History

In 1853 one adobe hut stood on the site that became Hollywood. By 1870, an agricultural community flourished in the area with thriving crops.

A locally popular etymology is that the name Hollywood traces to the ample stands of native Toyon or "California Holly", that cover the hillsides with clusters of bright red berries each winter. But this and accounts of the name coming from imported holly then growing in the area, is not confirmed. The name Hollywood was coined by H. J. Whitley, the Father of Hollywood. He and his wife Gigi came up with the name while on their honeymoon, from Margaret Virginia Whitley's memoir. Another story refers the name to Harvey Wilcox who bought land in the area for development of homes. His wife Daeida met a woman on a train who mentioned that she had named her Ohio summer home to Hollywood. Daeide who liked the name gave it to their new development. The name first appear on the Wilcox's map of the subdivision, filed to the county recorder on February 1, 1887.

By 1900, the community called Cahuenga also had a post office, newspaper, hotel and two markets, along with a population of 500. LA, with a population of 100,000 people at the time, lay 7 miles east through the citrus groves. A single-track streetcar line ran down the middle of Prospect Avenue from it but service was infrequent and the trip took two hours. The old citrus fruit packing house would be converted into a livery stable, improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood.

The first section of the famous Hollywood Hotel, the first major hotel in Hollywood, was opened in 1902 by H. J. Whitley, eager to sell residential lots among the lemon ranches then lining the foothills. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue, the structure fronted on Prospect Avenue. Still a dusty, unpaved road, it was regularly graded and graveled.

Hollywood was incorporated as a municipality in 1903. Among the town ordinances was one prohibiting the sale of liquor except by pharmacists and one outlawing the driving of cattle through the streets in herds of more than two hundred. In 1904, a new trolley car track running from Los Angeles to Hollywood up Prospect Avenue was opened. The system was called "the Hollywood boulevard." It cut travel time to and from Los Angeles drastically.

By 1910, because of an ongoing struggle to secure an adequate water supply, the townsmen voted for Hollywood to be annexed into the City of Los Angeles, as the water system of the growing city had opened the Los Angeles Aqueduct and was piping water down from the Owens River in the Owens Valley. Another reason for the vote was that Hollywood could have access to drainage through Los Angeles´ sewer system.

With annexation, the name of Prospect Avenue was changed to Hollywood Boulevard and all the street numbers in the new district changed. For example, 100 Prospect Avenue, at Vermont Avenue, became 6400 Hollywood Boulevard; and 100 Cahuenga Boulevard, at Hollywood Boulevard, changed to 1700 Cahuenga Boulevard.