In this photo we’re looking south along the Cahuenga Pass as (not very many) motorists make their way out of the San Fernando Valley. Before the advent of the Hollywood freeway in the 1950s, the road through the Cahuenga Pass was one of the main arteries between the vast citrus orchards of the Valley and the city of Los Angeles. That might explain why it looks nicely paved. This photo is circa 1928, when Sunset Boulevard west of Crescent Heights Boulevard was still a dirt road and wouldn’t be paved for another couple of years.

David says: “Citrus was a commercial crop on the north slope of the Valley, where cold air would drain off in the winter. Central and southern parts of the valley were used for walnuts and stone fruits (such as apricots, as Andie points out) that would benefit from a little winter chill.”

Andie says: “Citrus and Apricots. The area west of Sepulveda to Balboa, north of Roscoe to Nordhoff St., was the site of several apricot orchards. Just after the war, most of the trees were removed and the area was subdivided into lots from one to 5 acres. My dad bought several parcels in late 1946 and built his home on one. There were a dozen apricot trees still on the property. South of Roscoe was a huge dairy farm. It remained until Busch bought the 95 acre property. We bought dairy products there in 1952 and then watched the brewery being built (block and a half from my dad’s place on Orion Ave. in 1953.

My dad had also bought property in the north of the valley that was solid orange groves and had a “county plat” number on the survey. A few years later it was named Dennis Park and rezoned RA and he sold off most of it to horse people. Later it was renamed Mission Hills. He kept the western part of it and later sold that to the people who were developing a golf course. It was quite hilly with gullies and mostly scrub, there had never been any orange trees as the land was not suitable. In ’46 and ’47 most of the property he bought was sold at auctions – some were held at Devonshire Downs. He bought a parcel of land in Canoga Park, wheat fields at the time. As there was little building going on at the time in that area, he leased most of the 40 acres to a company that grew dichondra for sod and for seed. On weekends we used to trailer the horses out there and ride up into Chatsworth. There were a lot of trails in that area that were popular with weekend riders.”