywood Hills to Mulholland Drive's easternmost terminus at Cahuenga Boulevard, near Universal Studios, until again becoming an unpaved footpath to Griffith Park.

The paved road begins again east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Santa Maria Road. Shortly thereafter, the thoroughfare splits into Mulholland Drive and Mulholland Highway. Mulholland Drive terminates at U.S. Highway 101 (the Ventura Freeway), where it becomes Valley Circle Boulevard. Mulholland Highway continues to the southwest until it terminates at State Route 1 (PCH) in Leo Carrillo State Park at the Pacific Ocean coast and the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.*

Historical Notes

Real estate developers Woodruff and Shoults called their development "Hollywoodland" and advertised it as a "superb environment without excessive cost on the Hollywood side of the hills". They contracted the Crescent Sign Company to erect thirteen letters on the hillside, each facing south. Each letter of the sign was 30 feet wide and 50 feet high, and the whole sign was studded with some 4,000 light bulbs. The sign would flash in segments; "HOLLY," "WOOD," and "LAND" would light up individually, before lighting up entirely. Below the Hollywoodland sign was a searchlight to attract more attention.

The sign was officially dedicated on July 13, 1923.*^

Historical Notes

In the early 1900s, the area now known as Tujunga was undeveloped land, the former Rancho Tujunga. In 1913, William Ellsworth Smythe, working alongside M.V. Hartranft (they had purchased the land together), formed a Utopian community called Los Terrenitos— Spanish for The Little Landers. Smythe was the leader of the Utopian Little Landers movement and had already established colonies in Idaho and San Ysidro, California. He advocated the principle that families settling on an acre or two of land could support themselves and create a flourishing community.*^

Historical Notes

Generally thought to be a part of the San Fernando Valley, Sunland-Tujunga is actually located in a valley of its own --the Tujunga Valley — which opens into the northern edge of the larger San Fernando Valley. Also known as The Rock, the towns lie on a large bedrock close to 2,000 feet above sea level with mountain ranges on both sides.*

Historical Notes

Sunland and Tujunga were originally home to the Tongva people. In 1840 the area was part of the Rancho Tujunga Mexican land grant, but later developers marked off a plot of land known as the Tejunga Park, or the Tujunga Park, Tract. The name Tujunga is assumed to have meant "old woman's place" in the extinct Tongva language, where Tuhu "old woman" is a term for Mother Earth in Tongva mythology.*^

Historical Notes

The above print was reproduced in 1955 for an article in the Herald Examiner.  Photo caption read "Farming was hardly worthwhile. The land was poor. If you dug out stones to build a home or barn, there wasn't enough dirt to fill up the hole."*

Historical Notes

The "Moon Festival of the Tujungans" was sponsored by the American Legion (Monte Vista Post 250) as well as other Tujunga businesses and establishments.*^^^

Historical Notes

The first election for Tujunga to be consolidated with Los Angeles was held on February 15, 1927. In heavy rain, voters turned down the idea by a vote of 594 to 354. A second election held in March 1930 also resulted in defeat for annexation, "by a large majority."  The third and final election in January 1932, however, resulted in a favorable vote to join Los Angeles, even though the actual transfer was delayed by inaction of state authorities. Tujunga finally joined the city on March 8, 1932. 

Sunland was annexed to the city of Los Angeles effective August 4, 1926.*^

Historical Notes

Clarence, center, and his friend Odgen, a coworker at the Claycraft pottery factory, with their cars. Clarence's car is a Model T. He could coast most of the way from his home in the town of Tujunga down Tujunga Canyon Boulevard past Verdugo City and through Glendale via Verdugo Road to work at San Fernando Road and Fletcher Drive, in Los Angeles.*

Historical Notes

Bolton Hall was built in 1913 by George Harris, a self-described "nature builder, rock mason and stone sculptor. He first named it "Bolton Hall Hall," after Bolton Hall (1854–1938), a New York City progressive activist and proponent of the back-to-the-land movement. Harris urged that the 3,000-square-foot hall be built solely of native materials, and selected a design that he said borrowed nothing from European architecture. Harris and the Terrenitos community built the hall using granite chunks and stones from nearby fields and hillsides and from the Tujunga Wash. Stones were placed in position in the structure based on the positions in which they settled after falling from a cliff.

Historical Notes

When Bolton Hall opened in August 1913, the Los Angeles Times reported that it marked the "awakening of the Vale of Monte Vista" (the former name of Sunland):

First settled nearly thirty years ago, the valley has shown more life in the past six months than in all its previous history. Los Terrenitos, the settlement of "'little-landers," has made wonderful progress since its inception, five months ago, about 200 families having purchased land, not all of whom are yet on the ground. But enough are here to make it a beehive of industry. The dedication of "Bolton Hall" last Saturday aroused much enthusiasm among the "little-landers."

The Times also reported that Bolton Hall was "built to stand for ages," and it has survived the 1971 Sylmar and 1994 Northridge earthquakes without a scratch.

During the hall's early years, it hosted community meetings patterned after those held in old New England town halls. Over the next decade, it was used for church services, musical performances, lectures, motion picture shows, the Women's Club, dances and pot-luck suppers. It also was the site of the San Fernando Valley's second public library.

In 1962, Bolton Hall at 10116 Commerce Avenue was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 2 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The Women’s Community Club of Chatsworth hoped to improve the area through their good works such as sewing for needy families and the Red Cross. They funded their work by private donations and benefits such as their 50 cent "Plate Lunch" events. Their slogan was: "Bite off more than you can chew, and chew it; Plan more than you can do, then do it; Hitch your wagon to a star, sit tight, and there you are."

Historical Notes

Chatsworth Reservoir was placed in service in 1919 at a time when the San Fernando Valley was a sparsely populated agricultural area. The reservoir has two earthfill dams which provided an initial capacity of 7,400 acre-feet and a high water elevation of 884.3 feet.

Click HERE to see Construction of the Chatsworth Reservoir.

Historical Notes

For many years Chatsworth Reservoir served as the principal water storage facility in the western San Fernando Valley, serving the irrigation needs of agriculture. At various times during this period, improvements to the reservoir were constructed to increase its capability to provide the required water supply. The most significant improvement occurred during 1930 and 1931 when the dams were partially reconstructed to increase the high water level of the reservoir 5 feet to elevation 889.3 feet and the capacity to 9,840 acre-feet.

As the area served by Chatsworth Reservoir was subdivided and developed to meet the demands for increased housing, the character of the West San Fernando Valley changed from an agriculture to urban setting. This transition gradually changed the requirements for Chatsworth Reservoir and its storage was increasingly used to supply residential and domestic drinking water, emergency requirements and continued agriculture uses.

Historical Notes

The Chatsworth Reservoir served as the primary water storage facility for the western part of the San Fernando Valley from 1919 until after the Sylmar earthquake in 1971.

Historical Notes

After the Sylmar Earthquake of 1971 the reservoir was placed out-of-service and permanently retired. Since then, 150 acres has been handed over to Rec. and Parks for recreational use. Another 30 acres has been converted to an ecology pond for the habitat of migratory birds.*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Chatsworth Reservoir. Also, click HERE to see more Early L.A. Water Reservoirs.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Chatsworth Reservoir.

Historical Notes

In 1910, Otto F. Brant (along with Gen. H. G. Otis, Gen. M. H. Sherman, H. J. Whitley, and Harry Chandler) was one of the five original investors in the Suburban Home Company (aka The Syndicate).  Each of the major partners put up $100,000.  In return Brant took 850 acres of land at Ventura and Topanga Canyon Boulevards, later to be known as the Brant Rancho, where his son created a model ranch for the world’s largest pure-bred Guernsey dairy herd of dairy cattle.

Historical Notes

D. O. Brant was the manager and one of the owners of the Brant Rancho, breeders of registered Guernsey cattle.#^

Historical Notes

TIn 1922, Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acres in the west San Fernando Valley and founded the town of Girard. He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing an infrastructure, advertising in newspapers, and planting 120,000 trees.  His 300 pepper trees forming an arch over Canoga Ave. between Ventura Boulevard and Saltillo St. are Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #93 in 1972 (Click HERE to see the LA Historic-Cultural Monuments List).***

Historical Notes

Victor Girard Kleinberger was a land huckster with big dreams. Born in Kentucky, he began his sales career peddling Persian rugs -- fakes, of course -- door to door. Girard's modus operandi was to shove the rolled-up rug into the door frame (thus preventing the door from being slammed shut on him) and begin coughing profusely -- all the while mumbling about tuberculosis and priceless rugs.

It was a ruse that apparently worked, and by 1899, with his fortune already made, the 18-year-old Girard (he had dropped his last name) headed west to Los Angeles, where he branched out into other enterprises, including real estate.*##

Historical Notes

Girard (later to become Woodland Hills) is seen in the later stages of subdividing, paving and installation of utilities. Topanga Canyon Boulevard runs away from the camera from lower right to the middle distance with the residential streets radiating left and right. First street at the bottom is Dumetz Road and then, in order, Providencia, San Miguel, De La Osa, Velicata, Lopez, Celes, Martinez, Galvez, De La Guerra, Crespi, Avenue San Luis, Del Valle, Costanso and finally Ventura Boulevard with the Girard real estate buildings built east and west along the boulevard. Road that skirts the base of the hill on the right is Don Pio Drive and on the left is San Feliciano Drive.##^

Historical Notes

In 1924 Victor Girard opened a real estate office on what is now Topanga Canyon and Ventura Boulevard and built a mosque-like gate to his 2886-acre subdivision named Girard. He graded the streets, set aside land for parks and schools, and planted thousands of trees.*

Historical Notes

In 1923, when Girard was building his town (later re-named Woodland Hills), he and a team of engineers designed a plan to lay the pipes starting in Mission Acres, and running through Reseda, Zelzah, Weeks Colony, Owensmouth, and ending at Girard. This proposal was presented to So Cal Gas, which determined that the job would cost $153,000. The West End Improvement Assn, assisted by Girard, raised $60,000 to defray the costs so that the project could begin.

Historical Notes

The neighborhood was founded in 1923, named after Victor Girard Kleinberger, developer and founder. The new town was heavily promoted while bus tours from Los Angeles to the new town were offered.*^^^

Historical Notes

This was the first commercial building to be built in the town of Girard (now Woodland Hills).  It is now replaced by a gasoline station on the southeast corner of Ventura and Topanga Canyon boulevards. Click HERE to see contemporary view.

Historical Notes

Girard offered a free lunch and organized bus shuttles on a sightseeing tour that included, among other things, a stop at his new town. #*#*

(1924)#^ - Postcards advertising the recreational activities of Girard.

Historical Notes

The town of Girard officially opened in 1923 with an advertising blitz. Newspaper ads and pamphlets distributed in train depots and hotels across the region promoted the new town's location and the soon-to-be developed amenities. #*#*

Historical Notes

Although Girard Kleinberger's early efforts were criticized as providing only a dubious facade of economic activity (local lore has it that in order to attract development he erected false store fronts on Ventura Boulevard, for which he spent time in jail), the Girard Golf Course completed in 1925 continues to operate today as the Woodland Hills Country Club, and his scheme was ultimately successful in attracting interest in the community.*^

Historical Notes

Girard is credited for planting more than 120,000 sycamores, eucalyptus, fir pine, and pepper trees across the townsite for which Woodland Hills would later be named for. #*#*

Historical Notes

Would-be buyers could purchase an undeveloped parcel for as little as $500, or choose from a small selection of houses that would be constructed on the lot of their choice. With an advertised "marvelous view," $1,625 bought a four-room house that could be designed in the Moorish style Girard loved so much. However, the most common pick was a small cabin that sold for $985. Sometimes placed on lots as small as 50 by 125 feet, the cabins were in line with Girard's standards and thus constructed with cheap materials and wooden foundations that sat directly on the ground. #*#*

Historical Notes

Unbeknownst to many of the buyers, Girard and his Boulevard Land Company added a lien on every lot in his town to help pay for all the improvements, forcing the residents to repay the funds at a later date.  After the 1929 Stock Market Crash many of the residents were confronted with the debt that Girard incurred on their behalf. Many simply left—by 1932 there were only 75 families remaining. Girard and the Boulevard Land Company faced a slew of lawsuits, most of which accurately contended the company had misrepresented the land it was selling. Unable to sell the heavily taxed 1,350 acres it still possessed, the Boulevard Land Company eventually folded. #*#*

Historical Notes

By 1941, the community was renamed Woodland Hills. Also, in the 1940s, Harry Warner of the Warner Bros. Studio, bought 1,100 acres in the area for a horse ranch and named it Warner Ranch. The modern Warner Center commercial zone is named for Harry and features high-rise buildings, hotels, and shopping centers.*^

Historical Notes

This little cottage at the corner of Ventura Blvd and Glade Ave was built in 1927. Most recently it was a coffee shop and outdoor cafe called The Secret Garden. Before that it was a gift shop called Dove Hill.

As of 2023 the little cottage structure was still there. Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

During the 1940s, Harry Warner of Warner Bros. acquired over 1,000 acres of land in what was then Girard. Called the Warner Ranch, he built his home there and raised thoroughbred horses on the surrounding property. A portion of this land is now the Warner Center in Woodland Hills.^

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Warner Ranch.

Historical Notes

In 1916, Charles Weeks established the "Weeks Poultry Colony," also known as Runnymede, on land near his Palo Alto farm in Northern California. With a heavily promoted motto of "one acre and independence," Mr. Week’s experimental utopian community grew quickly, housing 400 families by 1922. Adding to the success of the colony was his monthly magazine publication called Intensive Little Farm which attracted new buyers to the area and kept the area thriving for years, peaking at over 1,000 citizens by the mid-1920s.

In 1923, Weeks moved out of Northern California and engaged himself in actively promoting a new colony in Owensmouth. He had been invited to the San Fernando Valley by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in 1920 to establish a series of one-acre farms in the area that would emulate the success of his Los Altos "poultry colony." The colony Mr. Weeks created eventually developed into a small farming community, which actively engaged in uplifting the spirit of its members, and aided in the social, intellectual and artistic enlightenment of the region.^

Historical Notes

Weeks, the 50-year-old philosopher-entrepreneur, began building his egg-based Eden along Sherman Way, a wide boulevard lined with palms and roses. It was the only paved road in the West Valley. A trolley called "Big Red" ran down its center and made daily round-trips to Los Angeles.

"Each man must create his own little world," Weeks liked to say. "None that others prepare for him will ever satisfy." The Valley community of Owensmouth was the ideal place for little-world building, Weeks argued. Its soil was rich, there was abundant water because of the Owens Aqueduct and nearby Los Angeles was a ready and growing market for the settlers' eggs.

Weeks disseminated his philosophy of collective self-reliance in a widely distributed magazine called "Intensive Little Farms" and in a book he sold by mail for $1. He described the Valley project with characteristic confidence as "the greatest economic work of the age, bringing peace of mind, health of body and an abundant living to thousands bound in slavery by wage-earning and too much business." ^^^

Historical Notes

By 1923, Weeks sold the first acre of his Colony to Jenja Beckman of Los Angeles, when the lots went for $1,250. By the end of the year, 41 families had established their acre plots in the tract bounded by Winnetka and Oso avenues and Leadwell and Lanark streets.......The Weeks Colony became a Valley institution, listed on maps and well known in the surrounding towns. Weeks deeded five acres at Winnetka and Roscoe Boulevard to the city for an elementary school (later becoming Winnetka Elementary School). The colony grew to more than 500 families and had its own egg co-op, warehouse, and packing plant. #^#

Historical Notes

Charles Weeks established new methods of raising poultry, concentrating birds into coops. Previous to this time, it was a commonly accepted farming practice to raise chickens in large, space consuming, chicken runs. The "Weeks Poultry Method" of raising poultry in compact houses became so successful that visitors from all over the world began arriving at Mr. Weeks' farm to study and learn his method.^

Historical Notes

Unfortunately, the Great Depression and the dramatic downturn of the Los Angeles economy drastically affected both the Owensmouth and Runnymede communities. By 1932, many of the farms faced bankruptcy and Mr. Weeks himself lost almost everything. With the failure of the poultry colonies, Mr. Weeks relocated to Florida, where he lived out the remainder of his life growing papayas, raising fishing worms and skin diving.

Many of the colony’s residents also fled facing dire economic situation and a lot of the homes were abandoned. Some remained, though, and became longtime residents. Those that stayed behind renamed the neighborhood Winnetka in 1934, after Weeks' former hometown, Winnetka, Illinois. Also, Runnymede Street was named after Weeks' first poultry farm in Northern California.

Charles Weeks died in Florida in 1964 but the impact of his communal experiment can still be seen in some areas of both Palo Alto and Winnetka.^

Historical Notes

The area was purchased in 1909 by the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company. LA Times founder and publisher General Harrison Gray Otis invested in the company and also personally acquired 550 acres in the center of modern-day Tarzana.

Historical Notes

The Mil Flores Estate was described as ‘A magnificent dwelling of the most modern hollow tile and concrete construction built on a commanding knoll a half mile back from the highway (Ventura Blvd.), from which one of the finest and most comprehensive views of the entire valley is had.'  The residence was built by General Otis, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and was occupied by him as a home at the time of his death (1917).

In 1919, Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of the Tarzan character) purchased the ranch from the Estate of Harrison Gray Otis. General Otis called the ranch “Rancho del Cabrillo” and the home he constructed on the Southerly hill fronting along present day Tarzana Drive, he called “Casa Mil Flores.” The roughly 100 acre Burroughs or Tarzana Tract ran from present day Ventura Boulevard to Tarzana Drive and was bounded by Mecca Avenue and Avenida Oriente. The Tract was possibly recorded as early as 1921. Burroughs was busy in 1922 trying to promote the sale of lots of the tract.

Burroughs also sold 120 acres to found the El Caballero Country Club.

Historical Notes

The community was not officially named Tarzana until the Post Office was established in 1930. The Women’s Club, however, may have referred to the community by that name after taking a vote for a community name and then asking Burroughs permission to use it, which he gleefully granted in 1927.

Historical Notes

The corner of Ventura Boulevard and Lindley Avenue in Tarzana was once the Adohr Milk Farm. However, the land was part of a cattle ranch empire owned by a Southern California family who later established the city of Malibu.

Historical Notes

In 1892, Frederick Hastings Rindge bought the original Spanish land grants that made up Rancho Malibu Topanga Sequit. Rindge's land purchases spanned more than 17,000 acres along the coast toward Ventura County and several miles inland over the Santa Monica Mountains into the San Fernando Valley.

Rindge’s daughter, Rhoda, married Merritt Adamson and together they started the successful Dairy Farm.

Historical Notes

In 1916, Merritt and Rhoda Adamson established a dairy farm on the north slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains. To honor Rhoda, Adamson named the farm "Adohr"--his wife's name spelled backward. Adohr Farms became famous for having one of the largest herds of Guernsey cattle in the world.

Historical Notes

During the Depression, the Adamsons were forced to sell most of their land to pay creditors. However, the milk farm kept the family solvent.

Historical Notes

In 1948, the land was sold by Merrit H. Adamson, head of the Adohr Milk Farms, to builders who planned to demolish the 31-year-old landmarks and divide the land into parcels for construction of low-cost housing for veterans.

Historical Notes

The Adohr dairy moved to Camarillo in 1947. Adamson's son, Merritt Jr., eventually sold the dairy operation to the Southland Corp. in 1966.

Historical Notes

In the mid-1920s, the Hollywood Country Club opened for golf and other forms of recreation. Several film stars of the era were investors.

Historical Notes

In 1937, the Harvard School for Boys took over the closed country club.

Historical Notes

Twin Lakes was built as a resort around two man-made lakes circa 1920, in a canyon just above Chatsworth.

Historical Notes

Twin Lakes Park was a privately owned planned community where one could buy a home, a mountain retreat, or a membership in the park (to use the facilities). In the 1920s and 1930s the community consisted of approximately 500 acre park, two fully stocked lakes, a country club, and picnic areas. There was room for 5,000 homes. Prices ranged from a one hundred dollar camp site to a twenty-five thousand dollar estate. Robert B. Stacy-Judd was the architect who designed and built the destinctive Mayan observation building on one of the lakes.

Historical Notes

Promoted as a retreat for the weekend, season, or holiday, 750 lots were subdivided from the George W. Haight ranch, and somewhere between 400 to 500 parcels were sold in the 1920s.

Historical Notes

The upper lake dammed up Devil Canyon creek, and was named Raymond Lake in the sales brochure. George W. Haight’s son was named Raymond.

Historical Notes

Mayan Road was accessible from Santa Susana Pass Road before the continuation of Topanga to the 118 freeway in the 1970’s.

Historical Notes

Remnants of the dams can still be found in the arroyos around the community of Twin Lakes, north of the Simi Valley Freeway between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Canoga Avenue.

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