Chronology of Hollywood Area, the Cahuenga Pass and the Cahuenga Pass Parkway
• 1769 - Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá crosses hills into San Fernando Valley and names it the “Valley de Santa Catalina de Bononia de los Encinos” or the “Valley of the Oaks.” Area is known as “Kawangna,” meaning “little hills” in native Gabrieliño.
• 1775 - January 15th, area including Hollywood granted to Señor Moreno (later known as Rancho La Brea) including La Nopalera at the south entrance to El Portozuelo (Cahuenga Pass).
• 1797 - Mission San Fernando Rey de España is founded by Franciscan priests. 18th century road is part of El Camino Réal de Rey linking the missions of Alta California together. It functions as a wagon road, herding trail and mule route.
• 1810 - First water dispute between the San Fernando Valley and the pueblo of Los Angeles.
• 1821 - September 27th, Mexico declares independence from Spain.
• 1828 - June 6th, Señor Moreno dispossessed and his land grant is divided.
• 1831 - First Battle of Cahuenga Pass – problems with the Mexican govenor.
• 1845 - Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass
• 1846 - Winter, Mission San Fernando grant sold by Pico to De Celis.
• 1847 - January 13th, Treaty of Cahuenga signed near site of Old Cahuenga Chapel and approved by General John C. Fremont surrendering Alta California to the US, ending the Mexican-American War in California.
• 1848 - Butterfield Overland Mail Company initiates regular crossings twice a week transporting US mail from St. Louis to San Francisco.
• 1850 - California enters the Union as a free state, and on April 4th the City of Los Angeles was incorporated.
• 1851 - County of Los Angeles divided into six townships.
• 1853 - First dwelling built in Cahuenga Valley, the adobe home of Thomas Urquidez – the Outpost.
Mid 19th century banditos and highwaymen constantly raid parties crossing the Pass. Post Civil War, Greek George Caralambo and the Camel Freight Train experiment uses camels and dromedaries for transporting goods.
• 1869 - San Fernando Farm Homestead Association, organized by Isaac Lankershim and Isaac Newton Van Nuys, is conveyed Andrés Pico’s portion of the Valley, the former Rancho ex-Mission San Fernando.
• 1870’s - Pass Hotel/Eight Mile House – toll station and store, eight miles from downtown LA.
• 1871 - The SF Valley is divided with the southern half going to Lankershim and Van Nuys.
• 1880’s - The area is devoted to cultivation of wheat, fruits, citrus, vegetables and livestock.
• 1886 - HH Wilcox and wife Mrs. DH Wilcox come to Cahuenga Valley area, buy property, some of which they farm and the balance of which they subdivide. They name their ranch Hollywood and give the community land for a new church, post office, public library, city hall, etc. They plant pepper trees lining the streets.
• 1886-87 - Boom time in Los Angeles.
• 1887 - November, post office officially established in Hollywood. Other towns south of the hills include: Colegrove, South Hollywood, Tropico and Prospect Park.
• 1893 - Hollywood residents start searching for a dependable source of water.
• 1896 - Colonel GJ Griffith donates 4,000 acres to City of LA for a park to be called Griffith Park. Southern Pacific Railway company builds its line across the valley via Toluca which is renamed Lankershim.
At the end of the 19th Century, San Fernando Valley flourishes – especially town of Lankershim. San Fernando Valley devoted largely to cultivation of deciduous fruits including apricots, peaches and walnuts. LA begins its love affair with the automobile.
• 1902 - “Hollwood Ocean View Tract” developed by HJ Whitley including Hollywood Hotel, etc.
• 1903 - Residential-only building restrictions lifted on Hollywood Boulevard.
• 1904 - November 14th, Sanford Rich elected first mayor of Hollywood.
• 1905 - Owens River water project started.
• 1909 - September 23rd, Hill Street tunnel opens, reducing time of trip from downtown LA to Hollywood by twelve minutes. October 19th, Colegrove, south of Hollywood, annexed to Los Angeles.
• 1910 - Beginning of excavation for Pacific Electric rail line. Beginning of the motion picture industry in Hollywood. In February, Hollywood votes to be annexed to Los Angeles, largely because of Owens Valley water.
• 1911 - Berheimer brothers build hilltop mansion/“Mountain Palace” 250 feet above Hollywood Blvd. On December 16th, Pacific Electric inter-urban line opens, reducing trip over hil from a day to 45 minutes.
• 1912 - Famous Players-Lasky Film Co. move to SE corner of Selma and Vine in Hollywood. Carl Laemmle and Universal Film Manufacturing Co. lease and eventually buy a former chicken ranch along newly illuminated Lankershim Blvd.
• 1913 - Opening of Owens Valley Aqueduct provides water to the area and increases the need for commercial traffic between the San Fernando Valley and downtown LA.
• 1915 - Area later known as Studio City is annexed to City of LA. On March 15th, Universal Studios is opened by Carl Laemmle – silent films, public tour and zoo.
In the teens, Hollywood thrives. Neighboring towns exploit her fame by renaming themselves – Toluca and Lankershim become North Hollywood, Ivanhoe and Prospect Park become East Hollywood, Colegrove becomes South Hollywood, Sherman becomes West Hollywood.
• 1920 - LA 10th largest city in US. Property purchased for Pilgrimage Play Theater.
• 1922-25 - Street cars and 17,000 autos cross the Cahuenga Pass daily – “traffic in Cahuenga Pass became intolerable.” Grauman’s Egyptian Theater opens.
• 1923 - August, construction starts on the Mulholland Dam and Lower Hollywood Reservoir in spite of concerns expressed by Hollywood residents.
• 1924 - Olmsted Bartholomew and Cheney’s Major Traffic Street Plan proposes major improvements to the road over the Pass. On September 29th, the Hollywood Bowl property is deeded to the County of Los Angeles and money is made available for the construction of permanent facilities. On November 4th the Major Traffic Street Plan is adopted. In December, the Mulholland Dam and Lower Hollywood Reservoir, designed by Chief Engineer William Mulholland, is completed and put into service in Weid Canyon. Dam is of a concrete arched gravity type with a radius of 550 feet at the upstream face. It is constructed as a monolith (without construction joints) to a crest elevation of 755.8 feet and a maximum height of 195 feet above bedrock. Its original capacity as constructed is 7,437 acre-feet. On December 27th, Mulholland Highway opens, running from Calabassas east to Mulholland Dam. Originally intended to extend further east to Griffith Park.
• 1925 - Report and Recommedations on a Comprehensive Rapid Transit Plan for the City and County of Los Angeles by Keller, De Leuw & Co. is rejected by voters of Los Angeles. On March 17th, Mulholland Dam is dedicated. “Built with such solidity and massiveness, the Weid Canyon Dam will forever stand as an imperishable monument to the wonderful development and expansion of Los Angeles.” – William Mulholland.
• 1926 - Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, El Capitan and Grauman’s Chinese Theaters open. On July 1st, a new 10-inch deep concrete roadway over Cahuenga Pass completed according to Street Plan.
• 1927 - Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences organized in Hollywood.
• 1928 - On March 12th, failure of St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon, sister dam to Mulholland Dam, results in major loss of life. Leaves Mulholland Dam as only remaining concrete dam in Los Angeles County.
• 1933 - Old Sennett Studios in nearby Studio City bought by Republic Studios. From May until April 1934, new buttress fill constructed against the downstream face of Mulholland Dam, spillway is lowered, size of outlet is increased, all pipes and drains under the fill are encased in concrete and recommended capacity is reduced to 4,036 acre-feet (54% of original capacity).
• 1936 - 2½-inch high concrete wall constructed around Hollywood Reservoir (Lake Hollywood) to prevent storm water from polluting the reservoir.
• 1937 - Auto Club’s Traffic Survey, Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, proposes futher improvements to the Cahuenga Pass roadway.
• 1938 - Major flooding in the area causes extensive damage and loss of life. Citizens’ Transportation Survey Committee organized by City Engineer Lloyd Aldrich to study transit/transportation issues in the region.
• 1939 - A Transit Program for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region issued by City of LA Engineering Transportation Board specifically calls for the immediate construction of a freeway through the Cahuenga Pass connecting downtown LA as a first priority. Construction of Cahuenga Pass Parkway (State Highway #2) is undertaken by a team of engineers under the direction of Merrill Butler, Deputy Engineer in charge of design, and LA City Engineer Lloyd Aldrich jointly financed by PWA (45%), State of California and City of LA (using gas tax and other monies). Butler and Aldrich had been in charge of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, and the Cahuenga Pass Freeway represents an improvement on their earlier design. Prior to the start of construction. The existing road carries between 45,000-50,000 cars per day. Project phase to accommodate PWA funding deadline of July 1, 1940.
• 1940 - On June 15th, Phase One completed ahead of schedule – from south of the Hollywood Bowl, near the intersection of Highland Ave. and Cahuenga Blvd., north to about Hollycrest, including the Pilgrimage Play Bridge and the Mulholland Highway Bridge. In December, Phase Two completed – specifically from 440 feet south of the Mulhooland Highway Bridge to 940 feet north of Barham Blvd., including the Barham Bridge and all ramps, retaining walls and structures in connection with it. PWA funding extended to cover construction of this phase of the project.
• 1952 - In December the Pacific Electric (PE) Red Cars are removed from operation.
• 1957 - Final leg of State Highway #2 extended to Vineland, Final phase and connections started – the age of freeway building. Throughout this year and the next, PE tracks removed from center of roadway and converted to two additional lanes for vehicular traffic.
• 1960 - Ventura Freeway opens to the Valley.
See also:
• Neighborhood History
• The History of the Campo de Cahuenga
• Spanish and Mexican California – Battle of La Providencia (2nd Battle of Cahuenga Pass)
• The Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass and The War Lords of Burbank
• The Long Lost Treasure of the Cahuenga Pass
