Historic Hollywood Photographs

The aerial photographs in this gallery were almost all taken by the renowned aerial photographer Robert Spence. Beginning in about 1920, Spence took most of his photos from a big-plane, then later from a helicopter. Because there were no flight restrictions at the time, he was able to fly close to the ground and produce incredibly clear images. Over 150 of his photos are in the collection, which show the development of neighborhoods, street patterns, movie studios, and even Hollywood airfields in Southern California. Over five decades of development are represented here.

American Legion Post 43 has a long and storied history in Hollywood. The organization was formed in 1919 at the Toberman Hall, 6416 Hollywood Blvd. Needing a steady income stream to fund its mission, Post 43 ran the Hollywood Legion Boxing Stadium at Selma and El Centro beginning in 1920. The stadium was one of two major boxing venues in Los Angeles, (the other being the Olympic Auditorium) and was considered the most stable and successful venue of its type in California during the 1920s and 30s. The proceeds from the Hollywood Legion Stadium were used to build the post’s 33,000 square foot Egyptian Revival/Moroccan/ Art Deco Memorial Clubhouse in 1929. This building at 2035 N. Highland Avenue just south of the Hollywood Bowl, is a Cultural Heritage Monument in the City of Los Angeles. Its members have eighteen stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, including four for member Gene Autry. Post 43 is a veteran service organization whose mission is to guide veterans in their efforts to continue to be active in their communities while receiving assistance with health, education and other needs. It is also a rental facility used for weddings, community events, and filming. The photos in this gallery highlight the years 1939 to 1943.

Olive Hill, as this site near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vermont Avenue was historically known, is the location of Barnsdall Park. Its creator, Aline Barnsdall, heiress to an oil fortune and patron of the arts, envisioned an innovative theatrical community in the location. She hired architect Frank Llloyd Wright to help her realize this vision, starting with her own residence, which she named Hollyhock House after her favorite flower. Hollyhock House, decorated with an abstract “hollyhock” pattern, was Wright’s first Los Angeles project and is an example of how he incorporated nature into his designs. Built between 1919 and 1921, it represents his earliest efforts to develop a regionally appropriate style of architecture for Southern California. In 1927, Barnsdall gave the residence and eleven surrounding acres to the City of Los Angeles for use as a public park. Additional buildings on the site include a theatre, art gallery and studios. The world renowned site has recently been recognized by UNESCO and is a Cultural Heritage Monument in the City of Los Angeles. (NR?) The 10 photos in this gallery span the years 1921- 1974.

Part of the Rancho de las Aguas, Beverly Hills is approximately 5.7 square miles bounded by the City of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. Development began in the area in the 1880s as developers acquired the land for a subdivision to be called “Morocco”. This effort did not come to fruition due to an economic crisis in the late 1880s. By 1900, a group headed by Burton E. Green was drilling for oil on the land, and while the company did not strike oil, it did find enough water for real estate subdivision and cityhood to take place. Green reorganized his venture into the Rodeo Land and Water Company in 1906. He named the city “Beverly Hills” (inspired by Beverley Farms, Massachusetts). Landscape professional Wilbur Cook designed a planned development with curving streets in the hills, a platted grid for the flat land, riding trails, parks, and other amenities. Sales were slow at first, and Green decided to add a resort hotel on Sunset Boulevard. To the west, another town (Hollywood) had used this concept successfully. Green convinced Margaret Anderson, who had an association with the Hollywood Hotel, to manage the facility which opened in 1912. By 1914, the city had incorporated. Large lots in the hills were marketed as estates, and successful silent film stars and producers bought large parcels. Among the first were Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, whose “Pickfair” set the standard for lavish architecture and entertaining. The sixteen photographs in this gallery were taken between 1912 and 1966 and highlight the role of the hotel and early celebrity involvement in the development of the city.

The Bronson Caves are located in the southwest section of Griffith Park. In 1903, the Union Rock Company founded a quarry in the area then known as Brush Canyon, several miles north of Franklin Avenue. Crushed rock from the quarry was used as railroad ballast and for paving the streets of Hollywood and other newly formed communities. As the hillsides were populated by new homes, the quarry ceased operations in the late 1920s, leaving a series of caves behind. The caves became known as the Bronson Caves after a nearby street, and the neighborhood as Bronson Canyon, a name it retains today. With its craggy and remote-looking setting, the Bronson Caves became a location for filming in the early decades of the movies industry. A large number of movies and television series (westerns to science fiction) use the site to this day. The most well known appearance of the tunnel entrance is likely as the entrance to the Batcave in the Batman television series of the 1960s. The 8 images in this gallery are rare photographs of the Union Rock Quarry in operation from 1909-1929.

Central to the social life of Hollywood celebrities during the Golden Age, the Brown Derby restaurants became known as places to “see and be seen”. Founded by Herbert K. Somborn (husband of Gloria Swanson) in 1926, the original restaurant at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard was indeed in the shape of a derby hat, designed to catch the eye of passing motorists. The second location opened in 1929 at 1628 N. Vine Street. In the heart of Hollywood close to movie studios, its distinctive Spanish Colonial Revival architecture was popular for commercial establishments in the Hollywood core. Anecdotes are endless: Clark Gable proposing to Carole Lombard; rival columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons gathering gossip; numerous celebrities and community leaders filling the room. Caricatures of patrons lined the walls, and the venue was the birthplace of the now infamous Cobb salad. Two more locations, one in Beverly Hills (1931) and one in Los Feliz (1940), completed the group. The restaurants closed between 1975 and 1990. The photographs in this gallery contain views of all four locations, and span six decades.

Cahuenga Avenue (now Boulevard) is named for the Cahuenga (Tongva/Gabrielino) band of Native Americans who once inhabited the area that is today Hollywood. The northern portion of the street begins in the Cahuenga Pass. From there it winds south and east to Rosewood Avenue in Hancock Park. The street is steeped in the history of early Hollywood and is one of its most important north-south thoroughfares, linking Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley, to the neighborhood of Hancock Park to the south. The first City Hall of Hollywood was a small wood-sided building located at 131 S. Cahuenga Avenue. The founders of Hollywood, Harvey and Daeida Wilcox, occupied property on Cahuenga Avenue, which ran through their ranch. Daeida is credited with naming her portion of the Cahuenga Valley “Hollywood”. Artist Paul DeLongpre made his home on Cahuenga. His studio and gardens became Hollywood’s first tourist attraction which could be reached by streetcar from Los Angeles. In the 1920s and 30s, Metro Studios occupied several blocks on Cahuenga near Romaine. Many of Hollywood’s best “talking pictures” were made here. During World War II, one of the most popular entertainment establishments, The Hollywood Canteen, was located at 1451 Cahuenga, and was place where enlisted servicemen could go to be entertained by some of Hollywood’s best known celebrities. The Canteen served more than three million servicemen in three years. The images in this gallery record the street from 1913-1979.

The Cahuenga Pass traverses the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, connecting Hollywood and the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley. Historically, it was the site of two major battles: the Battle of Cahuenga Pass in 1831, and the Battle of La Providencia, or Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass in 1845, over issues of territory and succession. Both of these took place on the San Fernando Valley side of the Pass near present-day Studio City. Part of the route of the historic El Camino Real, it was initially nothing more than a single wagon track, dusty in the summer and muddy in the winter. Freight wagons and personal carriages travelled through the Pass on a continuous basis to reach the valleys of fields and orchards. The first overland mail to California also travelled through the Pass. Two of the most prominent entertainment venues in Hollywood lie in the Pass: the Hollywood Bowl and the Pilgrimage Theater, both founded in the 1920s. As travel increased between Los Angeles and the Valley, the road was widened to two lanes in each direction, and then again by two more, as the population of the Valley increased after WWII. In an effort to alleviate traffic problems and speed up travel to/from downtown Los Angeles, the state of California allocated $55 million dollars for the building of the Hollywood 101 Freeway. Construction of the 10 mile thoroughfare began in 1947. Its first phase was dedicated in 1951, and its second phase was completed in 1953, with the final dedication ceremony in April 1954. Today, the Hollywood Freeway is one of the most heavily travelled freeways in the country.

The Capitol Records Company was founded in 1942 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, songwriter/movie producer Buddy DeSylva, and music store owner Glenn Wallich. At the time, Wallich's Music City was the biggest record store in Hollywood. Mercer had the idea to start a record company where artists and musicians could play more of an integral role. He agreed to deal with the talent - if Wallich would run the business. Wallich presented a free copy their first album "Capitol Presents Songs By Johnny Mercer”, a three 78-rpm set featuring the recordings of Mercer, Stafford and the Pied Pipers, accompanied by Paul Weston's Orchestra, to LA disc jockey Peter Potter in order to promote the new label. Capitol was the first company to try this marketing tact, and by the mid-1950s, became a hugely successful label, thanks to the popular music of legends like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Jackie Gleason, Andy Griffith, Dean Martin, Dinah Shore, and the Andrew Sisters. Their rapid expansion required larger facilities, so the site at 1750 North Vine Street was purchased and the groundbreaking ceremony for the world’s first circular office building took place in 1954. The building, designed by Louis Naidorf for Welton Becket Architects, is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable landmarks and an Historic Cultural Monument. Due to its association with British recording company EMI, Capitol took part in bringing The Beatles to America in 1964. Capitol was also instrumental in the careers of The Band, Pink Floyd, Linda Rondstat, The Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, the Steve Miller Band, and many more. The 6 images in this gallery are our most popular Capitol Records images. For more, please go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Capitol-Records/G0000ZsKSPlDWJPs/

The Capitol Records Company was founded in 1942 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, songwriter/movie producer Buddy DeSylva, and music store owner Glenn Wallich. At the time, Wallich's Music City was the biggest record store in Hollywood. Mercer had the idea to start a record company where artists and musicians could play more of an integral role. He agreed to deal with the talent - if Wallich would run the business. Wallich presented a free copy their first album "Capitol Presents Songs By Johnny Mercer”, a three 78-rpm set featuring the recordings of Mercer, Stafford and the Pied Pipers, accompanied by Paul Weston's Orchestra, to LA disc jockey Peter Potter in order to promote the new label. Capitol was the first company to try this marketing tact, and by the mid-1950s, became a hugely successful label, thanks to the popular music of legends like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Jackie Gleason, Andy Griffith, Dean Martin, Dinah Shore, and the Andrew Sisters. Their rapid expansion required larger facilities, so the site at 1750 North Vine Street was purchased and the groundbreaking ceremony for the world’s first circular office building took place in 1954. The building, designed by Louis Naidorf for Welton Becket Architects, is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable landmarks and an Historic Cultural Monument. Due to its association with British recording company EMI, Capitol took part in bringing The Beatles to America in 1964. Capitol was also instrumental in the careers of The Band, Pink Floyd, Linda Rondstat, The Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, the Steve Miller Band, and many more.

The 50 images in this gallery are the most popular and requested photographs of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in our collection. For more architectural photographs of the Chinese Theater, go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Chinese-Theatre/G0000NMD4s5.cvaE/ For more photographs of the hand and footprint ceremonies held in the forecourt of the theatre, go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Chinese-Theatre-Handprint-Ceremonies/G0000q_HXRSI6rWc/

One of the most famous theaters in the world, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, is located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. After his success with the Egyptian Theatre, Sid Grauman, once again turned to real estate pioneer C.E. Toberman to secure a long term lease on the Hollywood Blvd. site and together they contracted the same architectural firm of Meyer and Holler to design a dramatic "palace type theatre" with decorative Chinese elements. The theatre was constructed in 18 months and opened on May 18, 1927 with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's film “The King of Kings”. It's since hosted many premieres, special events and 3 Academy Awards ceremonies. In addition to its signature architecture, one of the site’s most distinctive features are the forecourt's concrete blocks which bear the signatures, hand and footprints of popular movie personalities. Sid Grauman sold his share to William Fox in 1929, but remained the theatre's Managing Director until his death in 1950. In 1968, the Chinese Theatre was declared a historic cultural landmark, and has since undergone various restoration projects. In 1985, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. These 3 galleries comprise the largest collection of historic images of this iconic Hollywood landmark from 1927-1980:

There have been many stories about the origins of the hand/footprints at the Chinese Theatre, and all but one can be dismissed as folklore. As legend has it, during construction, Sid Grauman was crossing the forecourt when suddenly confronted by his chief cement mason, Jean Klossner, who scolded him for walking in the freshly laid cement. After making peace with Klossner, Sid asked Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Norma Talmadge to immediately come to the theatre. Upon their arrival, he asked them to place their feet in the new curbstone but it was nearly dry, so the impressions were too faint. Three weeks before the completion of construction, Pickford & Fairbanks were invited back to formally place their signatures and prints in the center of the forecourt. A few days later, Sid invited Talmadge to make her impressions next to theirs. Knowing the theatre's grand opening was set for May 18, 1927, she scribbled that date above her signature. Today, there are nearly 200 prints and autographs in the theatre's forecourt. Variations of this honored tradition are imprints of the eye glasses of Harold Lloyd, the cigars of Groucho Marx and George Burns, the legs of Betty Grable, the fist of John Wayne, the knees of Al Jolson, the noses of Jimmy Durante & Bob Hope, the guns of Western stars William S. Hart & Roy Rogers, the hoofprints of famous horses beside the prints of the stars who rode them, and the magic wands of Harry Potter. During World War II the theatre discontinued installing concrete prints. The tradition later resumed in 1945 with Gene Tierney. The only person not associated with the movie industry to etch their signature and print in the concrete is Grauman's mother, Rosa.

Places of worship were part of the Cahuenga Valley development of the 1870s. It began first with the 1876 construction of the German Methodist Church located at the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd and Kingsley Drive, and later by the Hollywood Christian Church in 1888. Daeida Wilcox donated land at the corner of Selma and Cahuenga in 1891, the year her husband Harvey passed away, and also donated land to the First Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1903, the Catholic Church formed Blessed Sacrament whose 1928 campus still stands today on Sunset Blvd. Other denominations arrived soon after. Many of the buildings built in the 1920s for then substantial congregations also exist today. Among the most prominent are the Hollywood Methodist Church at the intersection of Franklin and Highland Avenues; and Hollywood Presbyterian Church on Gower Street, north of Hollywood Boulevard. Both of these, designed in the ecclesiastical revival styles popular in that era are Historic Cultural Monuments. The former Hollywood Congregational Church is part of the Hollywood Commercial and Entertainment District listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 36 photographs in this gallery were taken between 1907 - 1978 and depict 17 different sites.

Several of Hollywood's Golden Age restaurants and nightclubs were located on Sunset Blvd., aka the Sunset Strip, a part of then unincorporated Los Angeles County where regulations were more relaxed than in the City of Los Angeles. Entrepreneur Billy Wilkerson, owner of the Hollywood Reporter and Trocadero Cafe, opened Ciro's in January 1940 and it was an instant hit. The stars flocked to Hollywood's newest place to “see and be seen”. They were greeted by a sophisticated exterior facade by George Vernon Russell with a Baroque interior designed by Tom Douglas. Douglas' style epitomized the latest in Hollywood glamour - walls draped in heavy ribbed silk dyed pale green and ceilings painted American Beauty red. The stars luxuriated on red silk wall sofas, while bronze urn lighting fixtures flanked the bandstand. Hollywood Reporter ads preceding the opening were a constant reminder that "Everybody that's anybody, will be at Ciro's." Post premiere parties, benefits, and birthday parties were celebrated there. The nightclub was naturally under surveillance by columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, who filed many of their stories based on celebrity encounters there. Lana Turner named it her favorite haunt, and with high powered endorsements such as hers, Ciro's entered the realm of legend, packing in nightly audiences to watch Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peggy Lee, Liberace, and more. Competition from Las Vegas changed the culture and economics of 1950s Hollywood. Ciro's closed in January 1958, but it later reopened as Moulin Rouge showing the famous Crazy Horse Revue from Paris. New owners reverted back to Ciro's in 1967, and the venue later became the Comedy Store in the 1970s. The 60 photos in this gallery represent Ciro’s in its heyday from 1941-1955.

The Ambassador Hotel formally opened on January 1, 1921. Located at 3400 Wilshire Blvd. in the mid-Wilshire District, the hotel was designed by Pasadena architect, Myron Hunt. The Ambassador Hotel's Coconut Grove restaurant and nightclub was a favorite of Hollywood personalities during the Roaring Twenties, attracting the likes of Louis B. Mayer, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Howard Hughes, Clara Bow, Rudolph Valentino, and Gloria Swanson. From 1930 - 1943, six Academy Awards ceremonies were held at the Coconut Grove. The club became a playground for such film legends as Norma Shearer, Errol Flynn, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, and countless others. As many as 7 U.S. Presidents stayed at The Ambassador Hotel, from Hoover to Nixon, along with heads of state from around the world. For decades, the nightclub hosted the biggest names in entertainment, such as Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Bing Crosby, Lisa Minnelli, The Supremes, Dorothy Dandridge, Perry Como, and Richard Pryor. The 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy hastened the hotel's demise in an already rapidly changing neighborhood. Despite a renovation in the mid-1970s, the hotel was unable to return to its former splendor and was closed in 1989. The 17 photographs in this gallery showcase the nightclub in its heyday between 1922 - 1949.

Columbia Drug Co. occupied a prime commercial location in the heart of Hollywood’s studio district. Located on the southeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street, the one story pharmacy was adjacent to Columbia Pictures and across the street from CBS' Columbia Square radio and television facility. To the east was Warner Brothers studio at Sunset and Bronson; to the west was Famous Players Lasky Studio at Sunset and Vine, and then NBC Radio. The location attracted residents and studio workers alike, particularly the newsstand. Actors congregated across the street at “Gower Gulch” waiting for casting calls. The building was demolished in the 1980s. The nine photographs in this gallery depict it between 1939 - 1977.

Crossroads of the World has been called America's first outdoor shopping mall. Located on Sunset Boulevard at Las Palmas, the complex is centered around a moderne building designed to resemble an ocean liner. The building is surmounted by a 60 foot tower on which an 8 foot diameter globe revolves. A small village of cottage-style bungalows in a variety of European revival styles (Italian, French, Spanish) are arranged in rows. Morrish and Turkish design are also present, as is a narrow street reminiscent of Cape Cod. Designed in 1936 by architect Robert V. Derrah for owner Ella Crawford, the complex was once a busy shopping center and is now the creative home to music publishers, recording companies, writers, costume designers, casting agents and publicists. It's been used for location shoots in many films and TV including “L.A. Confidential” and "Dragnet”. The complex has been well maintained and in 1974, it was declared a Historic-Cultural Monument of the City of Los Angeles. This gallery features 25 images documenting the site from 1937-1976.

The drive-in restaurant is an iconic image of life in Southern California. During the golden age of the automobile, people enjoyed eating in their cars and gravitated to the unique style of these restaurants. The speedy and informal service was novel and Southern California weather permitted the outdoor experience almost year round. Servers known as "carhops" would hand-deliver each order on special trays that would hang from the windows. Their uniforms depended on the theme of the establishment. Eighteen of these establishments are featured in this gallery, including one of the longest surviving drive ins, Tiny Naylor’s. This Hollywood favorite was located at the intersection of Sunset Blvd and La Brea Ave until its demise in the mid-1990s.

Earl Carroll built his second Earl Carroll Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd. and opened its doors on December 26, 1938. As he'd done at his New York theatre, Caroll the emblazoned the words "through these portals pass the most beautiful girls in the world" above the entrance. The glamorous supper club-theatre offered shows on its massive stage featuring a 60-foot wide, double revolving turntable and staircase. Swings could also be lowered from the ceiling during performances. Another major feature of the theatre was its "Wall of Fame" where many of Hollywood's most glamorous stars inscribed a personal message. The building's facade was adorned by what was at the time one of Hollywood's most famous landmarks: a 20-foot high neon portrait of entertainer Beryl Wallace, one of Earl Carroll's "most beautiful girls" as well as his companion. Following both of their deaths in a 1948 plane crash, the theater continued to operate for a few years before falling on hard times. In 1953, it operated as another nightclub known as the "Moulin Rouge." From 1956 to 1964, it was the Aquarius Theater, where the popular TV game show “Queen for a Day” was broadcast, and 60s counter culture musical “Hair” enjoyed a long run. The Doors also famously performed here on July 21, 1969. In 1983, it was converted it into a state-of-the-art television theater and used for programs and telethons. By late 1990s, the theatre was leased by cable television channel Nickelodeon and served as their West Coast headquarters. In 2004, it was sold to a private equity firm. The Earl Carroll Theater remains a designated Historic Cultural Monument in the City of Los Angeles. This gallery includes over 40 images from its heyday from 1939-1948.

The Egyptian Theatre was the first collaboration of showman Sid Grauman and real estate developer Charles E. Toberman. They later collaborated again on the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. The Egyptian Theatre cost $800,000 to build and took eighteen months to construct. Architects Meyer & Holler designed the building and it was built by The Milwaukee Building Company. The Egyptian was the venue for the first-ever Hollywood premiere, Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks in 1922. The exterior of the Egyptian Theatre is in the Egyptian Revival style. It's probable that this was due to public fascination with the multiple expeditions searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun by archaeologist Howard Carter in years prior. (Carter eventually discovered the tomb on November 4, 1922 - just two weeks after the Egyptian Theatre opened.) The exterior and interior walls contain Egyptian-style paintings and hieroglyphics. Four massive columns mark the theatre's main entrance. Capitalizing on Southern California's sunny weather is the large front courtyard complete with fountain and queen palm trees. The "entrance hall" (the theatre doors used to open directly into the auditorium) were specifically designed to host the theatre's famous red carpet ceremonies. As Hollywood declined in the 80s, the theatre fell into disrepair and was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. In 1996, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles sold the theatre to the American Cinematheque for a nominal one dollar with the proviso that the landmark building be restored to its original grandeur and re-opened as a movie theatre. The Egyptian was re-opened to the public on December 4, 1998, after a $12.8 million renovation. It is an Historic Cultural Monument and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. This gallery contains 27 historic photographs of the Egyptian Theatre taken between 1922 - 1973.

In July 1934 a contingent of farmers pulled their trucks onto an expanse of empty land known as Gilmore Island at the corner of Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles. They displayed their produce on the tailgates of their vehicles, and to their delight, customers quickly arrived lured by the casual, open air atmosphere, fresh produce and flowers. Farmers Market became an instant institution and central meeting place for Angelenos. "Meet me at 3rd and Fairfax" is still one of the most common phrases in the city. It became and remains, a must-see tourist attraction in Southern California. As a part of an expansion and reconstruction project in 1941, Farmers Market became the home of the Clock Tower, which has also become an internationally recognized landmark. At the turn of the millennium, A.F. Gilmore Company completed an arrangement with Caruso Affiliated Holdings to develop several acres of adjacent property into a shopping and entertainment venue called The Grove. At the same time, the Gilmore Company created North Market, home to the ultra-modern Gilmore Bank building with street-level shops and two stories of offices. Now entering its 8th decade, the Market remains a Los Angeles institution.

These bucolic images show a time which has long since passed into history. It's worth remembering, however, that the patterns of today’s busy metropolis were created by the grid system imposed by small farming in this fertile plain. The area we now know as Hollywood was originally called the Cahuenga Valley. Consisting of small farms and ranches at the turn of the 20th century, this prime farmland was located south of the hills near what is now Santa Monica Blvd., formerly Foothill Road. The land north of Sunset Boulevard was considered useless for anything but sheep grazing. It lay in a frostless belt, however, making it possible to raise sub-tropical fruits and winter vegetables, with an almost daily fresh ocean breeze that tempers the summer heat and winter cold. In 1895, the valley’s lemon growers formed the Cahuenga Valley Lemon Growers’ Exchange to operate a packing house. There the bounteous lemon crop could be graded for uniform size and quality and packed for shipment to eastern markets. In addition to the 11 photographs in this gallery which were taken between 1880 and 1937, other photos of farmland and ranches can be found in our Aerial and Panorama galleries.

On Tuesday, July 1, 1930, Engine Co. No. 27, Hose Co. No. 2, Truck Co. No. 9, Rescue Co. No. 2, and Salvage Co. No. 4 moved into the city’s newest fire station at 1355 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Prior to this, when Hollywood was incorporated, services were housed in a simple wooden structure, and then in a combination police/fire station at the same location for more than 15 years. The largest fire station west of the Mississippi at the time, the first emergency response came on their first day at 3:14 p.m. - a two-story brick hotel at 6724 Hollywood Blvd. For decades, Fire Station 27 served Hollywood, the motion picture studios, the stars who lived in the hills and along Sunset Boulevard, and during major emergencies, the entire city at large. In 1994, the Northridge earthquake damaged the building. Today, Old Fire Station 27, as it's now known, is a completely restored facility that functions as the Hollywood Fire Museum. Three apparatus bays are filled with equipment, some dating back to the early 1900s. Artifacts of all types dating back to the 1880s are on display and it includes a Fire Service Research Library and educational learning center. The building has been designated an Historic Cultural Monument in the City of Los Angeles. A new Station 27 was constructed next door to the old in June 2012, and a new fire station (#82) was dedicated and placed in service at 5769 Hollywood Boulevard. The sixteen photographs in this gallery show Old Fire Station 27 and its predecessor from 1913 - 1977.

Fremont Place is a privately owned subdivision originally developed in 1911 by Charles Ingram, David Barry and George Briggs. Like the nearby neighborhoods of Windsor Square and Hancock Park, Fremont Place's 50 acre site was promoted as a park-like refuge of sedate mansions. The project would consist of 48 lots measuring 200 x 200 feet and costing less than $7,500. Fremont Place would be accessed through an elegant entrance with granite gateways designed by J. Martyn Haenke. The neighborhood began construction in 1916 with No. 55 designed in the Italian Rennaissance style by John C. Austin. Similar mansions by distinguished architects followed. Residents included oil barons, bankers, and movie stars. Following the Depression, many of the originally proposed lots were subdivided and the lots fronting on Wilshire were sold for commercial buildings. Initially, preservation of Fremont Place was ensured by a set of reciprocal codes, covenants and restrictions (CC&Rs), which were legally enforceable for all the properties. Over time, some homeowners did not renew these covenants and eventually they lapsed altogether. Cooperative efforts in the 1970s enabled an active homeowners association to reverse declining property values and restore the enclave’s desirability. For over 90 years, Fremont Place has been home to movie stars, civic leaders and entrepreneurs. Several residences are Historic Cultural Monuments. The four photographs in this gallery depict early views taken in 1921.

The Garden of Allah Hotel was once Hollywood's most famous (perhaps infamous) hotel during the 1930s - 40s. In 1918, Nazimova, a successful silent film actress who co-starred opposite Rudolph Valentino in “Camille”, bought an 8 room Spanish-style mansion on the southwest corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights Blvds. The building was surrounded by 3 1/2 acres of lush tropical plants and fruit trees. At the urging of her manager, she decided to turn her estate into a hotel. After months of construction building 25 villas, Miss Nazimova's Garden of Allah Hotel opened on January 9, 1927, with an 18 hour party. Some of Nazimova's early guests included Hollywood's royal couple, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, as well as stars Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, and Tom Mix. Two years after she opened, the Depression hit and Nazimova lost the hotel, but managed to hold on to an apartment for herself, where she lived until her death in 1945. The hotel had several subsequent owners. Some of the celebrities who visited were in town working on films, others lived there long-term. Some were between marriages or homes; some were there for the parties from sunset until dawn. Frank Sinatra, John Barrymore, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Greta Garbo, and Errol Flynn resided there. The Garden was also a sanctuary for the many literati who gravitated to Hollywood in the '30s, including Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway. Its popularity waned in the 1950s and it closed in August 1959, after one last huge party. The property was sold to Lytton Savings and Loan which demolished the complex and built its offices and a large strip mall. Another proposed redevelopment is planned. The 18 photos in this gallery were taken between 1936 - 1954.

Eighty photos in this gallery depict two gay pride parades on Hollywood Blvd. in 1975 and 1977.

Gilmore Field and Stadium were recreational venues located on the Gilmore Family property at the intersection of Beverly Boulevard, Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, adjacent to the popular Farmers Market. The field opened on May 2, 1939 and was home of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League until September 1957. Located next to the field, the stadium was built in 1934 and held 18,000 spectators for football games, midget racing (invented here) and other sporting events. The Hollywood Stars Baseball Team moved from Wrigley Field to the newly built Gilmore Field and fast became a very popular team, winning three pennants before 1958. They also began the custom of dragging the infield during the 5th inning, creating an break in the action in hopes that fans would run to the concession stands. The last game was attended by 6000 fans. The Stadium was demolished in 1952. The Field survived for two decades before being razed in 1958 and replaced with one of the first TV facilities in Hollywood, CBS Television City. The 18 photos in this gallery were taken between 1939-1954.

The Greek Theatre is one of three outdoor amphitheatres built in a natural outdoor setting in Hollywood. Joining the Hollywood Bowl and the Pilgrimage Theater, the venue is nestled in Griffith Park, just south of the Griffith Observatory. The two facilities were envisioned by the park’s founder, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, who gifted the property to the City of Los Angeles. The cultural arts facility was planned in conjunction with the observatory in order to create facilities for the public's enjoyment of art and science in the park. Since its opening in 1929, the Greek Revival style of the complex and its bucolic setting have made it a fixture among Hollywood's cultural institutions. The theater has programmed summer concerts and other dramatic performances for 9 decades. The seven photos in this gallery were taken between 1930 - 1971.

Griffith Observatory's unique architecture and setting, compelling programmatic offerings, and cinematic exposure have made it one of the most visited destinations in Southern California. This cultural landmark, scientific icon, and Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument owes its existence to one man, Griffith Jenkins Griffith, the donor/planner of Griffith Park and visionary who worked to make astronomy and observation accessible to all. Griffith was introduced to astronomy through the Astronomical Section of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. Inspired by his visits to the research observatory on Mount Wilson, on December 12, 1912, he offered the City of Los Angeles $100,000 for an observatory to be built on the top of Mount Hollywood. His plan included an astronomical telescope open to free viewing, a Hall of Science devoted to exhibits about the physical sciences, and a theater to screen educational films. This last aspect of the plan would eventually evolve into the planetarium, though the technology was not invented until the 1920s.

 Years into the construction, Griffith realized that his vision would not be realized in his lifetime, so he left explicit instructions for its creation before his death in 1919. The Observatory's groundbreaking took place on June 20, 1933; the formal opening took place on May 14, 1935. The Griffith Trust transferred ownership of the building to the City of Los Angeles that day and the City's Department of Parks and Recreation has operated it ever since. More people have looked through the Observatory’s Zeiss refracting telescope than any other in the world. Located in the roof-top dome on the building's east end, the telescope is intended mainly for nighttime viewing by the public, commonly targeting the Moon, planets, and brightest objects of our galaxy. The Griffith Park Observatory has been the location of many Hollywood movies, including "Rebel Without A Cause", starring James Dean and Natalie Wood. The 18 photographs in this gallery are from 1933-1966.

Hancock Park owes its name to developer-philanthropist George Allen Hancock, who developed the 4400 acre property he inherited from his father, Major Henry Hancock, between Van Ness Ave to the east, Melrose Ave to the north, La Brea Ave to the west, and Wilshire Blvd to the south. In 1919, Hancock subdivided the property into residential lots and leased 105 acres to the Wilshire Country Club with an option to buy. The Hancock Park development began on Rossmore Ave and moved west to Highland Ave in 1921. Architects Paul Williams, A. C. Chisholm, and John Austin were hired to design homes for many of the city's pioneer families, a list that reads like a "Who's Who" of California - Doheny, Chandler, Huntington, Van Nuys, Crocker, Banning, Newmark, Van de Kamp, Duque - to name just a few of the earliest residents. With its abundance of classic Los Angeles architecture and proximity to Wilshire Country Club, it remains one of the most desirable neighbors in Southern California. Neighboring Windsor Square is directly east of Hancock Park and was developed between 1900 - 1910 by George A.G. Howard, who envisioned a beautiful tranquil park setting for family homes reminiscent of the English countryside. Robert A. Rowan initiated this unique residential development and designed the original "Square" to run from Wilshire Blvd to Third St, Plymouth to Irving Blvd. Nurseryman Paul J. Howard designed a majority of the magnificent gardens and supervised tree planting. Windsor Square was later expanded to include the commercial strip of Larchmont Village, between First Street and Beverly Blvd. Many of the homes in these neighborhoods are designated Historic Cultural Monuments and the two areas are Historic Preservation Overlay Zones. The seven photographs in this collection show its early development between 1920 - 1924.

Highland Avenue is one of the oldest streets in Hollywood. Oriented north to south, it begins at the south end of the Cahuenga Pass near the Hollywood Bowl and runs south to Wilshire Blvd, where it connects to La Brea Ave, north of San Vicente. Like Vine Street and Cahuenga Blvd, Highland is one of the three most important north-south arteries in Hollywood. The nucleus of one of three early Hollywood development nodes, it anchored the activities of prominent developers CE Toberman, HJ Whitley and their real estate syndicates, acting as a major conduit to the prestigious neighborhood of Hancock Park as well as Hollywood’s industrial district. On Highland are several famous Hollywood structures: the Hollywood Bowl, the oldest outdoor concert venue; the Hollywood Heritage Museum, housed in the barn where Cecil B. DeMille made the first full length motion picture in Hollywood; Highland-Camrose Bungalow Village, American Legion Post 43, and Roman Villa, all designated landmarks. At Hollywood Blvd and Highland was the famous Hollywood Hotel, built in 1902 for wintering tourists and movie actors. Just south of the boulevard is the Max Factor salon, which today houses of the Hollywood Museum. Further south at the corner of Sunset Blvd is the campus of Hollywood High School, and just south of Santa Monica Boulevard in the industrial district are the Hollywood Storage building and the Community Laundry, both built by Charles E. Toberman. These 47 photographs taken between 1927 - 1987 showcase the development of the street.

Cecil B. DeMille was one of Hollywood's aviation pioneers. With a plane he acquired and restored in 1917, he became a competent pilot and spent time in the U.S. Air Service. He built his first Hollywood Airfield at Crescent Blvd (now Fairfax Ave) and Melrose. With 8 planes, he formed the Mercury Aviation Company and established DeMille Field No. 2 on the north side of Wilshire Boulevard. In August of 1920, DeMille bought his first factory new plane [JL-6] from Junkers, and it was delivered to DeMille Field No. 2 by famed WWI ace, Eddie Rickenbacker. As the public was not yet ready to embrace the idea of using aircraft for serious traveling, DeMille’s airline never became a viable business. He added his last airfield in Altadena in 1922, now the sight of the Altadena Country Club. Businessman Syd Chaplin came to Hollywood in 1919 to manage his brother Charles Chaplin. Being well financed, he explored the struggling aeronautical industry, founding Chaplin Airdrome with Emory Rogers. They established their Airdrome airfield across from DeMille's Field #2 at the corner of Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave. Chaplin & Rogers established the first successful regular service between Wilmington and Avalon with a Curtiss 'Seagull' flying boat, operating the Airdrome for a short while before it was taken over by Emory Rogers. When DeMille left Mercury Aviation, it was added to Rogers Airfield. These Hollywood airfields lasted until 1922 when the aviation industry shifted to other less crowded locations and the fields were developed for commercial and residential uses. These 36 photos taken between 1920-1921 show a little known connection between two very significant Southern California industries which shaped the future of the area.

In 1921, civic leaders sensed a need for a club in which businessmen could not only meet socially, but develop their minds and bodies through physical exercise. Frank K. Galloway and George Moore pursued the idea after calling a meeting in the basement of the old library building and attracting more than 75 Hollywood citizens. Moore and Clarence Huron thus incorporated the Hollywood Finance Company and began selling memberships, first at a nominal cost, using the funds to purchase a site and build a clubhouse. The idea quickly found favor, at a greatly increased price, and the club's officers struck a deal for the purchase of a site on the northeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Hudson Ave. Plans for a larger clubhouse were then drawn and construction of the nine-story building was completed in late 1923. Hollywood boasted of having the most modern and envied athletic club in the country. Appointments included a billiard room, a 25 yard indoor pool, a large gymnasium, spacious lounging rooms, library, mens' and womens' locker rooms, barber shop, cigar store, haberdashery, as well as apartments for bachelor members. The club was so popular that by 1926, it had close to 1000 members. Even though the club was built primarily for men, the wives and daughters of members were allowed to partake in the gymnasium, swim classes, and complete physical education program. For more than thirty years, the Hollywood Athletic Club was a central social establishment and home for numerous service clubs and civic organizations responsible for the development of Hollywood. The club closed in 1956 due to waning membership and ballooning operating costs. The building later became the University of Judaism and gradually fell into disrepair. It had been up for sale for 8 years when preservationist Gary Berwin purchased it in November 1978 and undertook a thorough restoration. It is now a Historic Cultural Monument. The six photos in this gallery were taken between 1929 and 1931.

One of the most famous thoroughfares in the world, Hollywood Blvd begins at Sunset Blvd on the east and proceeds northwest to Vermont Avenue where it straightens out and runs due west to Laurel Canyon Blvd. West of Laurel Canyon, it continues as a small residential street in the hills, ending at Sunset Plaza Drive, just off Sunset Blvd. On Hollywood's east side, the Boulevard passes through the neighborhoods of Little Armenia and Thai Town, west to the commercial core of central Hollywood. The heart of the Boulevard is its commercial core between Gower and La Brea. Listed as a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places, it's home to over 100 buildings built between 1903-1964. The “Main Street” of Hollywood during its Golden Era, the district embodies decades of development and a diversity of popular architectural styles. A large concentration of movie palaces, banks, office buildings, hotels and restaurants cater to residents and tourists alike. Within the district is the Walk of Fame which pays tribute to significant figures of the movie, radio, TV, theater and recording industries. There are over 500 images of Hollywood Blvd in our collection. The 47 images in this gallery are the most popular and requested photographs of Hollywood Blvd in our collection. For more images of Hollywood Blvd between 1899-1940, go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Hollywood-Blvd-1899-1940/G0000VbcX_htzEo8/ For images of Hollywood Blvd between 1941-1990, go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Hollywood-Blvd-1941-1990/G0000QNIC3RueZIQ/

This famous street was originally named Prospect Avenue from 1887-1910 when the town of Hollywood was annexed to the city of Los Angeles. By the turn of the 20th century, street cars ran regularly east and west on the street. The street was residential for the first few decades of its existence, but the advent of the movie industry and its ensuing growth ushered in a transition to more commercial enterprises. One residence, the Janes House, survives today as an example of the Victorian mansions which once lined the street. During the 1920s - 1940s, Hollywood Boulevard was one of the most popular shopping areas in Southern California, featuring the most stylish retail shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and “movie palaces”. Due to the wealth of the motion picture industry, many banks and high rise office building projects were taken on by well known architects. The work of these architects between 1910 - 1940 represented a variety of popular architectural styles: Beaux Arts, Renaissance Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival, predominately. Fanciful movie palaces such as the Egyptian and Chinese Theatre lend an eclecticism to the streetscape.

After World War II, shopping in Hollywood began to decline primarily due to the development of suburbs in the San Fernando Valley and the advent of "shopping centers" that replaced traditional main streets. By the mid-1960s, many of the upscale stores along Hollywood Boulevard began having massive sales and other promotions to attract customers. Many retailers closed their doors, leaving storefronts vacant. In an effort to revitalize the area, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which runs from Gower Street to La Brea Avenue, was created by the Chamber of Commerce in 1958 as a tribute to artists working in the entertainment industry. The Walk of Fame has since honored over 1,800 people by placing their names on the terrazzo sidewalk. The Hollywood extension of the Metro R subway line opened in June 1999. Running from downtown LA to the San Fernando Valley, it stops on Hollywood Blvd at Western Ave, Vine St and Highland Ave. Metro local lines 180, 181 and 217 and Metro Rapid line 780 also serve Hollywood Blvd.

The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater with a seating capacity of 17,376 and is used primarily for music performances. Its stage has been a series of band shells, most of them a distinctive set of concentric arches of varying sizes. The shell is set against the backdrop of the Hollywood Hills and the Hollywood Sign to the northeast. The "bowl" refers to the shape of the concave hillside in which the amphitheater is set. Owned by Los Angeles County, it's the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and hundreds of musical events each year. It is one of the first community cultural sites in Hollywood and a significant portion of the Cahuenga Pass landscape. The 42 images in this gallery are the most popular and requested photographs of the Hollywood Bowl in our collection. For our complete collection of Hollywood Bowl images, go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Hollywood-Bowl/G0000tZwzTqc2I0o/

The Bowl's first afternoon concerts and Easter Sunrise Service were held in 1921 in the natural amphitheater formerly known as the Daisy Dell. At first, the Bowl stayed very close to its natural state. Makeshift wooden benches provided seats for the audience and eventually a simple awning was erected over the stage. In 1926, a group known as the Allied Architects was contracted to regrade the Bowl, provide permanent seating and a shell. These improvements increased capacity considerably, but degraded the natural acoustics. For the 1927 season, Lloyd Wright built a pyramidal shell with a Southwestern look, out of leftover lumber from the Pickford Fairbanks Studios production of “Robin Hood”. It was regarded as the best shell the Bowl ever had acoustically speaking, but its appearance was deemed too avant-garde and it was demolished at the end of the season. Wright was given a second chance for the 1928 season and built a fiberglass shell in the shape of concentric 120-degree arches with movable panels inside that could be used to tune the acoustics. It was designed to be easily dismantled and stored between concert seasons, but this wasn't done and it didn't survive the winter. In 1929, the Allied Architects built a shell with transite skin over a metal frame in a similar concentric shape that lasted until 2003. As the subpar acoustics deteriorated, additional amplification was used to mitigate issues until a new shell with modern technology was built in 2004. Sculptor George Stanley, creator of the Oscar statuette, designed the Muse Fountain. While much has changed in the ensuing years, the tradition of presenting the world's greatest musicians and highlighting musical excellence has remained a constant goal of this famed Los Angeles cultural landmark. Artists that have appeared at the Bowl include: The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Nat King Cole, Queen, The Eagles, the LA Philharmonic, and countless others. The 208 photographs in this gallery taken over 7 decades from 1917-1987 tell the story of this world famous venue.

Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, actress Bette Davis approached fellow actor John Garfield and Dr. Jules Stein about starting a canteen for servicemen in Hollywood, similar to the Stage Door Canteen in New York. The three approached all the entertainment unions, guilds, movie studios and radio stations for support. They found a dilapidated barn located at 1451 N. Cahuenga Blvd and leased it for $100 a month for the duration of the war. Hollywood's motion picture craftsmen volunteered their services to do the renovation and transformed the place. It was unanimously agreed that the Hollywood Canteen would be exclusively for enlisted servicemen, no officers allowed. The servicemen's uniform was his admission ticket. The only people allowed to volunteer were those who worked in some facet of the entertainment business. The Canteen had its grand opening on October 3rd, 1942 with Eddie Cantor as MC. The forecourt was filled with thousands of servicemen, dignitaries and civic leaders. All food, beverages, and cigarettes were free. Each night, two bands played to packed dance floors. Entertainers included Red Skelton, Spencer Tracy, Rosemary Clooney, Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby. Hostesses included Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Paulette Goddard and Joan Crawford. When the war ended in 1945, fewer servicemen visited and the canteen closed by November. Over the course of its 3 year existence, the Hollywood Canteen had over 3 million servicemen come through its doors. It was truly Hollywood's finest home-front contribution to the war. The over 400 photographs of the Canteen in this gallery were taken between 1942 - 1945.

One of Hollywood’s first institutions, the Hollywood Cemetery (now Hollywood Forever Cemetery) is at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd. The cemetery was founded in 1899 on 100 acres as Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery. The Beth Olam Cemetery in the southwestern section is a dedicated Jewish burial ground. It is adjacent to the north wall of Paramount Studios, which acquired forty acres of cemetery property in 1920. The parklike setting has winding pathways leading to above ground crypts, chapels and other buildings. Many of Hollywood’s most notable citizens are interred here, including Rudolph Valentino whose untimely death in 1926 generated an outpouring of grief across the country. He is interred in the Cathedral Mausoleum. One of Hollywood’s most prominent pioneer developers, Charles E Toberman is also buried here along with his wife and son. By the latter part of the 20th century, allegations of financial mismanagement caused the State of California to forbid the sale of plots. On the verge of bankruptcy, Tyler Cassity of Forever Enterprises purchased the now 62-acre property in 1998. The company renamed the property "Hollywood Forever," and refurbished it. The cemetery continues to actively accept interments and host community events. The 11 photos in this gallery show the early stages of cemetery development from 1903-1937.

Less well known than Bette Davis’ efforts at the Hollywood Canteen are the efforts of others to provide for soldiers during World War II. The closest thing to home for soldiers who came to Hollywood was Mrs. Anne "Mom" Lehr's Hollywood Guild and Canteen at 1284 North Crescent Heights Blvd. On an average, Mrs. Lehr and her volunteers accommodated 800 to 1000 servicemen in her complex of buildings. Soldiers were attracted by a clean comfortable bed, 3 meals a day, the privilege of coming and going as they pleased at any hour of the day or night, and staying as long as they wished. Mrs. Lehr saw a need when the war broke out as she began noticing servicemen walking the streets of Hollywood all night, sleeping on benches, in doorways or parked cars. When the USO was open, they could grab a hot coffee and write a letter home; the star-studded Hollywood Canteen offered them a glamorous night out; but neither place was designed to provide shelter, so she decided to turn her home into a free hotel for servicemen. Aside from Mrs. Lehr’s own house, new structures were built on her grounds and nearby buildings were taken over. Soon there were nearly 1,000 beds. A house in the next block was home to about 100 servicemen, and there was also a place for officers. About 1,000 women cleaned, washed dishes, made beds, waited tables, and danced with the boys to keep the place running. It was an expensive operation and nearly folded until W.R. Wilkerson, publisher of the influential Hollywood Reporter, wrote an editorial praising "Mom's" and helped raise funds via collections at local nightclubs, studios, and at the Hollywood Canteen, allowing the enterprise to survive until the end of the war. These 6 photos from 1943 show this little known story.

In 1901, a group prominent real estate investors decided to promote Hollywood and their holdings by building a resort hotel. The company bought 60 acres of the Rancho LaBrea east of Highland Ave. They completed the first unit of the hotel, consisting of 25 rooms, in February 1903. Shortly thereafter, the Hollywood Hotel Company turned to one of its largest stockholders, Myra Hershey of the Pennsylvania chocolate candy bar family, to manage the hotel and an additional 50 rooms were then constructed in 1905. Miss Hershey acquired all the stock in the company in 1907, placed the deed in her name, and added an additional 50 rooms within the next year, bringing the total number to 125. The Mission Revival edifice operated as a resort hotel, drawing wealthy vacationers to Southern California for months long visits. During the ensuing years, the hotel became the social center of Hollywood and was home to many silent film stars including Douglas Fairbanks, Anita Stewart, Lon Chaney, Pola Negri and Norma Shearer. The hotel gained international fame when movie columnist Louella Parsons put film stars on the radio and announced, "This is Louella Parsons broadcasting from the Hollywood Hotel". By 1947 the hotel was deteriorating and it was sold to CE Toberman (one of the founders of the Hollywood Bowl and developer of Grauman's Chinese and the Egyptian Theatre) in 1947. In August 1956, it was razed and a 12 story office building took its place on the northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave. Redeveloped again in 1998, the entire property was sold to Trizec Properties which built a shopping and entertainment complex which opened in 2001. Hollywood and Highland, as it's now known, includes the Kodak Theatre, the "official" home of the Academy Awards. The 37 photographs in this gallery span all 5 decades of the hotel’s existence.

The Mulholland Dam, known as “Lake Hollywood” was named for William Mulholland, the self-taught civil engineer who designed and built the Owens River Aqueduct, among other marvels of water engineering. A man-made reservoir built between August 1923 and December 1924, it was filled and officially dedicated in 1925. The dam is capable of holding more than 2.5 billion gallons of water and is located in Weid Canyon, east of the Cahuenga Pass, just south of the Hollywood Sign. It is 210 feet high, 933 feet long and 16 feet wide at the crest with a maximum depth of 183 feet. 172,000 cubic yards of concrete were used for the construction of the dam. After the failure of the Saint Francis Dam, the Mulholland Dam was reinforced in 1933. When the department of Water & Power mandated that reservoirs be covered and chlorinated in 1988, homeowners groups advocated to save the existing “lake”. According to the Hollywood Knolls Community Club, two new Toyon tanks, among the largest in the world, have taken over the water storage role previously played by both Hollywood Reservoirs. The reservoirs remain full in case of emergency, but reservoir's water is no longer used for drinking. This Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument is a much loved recreation area for the Hollywood Knolls, Beachwood Canyon, and Lake Hollywood communities. The 41 photographs in this gallery show over five decades of its history.

The Hollywood (American) Legion Stadium was one of the two major boxing venues of Los Angeles from the 1920s to 1950s (the other being Olympic Auditorium). The most stable and most successful venue in California during the 1920s and 1930s, it was opened as an 8,000-seat venue on August 12, 1921 under the auspices of American Legion Post No. 43. The first ring was replaced by a more permanent version in 1938 at a cost of over $250,000. African American boxers were not allowed to fight here until 1940, but a large number of them fought at the Hollywood Legion Stadium in subsequent years, including Henry Armstrong. On March 15, 1952, programming was changed from Friday nights to Saturday nights so the televising of Friday night East Coast boxing matches could be accommodated and revenues wouldn't be further lost. The Legion Stadium televised their shows as well, showing them locally on TV station KECA. The Hollywood Legion Stadium closed in 1959. At present, it is the Legion Lanes Bowling Alley on Gower Boulevard, up the street from the Paramount Studios. The 9 photographs in this gallery cover 1926 to 1949.

In February 1929, the Mandarin Market located on the northeast corner of Vine and La Mirada Street opened to the public. Designed in a Chinese architectural style, the market had two fully enclosed stores in addition to fruit and vegetable stalls. Success was short-lived for the small market, however, and it closed in 1933. The structure stayed vacant until 1936 when Nate Gilbert and Larry Fredrick purchased the property. After months of remodeling and expansion, the Hollywood Ranch Market was again unveiled to the public, with added the distinction of being the first self-service market open 24 hours. Their motto was "we never close." The snack bar on Vine Street was a popular gathering place for many celebrities due to its proximity to all the Radio & TV studios on Sunset and Vine. It was common to see such personalities as Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton and Steve Allen at Hollywood Ranch Market's snack bar. With the increasing popularity of all night supermarkets, the Hollywood Ranch Market struggled to compete and finally closed its doors in the 1990s. These 9 photographs from the 1960s and 1970s tell a part of the market’s story.

The “ Hollywood Sign” was originally the ”Hollywoodland Sign” built to advertise a hillside subdivision and premiere residential enclave being developed by SH Woodruff and Tracy Shoults with investors such as Harry Chandler. Hollywoodland had cutting edge infrastructure and strict design controls. Thomas Fisk Goff and his Crescent Sign Company designed and engineered the sign while The Electrical Products Corporation manufactured and installed the electrical and lighting system. The sign site was accessed by a steep dirt road and construction materials were delivered by mule teams. When finished, the sign was 543 feet in length. Each letter was about 45 feet high by 30 feet wide, reaching about 60 feet high when elevated. Spaced 12 feet apart, the letters were not in a completely straight line due to the uneven terrain. Attached to the perimeter of all the letters and the inside of the “O” and “D” were a series of light boxes that illuminated the 2150 foot sign so it could be seen throughout Los Angeles. In the early 1930s, maintenance of the sign was discontinued. In 1945, the land on which the sign sits was deeded to the City of Los Angeles. By the early 1940s the sign was in serious disrepair. In 1944, the letter “H” was knocked over by a windstorm. Five years later the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce paid to have the “H” rebuilt, the last four letters removed, and the sign restored. Ever since, the sign has read HOLLYWOOD. In 1973, the sign underwent a facelift, replacing the missing pieces of sheet metal and painting the letters. In 1978, the sign was seriously damaged by one of the worst storms in Southern California’s history. After an extensive fund raising campaign, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce led the charge to replace the old sign with one made of state-of-the-art materials. More history is available at hollywoodsignhistory.com. The 27 images in this gallery are our most popular and requested Hollywood Sign images. For many more, please go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Hollywood-Sign/G0000hEKWq6dM2uI/

Finished in less than 90 days, the construction of the Hollywood Sign was an engineering marvel in its day. Nine letters were each supported by two 60 foot long telephone type poles which were sunk approximately 8 feet into the ground. Each of the three “Ls” were supported by one 60 foot long telephone pole; the letter “W” was supported by three 60 foot poles. Additional vertical supports consisted of 96 beams, which were 50 feet long and 4 inches square placed approximately 3 feet from each other. It was to these vertical supports and the telephone type poles that the sheet metal face of the sign was nailed. All the pieces of sheet metal were punched with hundreds of one-inch holes to reduce wind resistance. Hundreds of feet of heavy gauge wire was used as additional bracing and support. Each letter was braced by additional beams attached to the back and buried in the hillside. Cement was not used, and as a result, the poles and wood supports were subjected to wood-rot and termites. Sequencing was intricate: hauling the material, then more time to dig the holes, place the supports, anchor them, install the frame and guide wiring and cover it with sheet metal. Ladders and scaffolds were used to install some of the lower pieces of sheet metal, but the vast majority were nailed to the frame by workmen sitting in bosun’s chairs raised and lowered from the top of each letter. The same technique was used to install the lights. Constructed at a cost of $23,501.32, the sign was first illuminated on December 8, 1923. A complete history of the storied sign can be found at hollywoodsignhistory.com and in the gallery of our most popular and requested Hollywood Sign photographs: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Hollywood-Sign/G0000Jipgv.9WE8s/ The 256 photos in this gallery were taken between 1923 and 1979.

Gilmore Field on Beverly Blvd at Fairfax Ave in Hollywood was the home of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League from 1939 to 1957. Owner Herbert Fleishaker moved his Mission Reds baseball team from San Francisco to Los Angeles and renamed it the "Hollywood Stars Baseball Team". After one season, the team was sold to new owners, a list that read like a "Who's Who" of Hollywood, including Robert H. "Bob" Cobb (also owner of the Brown Derby), Barbara Stanwick, Gary Cooper, Cecil B. DeMille, Bing Crosby, and Walt Disney. It quickly became a very popular team, winning three pennants before 1958. The team became genuine rivals of the Los Angeles Angels and it was fairly common for fights between the teams or fans to break out during games. The Stars were said to be innovators, beginning the custom of dragging the infield during the fifth inning, creating a break in the action for fans to use the concession stands and restrooms without missing anything. They also opted to be the first team in their league to discontinue the use of woolen uniforms and long socks. In the mid 1950s, things changed. The Stars, under the management of Clay Hopper, ended up in fourth place. The acquisition of the Brooklyn Dodgers by Los Angeles also meant the ruin of the Pacific Coast League. The Hollywood Stars played their last game on September 5, 1957, in front of 6,354 spectators. The 19 photographs in this gallery show the team in its heyday.

The Hollywood Storage Building was located at 1025 N. Highland Avenue and was built in 1926. The substantial concrete structure was part of Hollywood’s industrial zone, formed in 1919 to provide support services for the motion picture and real estate industries. The impetus for the zone was the increasing tension between the burgeoning motion picture industry and the development of the surrounding area for residential use. Charles E. Toberman, active in both arenas, advocated for the separation. The zone is located close to nearby studio facilities and home to lumber yards, film laboratories, camera repair, prop storage, and other industry related businesses. Originally known as the Terminal Building, owner Toberman changed the name to the Hollywood Storage Building in July 1926. Later, the building was known as the Bekins Van and Storage building. It is an Historic Cultural Monument designated by the City of Los Angeles. The 10 photographs in this gallery show the property between 1926 and 1973.

One of Hollywood’s first institutions to support the film industry, the Hollywood Studio Club was formed in 1916. It began in response to the needs of young women trying to have careers in the movies. As they gathered in the basement of the Hollywood Public Library to read plays, a librarian named Mrs. Eleanor Jones worried about the young women living in cheap hotels and rooming houses with no place to study or practice their craft. Mrs. Jones solicited help from the local YWCA, and a hall was established as a meeting place. Hollywood studios and businessmen donated money to rent an old house on Carlos Avenue with space for 20 women. Mrs. Cecil B. DeMille and Mary Pickford were active in the club's operations, and Pickford later recalled, "Mrs. DeMille spent every day doing something for the club. And the motion picture industry supported us." A newspaper article in 1919 described the club this way: "The club is more of a sorority, with delightful picture 'atmosphere,' than anything else, and the same happy atmosphere will pervade the new home. A dominant note is the refining touch of home life and sense of protection, with assurance of assistance, not only in material way when need arises, but in one's work, as well. Financially, many desperate cases among young women have been tided over by the Hollywood Studio Club." The only qualification needed for admittance to the Studio Club was that the applicant had to be seeking a career in the motion picture business, whether as an actress, cutter, writer, designer, dancer or secretary. The Studio Club offered classes in various aspects of the performing arts, as well as hosting dances, teas, dinners and occasional plays, fashion shows and stunt nights. The club also provided residents with two meals a day, sewing machines, hair dryers, laundry equipment, typewriters, theater literature, practice rooms, stage and sun deck. Between 1923 and 1925, a widely-publicized fundraising campaign was held to build a new facility, as the house on Carlos was at maximum capacity. In 1925, a final $5,000 donation from silent screen star Norma Talmadge allowed the group to begin construction. The organization hired noted architect Julia Morgan to design the new building, and a ground-breaking ceremony took place in June 1925 with Mary Pickford and Morgan in attendance. Morgan designed the Studio Club in a Mediterranean style with interiors decorated in "pistache green, rose coral, and tan. The large building has three sections—a central section with connecting wings on each side. The entrance to the center section is marked by a loggia, three archways with decorative quoins. The building includes several recurring elements from Morgan's Mediterranean style buildings, including full-length arched windows, balconies with iron ballustrades, and decorative brackets.

In 1923 the first steam shovels moved along the slopes of the Hollywood Hills. The project: A subdivision of the 500-acre Sherman & Clark Ranch atop Beachwood Drive. The development was to be known as "Hollywoodland" and was announced in the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most attractive residential sections of the City of Los Angeles". The real estate syndicate comprised of General M. H. Sherman (founder of West Hollywood), Harry Chandler (Publisher of the LA Times) and developer Sidney H. Woodruff. Their grand vision for Hollywoodland was to develop a Mediterranean Riviera in the Hollywood Hills situated between Griffith Park and Lake Hollywood. With architecture and landscaping drawing its inspiration from the southern regions of France, Italy, and Spain, Hollywoodland was marketed to wealthy winter visitors to Los Angeles from the East Coast. Much of the attention and press coverage was due to a huge sign reading "Hollywoodland" which crowned Beachwood Canyon. Known today as "The Hollywood Sign" and recognized as one of the world's best known landmarks, the sign was originally erected as a temporary advertisement for our development. Hollywoodland today remains one of Los Angeles' most popular neighborhoods, known for its hamlet -like charm, recreational activities and historical significance. Throughout its 80 -year history, artists, actors, writers and others have all called it home. Some of America's foremost architects: John Delario (the chief designer of Hollywoodland), Richard Neutra and John Lautner, have designed homes and commercial buildings here, many of which have been placed on the City of Los Angeles' list of Historic Cultural Monuments. Dozens of photos in the collection chronicle Hollywoodland’s development from 1923-76.

Hollywoodland Riding Stables was started in the early 1920s. It provided riding facilities and stables for the horses of residents of the Hollywoodland subdivision. Located at the end of Beachwood Avenue, the stables are a neighborhood amenity which connects to riding trails in Griffith Park. The eleven images in this gallery showcase this popular facility and were taken between 1924 and 1973.

Some of California’s finest hotels and apartments were located in and around Hollywood. The fluidity of the motion picture industry and a large volume of tourists provided the need for temporary housing at various price points. Profits from the industry fueled real estate development. Many of these facilities were social centers and provided a variety of amenities. Among the most famous were the Ambassador, Beverly Hills Hotel, Hollywood Hotel, and Roosevelt Hotel. The first hotel in Hollywood was the Sackett Hotel, built by Horace D. Sackett in 1887 on three lots at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga Avenue. A three story wooden building, it housed a general store and was an overnight stage stop. In 1910, the Lookout Mountain Inn was built in Laurel Canyon. Like the nearby Hollywood Hotel, the Inn was a promotional amenity for the subdivision surrounding it. The twenty four room hotel had a 270 degree view of the city and was a favorite with early motorists. The Hollywood and Beverly Hills Hotels shared some of the same investors and management. The Beverly Hills Hotel opened a few years after Hollywood in 1912. It was managed by Margaret J. Anderson and her son Stanley. Margaret had ties to the Hollywood Hotel. Designed by architect Elmer Grey in the popular Mediterranean style, the hotel was surrounded by over twenty bungalows and extensive gardens. Guests included royalty and celebrities : the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Howard Hughes, Elizabeth Taylor. The Ambassador Hotel began operation formally on January 1, 1921, and was located at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard. Designed by architect Myron Hunt the Ambassador Hotel was frequented by celebrities.. From 1930 to 1943, six Academy Award ceremonies were held there.. Seven U.S. Presidents stayed at The Ambassador Hotel, from Hoover to Nixon, along with heads of state from around the world. For decades, the hotel's famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub hosted well-known entertainers, such as Nat King Cole, Barbara Streisand, Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated in the hotel in 1968. In 2005, the hotel closed its doors and was demolished. The demand for high quality housing in Hollywood proper resulted in a number of prestigious hotels and apartments being erected. They included the Garden Court Apartments (1919), a Renaissance Revival design just down the block from the Hollywood Hotel which boasted thick Oriental carpets, grand pianos, and art in each apartment for residents like Mack Sennet and Louis B. Mayer; the Plaza Hotel (1925) at 1627 Vine just south of the Boulevard which became popular with radio personalities; the Roosevelt Hotel (1927), home to the first Academy Award ceremony ; Knickerbocker , Christie Hotel, built by the Christie film syndicate, Chateau Elysee, a venture of Mrs. Thomas Ince; and the Hillview Apartments (1917).

Ken Murray's Blackouts was, the longest running variety revue in the history of American theater. Murray started theater goers laughing on June 24, 1942 when the Blackouts first opened at the El Capitan Theater (now the Avalon)on Vine Street. Murray spent months assembling a group of personalities and acts which included Marie Wilson, a comedienne; the Nicholas Brothers, an African American dance team; singer Connie Russell; and impersonator Roy Davis. The show was patterned after the old vaudeville performances. The opening night audience, which included entertainment celebrities Mae West, Al Jolson and Rudy Valee loved the new show, and it was only a few weeks before the show played to a packed audience each night. Ken Murray's Blackouts highlighted many remarkable acts, but his real star was Marie Wilson, who performed in 3,126 consecutive performances without missing a single show. Other personalities and acts which appeared in Ken Murray's Blackouts were Jack Mulhall, actor; Rennie Renfro and Daisy (The Wonder Dog); The Liphams, an acrobatic act; Fred Sanborn, pantomimist; Mardie and Ray, trick ropers; Joyce Elaine, acrobatic dancer; Bonnie Baker, singer; Burton's Birds, trained bird act; Harold and Lola, exotic dancers; Harris and Shore, comic dancers; Owen McGiveney, quick-clothes change artist; Nick Lucas, singer and guitarist; Peg-Leg Bates, one-legged dancer; Elizabeth Walters, actress; and many and many others. In addition to the many variety acts, Murray opened his show with his "Glamour Lovelies", many of whom later became stars in their own right as Rhonda Fleming, Cara Williams and Mary Ford. During the seven years, two months and three days that the show ran, it played 3,844 performances, entertained 4,693,524 patrons, employed 1,456 persons and helped to launch more that one hundred performers on their way to stardom. Thirty-five photographs of the show from 1943 to 1949 are featured here.

The La Brea Tar Pits (or Rancho La Brea Tar Pits) are a famous cluster of tar pits in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. Asphalt or tar (brea in Spanish) has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years. The tar is often covered with water. Over many centuries, animals that came to drink the water fell in, sank in the tar, and were preserved as bones. The George C. Page Museum is dedicated to researching the tar pits and displaying specimens from the animals that died there. The La Brea Tar Pits are a now registered National Natural Landmark (check). Tar pits are composed of heavy oil fractions called asphalt, which seeped from the earth as oil. In Hancock Park, crude oil seeps up along the 6th Street Fault from the Salt Lake Oil Field, which underlies much of the Fairfax District north of the park. The oil reaches the surface and forms pools at several locations in the park, becoming asphalt as the lighter fractions of the petroleum biodegrade. This seepage has been happening for tens of thousands of years. . Apart from the dramatic fossils of large mammals, the asphalt also preserves very small "microfossils": wood and plant remnants, insects, dust, and even pollen grains. Radiometric dating of preserved wood and bones has given an age of 38,000 years for the oldest known material from the La Brea seeps. The Portola expedition, a group of Spanish explorers led by Gaspar de Portola made the first written record of the tar pits in 1769. Father Juan Crespi wrote, "While crossing the basin the scouts reported having seen some geysers of tar issuing from the ground like springs; it boils up molten, and the water runs to one side and the tar to the other. The scouts reported that they had come across many of these springs and had seen large swamps of them, enough, they said, to caulk many vessels. We were not so lucky ourselves as to see these tar geysers, much though we wished it; as it was some distance out of the way we were to take, the Governor [Portola] did not want us to go past them. We christened them Los Volcanes de Brea [the Tar Volcanoes]." The George C.Page Museum, part of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, is built next to the tar pits. Opened in 1977, it tells the story of the tar pits and exhibits specimens found in them. Paleontologists supervise and direct the work of volunteers. Seven early photos from 1920 to 1934 are part of this gallery.

Along Larchmont Boulevard is alternately Larchmont Village, the commercial heart of the Windsor Square and Hancock Park neighborhoods. Larchmont Village is centered on Larchmont Boulevard between Beverly Boulevard and 3rd Street. A streetcar went up and down the street until the 1940s." Keystone Cops" chases were filmed on Larchmont Blvd. "Abbott and Costello Meet The Three Stooges" was filmed on Larchmont Blvd along with "False Alarms" (1936) using both Third Street and Larchmont Blvd. Today many of the local homes are used to film commercials and movies. A quaint and friendly shopping district in the center of the city, it is bordered by some of the most well preserved older homes in the city, ranging from 1920's California bungalows to grand old estates. Larchmont Village serves as a Main Street retail district to Hancock Park, Windsor Square and nearby Paramount Studios, and is home to the area’s newspaper the Larchmont Chronicle. Hollywood and Vine Streets are about one mile to the north, with Paramount Studios on Melrose close to its northern terminus. The area is close to Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles Tennis Club and Black Foxe Military Academy (a private preparatory school). The trendy street is home to Chevalier's Bookstore, Landis General Store, several real estate companies, and restaurants and shops. Eighty photographs taken between 1922 and 1977 chronicle the first five decades of the street’s development.

Laurel Canyon was first developed in the 1910s, and became a part of the city of Los Angeles in 1923 (prior to then, it was an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County. Lookout Mountain at its apex had one of the best panoramic views of the Cahuenga Valley. Many side roads branch off the main canyon, but most are not through streets, reinforcing the self-contained nature of the neighborhood. An important transit corridor between West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley, the division between the two is roughly be defined by the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Mulholland Drive. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the area of Laurel Canyon was inhabited by the local Tongva tribe of Native Americans. A spring-fed stream that flowed year round provided water. It was that water that attracted Mexican ranchers who established sheep grazing on the hillsides in the late 1700s and early 1800s. After the Mexican government was ejected, the area caught the attention of Anglo settlers interested in water rights. Around the turn of the century, the area was subdivided and marketed as mountain vacation properties. Between 1912 and 1918, a trackless electric trolley (similar to a streetcar) ran up the canyon from Sunset Boulevard to the base of Lookout Mountain Road where a road house served visitors. Travel to the newly subdivided lots and cabins further up the canyon was at first made on foot or by mule. As the roads were improved, access was possible by automobile. Around 1920, a local developer built the Lookout Mountain Inn at the summit of Lookout Mountain and Sunset Plaza roads, which burned just a few years after opening. Among the famous residences in Laurel Canyon are the log cabin once owned by silent star Tom Mix that later became home to the Zappa clan, and another (directly across the street) that legendary magician Harry Houdini may have lived in. Laurel Canyon found itself the center of counterculture activity and attitudes in the 1960s, becoming famous as home to many of L.A.'s rock musicians, such as Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison of the Doors, The Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield. Joni Mitchell, living in the home in the Canyon that was immortalized in the song, "Our House", written by her then-lover Graham Nash, would use the area and its denizens as inspiration for her third album, Ladies of the Canyon. That bohemian spirit endures today. Laurel Canyon has been mentioned in many films and novels of Los Angeles, including “Laurel Canyon” written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko in 2002. The thirty-five photographs in this gallery were taken between 1902 and 1974.

The Magic Castle, located at 7001 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, is a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts housed in one of Hollywood’s oldest residences. As the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts , it bills itself as "the most unique private club in the world." The building is a Chateauesque mansion built in 1909 by banker/real estate developer Rollin B. Lane, and is a near duplicate of the 1897 Kimberly Crest House and Gardens in Redlands California. Both were built by renowned architects Dennis and Farwell; the Lane Residence is an Historic Cultural Monument in the City of Los Angeles. Ownership of the mansion remained in the Lane family until 1955 when it was sold to Thomas O. Glover, whose family still owns the property. In September of 1961, Glover leased the mansion to Milt and Bill Larson, who began converting it to its use. It opened on January 2, 1963. A private club, a typical evening for members and their guest features magic shows and historic displays, as well as a full service dining room and several bars. The lobby of the Castle has no visible doors to the interior, and visitors must say a secret phrase to a sculpture of an owl to gain access, exposing the entrance to the club. In the music room, a piano is played by invisible "Irma," the Castle's "resident ghost," who takes musical requests. One of the Castle's most famous members was the late Dai Vernon, an expert in slight of hand. Vernon was the Magician-in-Residence at the Castle for many years until his death in 1992. Other famous magicians who have been regular performers at the Magic Castle include Mark Wilson, Jay Ose, Senator Crandall, Johnny Plaatt, Kuda Bux and Billy McComb. Several "celebrity magic hobbyists" have also performed at the Magic Castle, including Cary Grant, Steve Martin, Johnny Carson, Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Alexander. The photographs in this gallery were taken between 1964 and 1976.

The Hollywood Masonic Temple located at xxxx Hollywood Boulevard is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District. It was designed by architect John C. Austin, one of Los Angeles’ most significant and prolific architects, whose work also includes the Griffith Observatory, Shrine Auditorium, and City Hall. In 1921, the Hollywood lodge of the Masons relocated from their existing lodge on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard, the current site of the Kodak Theatre. The construction of the new three-story building on the south side was led by lodge master, Charles E. Toberman, who was responsible for the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Roosevelt Hotel and the Max Factor Building. The building cost was $176,678, with an additional sum of $56,421 allotted to furniture and fixtures and $36,295 for the purchase of the lot. When the new temple opened, it was one of the most substantial structures in Hollywood. It had a billiard room, pipe organ, ladies parlor, ballroom and lodge rooms. One writer described the building as "unsurpassed for beauty, attractiveness and richness of equipment." The ballroom was opened in February 1923 and featured a program on "the evolution of dance" featuring dancer Lucille Means. Many of Hollywood's elite over the years have been Masons, including Oliver Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, W.C. Fields, Cecil B. DeMille, D.W. Griffith, John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. During the Great Depression, the organization was forced to rent the ground floor to a social club, but after World War II the Masons resumed full use of the structure. In 1948, more than 300 people crowded into the Masonic Temple to attend a memorial service for D. W. Griffith. In 1969, longtime Mason Harold Lloyd was honored in a ceremony as his name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in a location directly in front of the Masonic Temple. By the late 1970s, Masonic membership had declined, and the Masons rented out ground-floor space to a restaurant. By 1982, the Masons were no longer using the building, and it was sold to singer Rosita LaBello for her Hollywood Opera & Theater Company. In 1987 the building was renovated and reopened as the Hollywood Live Entertainment Pavilions. Detroit developer James Hoseyni invested $1.5 million to convert the building into a versatile entertainment center including a cabaret, jazz club, and an 800-person dance club. With the renovation of the El Capitan Theater next door in the early 1990s, Disney began leasing the building for special events and in 1998 purchased the building. Now called the El Capitan Entertainment Centre, Disney restored original fixtures, including backlighted stone filigree, wrought iron torchieres, Batchelder tiles and old post boxes once used by Masonic officers. Beginning in 2008, ABC's late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” originates from a studio in the building.

The Masquers Club became an emblematic symbol of thespian fellowship during the Golden Age of Hollywood. This close-knit fraternity maintained a unique clubhouse on 1765 North Sycamore Street in Hollywood for over five decades. Founded in 1925 by a group of eight actors, the majority of the charter members are mostly forgotten names, but some original Masquers remain memorable: Warner Baxter, "Fatty" Arbuckle, Harry Langdon, John Ford, John Gilbert, Edmund Goulding and Lionel Barrymore. One of the leading spirits of the club for four decades (who was also one of the founders of the Screen Actors Guild) was the suave British actor, Alan Mowbray, who neatly summed up the purpose of the Masquers: "The Masquers Club in Hollywood is a unique organization founded by a group of lonely stage actors who felt the need for a place foregather and talk nostalgically of "footlights" as opposed to klieg lights." Evening events at the Club were laden with humor. Created by some of the sharpest wits in Tinseltown, their format and ambience were eventually adapted and popularized by Dean Martin's televised "roast" programs of the 1970's. More than a mutual admiration society, the Masquers Club had an emphasis on thespian tradition which encompassed stage, radio and silver screen productions. Beginning in 1940, its radio show on KNX was an outgrowth of original comedy, dancing and dramatic skits. Along with other period acting clubs, the Masquers landed a studio production deal for short films. In association with Radio (RKO) Pictures, the club made eleven two-reel comedies during 1931-33. Many of the plays performed at the Masquers clubhouse theatre possessed a quality and diversity of casts, writing, direction and production that couldn't be seen elsewhere. The Masquers provided an important venue for many character actors to hone their craft. As the years thinned their ranks, it became increasingly difficult for the club to maintain its élan in a changing Hollywood. The clubhouse on North Sycamore, heavily mortgaged and gradually surrounded by the concrete of progress, finally had to be sold in foreclosure. Now demolished, the old headquarters became an Historic Cultural Monument before its demise. An apartment building now occupies the site. The club began to meet in the San Fernando Valley and dedicated itself to its historic memorabilia collection. Five photos taken in 1973 are displayed here.

Beginning in the early 1970s, Hollywood saw the proliferation of massage parlors and adult stores, as well as an increase in both female and male prostitution. Names such as "Wild Mary's", "Institute of Oral Love", and "Palace of Love" were used by these massage parlors to convey the idea that more could be obtained than just a massage. The photographs in this gallery document the period between 1971 and 1975 and are a rare photographic glimpse into a particular moment in Hollywood history.

Cosmetic firm Max Factor & Company was founded in 1909 by Maximilian Faktorowicz (1877–August 30, 1938), a Polish Jew who anglicized his name to Max Factor. Operated by two branches of the family, it was a multi-generational international success before its sale in 1973. Acquired by Proctor and Gamble in 1991, the storied cosmetics firm was an integral part of the burgeoning motion picture industry. In the early years of the business, Factor personally applied his products to actors and actresses. He developed a reputation for being able to customize makeup in order to present actors and actresses in the best possible light on screen. Among his most notable clients were Ben Turpin, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, Jean Harlow, Claudette Colpert, Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland and many others. Virtually all major movie actresses for over five decades were regular customers of the Max Factor beauty salon on Highland Avenue just south of Hollywood Boulevard, conveniently located It was located just south of the Hollywood Hotel. In 1918 Max Factor completed development of his Color Harmony range of face powder, which due to its wide range of shades allowed him to customize and provide more consistent make-up for each individual actor or actress. Signature statements were made by Clara Bow”s heart-shaped pierrot lips, but then customized for a different look on Joan Crawford years later. Factor created shades of hair color for Jean Harlow (Platinum), Crawford (Special Medium), and Claudette Colbert (Dark). For Rudolph Valentino he created makeup which complemented his complexion, and masked the swarthiness of his skin on screen. He made innovations: selling his own brand of greasepaint in collapsible tubes for more hygienic and even application. While Factor himself was content for the company to remain a specialised supplier of products to the film community, the next generation were convinced that they could grow the company into a much larger enterprise. National distribution began in 1927. Due to the strong connection with the film community, the company was able to use celebrity endorsements in advertising its products. The development of Technicolor film required the company to develop a new line of products. New make-up, initially called the "T-D" and then the "Pan-Cake" series, was sold in a solid cake form and applied with a damp sponge which offered the advantage of concealing skin imperfections under a transparent matte finish. Today, the former Max Factor Studio Building on Highland Avenue, its Art Deco facade designed by xxx, is the home of the Hollywood Museum. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a Historic Cultural Monument in the City of Los Angeles. There are nine photographs in this gallery which were taken between 1933 and 1975.

The photographs in this category currently include views that are not included in the other more specific categories. Miscellaneous street scenes, buildings and businesses in Hollywood are featured, including the Union Ice Company on Santa Monica Blvd., the Pep Boys store, the Sunfax Mart and the grand opening of the Sears and Roebuck store on Santa Monica Blvd.

At the end of 1940, a much-anticipated nightclub was in preparation for a New Year's opening, but it missed the gala holiday by just three days. The Mocambo nightclub opened on January 3, 1941, at the site of the old Club Versailles on the Sunset Strip. The ten-dollar opening night tariff hardly slowed the steady procession of stars parading into a room that was to be the setting for a decade's worth of extraordinary glamour. Owners Felix Young and ex-agent, Charlie Morrison created an extraordinary background for their restaurant, which was described as "a cross between a somewhat decadent Imperial Rome, Salvador Dali, and a birdcage." Allusions to a Mexican motif, as suggested by the name, were carried out in a "medley of soft blue, flamboyant terra cotta, and scintillating silver." Flaming red columns with harlequins arranged on them competed with rows of oversized ball fringe decorating lacquered trees. Striped patterns were everywhere. The most unusual aspect was a dazzling aviary of live birds. Every evening was a star night. Among those who turned up were Marlene Dietrich with Jean Gabin; Judy Garland with husband David Rose; Lana Turner and Tony Martin; Myrna Loy and Arthur Hornblow celebrating their divorce together; Carole and Clark Gable; Lucille Ball and Dezi Arnez out rumba'ing; Louis B. Mayer; Reggie Gardiner; Hedy LaMarr; Barbara Hutton; Cary Grant; Cole Porter; Irvine Berlin and Rosalind Russell. At one table might be Franchot Tone, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart and Burgess Meredith; while, at another, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. could be found deep in conversation with Norma Shearer. The Mocambo boasted of having some of the top performers, such as Edith Piaf, Eartha, Kitt, Dinah Shore, Bob Hope, Jack Benny Lisa Kirk Billy Daniels and Lena Horne, entertain the "Who's Who" of the entertainment world. According to Hollywood legend, Marilyn Monroe persuaded the owners of the all-white club to book Ella Fitzgerald in the mid1950s, who became the first African American performer at the Mocambo. Frank Sinatra made his Los Angeles debut as a solo act at the club. Mocambo, as fan-magazine reporter Lloyd Pantages observed, "... is a place in Hollywood which looks like Hollywood; magnificent, luxurious, exotic and unique.” With the opening of Mocambo, the last great heyday of Hollywood nightclubbing was in full swing. Together with Romanoff's, Ciro's, the Cocoanut Grove, the Palladium and Earl Carroll's, the pace for the rest of the '40s was set. With the exception of the bigger draws like the Palladium and Earl Carroll's, most clubs of the decade tended toward the intimate and refined, dismissing the loud bands and novelties of the 1930s. By 1945, however, Hollywood and its social scene were on the verge of dramatic changes that would alter forever the business of motion pictures and the equally serious business of nightclub entertainment.

The 43 images in this gallery are our most popular and requested Movie Making images. For many more, please go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Movie-Making/G0000OP_WNyvuzaQ/

Contrary to popular belief, the motion picture industry did not have its roots in Hollywood or even Southern California. This soon to be "magical" business had its origin in both Chicago and the environs of New York City. Companies such as Edison, Selig Polyscope, Lubin, Thanhouser, Jesse Lasky Feature Play, Vitagraph, New York Motion Picture Company, Kalem, Essanay, and Biograph all had their headquarters and their first studios in the east. Because the majority of early productions were made outdoors, inclement weather was a major factor in production. When William Selig's Polyscope company first sent a troupe of actors to the west coast, word spread quickly that the weather in Southern California was perfect for making movies and it wasn't long before there was a migration of production units heading to the west coast. As more and more companies established permanent studios in Southern California, and particularly in the Hollywood area, it became clear that the center of this burgeoning industry was going to be on the West Coast. Film processing laboratories quickly followed and it was no longer necessary to send negatives back east. By 1915, Hollywood on its way to becoming the motion picture capital of the world. With the industry still in the experimental stage, the first studios consisted of ramshackle buildings usually converted barns, stores, and warehouses. Typically, an early studio consisted of a building which contained offices, storage for costumes and props, rooms for processing film, and the company's laboratory. Movable walls and props were erected on wood platforms (“stages”). To regulate the sometimes intense sunlight, sheets of muslin were draped on guide wires overhead. The distinction of having established the first motion picture studio in Hollywood goes to the Nestor Film Company of Bayonne, New Jersey and Staten Island, New York. The company was started by David Horsley and Charles Gorman in 1907 and was originally called the Centaur Film Company. Reorganized shortly thereafter, the Nestor Film Company was born. On October 27, 1911, a troupe of forty members of this film company arrived in Los Angeles to produce the "Nestor" brand of films. The personnel of the company included David Horsley; Al Christie, business manager and director of comedies; and Walter Prichard and Tom Evans, cameramen. Actors included Dorothy Davenport and her mother, Eugenie Forde; Jack Conway, Harold Lockwood, and Gordon Sackville. While on the train to Los Angeles, they met Mr. Murray Steele, theatrical producer and a friend of Mr. Frank Hoover, who was in the photographic business at the southeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood. Mr. Steele advised Mr. Horsley to call on Mr. Hoover for potential studio sites in Hollywood. Horsley was shown the former Cahuenga House (also known as the Blondeau Tavern) on the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street.

The fifty five-mile Mulholland Scenic Parkway and Corridor is one of the most famous thoroughfares in the country. Constructed in 1924, twenty four-mile Mulholland Drive in the City of Los Angeles was envisioned by the famous Water Bureau Chief and City Engineer, William D. Mulholland, as a scenic road that would transport city dwellers to the mountains and beaches. The winding route starts west of the 101 Freeway in Hollywood, and offers panoramic city, mountain and ocean views. Eight miles of the Scenic Parkway from the 405 freeway west to Woodland Hills remain unpaved, and are subject to closure. Mulholland Highway starts in the City of Calabasas and twists through the Santa Monica Mountains for thirty miles to Leo Carrillo State Beach. Franklin Canyon Park, and Fryman Canyon Park are accessed from Mulholland Drive. Seven scenic overlooks have been developed on the highway by the Santa Monica Conservancy. Built in 1984 at the time of the Summer Olympics, the Hollywood Bowl Scenic Overlook is situated to provide a beautiful view of the Hollywood Bowl Amphitheater, downtown Los Angeles, and, on a clear day, the ocean and Catalina Island. To the east, the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Park Observatory are clearly visible, with the San Fernando Valley to the north. Other overlooks show views of Universal Studios and the San Fernando Valley and parks and canyons which intersect the highway. The scenic highway winds through many canyon and hillside neighborhood and is a major feature of the Los Angeles landscape. Nine images from 1924 document the road’s early development.

Murals have been a feature of Los Angeles architecture for decades. They decorate the interiors and exteriors of buildings, providing a sense of place with their often local subject matter. In the 1980s, the Hollywood Arts Council began a major project for the community. The mural of tennis star John McEnroe was placed on the east side of the Equitable Building on the northeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. An image of local celebrity Angelyne was placed on the south side of the Plaza Hotel on north Vine Street. Another featured photographer Ansel Adams and was located at a gas station at Santa Monica Boulevard and Highland Avenue. One of the most popular is a composite of film stars which graces the Attie Building at the intersection of Wilcox and Hollywood Boulevard. The ten photographs here depict the project in 1987.

A great innovator in the record industry, Glenn Wallich founded Music City at Sunset and Vine St. in 1940. Music City operated for over 40 years and became renowned for offering the most complete selection of new records in the country. Glenn and his brother Clyde, were instrumental in providing personal service and a new concept in record merchandising. The entire sales floor was stocked with demonstration records that patrons could take into private listening booths and sample before purchasing. All long play records were sold in shrink wrap, an innovation of Music City. In 1949, Wallich’s interest in other aspects of the music business such as Capitol Records caused him to sell a controlling interest in Music City to his brother, Clyde, who renamed it Wallich's Music City. The store would stay open until the 1980's. In its day, Music City was the mecca for music lovers and celebrities. The store welcomed customers in the morning and stayed open until 2:00 am. Through the years, local radio personalities, from Jack Bailey, Dick Whitinghill, Wink Marindale, Gary Owens, B. Mitchell Reed and others roamed through the record store, sometimes broadcasting from a makeshift studio behind the store windows on Vine. Movies stars Burt Lancaster, Rock Hudson, Johnny Mathis and Red Skelton were regular customers. The Rolling Stones, the Byrds, the Mamas and Papas all shopped at Wallich's. Wallich's became more than a record store; it was a place to meet friends, listen to records and hang out and see celebrities. Managers Darryl Stabile and Hugh McCurley insured that every customer that walked into the store was approached and offered assistance. Music City was a time and place that passed through the lives of many, relegated now to memory. Seven photos in this gallery give a glimpse of the storied venue in the 1970s.

Before the turn of the 20th century, oil exploration was on the increase in Los Angeles. Large deposits were identified throughout the Los Angeles basin, including at Rancho La Brea, then owned in part by the Hancock family. In October 1885, Mrs. Ida Hancock entered an agreement with Messrs. Lyman Stewart, Dan McFarland and Wallace Hardison. She stipulated 1/8 royalty, reserved agricultural rights and the privilege of continuing to mine the La Brea Tar Pits, which was still her chief source of income. The first well was drilled to a depth of 1780 feet, and proved to be a dry well. Three other holes were drilled, only one of which produced oil in a moderate flow. These operations, however, marked the beginning of the present Union Oil Company of California. By 1910, nearly 250 wells were producing over 3,800,000 barrels a year. Watching the increased oil development on the Rancho, Mrs. Hancock’s son G. Allan became interested in learning about the business. At the age of 25, he took a job with the Salt Lake Company and began a three year study of every phase of the industry, including running gas engines for pumps, handling the oil for delivery, drilling shafts, and increasing his knowledge of geology. After his employment with Salt Lake, he requested that his mother invest in a company of his own. By 1907, Hancock had a well yielding 200-300 barrels a day. This was the beginning of the La Brea Oil Company, which eventually had over seventy wells. Just to the north of the Hancock holdings, Arthur Gilmore had purchased a relatively small plot of land within the Rancho La Brea and had established a dairy farm on it. In 1903, while drilling for water, Gilmore struck oil. One rich well after another was brought in on his old farm, changing it into an oil field started with derricks and processing plants and a shack town to supply workers needs. Gilmore sold his dairy and established the E. F. Gilmore Oil company, which his son, Earl, developed into the largest independent oil business on the West Coast. This property today is the site of the Farmers Market and CBS Television City. . By the early 1920s, the residential areas Los Angeles and Hollywood were expanding.. It wasn't long before this land use had encroached into the oil fields just south of Hollywood. By 1925 all of the oil wells were gone. Eight photographs from 1924 to 1930 provide a glimpse of this industry.

Outpost Estates is one of the most significant subdivisions in Hollywood. Many of the original houses have been preserved, and Lower Outpost looks much like it did in the 1920s. In 1853, Don Urquidez built the first adobe home on an Native American at what is now the intersection of Outpost Dr. & Hillside Dr. Harrison Gray Otis purchased the original Outpost acreage from Urquidez, using the property as a rural retreat which he named "The Outpost". The property would change hands a number of times before becoming part of the Outpost Estates. Charles E. Toberman, future developer of Outpost Estates, acquired, sold it, and required it. Toberman also purchased 325 acres to the north of the Outpost property in "Hay Canyon" from Myra Hershey for the development of Outpost Estates, but he needed canyon access from Franklin Avenue. So Mr. Toberman re-purchased the needed ten and a half acres of "Tract 4820" (what is today a part of Franklin Avenue, Outpost Drive and El Cerrito Place) in April of 1924. Toberman then embarked on his dream of developing Outpost Estates, "one of the most exclusive and beautiful residential parks in the world". Over the next twenty years, he oversaw the development of a planned community which he regarded as his supreme achievement of the more than fifty-three subdivisions he developed in Hollywood. By 1926, Mr. Toberman was in the midst of an extensive improvement program on Tract #9408, the Outpost Drive and Outpost Circle area, the heart of his Outpost Estates. Design restrictions gave the community a distinct character. Architecture was limited to pure Spanish with sloped roofs of genuine kiln tiles; flat roofs were strictly forbidden. Required plaster wall construction ensured enduring strength and earthquake resistance. Infrastructure included ornamental street lights, concrete roads and sidewalks, and underground utilities. Lots ranged in price from $30,000 to $50,000, a huge sum at that time. As a result of his design sense and attention to the latest refinements in living, luxurious homes and building sites in the area were in great demand. Outpost Estates was acclaimed far and wide, and Mr. Toberman continued to open new and carefully planned segments of this exclusive area. The stock market crash of 1929 shattered his plans. In debt for over two million dollars, his sources of revenue were cut off. By 1934, the banks had established a hiatus on residential financing, and private enterprise was at a virtual standstill. Fortunately, the clientele interested in buying in Outpost Estates were top stars of the day and multimillionaires from Texas and the East. So, palatial homes continued to be built throughout the Depression years.

Los Angeles Times publisher Norman Chandler funded the construction of the Art Deco styled Hollywood Palladium at a cost of $1.6 million in 1940. Built on a part of the original Famous Players Lasky studio lot on Argyle and El Centro avenues, the stylish dance hall was designed by Gordon Kaufmann, architect of the Greystone Mansion, the Los Angeles Times Building, Santa Anita Racetrack, Hoover Dam and Caltech. rms. The theater opened October 31, 1940 with a concert by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Over the years, it has hosted the Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, The Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys, Glenn Miller and his orchestra, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand, Madonna, Backstreet Boys and hundreds of others. The Tito Puente Orchestra regularly performed to audiences of 5000. During WWII, the Palladium hosted radio broadcasts featuring Betty Grable greeting servicemens' song requests. Big Band acts began losing popularity in the 1950s, causing the Palladium to hold charity balls, political events, auto shows, and rock concerts. In 1961, it became the home of the long-running Lawrence Welk Show. In 1973, Stevie Wonder and Taj Majal held an “Afrocentric concert” to benefit African refugees. In the 1980s and 90s, punk rock, rap and heavy metal concerts were staged. In 2007 the owners agreed to a long-term lease to operate, manage and exclusively book the Hollywood Palladium with Live Nation. A major renovation included an overhaul of the venue’s interior and exterior, a new dance floor, upgraded acoustics and concessions, and an improved stage infrastructure. The Palladium reopened with a Jay-Z concert on October 15, 2008. The building is an Historic Cultural Monument. There are twenty photographs in this gallery taken between 1941 and 1987.

To get a real sense of the growth of Hollywood, one only has to look at the panoramic views in this gallery. The early panorama photos show a rural and sparsely populated Cahuenga Valley. One of the 1895 photos was taken from Barnsdall Park and shows only a couple of ranch or farm houses, surrounded by fields and orchards. Another 1906 panorama photo shows a few residences, commercial buildings and the first building of the Hollywood High School. As time goes on, the panoramic photos show more and more development. Hollywood’s real growth took place after the motion picture business settled there in October, 1911. By 1914, more than fifteen film companies called Hollywood home. The motion picture industry and subsequent tourism attracted many and as a result, commercial and residential development exploded in the early years of the twentieth century. Most of the panorama photos were taken from the hills just north of the Cahuenga Valley and Hollywood. As high rise buildings were built, panorama photos were taken from the buildings’ rooftops. The 154 photographs in this gallery span a century of growth and development (1887-1987) and provide a clear record of Southern California land use patterns.

A landmark structure in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, the Pan Pacific Auditorium once stood at 7600 West Beverly Boulevard. Located near Gilmore Field, Gilmore Stadium, and Farmers Market, for over 35 years it was the premiere location for indoor public events in Los Angeles. Designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm Wurdeman & Beckett, which later designed the Music Center and the space-age "Theme Building" at Los Angeles International Airport, the Pan-Pacific Auditorium opened May 18, 1935 for a 16-day model home exhibition. Noted as one of the finest examples of Streamline moderne architecture in the United States, the green and white facade faced west, was 228 feet (69 m) long and had four stylized towers and flagpoles meant to evoke upswept aircraft fins. Industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes was reported to have been a consultant on the building's design in 1934. The widely known and much photographed facade belied a modest rectilinear wooden structure resembling an overgrown gymnasium inside and out. The auditorium sprawled across 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) and had seating for up to 6,000. Throughout the following 30 years the Pan-Pacific would host the Ice Capades and the Harlem Globetrotters, serve as home to the Los Angeles Monarchs of the Pacific Coast Hockey League along with UCLA sports events, car shows, political rallies and circuses. During the 1940s it was used for audience-attended national radio broadcasts and in the 1950s for televised professional wrestling shows, General Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke to a beyond-capacity crowd of 10,000 in 1952 a month before being elected President of the United States; Elvis Presley performed there in 1957 before he was drafted into the Army; and Vice President Richard Nixon addressed a national audience from the Pan-Pacific in November 1960. The building remained Los Angeles' primary indoor venue until the 1972 opening of the much larger Los Angeles Convention Center. Neglected for many years, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 in hopes of stimulating a reuse. The 1980 release of the movie musical “Xanadu” brought renewed hopes the building might be saved when the auditorium's facade was used to portray a dilapidated building which became a sparkling, brightly lit roller rink. On the evening of May 24, 1989 (six days after the 54th anniversary of its opening), the Pan-Pacific Auditorium was destroyed by a spectacular fire. The site is now Pan-Pacific Park. Seventy photographs in this gallery document three decades of the auditorium’s use.

The Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre, is located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theatre built for the impresario Alexander Pantages. The palatial Art Deco theatre opened on June 4, 1930, as part of the Pantages Theatre Circuit. The Pantages Theatre Circuit had been built on vaudeville, and the new Hollywood theatre programmed first-run movies alternating through the day with Vaudeville acts for its first two years. But like other theatres during the Great Depression, it was forced to economize and thereafter operated primarily as a movie theatre. Pantages sold the Hollywood landmark in 1932 to Fox West Coast Theaters. In 1949, Howard Hughes acquired the Pantages under his RKO Theatre Circuit and moved his personal offices to the building's second floor. From 1949 through 1959, the theatre hosted the American motion picture industry's annual Academy Award Ceremonies. It continued to be a major venue for movies into the 1970s, closing as a movie theatre in January 1977. The Pantages reopened the following month with “Bubbling Brown Sugar”, the first of the many stage productions that have since become its regular fare. Now operated by an arm of the Nederlander Organization, the Pantages is one of Los Angeles' leading homes of legitimate theatre and Broadway musicals, including “Lion King”, “Wicked”, and “Hamilton”, and is a favorite location for television shows, movies, and music videos. It has also occasionally hosted musical concerts for such bands as Dream Theater and Foo Fighters, Shakira, RBD, and Paul Simon. The theater underwent a $10-million restoration and upgrade in 2000. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a Historic Cultural Monument. The photographs in this gallery were taken between 1930 and 1987.

Dating back to the inception of the community, parades have been popular events in Hollywood. Shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, the newly incorporated city of Hollywood held the Hollywood May Day Tilting and Floral Parade. The entries included floral bedecked automobiles, horses and small floats. Over the course of the last fifty years, several different parades have been held. In 1927, the community held an Old Settlers Day parade which included the participation of residents who had lived in the Cahuenga Valley for many years. Among the participants were Charles E. Toberman, a successful real estate developer, and Dr. Edwin O. Palmer, author of Hollywood’s first comprehensive history. The first gay pride parade was held in 1975. Hollywood Boulevard is often the site of political and social demonstrations. Unquestionably, the most popular Hollywood parade was the Santa Claus Lane Parade. Begun in 1928, the first entry was a very simple wheeled platform on which a sleigh was placed. A person dressed as Santa Claus sat in the sleigh while two reindeers pulled it through central Hollywood. After a while, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce began to promote this parade which in time had more than a million spectators each year. The course of the parade encompassed Hollywood Boulevard, Vine Street and a portion of Sunset Boulevard. The parades’ participants include many of Hollywood’s most popular entertainers, including Jayne Mansfield, Gene Autry, The Three Stooges and Francis X. Bushman. The parade is now televised annually on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The collection contains over 100 photographs documenting community celebrations between 1908 and 1979.

When community activist Christine Witherill Stevenson withdrew from her participation with the Hollywood Bowl in 1920, she turned her interest to promoting her religious plays. Looking for a venue, she purchased 29 acres across the Cahuenga Pass canyon from the Hollywood Bowl and commissioned Ellis Reed to build the first crude structure, which was later developed into the beautiful Pilgrimage Play Theater. Mrs. Stevenson journeyed to the Holy Land to obtain authentic fabric utensils and props. She wrote the entire play from her translation of the four gospels according to the King James version of the Bible. The first performance of the Pilgrimage Play as held on June 27, 1920. The elevated seating at the mouth of the canyon, and realistic replicas of essential scenes from the Holy Land, were constructed and elaborately illuminated under the direction of Mr. Reed. During the eight weeks of the summer of 1920, the drama of the Life of Christ was produced under the stars. Many fine actors portrayed Jesus over the years, but none for as long as Nelson Leigh, who held the role for over fifteen years. Mrs. Stevenson's objective had been achieved and a beautiful tradition had begun that was to continue long after her untimely death just two years later. Her parents then deeded the property and the Pilgrimage Play itself, together with a trust fund for its continuance, to the Pilgrimage Play Association. Performances were given every summer in the original structure until it was destroyed by fire on October 24, 1924. A new theater, with a seating capacity of 1,312, was built of concrete in the ancient Judian architecture and the play reopened in 1931. It continued until 1940, when war conditions causes brief interruptions. On October 17, 1941, the Pilgrimage Play Association deeded the property to the County of Los Angeles, subject to a 99 year lease to the Hollywood Bowl Association on terms similar to the Hollywood Bowl lease. In 1964, a lawsuit brought against the County for using a County facility exclusively for a religious performance put an end to The Pilgrimage Play. The sixty photos here show the play between 1920 and 1951.

The first police station in Hollywood was located at 131 S. Cahuenga Ave., in a building which had previously been Hollywood’s City Hall. After annexation, the City of Los Angeles built a combination police and fire station on Cahuenga Avenue and DeLongpre Ave. The fire department was located on the ground floor while the police occupied the second floor. A few years later, when the police needed more space, the city built a new police station on Wilcox Avenue which adjoined a new 1927 fire station on Cole Avenue. The two Mediterranean structures sat back to back just south of Sunset Boulevard until 1977, when the police station was demolished and the current one story building erected in its place. The eighteen photographs in this gallery show the various locations between 1910 and 1977.

In this gallery are photographs of some of Hollywood's most prominent citizens from the early decades of the community. They include notables as Griffith Griffiths, William Horsley, Paul DeLongpre, Carrie Jacobs Bond and Florence Atherton Irish. Also included are motion picture notables David Horsley, Jesse Lasky, William Selig, and Al Christie. The 22 photographs in this gallery feature various Hollywood pioneers between xxxx and xxxx.

The tradition of the grand Hollywood “premiere” was pioneered by master showman Sid Grauman. The very first gala premiere in Hollywood took place in 1922 with the grand opening of Grauman's Egyptian Theater and the spectacular debut of "Robin Hood," a silent screen epic starring Douglas Fairbanks. That first premiere at the Egyptian featured all the bright lights and hoopla which we've now come to associate with movie premieres - and the basic form has been repeated ever since. Five years later, in 1927, Grauman topped himself by opening his new Chinese Theatre with the star-studded premiere of DeMille's "King of Kings." Over the years, Hollywood premieres grew more and more elaborate. As an example, when "The Wizard of Oz" premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1939, over ten thousand spectators showed up to greet Judy Garland, the entire Oz cast, and other MGM stars. The studio even recreated the Yellow Brick Road and a small cornfield in the famous Grauman's courtyard, and populated it with a scarecrow and several Munchkins in full costume. Three years later, in 1942, fear of enemy attack during World War II led to all Hollywood premieres (and their bright lights) being banned for the duration. The last pre-war premiere was held on August 19, 1942, for "Pride of the Yankees" at the Pantages Theater, and was attended by (among others) Bob Hope, Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Jack Benny, Mickey Rooney, Ava Gardner, Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Victor Mature, Hedy Lamarr, Irene Dunne, Dorothy Lamour and Sam Goldwyn. But once the war was over, the Hollywood premieres resumed and have continued to present day. Many of the modern movie premieres are still exciting events. High-intensity searchlights that criss-cross the night sky are often part of the occasion. Movie stars dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns arrive in stretch limousines in front of the theatre, to the applause of an adoring crowd. An emcee, with microphone in hand, interviews the celebrities going inside to watch the film... It's quite a sight. And a quintessential Hollywood experience. A vital part of marketing a film, the premiere connects the production to the public. In this gallery are over a hundred examples showing these events from 1926 to 1979. The majority were taken at the Chinese Theater.

Some of the finest residences in Southern California are located in the Hollywood area. Seventy residences are documented in this gallery, most constructed in the early twentieth century. Some (Janes, Bernheimer, Toberman, DeMille, Wattles) survive and are cherished as landmarks listed in the National Register of Historic Places or as Historic Cultural Monuments. Others have been demolished. Constructed in eye-catching architectural styles popular in the early twentieth century, the Victorian, Mission Revival, and Spanish Colonial Revival homes speak to the rich diversity of Hollywood neighborhoods, and reflect the success and prominence of their owners. Several of the residences functioned as extensions of the owners’ business. Artist Paul DeLongpre used his to showcase his paintings. The Bernheimer estate housed items from their Asian import/export business. Along with DeLongpre and the Bernheimers, banker Gurdon Wattles allowed the public into the gardens of his Mission Revival estate. One of the most beautiful and palatial residences was located at 1847 Camino Palmero. Built and lived in by Charles E. Toberman and his family at the height of his career, the mansion consisted of over 10,000 square feet. Situated on a knoll overlooking Hollywood, it included an indoor swimming pool, tennis court and a small pitch and putt green. Movie stars put their new found wealth into real estate. They built lavish residences, and the magazines of the day featured them to convey the success they had achieved. Image was conveyed through architecture. Along with individual residences, the subdivision of Hollywood were marketed to eager buyers. H.J. Whitley, C. E. Toberman and others developed Whitley Heights, Outpost Estates, Hollywoodland and more with extensive advertising campaigns. Several Hollywood celebrities, including Delores Del Rio, called the Outpost Estates home. Hollywoodland, begun in 1923, erected a large sign on the top of the hillside that could be seen for miles. The development became very popular and sold out most of its lots within a couple of years. Over three hundred photographs in the collection document Hollywood residences between 1890 and 1970.

The 29 images in this gallery are our most popular and requested Restaurant & Nightclub images. For many more, please go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Restaurants-Nightclubs/G00006kiBSJ1A2q4/

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a Spanish-style hotel located at xxxx Hollywood Boulevard. Named after Theodore Roosevelt and financed by a group including Charles Toberman, it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927. It cost $2.5 million to complete this twelve-story building which held 300 rooms and suites. Just a few weeks before the hotel’s opening, Grauman’s Chinese Theater held its great opening across the street. The two buildings were built at the apex of Hollywood’s Golden Age and highlighted the synergy between the motion picture industry and the community. Designed by the firm of Fisher, Lake, and Traver, the hotel was instantly successful. Its major ballroom, the Blossom Room, hosted community events. Most significantly, it was the site of the first Academy Awards in 1929, although the event grew beyond its capacity quickly. The elegant two story lobby is a focal point. Several rehabilitations have kept the character-defining architectural features. The hotel also boast a 1950s addition with a pool designed by artist David Hockney. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a Historic Cultural Monument. The Hollywood Roosevelt has been more prominently featured in films and in Hollywood nightlife. Popular with visiting tourists, the hotel was just two blocks away from the famous Hollywood Hotel until that hotel’s demise in the 1950s. Other hotels built in this era were the Christie, Knickerbocker, and Plaza. The thirty photographs in this gallery show the building between 1926 and 1977.

In 1867, "Greek George" Caralambo, aka Allen, received a 160-acre parcel in today’s Runyon Canyon by federal patent in appreciation for his service in the U.S. Army Camel Corps. Allen gained notoriety in nineteenth century Los Angeles when the bandit Tiburcio Vasquez was captured while hiding out at his home in 1874. Alfredo Solano, a prominent civil engineer and civic leader, purchased the canyon a year after Vasquez was hanged in 1876. Solano held the canyon as an investment before his widow, Ella Brooks Solano, sold the majority of the land to Carmen Runyon in 1919. Runyon, having recently retired from a successful coal business in the East, came out with his new bride to enjoy the California climate. The marriage failed and Runyon moved to Hollywood where he met and married Ellen Hunt. The new Mrs. Runyon was an accomplished horsewoman and the Runyons purchased the canyon to use for riding and hunting. They built a small bungalow near the Fuller Avenue entrance. Runyon lent his name to the canyon, the road and Carman Crest Drive before he sold the estate in 1930 to John MacCormack, a world-famed Irish tenor. McCormack had fallen in love with the estate whilst filming "Song O' My Heart" there in 1929. The film was an early "talkie" and McCormack's salary for the picture went to purchase the property and build the mansion he called "San Patrizio", after Saint Patrick. It was one of the most beautiful residences in the Hollywood Hills. He and his wife lived in the mansion until they returned to England in 1938. Remains of terraced gardens and buildings can still be seen below the Vista gates. McCormack toured frequently and in his absence the mansion was often rented out to many celebrities. After his farewell tour of America in 1937, the McCormacks deeded the estate back to Carman Runyon, expecting to return at a later date. World War II intervened, however, McCormack's health was broken by a wartime concert tour. McCormack died in 1945. Huntington Hartford, heir to the A&P Grocery fortune and patron of the arts, purchased the property in 1942, moving into the mansion and renaming the estate "The Pines". In 1964, Hartford offered the property to the City of Los Angeles, but the city would not accept the gift. He then sold the property to Jules Berman who demolished the mansion and all the out buildings. The City subsequently acquired what is today a popular hiking spot. These seventeen images were taken in 1973.

At the northern end of the Cahuenga Pass lies the San Fernando Valley, an area critical in the development of the City of Los Angeles. First developed in agriculture and then with small towns and postward subdivisions, the southern portion of the Valley was home to the same types of populations as Hollywood in their formative years. Universal Studios, Warner Brothers and other motion picture facilities are located here. Many of the same developers, such as H. J. Whitley, Sherman and Clark, and the Otis/Chandler families developed property in both areas. There are twenty-six images of the Valley in the collection, dating from 1886 to 1935.

Shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, Santa Monica Boulevard was one of the main street car routes for those wishing to travel from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. The portion of Santa Monica Boulevard that runs within the boundaries of Hollywood has played an important role in Hollywood’s history. Not only was it a main thoroughfare, but had, and has today, very diverse types of businesses that line the street. Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the Samuel Goldwyn Studios (now “The Lot”), and the Formosa Cafe are just a few. Further west, this street is the main shopping area of West Hollywood. The road travels east to west from the city of Santa Monica (on the west) to Sunset Boulevard (on the east). It begins at Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica and from there until Sepulveda Avenue is a densely urban commercial street. After Sepulveda, Santa Monica Boulevard passes by Century City and its shopping center, and intersects with Wilshire in Beverly Hills. After intersecting with Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica Boulevard continues northeast towards West Hollywood, spanning Beverly Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. At Holloway Drive, in the middle of West Hollywood, Santa Monica, now north of Melrose Avenue turns to run east. In West Hollywood, between Fairfax Avenue and Doheny Drive along Santa Monica Boulevard, bronze name plaques are embedded in the sidewalks as part of the West Hollywood Memorial Park. SR 2 continues east through Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard to the Hollywood Freeway. Santa Monica Boulevard merges on its eastern end with Sunset Boulevard in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of Silver Lake. The south roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard, often called Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, runs parallel to the State-highway (north) roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard from the city's west limit to Rexford Drive. After Rexford Drive, Little Santa Monica turns east, becoming Burton Way. Burton Way merges into San Vicente Boulevard at its intersection with La Cienega Avenue. It is noted that the south roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills is a city street while the north roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard is a California state highway, each roadway handling bi-directional traffic. There are over twenty photographs of the street in this gallery taken over an almost hundred year period from 1896 to 1987.

Education has been important in the Hollywood area since its inception. The closest school to the Cahuenga Valley throughout most of the 1880s was the one-room Cienega School, four miles away at Pico Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. The Cahuenga School district was formed in 1876; a schoolhouse was built at the corner of Normandie Avenue and Beverly Boulevard. When it became inadequate in 1881, the district was divided and the Pass School District was formed. While a three-room school was under construction on the south side of Sunset near Gordon Street classes were held in the home of William Beesemyer. They were taught by Mary Gower, daughter of John and Mary Gower. The Laurel School District built a one-room schoolhouse in 1886 in West Hollywood, and a year later the Los Feliz School District was organized and a two-room school with a tower was built at the northwest corner of Los Feliz Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. A few years later the student body moved to a new school at Hollywood Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue. Following a fire in 1914, which all but destroyed the school, a new building was constructed. The graduates of these Cahuenga Valley grammar schools went to Los Angeles High School or Santa Monica High School at their own expense until Hollywood Union High School District was formed in 1903, uniting the Cahuenga, Laurel, Coldwater, Sherman, Los Feliz, Lankersheim and Pass grammar school districts. In September, the Hollywood Union High School opened in temporary quarters in 1903 in one of the storage rooms on the ground floor of the Masonic Temple located on the west side of Highland Avenue just north of Prospect Avenue. Thirty pupils were enrolled in the school with James O. Churchill as its first principal. By spring, there were fifty and before the close of the first year, seventy-five were in attendance. The cornerstone for a new school was laid at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Highland Ave. on November 23, 1904. Students tethered their horses on what is now the athletic field. Grammar schools Grant School and Fremont School (now Selma Avenue School) began construction while Hollywood High School was being built. Three months after Los Angeles took Hollywood under its wing, the Gardner Street School was established at the southeast corner of Gardner and Hawthorne avenues. In the ensuing years, Vine Street, Cherimoya and Franklin Elementary schools and LeConte Junior High School were added through the 1930s. Private schools were also available. In April 1905, the Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary created a campus at Western and Franklin Avenues for a motherhouse, novitiate, and girls high school. The three story building, which included classrooms and a dormitory, was of Mission-Moorish design with a red tiled roof, arched porticos, and gleaming gold crosses. In 1908, Immaculate Heart High School became the first private school in Southern California to receive college accreditation.

Schwab's Pharmacy was located at 8024 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, and was a popular hangout for movie actors and movie industry dealmakers from the 1930s through the 1950s. Like many drug stores in the United States throughout the mid-twentieth century, Schwab's sold medicines and had a counter serving ice cream dishes and light meals. One of the legends of Hollywood that still lives today, the Schwab enterprise was a family affair. It was Jack Schwab who found the location on Sunset Boulevard and opened up one morning with neither fanfare nor cashier. Brother Leon, after earning a pharmacy degree from USC, took over the location, after Jack’s death. Leon understood the potential of the pharmacy, which was close to some motion picture studios, and began making phone calls, setting up charge accounts, and even went so far as running tabs for out-of-work actors. Soon after the store opened at 8024 Sunset Boulevard in 1932, Hollywood's famous began coming down from the hills to pick up sundries, gather to meet friends, or just relax over a soda or a cup of coffee. Schwab's Drug Store became known for the stars that would appear there, and attracted the attention of locals and tourists alike. Stories began to circulate about what happened at Schwab's. One of the most popular legends was that Lana Turner was "discovered" while sipping a soda at the counter. In reality, she was discovered at Tops Cafe which was located diagonally across the street from Hollywood High School, which she attended. Among the pharmacy’s patrons were Orson Wells, Ava Gardner, Elvis Presley, columnist Sidney Skolsky, Marilyn Monroe and Jack Nicolson. The most popular spot was the soda fountain with its most famous treat, "The Chocolate Ice Cream Soda." Schwab's popularity grew with more and more rich and famous using the pharmacy and enjoying the soda fountain treats. Charlie Chaplin and his son were regulars. Many celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Judy Garland had their prescriptions filled there. Schwab's became further etched in the pantheon of popular culture when it was featured in the Paramount Studios film "Sunset Boulevard", starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden. The 1982 50th anniversary at the Sunset Boulevard location was a major press event. But as the press was reporting on Schwab's illustrious past, Leon was struggling to keep the business afloat. Less than two years later, Schwab's closed. Five years later, in October 1988, Schwab's fell to the wrecking ball. The photos featured in this gallery cover the period 1943-44.

Searchlights are a staple of the Hollywood premiere and other special events. They attract attention to a particular venue, often a movie theater or nightclub, as their beams criss cross the night sky. Originally for military use, the machines use powerful light sources with reflectors which project beams of parallel rays in a certain direction. They are constructed to swivel. The projections can be seen for long distances. A major component of advertising and building openings, the lights set the tone for events in Hollywood during the Golden Era and are still used at premieres and the Hollywood Bowl today. Eleven photographs taken between 1927 and 1946 show this eye-catching feature of the entertainment industry’s publicity machine.

Hollywood’s development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was predicated on an interurban railroad system connecting the Cahuenga Valley to Los Angeles. Tourist attractions and subdivision sales were the impetus for the creation of the lines. The first railroad to lay track in Hollywood was the Los Angeles Ostrich Farm Railway Company. The line connected Los Angeles with Dr. C.J. Sketchley”s Ostrich Farm at what is now Griffith Park in 1887. Work began almost immediately on extensions of the line westward to Santa Monica and northward to Burbank; both were completed by the end of 1888. At about the same time, James McLaughlin incorporated the Cahuenga Valley Railroad, continuing the Los Angeles Second Street Railroad west to Wilcox Avenue in Hollywood. In 1894, new owners planned to extend the tracks to Laurel Canyon. Residents, however, threatened action to prevent it from being built, so the Cahuenga Valley Railroad decided to build first and argue about it later. On a Friday night, after county offices closed, a section crew preceding flat cars of ties and rails appeared at the Wilcox Avenue terminus and went to work. By Monday morning the line had passed down Highland Avenue to Sunset Blvd. and was on its way west. During the next week, it reached Laurel Canyon. The angry residents could only stare in frustration at the fait accompli. Wealthy capitalist General Moses Hazeltine Sherman arrived in Los Angeles in 1890 and emerged as one of the area’s biggest rail promoters and investors. Within weeks, he purchased control of the Pico Street Electric Railway line, Southern California’s first railroad system. From this beginning, he built, over the next five years, a network of electric street railway lines in the city under the name Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway Company. The General brought in his brother-in-law, Eli Clark, into the management as an associate, and gradually an effective working partnership evolved, with Clark as the promoter and Sherman as the investor. Between June 17, 1895 and May 7, 1896, Sherman and Clark acquired several railway companies, including the Cahuenga Valley Railroad Company. The acquisitions proved to be too much, too fast, and on March 23, 1895, Sherman lost control of Los Angeles Consolidated Electric, when bond holders assumed direction of the financially harassed operation. Sherman, however, retained approximately fifty-percent stock ownership of the company, as well as full ownership of the Pasadena and Los Angeles Electric Railway Company and the Pasadena and Pacific Railroad Company. On June 4, 1898 Sherman and Clark incorporated a new company, the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad Company, which took over the financially troubled Pasadena and Pacific line. The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad was the first to establish the Balloon Route Excursion which ran from Los Angeles to Hollywood to Santa Monica and then back to Los Angeles.

The 59 images in this gallery are our most popular and requested Studios images. For many more, please go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Studios-A-F/G0000qKb3.YfSsVA/ https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Studios-G-L/G00001pqzXkuC_Zs/ https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Studios-M-R/G0000SvlzlRQidNs/ https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Studios-S-Z/G0000glYM44Ij0Bs/

Sunset Boulevard from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. The phrase “Sunset Boulevard is an enduring shorthand for celebrity culture associated with Hollywood. The best-known section of Sunset Boulevard is probably the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, which is a center for nightlife in the Los Angeles area. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive. This portion of the street contains a premier collection of boutiques, restaurants, rock clubs, and nightclubs that are on the cutting edge of the entertainment industry. It is also known for its trademark array of huge, colorful billboards and has developed a reputation as a hangout for rock stars, movie stars and entertainers. The Strip was historically outside of the Los Angeles city limits in an unincorporated area of the County of Los Angeles, and fell under the (perceived) less-vigilant jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Department rather than the LAPD. It was illegal to gamble in the city, but legal in the county. This fostered the building of a concentration of nightlife venues that Los Angeles at the time would not tolerate. In the 1920s a number of nightclubs and casinos opened along the Strip, attracting celebrities and others to this less-restricted entertainment area. Glamour and glitz defined the Strip in the 1930s and 1940s, as its renowned restaurants and clubs became a playground for the rich and famous. Movie legends, power brokers, and everyone who was anyone danced at such legendary clubs as Ciro's, the Mocambo and the Cafe Trocadero. Some of its expensive nightclubs and restaurants were said to be owned by gangsters like Mickey Cohen, earning the Strip a place in Raymond Chandler's 1949 Philip Marlowe novel “The Little Sister”. Other spots on the strip associated with Hollywood include the Garden of Allah hotel/apartments — Hollywood quarters for transplanted writers like Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, and F. Scott Fitzgerald — and Schwab's Pharmacy. By the early 1960s, the Strip lost favor with the majority of movie people, but its restaurants, bars and clubs continued to serve as an attraction for locals and out-of-town visitors. In the mid-1960s and 1970s it became a major gathering-place for the counterculture— and the scene of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in the summer of 1966. Bands like Van Halen, Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses, The Doors, The Byrds, and Frank Zappa played at clubs like the Whisky-A-Go-Go, The Roxy, Pandora's Box and the London Fog. Hundreds of photographs in this collection provide a firsthand look at the storied boulevard and its establishments between 1906 and 1988.

The 26 images in this gallery are our most popular and requested Theaters images. For many more, please go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Theaters/G0000WdkmKcdYvww/

A critical component of the motion picture industry is the theater, where shared experience of film shaped the culture of generations. The distinction of being the first movie theater in Hollywood goes to the Idyl Hour, located at 6525 Hollywood Boulevard. Established in either late 1910 or early 1911, the theater was little more than a converted store with chairs, a projector and a screen in its first iteration. The Idyl Hour, whose name changed to the Iris Theater in 1913, moved to 6415 Hollywood Boulevard in 1914, and then to a new purpose-built 1000-seat theater at 6508 Hollywood Boulevard in 1918. The town’s second theater was, appropriately, the Hollywood Theater, located on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard just east of Highland Avenue. By the 1920s, movies were a permanent part of the American fabric. With more spectacular films being churned out by Hollywood's studios, the need for larger “palace” type theaters grew. The first of these, Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard is one of the world's most famous movie theaters. Opened in 1922, it was the venue for the first-ever Hollywood premiere. Designed by Meyer and Holler, the Egyptian Theatre was built by showman Sid Grauman and real estate developer Charles E. Toberman, who also subsequently partnered on the flamboyant Chinese Theater. Grauman's Chinese Theatre, located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. is by far the most well known theater in the world. The palatial Art Deco Pantages Theaters opened on June 4, 1930, under the leadership of Alexander Pantages. Located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, it was one of the first 'Palace" type theaters to be built after the advent of talking pictures and boasted of having one of the most elaborate sound systems in the World. Over the course of its history, the theater has shown movies, hosted the Academy Awards, and been a legitimate play theater. Having had great success with the Egyptian Theater and Chinese Theaters with Sid Grauman, C. E. Toberman, known as the “Father of Hollywood”, embarked on building the first legitimate theater in Hollywood. The El Capitan Theater, dubbed "Hollywood's First Home of Spoken Drama," opened on May 3, 1926 with Charlot's Revue. The design featured a Spanish Colonial Revival Style exterior designed by Stiles O. Clements of the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls & Clements. For a decade it presented live plays. By the late 1930s, El Capitan felt the economic effects of the Depression, showcasing fewer and fewer productions. The theater closed in 1941, and was remodeled in the moderne style to show movies. Christened the Paramount Theatre, its inaugural film presentation was Cecil B. DeMille's Technicolor feature “Reap The Wild Wind” anti-trust laws severed theater ownership from movie theaters and they were not allowed to own them again until the 1980s.

Charles E. Toberman (February 23, 1880 - November 1981) was a real estate developer who was known as "Mr. Hollywood" and the "Father of Hollywood" for his role in developing Hollywood and many of its landmarks, including the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theater, El Capitan Theater, the Roosevelt Hotel, Grauman's Egyptian Theater and the Hollywood Masonic Temple. Charles Edward Toberman was born on February 23, 1880 in Seymour, Texas to Philip and Lucy Ann Toberman; his uncle was Los Angeles mayor James R. Toberman. He attended the Texas A & M for three years and Metropolitan Business College at Dallas for one year. Toberman began his career as a stenographer, working in Dallas and Wichita Falls, Texas before moving to Los Angeles in 1902. He returned to Wichita Falls and ran a hardware store before returning to Los Angeles, where he held a variety of positions including City Treasurer of Hollywood. He worked in real estate from 1907 on, incorporating the C.E. Toberman Company in 1912. Mr. Toberman placed fifty-three Hollywood subdivisions on the market, formed more than thirty companies and organizations, built twenty-nine commercial buildings in Hollywood, including the world -famous Chinese Theater, Egyptian Theater, Outpost Estates and was affiliated with forty-nine clubs, civic, and fraternal organizations. Until his retirement, Toberman managed all of his real estate holdings from his office in the heart of Hollywood. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Toberman developed many notable buildings and neighborhoods in Hollywood, including notable theaters with showman Sid Grauman. In 1924, he built a Spanish-Style mansion known as the C.E. Toberman Estate. He co-founded the Black Foxe Military Institute in 1928. He married Josephine W. Bullock on June 25, 1902. The couple had three children: Jeanette, Homer, and Catherine. Charles Toberman died in November 1981. Over forty photographs of this Hollywood entrepreneur taken between 1909 and 1974 are included here.

Tourism became part of Hollywood’s story beginning in the early 1900s when the Ostrich Farm in Griffith Park and artist Paul DeLongpre’s Mission Revival home and gallery were included as stops on the interurban rail lines like the one known as the “Balloon Route” emanating from Los Angeles. Less than ten years later, visitors were flocking to Universal Studios to see how “movies” were made in the silent era. From then on, the industry thrived on promotion and publicity, so tourism grew as the industry developed. Hollywood Boulevard and its theaters became favorite attractions, as well as tours of stars homes. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce created the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard to showcase the talent of the industry. The Walk has become an attraction in its own right. A sampling of various attractions from 1920 to 1977 are included in this gallery.

William "Billy" Wilkerson, owner of Hollywood's industry tabloid "The Hollywood Reporter", threw his hat in the restaurant ring in 1933 when he opened The Vendome. The first of a string of highly successful and visible restaurant-nightclubs to grace Hollywood's night scene, it was conveniently located a stone's throw from the Reporter's offices at 6666 Sunset Boulevard. In mid 1934, Wilkerson sought out a location for a new venture specifically for the nightime entertainment on the stretch of Sunset Boulevard between Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The La Boheme at 8610 Sunset Boulevard, known for gambling and liquor violations, had closed about the time Wilkerson to look for a place. It had a large wine cellar suited to his needs. Wilkerson employed Harold Grieve, decorator to the stars, to remodel the interior in the mode of a smart French cafe. The result was the Cafe Trocadero, whose birth, like The Vendome, was anticipated by a series of provocative ads in Wilkerson's Hollywood Reporter. The official opening of the Trocadero (more commonly referred to as the "Troc") was held on September 17, 1934. Among the opening night revelers were Joe Schenck, the Gene Markleys (Joan Bennett), Carl Laemmle Jr., Ida Lupino, George Raft, and the Daryl Zanucks. By all standards, Wilkerson's Cafe Trocadero was a bona fide success and became one of the venues most associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood, known also for the many after-premiere parties, benefits, birthday and anniversary parties that were held there. By late 1937, Wilkerson had tired of the investment and pulled of the Trocadero. Shortly thereafter, Wilkerson began work on developing a new nightclub, down the street, which he opened in January, 1940 as Ciro's and the Trocadero’s dominance ended. Management closed the nightclub in 1939 when lease negotiations failed. The club was thrown into involuntary bankruptcy by three creditors and its furniture and fittings were auctioned off. Several months it reopened, renamed "Trocadero". In 1947, the Trocadero closed its doors for good. The photographs in this gallery were taken between 1935 and 1949.

Shortly after silent film star Rudolph Valentino's death in 1926, a campaign was instituted in Hollywood to raise funds for the erection of a monument in his honor. With sufficient funds raised from subscribers all over the world, sculptor Roger Noble Burnham was commissioned to design and sculpt a statue. The work was dedicated on the anniversary of Valentino's birth, May 6, 1930, in DeLongpre Park in central Hollywood. The park, new at the time, was named for the famous Hollywood resident, Paul DeLongpre. Entitled "Aspiration", the four-foot bronze figure of a nude male, with head stretched to the heaven, stands on a beautiful green marble world. Inscribed on the large rectangular base was the following tribute to Valentino's popularity: “ERECTED IN MEMORY OF RUDOLPH VALENTINO 1895-1926 PRESENTED BY HIS FRIENDS AND ADMIRERS FROM EVERY WALK OF LIFE IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. IN APPRECIATION OF THE HAPPINESS BROUGHT TO THEM BY HIS CINEMA PORTRAYALS”. For many years, on Memorial Day, a "mystery" woman placed a wreath at the foot of the monument. The statue was stolen from its pedestal in the 1950s but later recovered. Fearing continued thefts, the city stored the statue in a warehouse until 1976, when it was remounted on its original pedestal. Valentino is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Blvd. The several photographs in this gallery were taken between 1930 and 1977.

Vine Street is a north-south artery that begins on the south at Melrose Avenue and continues to Franklin Avenue at the base of the Hollywood Hills. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine was once a symbol of Hollywood itself. The famed intersection fell into disrepair during the 1970s but has since begun revitalization, in part due to the addition of a Metro stop and hotel. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine was one of three competing commercial nodes on Hollywood Boulevard as groups of developers vied for supremacy in the early years of the twentieth century. At the eastern border of the original Hollywood Ranch, the land was controlled by the Taft and Bartlett families who turned their small ranches into real estate in the 1920s. Various property owners vied for street improvements, and a plan to coordinate traffic through Hollywood to reach the San Fernando Valley was considered key. Known as the “Five Finger” transportation plan, Vine Street, Wilcox Avenue, Cahuenga, Ivar, and Yucca, were joined to Highland and assessment districts formed to manage the costs of road improvements. The wide straight street now contains many prominent landmarks such as the Capitol Records Tower, located at 1750 North Vine just north of the Hollywood & Vine intersection; the Avalon nightclub; the Equitable, Taft and Broadway highrises; the Plaza Hotel and Montalban Theater. These buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places or have been designated as Historic Cultural Monument. A portion of the Walk of Fame is located on blocks north and south of Hollywood Boulevard. Further south is the Pickford xxxx and the newly designated Musician’s Union. The Brown Derby Restaurant was located on the east side of Vine Street, just south of Hollywood Boulevard. South of Melrose, Vine turns into Rossmore Avenue, a Hancock Park thoroughfare that ends at Wilshire Boulevard. Six decades of the street’s development (1925-1987) are documented in this gallery.

When Harry S. Truman announced, on August 14, 1945, that the war with Japan was over, the nation and Hollywood went wild. Rushing from offices, stores and homes, thousands of people poured onto Hollywood Boulevard. In the midst of sirens, whistles, auto horns and screaming, the streets were snowed with confetti scraps of paper of every sort that floated down over the jammed sidewalks which a moment before had been sanely trod with quiet shoppers. Servicemen, and civilians snake danced through the jumbled crowd while singing, "Hail, Hail, the job's all done." An impromptu parade formed that paralyzed traffic. Clanging streetcars tried to fight their way through the masses of humanity but to no avail. Good humored celebrants amused themselves by trying to separate streetcars from their overhead wires. If a streetcar moved more than twenty feet through the throngs without having their power shut off, it was lucky. In the carnival spirit that swept over Hollywood, strangers slapped one another on the back. Servicemen kissed every pretty girl they met, and the girls kissed back. Servicemen and hostesses at the famed Hollywood Canteen on Cahuenga Avenue jumped for joy. Displaying flags of all the allied nations, the Canteen was packed with servicemen who had a wonderful time kissing every motion picture star (feminine, of course) who was present and other girls in the place. The party was still blaring in the wee small hours. Through the night, more than 3,000 joyous servicemen visited the Canteen. Theaters emptied quickly when the announcement of peace came. But after a while, cashiers reported that they were selling a few theater tickets to people who said they had to get away from the noise. This gallery displays photographs of this significant event.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an 18-block series of sidewalks along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood. It serves as a permanent public monument to achievement in the entertainment industry. More than 2,400 terrazzo and brass stars are embedded at 6-foot intervals over a combined 1.7 miles. The stars bear the names of actors, musicians, directors, producers, musical and theatrical groups, fictional characters, and others recognized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions. The Walk is maintained by the Hollywood Historic Trust. It runs 1.3 miles east to west on Hollywood Boulevard from North Gower Street to North La Brea Avenue, includes a short segment of Marshfield Way that slices diagonally between Hollywood and La Brea, and 0.4 miles north to south on Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard. Implemented in 1958 and officially dedicated in 1960, there are over 2,400 stars to date. There are five categories of recognition- motion pictures, television, recording, and radio. Participants may be honored in multiple categories. Each installation consists of a coral-pink terrazzo star rimmed with brass (not bronze, an oft-repeated inaccuracy) inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background. In the upper portion of the pink star field, the name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters. Below the inscription, in the lower half of the star field, a round inlaid brass emblem indicates the category of the honoree's contributions. The Walk of Fame is an Historic Cultural Monument. The 28 images in this gallery are our most popular and requested Walk of Fame images. The 3 galleries on our site contain almost 300 photographs showing the Walk’s history between 1958-2011. For many more, please go to: https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Walk-of-Fame-1960-2005/G0000126Pcb4gCKI/ https://hollywoodphotographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/Walk-of-Fame-2006-2012/G0000iTODuKFr750/

The Walk of Fame concept was adopted in the mid-1950s by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce as a promotional program to continue to showcase Hollywood’s Main Street and its connection to the entertainment industry. Harry Sugarman and C. E. Toberman were two of its creators . It was decided to implement construction to coincide with that of the twelve story First Federal Savings of Hollywood building on the northwest of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, the first substantial construction on the Boulevard in decades. The first eight stars were dedicated in September of 1958, installed several months prior to the official 1960 Walk of Fame ground-breaking so as to be ready when the new, twelve-story First Federal Savings and Loan building was completed in January, 1959. The eight film notables, who bear the distinction of being the first to have their names placed in the Walk of Fame were Preston Foster, Joanne Woodward, Ernest Torrence, Olive Bordon, Edward Sedgwick, Louise Fazenda, Ronald Coleman and Burt Lancaster.The official ground breaking ceremony for the rest of the Walk of Fame took place on February 8, 1960 near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street. When the was dedicated in November of the same year, 1,588 celebrities had their names immortalized in the sidewalk. It wasn't until later that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce began to hold individual dedication ceremonies. More than 2,400 professionals have been honored. This gallery documents ceremonies between 1960 and 2005.

The Walk of Fame continued to honor participants in the entertainment industry in the twenty-first century. Among those recognized have been Emma Thompson, Bill Maher, Antonio Banderas, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, and Penelope Cruz. The Walk also serves as a de facto memorial site for fans to pay their respects to artists who have passed away. The Walk is an Historic Cultural Monument and is maintained by the Walk of Fame Trust and the City of Los Angeles. A full history of the Walk of Fame is available at https://www.walkoffame.com

West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, was incorporated on November 29, 1984. With an estimated population of over 40,000, the city is bordered on the north by the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, on the east by the Hollywood District of Los Angeles, on the west by the city of Beverly Hills, and on the south by the Fairfax District of Los Angeles. Major residential neighborhoods in West Hollywood include the Norma Triangle, West Hollywood North, West Hollywood West, and West Hollywood East. The city has a distinctive street pattern, with wayfinding postmodern street signs featuring a blue map of the city. The Los Angeles County Sheriff provides police services. There is a large population of LGBTQ individuals and businesses. These groups were instrument in the area’s incorporation. Santa Monica Boulevard is the city’s main commercial artery; Sunset Boulevard provides entertainment venues and lodging. The western stretch of Melrose Avenue between Fairfax Avenue and Doheny Drive, is notable for its trendy clothing boutiques, interior design shops, restaurants and antique stores. The west end of Melrose Avenue near the Pacific Design Center is especially known for its exclusive furniture. The area around Fountain Avenue, Harper Avenue and Havenhurst Drive contains a high concentration of landmark 1920s Spanish Revival and Art Deco apartment buildings by such noted architects as Leland Bryant. This historic district has been home to many celebrities. Over two hundred photographs in the collection document the area before and after incorporation.

Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west streets in Los Angeles. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire (1861–1927), an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire Boulevard in the 1890s by clearing out a path in his barley field. An historic apartment building, the Gaylord, across from the site of the Ambassador Hotel carries his middle name. Traversing sixteen miles from Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles to Ocean Avenue in the City of Santa Monica, Wilshire Boulevard is densely developed throughout most of its span, connecting five of Los Angeles's major business districts to each other, as well as Beverly Hills and Santa Monica downtown. Many of the post-1956 skyscrapers in Los Angeles are located along Wilshire; indeed, one of the oldest and tallest is known simply as "One Wilshire." One particularly famous stretch of the boulevard between Fairfax and La Brea Avenues is known as the Miracle Mile. Photographs in this gallery were taken in the early decades of the street’s development between 1922 and 1945.

On October 20, 1919, G. Allan Hancock leased a large tract of his land to the Wilshire Country Club with an option to purchase at $1,250 per acre and on the condition that the property be maintained as a golf club until 1950. The irregular shaped 105 acres of club property is bounded by Rosewood Avenue on the north, Rossmore Avenue on the east, Third Street on the south and Hudson and June streets on the west. The first officers of the club were Marion R. Gray, President; Charles E. Toberman, Vice-President; George G. Greenwood, Treasurer; and Thomas G. Bundy, Secretary. The main clubhouse was built in 1920 on the northwest corner of Rossmore Avenue and Beverly Boulevard. At the time, it was the first of numerous country clubhouses in Southern California to embody the Mission Revival style of design, a distinctive feature of California architecture in the early twentieth century. Six years later, on May 28, 1926, G. Allan Hancock relinquished all interest in the property to the club. Despite the financial reversals of some members, the club survived the Depression and continued its operation. The old clubhouse was redecorated five times before it was torn down in 1970 and replaced by a 50,000 square foot structure. The membership, which reads like a Who's Who of Los Angeles, has strong with many active neighborhood residents. Social events and the golf course remain the heart of the Club’s activities. A dozen photographs in this gallery document the years 1920 to 1926.

The history of Hollywood’s Yamashiro Restaurant property encompasses more than 100 years. The year after the first motion picture studios settled in Hollywood, Adolph and Eugene Bernheimer, leading New York importers of Asian goods, arrived in Hollywood and purchased 3 1/2 acres on the crest of a high hill at the head of Orange Drive. The following year, they began construction on a home in the Japanese style. During the period of construction, an additional 29 lots were purchased, increasing the estate to about 7 acres. After approximately two years of construction, the Bernheimer's Yamashiro (Palace on the Hill) was completed in 1914. The grounds were reached by two approaches, one from the main road at the base of the hill, the other a long flight of stairs broken into short runs, first by a huge entrance gate, flanked by its characteristic Japanese sentry boxes. The main building has a sunken inner meditation court around which the living rooms of the residence are arranged. Heavy timbers, carved woodwork, luxuriously finished teak wood, redwood and mahogany and exquisite inlay enamel work were important elements in the ornate Japanese architectural style of this palatial home. The manicured gardens, circular terraces and white retaining walls loomed upon the view like a vision from the skies. The interior was furnished by one of the rarest and most valuable collection of Chinese and Japanese furniture in existence. After having spent two years and approximately $120,000, the Bernheimers had the distinction of owning one of the most beautiful and unique homes in Hollywood. After his brother passed away, Adolph Bernheimer sold the home in 1923. During the next 20 years, the property passed through several hands and the once magnificent gardens and structure declined. In 1945, owner Leo Post increased the size of the second floor by adding several apartment units and established a cocktail lounge on the ground floor. Four years later, Post sold the rundown property to Tom Glover who embarked on an extensive restoration program. This allowed the public to enjoy the original beauty of the estate. Glover began using the name Hollywood Hill Hotel in addition to the name Yamashiro. During Glover's ownership, the “Palace on the Hill” was used in several motion pictures and television productions including “Sayonara”, “I Spy”, and Perry Mason”. In early 2016, the Glover family sold the property to JE Group, a Beijing company. A few images from 1972 are included in this gallery. More can be found in the Residences galleries of the collection.

Located at the southeast corner of Hudson Avenue (now Schrader) and Selma, the building of this facility was begun in 1921. The result of a successful community campaign led by business leaders, the first phase was designed by the architectural firm of Hunt and Burns. It soon became clear that the building was not adequate for the growing community, and another fundraising effort was launched. In 1927, the organization hired architect Paul R. Williams, a noted African American architect whose clientele included many in the entertainment industry and experience with the Y program. He had just completed the 28th Street YMCA and adapted lessons learned there to the new facility. Finished early in 1932, the YMCA was a recreational showpiece. Williams used many design elements of the Mediterranean and Classical Revival styles on both the interior and exterior. Those elements are in evidence today. Courtyards, a spacious lobby, courts and exercise rooms form the heart of the facility. It continues to be meticulously maintained and serves all segments of the community with its programs. Five early photos taken between 1924 and 1937 of one of Hollywood’s most prominent institutions are included in this gallery.

The eight photographs in this gallery depict 1950s activities of a facility at 6927 Hawthorne, a clubhouse located north of Hollywood High School in central Hollywood.