Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles Explained

Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles
Named For:California bay laurel
Pushpin Map:United States San Fernando Valley#United States Los Angeles
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2: Los Angeles
Subdivision Type3:City
Subdivision Name3: Los Angeles
Settlement Type:Neighborhood of Los Angeles
Timezone:PST
Utc Offset:-8
Timezone Dst:PDT
Utc Offset Dst:-7
Coordinates:34.1172°N -118.3753°W
Elevation Ft:866
Elevation Footnotes:[1]

Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neighborhood with the more urbanized parts of Los Angeles to the north and south, between Ventura Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard.

Originally inhabited by the Tongva people, by the early 20th century real estate developers situated a vacation site along the slope of neighboring Lookout Mountain; this formed the nucleus of what would become the Laurel Canyon neighborhood. It later developed into a celebrity enclave: the remote, rugged nature of the land and its proximity to many of the movie studios in nearby Hollywood made it an ideal location for many movie stars to site their homes, especially during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Raymond Chandler's private detective Philip Marlowe in The Long Good-bye lives in Laurel Canyon, Yucca Avenue in the early 1950s.

By the 1960s, the neighborhood had become a local center for counterculture, and many prominent folk and rock musicians moved into the area, making it a nexus for musical collaboration. By the late 1970s, criminal activity in the neighborhood, including distribution of drugs, was controlled by the Wonderland Gang (named for a Laurel Canyon thoroughfare), and the neighborhood became associated with the Wonderland murders, a grisly quadruple homicide in 1981.

Geography

Laurel Canyon is focused on its central thoroughfare, Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Unlike other nearby canyon neighborhoods, Laurel Canyon has houses lining one side of the main street most of the way up to Mulholland Drive. There are many side roads that branch off the main canyon, but most are not through streets, reinforcing the self-contained nature of the neighborhood. Some of the main side streets are Mount Olympus, Kirkwood, Wonderland Avenue, Willow Glen, and Lookout Mountain Avenue. The zip code for a portion of the neighborhood is 90046.[2]

Laurel Canyon Boulevard is an important North–South route between: West Hollywood, Hollywood, and Central Los Angeles; and Studio City and the eastern San Fernando Valley. The canyon's division between the two regions is defined by Mulholland Drive.

The Laurel Canyon neighborhood is generally bounded by West Hollywood to the west and south, Hollywood to the east, and Studio City to the north.[3]

Fauna

Laurel Canyon is known for its natural wildlife and is home to at least one adult male mountain lion.[4]

History

Tongva indigenous peoples

The Laurel Canyon area was inhabited by the Tongva people, a regional tribe of the indigenous peoples of California, for thousands of years. A spring-fed stream flowed year-round providing water.

The reliable water supply attracted colonial Spanish ranchers who started grazing sheep on the hillsides in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After the Mexican–American War and the advent of U.S. statehood for California in 1850, the area was settled by Americans interested in water rights.

Lookout Mountain

Until the 20th century, passage up the canyon was made on foot or by mule. In 1907, an 82adj=midNaNadj=mid, later named Laurel Canyon Boulevard, was built. It ran up the canyon, dividing at what is now Lookout Mountain Road; the left road went up to the summit of Lookout Mountain, and the right branch of the road went to the top of the Santa Monica Mountains and then down to the San Fernando Valley.

In 1908, the Lookout Mountain Park and Water Co. was formed to purchase on Lookout Mountain, just west of Laurel Canyon, subdivided and marketed as mountain vacation properties. On August 14, 1908, the Los Angeles Times announced that the company would build Lookout Mountain Inn at the summit of Lookout Mountain and Sunset Plaza roads, and Lookout Mountain Park, Bungalow Land at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Lookout Mountain Avenue and Wonderland Park.[5] Two years later, the company widened the winding dirt road to the top of Lookout Mountain where they built the Lookout Mountain Inn.[6] [7]

In 1910,[8] Charles Mann, a real estate developer, and Richard Shoemaker, an electrical engineer,[9] [10] built a "trackless trolley" (trolley bus) line, starting passenger service on September 11 as the first commercial trolley bus operation in the United States.[8] [11] It ran up Laurel Canyon Road from the Pacific Electric Laurel Canyon Shuttle stop at Sunset Boulevard to the Tavern at the top of Lookout Mountain Road, a road house serving visitors.

Each of the two 16-passenger cars had two trolley poles, one to a positive overhead wire and one to a ground overhead wire, and were able to sway to either side of the street, only using power uphill. Each trolley was actually an Oldsmobile bus whose gasoline engine was replaced with a 15-horsepower electric motor.[8] Their original bodies were rebuilt in 1912,[9] their open sides being enclosed.[8] Sometime in 1915, they were replaced by Stanley steam buses and the overhead wires were taken down.[9] [8] Until 1918, the shuttle service traveled up and down Laurel Canyon to meet the half hour schedule to Los Angeles. It was insufficiently patronized and discontinued when demand failed to support it after Pacific Electric stopped service to Laurel Canyon Boulevard from Gardner Junction (at Gardner Street and Sunset Boulevard, 1451 N Gardner St, West Hollywood, CA 90046)[12] [13] in 1924.[14] [15] [16]

On October 26, 1918, a fire, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, burned about 200 acres and totally destroyed Lookout Mountain Inn at the summit of Lookout Mountain Avenue and Sunset Plaza Drive.[17] [18] [15] [16] [19] [20] [21] [16] [22] Another major fire occurred in July 1959, destroying some 38 homes.[23]

As the roads were improved, access was possible by automobile.[24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

As of 2007 a vacant lot, the corner of Lookout Mountain Avenue and Laurel Canyon Blvd (2401 Laurel Canyon Blvd)[30] is where the famous 1915 "Log Cabin" mansion stood, with its 80-foot living room, floor to ceiling fireplace, bowling alley (there was no indoor swimming pool as previously stated)[31] It was once occupied by silent film star Tom Mix[32] but spent years on the rental market. In 1968 it was rented by Frank Zappa.[33] Zappa moved out after four months. The house burned to the ground on Halloween 1981. Directly across the street, at 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd., is site of the home, long-gone, that magician Harry Houdini may have rented around 1919. It was originally the Walker estate.[34] [35]

Counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s

Laurel Canyon became a nexus of counterculture activity and attitudes in the mid-late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming famous as home to many of L.A.'s rock musicians, such as Cass Elliot of the Mamas & the Papas; Joni Mitchell; Frank Zappa; Jim Morrison of The Doors; Carole King; The Byrds; Gram Parsons; Buffalo Springfield; Canned Heat; John Mayall; members of the band The Eagles; the band Love; Neil Young; Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys as well as James Taylor, Jackson Browne, J. D. Souther, Judee Sill, Linda Ronstadt and Stone Poneys, Ned Doheny, Bonnie Raitt, Harry Nilsson;[36] and Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork of The Monkees. Cass Elliot's home was considered one of Laurel Canyon's party houses with all-night, drug-fueled sleepovers, attended by musicians and movie stars of the era.[37]

John Phillips, also of the Mamas & the Papas, took inspiration from his home in Laurel Canyon for the song "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)", released in 1967. The following year, blues artist John Mayall recorded and released the album Blues from Laurel Canyon, based on his experiences during a vacation that he spent there.

The area and its denizens served as inspiration for Joni Mitchell's third album Ladies of the Canyon, released in 1970. Her house was immortalized in the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song "Our House" (1970), written by her lover Graham Nash. The group is reputed to have met and first sung together in Mitchell's living room.[38]

Rock photographer Henry Diltz was also a resident and used the scenic Canyon backdrop for many of his historic photos of rock musicians. Several of his photos became representations of the West Coast music scene during the 1960s and 1970s; other of his photos became album sleeve covers, such the one used for as CSN's debut album Crosby, Stills & Nash (photographed in nearby West Hollywood).

Later years

Musician Josh Tillman has said that his output under the moniker Father John Misty was partly inspired by a move to Laurel Canyon. The song "I Went to the Store One Day" from his 2015 album I Love You, Honeybear, recounts the story of how Tillman met his wife, Emma, in the parking lot of the Laurel Canyon Country Store.[39] [40]

Wonderland murders

On July 1, 1981, three members and one associate of the Wonderland Gang, so-called because they were based at 8763 Wonderland Avenue, died in the Wonderland murders (also known as the "Four on the Floor murders" or the "Laurel Canyon murders"). Salón stated "The massacre took place just down the street from what was then the home of Jerry Brown, who was California’s governor at the time. The 8763 Wonderland Avenue address is said to have been inhabited at one time by Paul Revere & the Raiders."[41]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Worldwide Elevation Finder . elevation.maplogs.com . 2 January 2022 . March 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331082655/https://elevation.maplogs.com/poi/laurel_canyon_los_angeles_ca_usa.376478.html . live .
  2. Web site: ZIP Code™ Lookup – USPS. tools.usps.com. August 15, 2015. June 20, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170620022607/https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupResultsAction!input.action?resultMode=1&companyName=&address1=laurel+canyon&address2=&city=los+angeles&state=CA&urbanCode=&postalCode=&zip=. live.
  3. http://planning.lacity.org/StaffRpt/InitialRpts/CPC-2017-2864.PDF
  4. Web site: Wildlife camera catches uncollared mountain lion roaming the Hollywood Hills. Los Angeles Times. October 31, 2017. January 16, 2022. January 16, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220116093659/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-mountain-lion-spotted-20171031-story.html. live.
  5. Web site: Harnisch. Larry. Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Lookout Mountain Inn Promotes Real Estate. October 6, 2014. ladailymirror.com. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144857/https://ladailymirror.com/2014/10/06/mary-mallory-hollywood-heights-lookout-mountain-inn-promotes-real-estate/. live.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20230331082658/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ylwqzORVxlgJ:laurelcanyonassoc.com/EarlyHist.htmls
  7. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19100306.2.133.57 Los Angeles Herald, Volume 37, Number 156, March 6, 1910 "Mrs. F. J. Talamantes, accompanied by her daughters, Mrs. M. D. O'Farrell and Miss Fay Talamantes, left yesterday for a two weeks' stay at Bungalow Inn, in Laurel canyon"
  8. Book: Sebree . Mac . Ward . Paul . Mac Sebree . Transit's Stepchild: The Trolley Coach . 1973 . . Los Angeles . 73084356 . 10, 12–13.
  9. Book: Bruce . Ashley . Lombard-Gerin and Inventing the Trolleybus . 2017 . Trolleybooks . Bildeston, Suffolk, UK . 978-0-904235-25-8 . 111–112.
  10. Web site: Water and Power Associates. waterandpower.org. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144929/http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_Hollywood_(1850-1920)_Page_2.html. live.
  11. Book: Murray, Alan . World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia . 2000 . 79 . Trolleybooks . Yateley, Hampshire, UK . 0-904235-18-1.
  12. Web site: Google Maps. Google Maps. December 9, 2017. March 31, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230331082654/https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gardner+Junction/@34.1007969,-118.3617229,16z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2bedc10477be1:0x97c62b281862f15a!8m2!3d34.0977496!4d-118.3529789). live.
  13. Web site: Map . pacificelectric.org . December 9, 2017 . May 8, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180508140417/http://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/OERM-1911_system_map_with_train_movements_notated_sm.pdf . live .
  14. Web site: Pacific Electric Hollywood Line . https://web.archive.org/web/20230924193246/https://www.erha.org/pewhl.htm . 2023-09-24 . 2024-03-03 . Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California . "Built 1894 by Cahuenga Valley Railroad Company as a narrow gauge steam line. Obtained by Pasadena & Pacific in 1896 and electrified about 1900. It was standard gauged by LAP in 1909 and became PE [Pacific Electric] property in 1911. PE operated it until March 10, 1924, when it was abandoned.".
  15. Web site: SkyscraperPage Forum – View Single Post – noirish Los Angeles. forum.skyscraperpage.com. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718174514/http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6243558&postcount=16287. live.
  16. Web site: CityDig: Looking Back at the Lookout Mountain Inn Los Angeles Magazine. October 23, 2013. July 18, 2018. December 21, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171221011031/http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/citydig-looking-back-at-the-lookout-mountain-inn/. live.
  17. Web site: Laurel Canyon Suite: Gods, Myths, and Fires. April 19, 2017. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718145043/https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/laurel-canyon-suite-gods-myths-and-fires. live.
  18. Web site: SkyscraperPage Forum – View Single Post – noirish Los Angeles. forum.skyscraperpage.com. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718174422/http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6239389&postcount=16204. live.
  19. Web site: 8626 Skyline Drive – John Bertram in Laurel Canyon. October 8, 2014. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144849/https://legaciesofla.com/8626-skyline-drive-laurel-canyon/. live.
  20. Web site: Laurel Canyon. Pinterest. July 18, 2018. March 31, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230331082654/https://www.pinterest.com/pin/201254677070709057/. live.
  21. Web site: Hollywood Historic Photos. hollywoodhistoricphotos.com. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144944/http://hollywoodhistoricphotos.com/index.php/cPath/90_103_138. live.
  22. Web site: Laurel Canyon's Flammable History – Canyon News. August 27, 2010. July 18, 2018. December 9, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171209095751/http://www.canyon-news.com/laurel-canyons-flammable-history/28406. live.
  23. Web site: Looking back: Some of L.A.'s worst blazes. https://web.archive.org/web/20200203044825/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-11-me-history11-story.html. February 3, 2020. live. May 11, 2007. Cecilia Rasmussen. Los Angeles Times. Web site: Detail . martinturnbull.com . December 8, 2017 . December 8, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171208231352/https://martinturnbull.com/2015/09/04/laurel-canyon-rd-emerging-from-the-hollywood-hills-1923/ . live .
  24. Web site: Detail . martinturnbull.com . December 8, 2017 . December 8, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171208231352/https://martinturnbull.com/2015/09/04/laurel-canyon-rd-emerging-from-the-hollywood-hills-1923/ . live .
  25. Web site: Laurel Canyon. October 12, 2016. July 18, 2018. March 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240310034119/http://centerforaninformedamerica.com/laurelcanyon/. live.
  26. Web site: Laurel Canyon Association: 20th Century Canyon History . https://web.archive.org/web/20040612005749/http://laurelcanyonassoc.com/20cHist.html . June 12, 2004 . July 18, 2018.
  27. Web site: Dave McGowan on the Hippie Era and Stranger than Fiction Laurel Canyon Rock Scene – FarOutRadio.com. faroutradio.com. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144618/http://faroutradio.com/3-27-2013-dave-mcgowan-on-the-hippie-era-and-stranger-than-fiction-laurel-canyon-rock-scene/. dead.
  28. Web site: 8917 Appian Way – Spanish Home in Sunset Strip West. January 21, 2015. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144610/https://legaciesofla.com/8917-appian-way-in-sunset-strip-west/. live.
  29. Web site: Laurel Canyon Neighborhood Posts – Brian Ades Legacies of L.A.. Brian Ades Legacies of L.A.. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144924/https://legaciesofla.com/neighborhood/laurel-canyon/. live.
  30. Web site: Where the rockers let their hair down. August. Brown. August 2, 2007. July 18, 2018. Los Angeles Times. May 2, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190502112921/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-02-wk-coverside2-story.html. live.
  31. Web site: Canyon News – What's that at Laurel Canyon and Lookout Mountain? . May 3, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111117221209/http://www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/DegreesCoolerfeb/What_s_that_at_Laurel_Canyon_and_Lookout_Mountain.php . November 17, 2011 .
  32. Web site: Canyon News – Laurel Canyon House Zappa Used to Live in . May 3, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130826061537/http://www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/Musically_Speaking_43/Little_Laurel_Canyon_House_.php . August 26, 2013 .
  33. Web site: The Rock and Roll Treehouse. jackboulware.com. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718145005/http://www.jackboulware.com/writing/journalism/the-rock-and-roll-treehouse. live.
  34. Web site: Inside the Laurel Canyon Houdini Estate. wildabouthoudini.com. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718174808/https://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/03/inside-houdini-estate.html. live.
  35. Web site: Laurel Canyon Part 4. January 4, 2010. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718145049/https://seeker401.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/laurel-canyon-part-4/. dead.
  36. Web site: Stevens . Jenny . 'I Was a Bad Influence on the Beatles': James Taylor on Lennon, Love and Recovery . via Pocket . The Guardian . April 12, 2020 . February 17, 2020 . March 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331082659/https://getpocket.com/explore/item/i-was-a-bad-influence-on-the-beatles-james-taylor-on-lennon-love-and-recovery . live .
  37. Book: Fiegel . Eddi . Dream A Little Dream Of Me . September 28, 2005 . Chicsago Review Press.
  38. Sheila Weller, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - And the Journey of a Generation, Atria Books, 2008, .
  39. The Gospel of Father John Misty. Jonah. Weiner. February 19, 2015. Rolling Stone. July 18, 2018. March 3, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180303225520/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-gospel-of-father-john-misty-20150219. live.
  40. Web site: The Third Revelation of Father John Misty. Sean. Fennessey. February 6, 2015. Grantland. July 18, 2018. November 19, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201119123653/http://grantland.com/features/father-john-misty-i-love-you-honeybear/. live.
  41. News: Lemons, Stephen . Return to Wonderland . Salón . 9 June 2000 . August 26, 2015 . September 7, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150907163741/http://www.salon.com/2000/06/09/wonderland/ . live .

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