It’s hard to believe that there was ever a bridle paths around Beverly Hills, let alone that it was still there in the 1940s. The above shot was taken in 1942 and shows the bridle path down North Rodeo Drive (the residential part.) It explains why Rodeo Drive is so wide with a strip along the middle.
https://www.martinturnbull.com/photo-blog/page/10/
It’s hard to believe that there was ever a bridle path along Beverly Boulevard in Beverly Hills, let alone that it was still there in the 1940s. This shot was taken in 1942.
Should the statement say “Sunset Boulevard” instead of “Beverly Boulevard”? The photograph immediately below the statement shows the Beverly Hills Hotel beyond the Bridle Path, and the bus stop at left has a sign that states “Beverly Hills Hotel.” I believe the Bridle Path on Sunset Blvd. continued west to some point near where Sunset Blvd. takes a sharp turn right as it leaves Beverly Hills. There was also a Bridle Path on Rodeo Drive, from Sunset Blvd. to Santa Monica Blvd. The Google Maps representation of Beverly Hills shows Sunset Blvd.to the bend and Rodeo Drive being wider than other streets in Beverly Hills other than obvious thoroughfares such as Santa Monica and Wilshire Blvds.
Apparently it’s not quite as straightforward as that. Apparently the name “Sunset Blvd” didn’t always apply to the whole stretch of what we now call Sunset Blvd from downtown to the Pacific. Surprisingly, that’s a relatively recent name (and by “recent” I mean 1940s or 50s!)
At least one of the old bridle paths still had some traces left. The Coldwater Canyon path ended at Lindacrest Drive just east of Coldwater Canyon Drive, and you can still see the entrance there. Just south of there, almost the entire portion leading down to Coldwater Canyon Park is still plainly visible in Google Earth.
The first photo is incorrectly described. It actually shows the bridle path that ran down North Rodeo Drive, between Santa Monica Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. What is now the median that runs the length of Sunset Boulevard within Beverly Hills was originally a bridle path. Those were the two public bridle paths in Beverly Hills.
(I’m vice president of Beverly Hills Heritage.)
I grew up near the top of Cherokee Lane in the 1960s and ’70s, where the dividing line between Beverly Hills and Los Angeles runs down the middle of the street. About midway up the hill between Cherokee and Evelyn Place there was a well-defined level pathway that ran from Loma Vista down to where the enormous house and lot at 9434 Cherokee are now. That property was wild and undeveloped back then, and we kids used to walk the trail from Loma Vista down to what is now that property. Once there we could hike the circular path that was there, and then come out through the lower entrance on Cherokee. Was that also one of the bridle paths? Were there ever any paths in Coldwater Canyon north of Lindacrest?
As for that large property, most of us back then thought it was just a fire road since it was undeveloped and unposted. We used to walk our dog there for years, but then finally the neighbor who owned it confronted us and told us that it belonged to him “wasn’t a dog walking area”. He then followed my dad and our dog and me up Trently, in his car, as if we had no business being in the neighborhood! Not long after that several enormous trucks of building supplies roared up Cherokee and and onto the property, and the building began.