 Apricot orchard at Hollywood and Cahuenga, around 1905.
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From the Los Angeles Daily Times, February 4, 1905
Unique Young Hollywood and Her Charming Homes.
A Foothill Gem Looking Out Upon the Sunset Sea.
Between strenuous Los Angeles and fair Hollywood, green fields intervene. But as our tramway car spins toward the foothills, the thought impresses itself that in a very few years indeed, the gap will be closed.
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A Pacific Railway car on Prospect (Hollywood) Boulevard around 1905
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The traveler has left the metropolis behind and is fairly in the open, but all around are evidences of the rapid transformation of country into town. New homes dot the landscape everywhere, and scores more are in process of building.
Here a wooded knoll is crowded by a fine mansion, there the brow of a little valley that affords a delightful prospect has its bungalow; and yonder, niched in the dip of two hills, is a dainty cottage embowered in greenery. . . .
. . . now we are in Hollywood proper, whose corporate limits extend from Center Street on the east to Crescent Avenue on the west and from the high hills on the north to the limits of Colegrove on the south. Entering her borders, her unique glories are revealed.
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Let us give the credit first to Nature. The whole world over, is there any more superb setting for a place of residences? To the north is the sawtoothed line of the Sierra, not one thin rank of ranges, but hills beyond hills, peaks above peaks, a gorge here or a bend there, opening out vistas of incomparable beauty. In the distance, yet wondrously near in seeming, the snow-capped dome of “Old Baldy” looks down, majestic and serene.
On the rolling foothills, climbing up toward the heights and straying far on to the vivid green plain are the homes of Hollywood. The poetry of the scene seems to have inspired her builders. Noble trees line the ample boulevards; the houses with few exceptions are examples of architectural taste; shrubberies and gardens everywhere give a wealth of restful verdure, with brilliant coloring intermingled. . . .
. . . but three years ago the site of what is now the main portion of Hollywood was merely farming land. For years the narrow belt along the foothills in the Cahuenga Valley had been noted for its fertile soil and equable climate, but, isolated by lack of communication and not even provided with good driving roads, it had remained simply a territory where fine lemons and unsurpassed winter vegetables were raised.
. . . Hollywood lies in the very “slant of the sun”; and from the ocean only a dozen miles away there come life-giving sea breezes, cool and fresh, with no intervening arid plains to raise their temperature or load them with dusty particles. Drinking deep into our lungs the air of Hollywood, we realize that here is one of Nature’s own sanitoria.
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Now the well-built Sunset Boulevard connects the two places, having been opened to traffic in May of last year. It runs in almost a direct line through the hills in the northwest part of Los Angeles, connecting with Lakeshore Boulevard at Echo Park and with Bellevue Avenue at the Sisters’ Hospital.
The thoroughfare is for the most part 100 feet wide, nearly all curbed, paved with decomposed granite, smoothed and rolled. Heavy cuts and fills were required through the hills to bring it to traffic grade. . . . it constitutes one of the most picturesque and delightful roadways in the vicinity of Los Angeles.
The line of the electric railroad is also a route favored by autoists. The electric line enters Hollywood by way of Prospect [now Hollywood] Boulevard, . . . shaded for long distances by pepper trees of twenty years’ growth. . . . [pictured]
Cars start in each direction at intervals of fifteen minutes; the distance between Hollywood and Los Angeles, seven miles, is traversed in twenty-five minutes, and the season-ticket rate makes the fare  average only 6 and two-thirds cents one way. . . .
The time will come, and that in the not distant future, when an electric railway line will be seen winding its magic way through that historic gateway — the Cahuenga Pass — thus forming a feasible link in a picturesque Belt Line, which hall run from the city by way of Hollywood into the extensive and fertile San Fernando country and . . . on the way back to the metropolis . . . down Los Angeles River Valley to the Southern Pacific Railway Co.’s River Station and so on into the heart of the city. [In freeway terms, that would be north on the Hollywood, east on the Ventura, south on the Golden State and south again on the Pasadena.]
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. . . Most of her [Hollywood’s] streets are graded and graveled, making tree-lined driveways which give an effect park-like in beauty. Nearly every road is aligned with thrifty trees — peppers, pines, palms, magnolias and other choice varieties — the growth of which in three years has been nothing less than wonderful. There are hill roads, too, skillfully graded, winding up to eminences from which superb views of mountain, plain and sea can be had. And yet again there are bridle paths cut along the steeper slopes with consummate skill. . . .
 Here those who are fond of driving and riding may come . . . . The fact has been quickly appreciated by visitors to Southern California, for within less than three years the Hollywood Hotel has been compelled, not merely to add a wing, but [also] to treble its capacity. . . . [The hotel is] constructed after the Moorish and Mission styles of architecture. . . . It is efficiently conducted by Mrs. Anderson and Miss Stewart, who “know how to keep hotel.”
The hotel has numerous cosy nooks and balconies. From the roof garden, a striking panorama is unfolded to the eye — valley, plain and foothill — with their homes and grounds stretching far to left and to right.
. . . it is curious, by way of contrast, to examine a photograph taken on the identical spot, June 20, 1903 — less than three years ago. The camera tells the story of open fields only in the west end, with one or two cottages in view. Indeed, on the Ocean View tract, now abundantly dotted with modern residences, there stood, on the date above given, only a workman’s cottage and “the old adobe,” a relic of Mexican days. . . . [The area lay roughly east of today’s La Brea Avenue, north of Hollywood Boulevard and west of Cahuenga Boulevard. Click here for a 1902 tract map.]
Northward from the adobe lies the Hays Cañon, while further to the west are Miller and Laurel cañons, all spots of natural beauty . . . .
At the entrance to Miller Cañon, right at the western end of Prospect Boulevard, is the home of Jacob Miller, one of the oldest settlers in the valley. He makes a speciality of growing rare trees and shrubs; and here may be seen the coffee bush, the cherimoya or custard-apple tree, and other exotics. . . . High up on the adjacent hill is the conspicuous residence of C.F. Harper, the Los Angeles business man.
 The Ocean View Tract has been entirely sold out, and Whitley’s company is about to wind up its affairs and pay a final dividend . . . aggregating 72 per cent upon their investment. The project was begun something over three years ago; it has proved to be one of the most notable and successful legitimate real-estate ventures of record anywhere.
. . . The house of [Paul] De Longpré [pictured], the flower artist, is widely known to visitors; its garden is one of lavish richness and unique charm. Near by is the noted Whitley residence, the grounds adorned by a luxuriant growth of rare trees, shrubs and plants. . . .
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 Just east of Mr. Whitley’s place on Prospect [now Hollywood] Boulevard is the superb home of Mr. Beville. The fine Moorish residence built by Col. Northam, situated to the eastward of Cahuenga Avenue and between Prospect and Sunset boulevards, [pictured] has recently passed into the possession of Jacob Stern. Another attractive home is that of G.W. Hoover, whose name will always be associated with Hollywood as the builder of the original hotel, now undergoing enlargement.
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Gen. John L. Beveridge, Col. J.J. Steadman, John R. Toberman (three times Mayor of Los Angeles), Dr. Alan Gardner, one of the active spirits of the place, Mrs. M.P. Moll, A.G. Bartlett, ex-Sheriff J.C. Kays, president of the Dollar Savings Bank, J.C. Newitt — these are among the owners of fine places. . . .
Beyond the limits, at the eastern end, where Hollywood is still stretching out toward Los Angeles, are the attractive homes of Arthur Letts [pictured below; he was founder of the Broadway Department Store] and William H. Hoegee [sporting goods store owner]. . . .
Capt. Alfred Solano’s rustic home, “El Descanso,” situated northwest of Hollywood proper, . . . is located in the mouth of an alluring cañon, running deep into the hills in the direction of the San Fernando Valley, and the hillsides flanking it have been planted with thousands of pines and other trees. At the same time, the native trees and bushes are preserved, instead of being cut down or burned off. In the cañon itself, pines, palms, eucalypti, peppers, flowering shrubs and plants are found thriftily growing, and in the course of a few years a dense forest will be seen where before there was only a scant native growth. . . .
In the rear are poultry yards and live stock corrals, with numerous fine birds, besides the industrious hen of commerce. Here are to be seen pheasants, turkeys, peacocks and pigeons of fine breeds. Jersey cattle and thoroughbred colts are much in evidence — the whole making an attractive picture of a well-conducted cañon rancho.
Capt. Solano’s native Californian workmen have added to the picturesqueness of the spot by surrounding their little homes, located in odd curves of the cañon, with blossoming plants and more practical vegetable gardens. . . .
Capt. Solano (himself a surveyor) has skillfully cut winding bridle paths that reach, by easy gradients, points of vantage above, from which may be had entrancing views of the bijou rancho below; of verdant plain, shore and shimmering sea in front; of the Palos Verdes hills and sea-encircled Santa Catalina Island; while away to the right the Soldiers’ Home buildings [in Sawtelle] appear in the landscape, and to the left the city, with its countless roofs and gleaming buildings. . . .
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. . . the rapid growth of the district has been made possible largely through the enterprise of the West Los Angeles Water Co, of which . . . C.H. Hooper is the president and George Hanna . . . the tireless superintendent. Not only have ample supplies of pure water been pumped in from the San Fernando Valley, but there are [also] reserves in the Jefferson Street wells, off toward the Palos Verdes Hills, where the company owns a large water plant. . . .
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Business of an objectionable character has been discouraged; the saloon and its kindred evils are unknown. Hollywood has a Board of Trade, whose new board of directors is composed as follows:
Col. J.J. Steadman, D.W. Campbell, R.B Lyon, F.M. Douglass, P.J. Beveridge, E.R. Walker, C.J. Wade, Robert Young, A.G. Bartlett, Thomas J. Hampton, Eugene Law.
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All the leading religious denominations have their places of worship. . . . [There are] two public [elementary] schools [and] . . . a Union High School, erected at a cost of $60,000 and now nearing completion [pictured above]. The Masons have a commodious lodge building and an influential membership.
The Bank of Hollywood was organized in the fall of 1902. After two prosperous years of business, it has been changed into a national bank, and in close association with it, a savings bank and a trust company have been formed. Both the Home and Sunset telephone companies have local exchanges, and the service costs the same as in the city. . . . Incandescent street lights are in liberal use, and the effect along the undulating grounds of the foothills is a striking one from the distance.
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In November 1903, Hollywood was incorporated as a city of the sixth class. The question then was incorporation or annexation, and incorporation won. Annexation will come later, when the city and its strong young neighbor shall have become welded together — a prospect not in the far future. . . .
The name Hollywood has become so popular that several ambitious tract-openers outside the city have applied the name with various prefixes to their lands in order to make the same “go off.” . . .
The destiny of the whole place and its charming environs is sure, and the results of the future are bound to be even more striking than anything yet achieved in that direction.
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Hollywood Illustrated
. . . Copies of this issue may be had at the [Times] office, or at news agencies, for 3 cents each, $3 per hundred, or $25 per thousand, without postage.
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From the Los Angeles Daily Times, February 4, 1905
TOWER SWITCH FEELS STRAIN
New Apparatus For Shunting Cars at Corner
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The Los Angeles Railway Co. is installing a new switching device in the tower at First and Spring streets.
The switchmen on duty at that busy corner won’t be happy until they get it. Two of three are running their legs off every hour of the day while the changes are being made.
When the company first supplanted hand-switching with hydraulic apparatus operated from the little houses on stilts at First and Spring, First and Main, and Spring and Fourth, there was marked improvement in the handling of traffic at these congested points. . . .
[The machinery at First and Spring quickly wore out, and new apparatus had to be installed.]
While the improvement is progressing, two switchmen are required to do the work that was done so handily by one man in the tower.
Motormen of the cars that screech their way around the corner or go straight ahead in four directions now get their signals from the men on the ground instead
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of from the little semaphore arms or lights on top of the tower. . . .
With about 4,000 [street]cars clanging for right-of-way throughout the day, and with a switch to turn for nearly every one, the switchmen have developed lively sprinting qualities. . . .
“Keep the cars moving” is the order they have.
There is no question of precedence. It simply is a problem of getting the heavy passsenger-carriers around the corners and over the crossings without mishap. A false signal would send two cars together with dire result, and the man with the lamp and the switch hook is there to see that such an accident does not happen. . . .
What with dodging automobiles, carriages, bicycles, heavy trucks and swiftly moving [street]cars, and betimes answering all sorts of questions from tourists and others, the railroad men maintain a poise that is a wonder to their watchers and which never has failed to prevent a serious accident.
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From the Los Angeles Daily Times, February 4, 1905
ASCOT’S GAMBLERS
Meeting Called This Afternoon to Make an Organized Effort to Stop Bookmaking
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As an outgrowth of the agitation in the Los Angeles Ministerial Union concerning the debauching effect upon the young men of the city of betting on the races at Ascot Park, a call was yesterday made for a mass meeting to take action.
The meeting will be held in Temple Auditorium at 1 o’clock this afternoon, and prominent ministers and business men are scheduled to speak upon the subject.
The resolutions from the Ministerial Union will form the basis of action and will be presented by Dr. J.J. Wilkins, dean of St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral.
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Addresses will be made by Rev. Robert J. Burdette, pastor of Temple Baptist Church; Dr. Hugh K. Walker of Immanuel Presbyterian Church; Will A. Harris of the Municipal League, and by Giles Kellogg.
A large chorus choir will be present under the direction of R.N. Jeffrey, and every effort will be made to make the meeting attractive. It is being widely advertised, and a great crowd is expected to be present.
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From the Los Angeles Sunday Times, February 3, 1905
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Los Angeles history
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