Aerial shot of Hollywoodland, Los Angeles, 1928
This breathtaking aerial shot of Hollywoodland was taken in 1928, which was five years after the construction of the Hollywoodland sign let Angelenos know that the development was open for business. At the time, not too many locals were thrilled at the idea of living on a hillside so it took a while for the idea to catch on. We can see from this photo that, five years later, quite a few large home peppered the landscape.
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Right above the house with the pointy turret, there seems to be a crater, and if you enlarge the pic, there are people standing on the rim, perhaps looking down. Whatever that is, what a great pic of a sparsely populated tract of homes with the desert scrub for your backyard. I can only imagine who lived up in those winding roads. What a fantastic era in which to live.
Are they people standing on the rim, or poplar trees (which is what I took them to be)?
Maybe the better question is, “Why is there a out-of-place, unnatural-looking crater on top of a hill?” That lends credence to my “people” theory. If it was trees, why are they planted in a uncoordinated fashion? And at such an early date, why aren’t there OTHER trees planted?
You make a very good point, Rich!
My guess would be Italian Cypress trees. Too evenly spaced, all same height and conical to the ground leaves for people.
Point well made was desert scrub for landscaping. There were “critters & varmints” in them thar hills; coyotes and rattlesnakes being particularly lethal. For such large, expensive houses you’d think some would have at least one stout walled outdoor yard space for pet safety at night.
Took a closer look at photo. Bottom center house appears to have just such a walled yard. This architect and/or owner knew what they were doing. Triangular section of wall must be twenty plus feet high!
Oh man, you and Rick have been studying this photo way more than I did! I wish I had a hi-res version so I could zoom in more.
Who’s responsible for the lone “H” off to the left…Hollywood High students?
Yes. As I understand it, it was sort of a class project, in civics or civic pride, I think. At the very least it got them off campus for short while, so they probably enjoyed that!