History of San Fernando Valley - North Hollywood

The NoHo Arts District in North Hollywood is "Where the Arts are Made." This one-square mile community, located just one mile north of Universal studios, is filled with an eclectic array of entertainment options for the artist, arts lover and the art curious. 

With more than 20 professional theatres producing adventurous new work and classics, diverse art galleries, public art, professional dance studios that create “the moves” we see on TV and in film, the largest concentration of music recording venues west of the Mississippi, annual festivals, international dining options and a myriad of clothing and specialty shops, NoHo is your one-stop arts & entertainment destination.  NoHo is also home to the "behind-the-scenes" companies that are the silent partners in making movie and TV magic.  In NoHo, we make art from start to finish!

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North Hollywood has certainly come a long way since the late 1800’s when the Southern Pacific Railroad opened a branch line from downtown Los Angeles to the Valley. In 1895, the Chatsworth Limited made one stop a day in Toluca, although that name was in conflict with a sign on the new station which read Lankershim. With the Post Office across the street called Toluca, controversy over the town’s name continued and the local ranchers used to quip, “Ship the merchandise to Lankershim, but bill it to Toluca.”

Driving down Lankershim Boulevard today, renting a video tape from Blockbusters, or sipping a Latte Grande from Starbucks across from the TV Academy, there are little if any clues to the many changes that have taken place since Isaac Lankershim and Isaac Newton Van Nuys bought the entire Southern half of the Valley, 60,000 acres including what is now North Hollywood and Universal City, for $115,000 in 1871.

From the early days of the first pioneers, the small farming community that originally became known as Lankershim grew and prospered, had it’s booms and it’s busts, and transformed from a one horse shay town to the bustling and energetic area now known as Universal City and North Hollywood.

At first glance nothing indicates the area was once filled and cattle ranches, or was home to the Bonner Fruit Company that in the early 1900’s was shipping 1200 tons of fruit per season to major cities back East. Although there seems nothing left of the people, places, and events that shaped the past, if we look closely we may just discover some tell tale signs that reveal the secrets of the history of North Hollywood.

Zipping North on the 101 Freeway through Hollywood, past the Sunset Boulevard exit, the round tower of the Capital Records Building to your left, the Hollywood Hills crammed with houses on the right, you soon find yourself sailing through the Cahuenga Pass with the San Fernando Valley stretching into the distance. Of the never ending stream of cars that travel that route daily, most of them head West towards Sherman Oaks and beyond or veer onto the 170 heading North. Let’s stop at Barham Boulevard, for a moment, and gaze North overlooking the freeway through the pass into the Valley.

In the late 1800’s, Senator Charles Maclay stood at this same vantage point. Staring out at the willow trees surrounding the Los Angeles River that unfolded below he declared, “This is the Garden of Eden.” Shoshone and Chumash tribes populated the semiarid region covered with oaks and scrub brush that stretched to the far hills. They had been living there for the past 4,000 years. The largest Indian village was called Kawengna, from which the name Cahuenga is derived. It was a term connoting peace, translated “hold the arrows because friends are coming.” A smaller village nearby was called Toluca, which means “fertile valley.”

In 1850 California became the 30th state to join the Union and thousands of people, lured by the Gold Rush, crossed the Cahuenga Pass in oxen drawn carts and Connistoga Wagons. In 1858 The Butterfield Overland Mail Company ran two stage coaches a week that crossed at the ridge of Cahuenga Pass carrying US mail from San Louis to San Francisco via Los Angeles. More...