H. J. Whitley, a real estate developer, arranged to buy the 480-acre (1.9 km2) E.C. Hurd ranch. Whitley shared his plans for the new town with GeneralHarrison Gray Otis, publisher of theLos Angeles Times, and Ivar Weid, a prominent businessman in the area.[citation needed]
Daeida Wilcox, who donated land to help in the development of Hollywood, learned of the nameHollywood from an acquaintance who owned an estate by that name in Illinois.[7]Wilcox is quoted as saying, "I chose the name Hollywood simply because it sounds nice and because I'm superstitious and holly brings good luck."[8] She recommended the same name to her husband,Harvey H. Wilcox, who had purchased 120 acres on February 1, 1887. It was not until August 1887 that Wilcox decided to use that name and filed with the Los Angeles County Recorder's office on a deed and parcel map of the property.
By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, and two markets. Los Angeles, with a population of 102,479, lay 10 miles (16 km) east through thevineyards, barley fields, andcitrus groves. A single-trackstreetcar 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 was converted into a liverystable, improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood.
TheHollywood Hotel was opened in 1902 by Whitley, president of the Los Pacific Boulevard and Development Company. Having finally acquired the Hurd ranch and subdivided it, Whitley built the hotel to attract land buyers. Flanking the west side ofHighland Avenue, the structure fronted on Prospect Avenue (laterHollywood Boulevard). Although it was still a dusty, unpaved road, it was regularly graded and graveled. The hotel became internationally known and was the center of the civic and social life and home of movie stars for many years.
Whitley's company developed and sold one of the early residential areas, the Ocean View Tract.[9] Whitley did much to promote the area. He paid thousands of dollars to install electricity and arrange for electric lighting, and he built both a bank and a road into theCahuenga Pass. The lighting ran for several blocks down Prospect Avenue. Whitley's land was centered onHighland Avenue.[10][11] His 1918 development,Whitley Heights, was named for him.
Hollywood was incorporated as amunicipality on November 14, 1903, by a vote of 88 for and 77 against. On January 30, 1904, the voters in Hollywood decided, 113 to 96, to banish the sale of liquor within the city, except for medicinal purposes. Neither hotels nor restaurants were allowed to serve wine or liquor before or after meals.[12]
In 1910, the city voted for a merger with Los Angeles in order to secure an adequate water supply and to gain access to the L.A. 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.[13]
Nestor Studios, Hollywood's first movie studio, 1912Hollywood movie studios in 1922
By 1912, major motion-picture companies had come West to set up production near or in Los Angeles.[14]
In the early 1900s, most motion picture camera and equipmentpatents were held byThomas Edison'sMotion Picture Patents Company inNew Jersey, which often sued filmmakers to stop their productions. To escape this, filmmakers began moving to Los Angeles, where attempts to enforce Edison's patents were easier to evade.[15] Also, the weather was ideal for filmmaking and there was quick access to various settings. Los Angeles became the capital of the film industry in the United States.[16] The mountains, plains and low land prices made Hollywood a good place to establish film studios.[17]
DirectorD. W. Griffith was the first to make a motion picture in Hollywood. His 17-minute short filmIn Old California (1910) was filmed for theBiograph Company.[18][19][20] Although Hollywood banned movie theaters—of which it had none—before annexation that year, Los Angeles had no such restriction.[21]
The first studio in Hollywood opened in early 1913, on Formosa Avenue down the street from Helen Muir's home.[22]: 447 Her fatherJohn Muir returned from his tour ofEurope andEast Africa a few months later and continued work onYosemite and his book,The Yosemite.[22]: 447 TheNestor Film Company was the first studio, established in October 1911[dubious –discuss] by the New Jersey–basedCentaur Film Company in aroadhouse at 6121Sunset Boulevard (the corner ofGower).[citation needed] Four major film companies –Paramount,Warner Bros.,RKO, andColumbia – had studios in Hollywood, as did several minor companies and rental studios. In the 1920s, Hollywood was the fifth-largest industry in the nation.[16][clarification needed] By the 1930s, Hollywood studios became fullyvertically integrated, as production, distribution and exhibition was controlled by these companies, enabling Hollywood to produce 600 films per year.[17]
Hollywood became known asTinseltown[23]and the "dream factory"[17] because of the glittering image of the movie industry.
A large sign readingHOLLYWOODLAND was erected in theHollywood Hills in 1923 to advertise real estate developers Woodruff's and Shoults' housing development. In 1949, theHollywood Chamber of Commerce entered a contract with the City of Los Angeles to repair and rebuild the sign. The agreement stipulated thatLAND be removed to spellHOLLYWOOD so the sign would now refer to the district, rather than the housing development.[24]
TheCapitol Records Building onVine Street, just north of Hollywood Boulevard, was built in 1956. TheHollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 as a tribute to artists and other significant contributors to the entertainment industry. The official opening was on February 8, 1960.[25][26][27]
After the neighborhood underwent years of serious decline in the 1980s, with crime, drugs and increasing poverty among some residents, many landmarks were threatened with demolition.[29]Columbia Square, at the northwest corner ofSunset Boulevard andGower Street, is part of the ongoing rebirth of Hollywood. TheArt Deco-style studio complex, completed in 1938, was once the Hollywood headquarters forCBS. It became home to a new generation of broadcasters when cable television networksMTV,Comedy Central,BET andSpike TV consolidated their offices there in 2014 as part of a $420 million office, residential and retail complex.[30]Paramount Skydance Corporation moved their corporate headquarters to Hollywood in August 2025 following the merger ofSkydance Media andParamount Global.[31]
Since 2000, Hollywood has been increasinglygentrified due to revitalization by private enterprise and public planners.[32][33][34] Over 1,200 hotel rooms have been added in the Hollywood area between 2001 and 2016. Four thousand new apartments and over thirtylow to mid-rise development projects were approved in 2019.[35]
The iconicHollywood Sign in theHollywood HillsMobile billboard promoting Hollywood secession from Los Angeles, October 2002
In 2002, some Hollywood voters began a campaign for the area to secede from Los Angeles and become a separate municipality. In June of that year, theLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors placed secession referendums for both Hollywood and theSan Fernando Valley on the ballot. To pass, they required the approval of a majority of voters in the proposed new municipality as well as a majority of voters in all of Los Angeles. In the November election, both measures failed by wide margins in the citywide vote.[36]
In 1918, H. J. Whitley commissioned architect A. S. Barnes to designWhitley Heights as a Mediterranean-style village on the hills above Hollywood Boulevard. It became the first celebrity community.[40][41][42]
In 1994,Hollywood, Alabama, and ten other towns named Hollywood successfully fought an attempt by theHollywood Chamber of Commerce to trademark the name and force same-named communities to pay royalties to it.[45]
Like the rest ofLos Angeles, Hollywood has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen:Csa) or dry-summersubtropical climate. Winters are typically mild and with light rain, but there are still plenty of warm, sunny days in the winter, as well. Summers are hot, sunny and dry, with virtually no rain falling between April and October; while summer days can be warm, they are considerably cooler than in theSan Fernando Valley.[46] Spring and fall are generally warm, sunny, and pleasant.Santa Ana winds typically occur during the fall and winter months, although they can occur during any month; Santa Ana winds bring heavy winds, higher temperatures and lower humidity levels, which increases the risk ofwildfires, especially in dry years.Smog can sometimes occur during the summer months. May and June can be foggy and cloudy in Hollywood, a phenomenon known by southern California residents as "May Gray" or "June Gloom".[47]
The all-time record high temperature in Hollywood is 112 °F (44 °C) on June 26, 1990, and the all-time record low temperature is 24 °F (−4 °C) on both December 8, 1978, and December 23, 1990.
Climate data for Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
The2000 U.S. census counted 77,818 residents in the 3.51-square-mile (9.1 km2) Hollywood neighborhood—an average of 22,193 people per square mile (8,569 people/km2), the seventh-densest neighborhood in all ofLos Angeles County. In 2008 the city estimated that the population had increased to 85,489. The median age for residents was 31, about the city's average.[38]
Hollywood was said to be "highly diverse" when compared to the city at large. The ethnic breakdown in 2000 was 42.2%Latino or Hispanic, 41%Non-Hispanic White, 7.1%Asian, 5.2%Black, and 4.5% other.[38] Mexico (21.3%) and Guatemala (13%) were the most common places of birth for the 53.8% of the residents who were born abroad, a figure that was considered high for the city as a whole.[38]
The median household income in 2008 was $33,694, considered low for Los Angeles. The average household size of 2.1 people was also lower than the city norm. Renters occupied 92.4% of the housing units, and home- or apartment owners the rest.[38]
The percentages of never-married men (55.1%), never-married women (39.8%) and widows (9.6%) were among the county's highest. There were 2,640 families headed by single parents, about average for Los Angeles.[38]
In 2000, there were 2,828 military veterans, or 4.5%, a low rate for the city as a whole.[38]
These were the ten neighborhoods or cities in Los Angeles County with the highest population densities, according to the 2000 census, with the population per square mile:[52]
On January 22, 1947, the first commercial television station west of theMississippi River,KTLA, began operating in Hollywood. In December of that year,The Public Prosecutor became the first network television series to be filmed in Hollywood. Television stationsKTLA andKCET, both on Sunset Boulevard, are the last broadcasters (television or radio) with Hollywood addresses, but KCET has since sold its studios to theChurch of Scientology on Sunset, and plans to move to another location.[citation needed]KNBC moved in 1962 from the formerNBC Radio City Studios at the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street toNBC Studios in Burbank.KTTV moved in 1996 from its former home atMetromedia Square on Sunset Boulevard to West Los Angeles, andKCOP left its home on La Brea Avenue to join KTTV at the modern-day Fox Television Center.KCBS-TV andKCAL-TV moved from their longtime home atCBS Columbia Square on Sunset Boulevard to a new facility atCBS Studio Center inStudio City.
As a neighborhood within theLos Angeles city limits, Hollywood does not have its own municipal government. A person was appointed by theHollywood Chamber of Commerce to serve as an honorary "Mayor of Hollywood" for ceremonial purposes.Johnny Grant held this position from 1980 until his death on January 9, 2008.[55]
Hollywood is included within the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council (HUNC),[60] Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council,[61][62] and the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council.[63][64] Neighborhood Councils cast advisory votes on such issues as zoning, planning, and other community issues. The council members are voted in by stakeholders, generally defined as anyone living, working, owning property, or belonging to an organization within the boundaries of the council.[65]
Hollywood residents aged 25 and older holding a four-year degree amounted to 28% of the population in 2000, about the same as in the county at large.[38]
The Will and Ariel Durant Branch, John C. Fremont Branch, and the Frances Howard Goldwyn – Hollywood Regional Branch of theLos Angeles Public Library are in Hollywood.
TheAcademy Awards, which honor the preceding year in film, have been held every year in late February/early March since 2004; prior to 2004, they were held in late March/early April. Since 2002, the Oscars have been held at theDolby Theatre (formerly Kodak Theatre) at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, with the exception of 2020, when due to theCOVID-19 pandemic they were held inLos Angeles Union Station.
The annualHollywood Christmas Parade goes downHollywood Boulevard and is broadcast in the Los Angeles area onKTLA and around the United States on Tribune-owned stations and theWGN superstation. The 75th edition of the parade was held in 2006.[67]
TheHollywood Half Marathon began in 2012 and takes place every April. The event includes a Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, and Kids Fun Run along Hollywood Blvd., and is used to raise funds and awareness for local youth homeless shelters.
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