Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles facts for kids

Laurel Canyon is a hilly neighborhood located in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, California. It's known for its main road, Laurel Canyon Boulevard, which connects it to other parts of Los Angeles.

Long ago, the Tongva people lived in this area. By the early 1900s, it became a popular vacation spot. Later, it turned into a place where many famous people lived, especially movie stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Its quiet, natural setting and closeness to movie studios made it perfect for them.

In the 1960s, Laurel Canyon became a hub for the counterculture movement. Many famous folk and rock musicians moved there. This made it a special place for musical artists to work together and create new sounds. Later, the area was connected to a group known as the Wonderland Gang.

Exploring Laurel Canyon's Location

Laurel Canyon is centered around its main road, Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Unlike some other canyon neighborhoods, houses line this main street almost all the way up to Mulholland Drive. Many smaller roads branch off the main canyon. Most of these are not through streets, which helps the neighborhood feel private and self-contained.

Some of the important side streets include Mount Olympus, Kirkwood, Wonderland Avenue, Willow Glen, and Lookout Mountain Avenue. Part of the neighborhood uses the zip code 90046.

Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a key route that runs north and south. It connects areas like West Hollywood, Hollywood, and Central Los Angeles with Studio City and the eastern San Fernando Valley. Mulholland Drive marks the boundary between these two regions within the canyon.

Generally, Laurel Canyon is bordered by West Hollywood to its west and south. Hollywood is to its east, and Studio City is to its north.

Wildlife in Laurel Canyon

Laurel Canyon is famous for its natural wildlife. It is home to various animals, including at least one adult male mountain lion. This shows how wild and natural the area still is, even though it's close to a big city.

Laurel Canyon's Past

Early Inhabitants: The Tongva People

For thousands of years, the Laurel Canyon area was home to the Tongva people. They were a native tribe of indigenous peoples of California. A natural spring provided water all year round, which was very important for their lives.

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, Spanish ranchers came to the area. They used the hillsides to graze their sheep because of the reliable water supply. After the Mexican–American War and when California became a U.S. state in 1850, more Americans settled here. They were interested in controlling the water sources.

Developing Lookout Mountain

Before the 1900s, people could only travel through the canyon on foot or by mule. In 1907, a dirt road was built. This road was about 82 miles long and was later named Laurel Canyon Boulevard. It went up the canyon and split at what is now Lookout Mountain Road. One path led to the top of Lookout Mountain, and the other went to the top of the Santa Monica Mountains and then down to the San Fernando Valley.

In 1908, a company called Lookout Mountain Park and Water Co. bought 280 acres on Lookout Mountain. They divided this land into smaller plots to sell as mountain vacation properties. On August 14, 1908, the Los Angeles Times announced plans for a Lookout Mountain Inn at the top of Lookout Mountain and Sunset Plaza roads. They also planned Lookout Mountain Park, Bungalow Land, and Wonderland Park. Two years later, the company made the winding dirt road wider. They then built the Lookout Mountain Inn at the top.

In 1910, Charles Mann and Richard Shoemaker built a "trackless trolley" line. This was a trolley bus system. It started carrying passengers on September 11, becoming the first commercial trolley bus in the United States. It ran up Laurel Canyon Road from the Pacific Electric Laurel Canyon Shuttle stop at Sunset Boulevard. It ended at the Tavern, a road house for visitors at the top of Lookout Mountain Road.

Each of the two trolley cars could hold 16 passengers. They had two trolley poles, one connected to a positive overhead wire and one to a ground overhead wire. This allowed them to move freely on either side of the street, only using power when going uphill. Each trolley was actually an Oldsmobile bus. Its gasoline engine had been replaced with a 15-horsepower electric motor. Their original bodies were updated in 1912, with open sides being enclosed. Around 1915, Stanley steam buses replaced them, and the overhead wires were removed. Until 1918, the shuttle service went up and down Laurel Canyon. It met the half-hour schedule to Los Angeles. However, not enough people used it, so it stopped when demand wasn't enough. This happened after Pacific Electric stopped service to Laurel Canyon Boulevard from Gardner Junction in 1924.

On October 26, 1918, a large fire, pushed by strong Santa Ana winds, burned about 200 acres. It completely destroyed Lookout Mountain Inn. Another big fire happened in July 1959, destroying about 38 homes.

As the roads got better, people could reach the canyon by car.

As of 2007, a vacant lot at 2401 Laurel Canyon Blvd. is where the famous 1915 "Log Cabin" mansion once stood. This house had an 80-foot living room and a huge fireplace. It also had a bowling alley. The silent film star Tom Mix once lived there. Later, it was rented out for many years. In 1968, musician Frank Zappa rented it, but he moved out after four months. The house burned down on Halloween in 1981. Directly across the street, at 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd., was the home that magician Harry Houdini might have rented around 1919. It was originally the Walker estate.

Laurel Canyon's Music Scene: The 1960s and 1970s

Laurel Canyon became a very important place for the counterculture movement in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. It became famous as the home for many of Los Angeles's rock musicians. These included 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 Eagles, the band Love, Neil Young, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and many others like James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and Harry Nilsson. Even Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork of The Monkees lived there.

John Phillips, also from the Mamas & the Papas, was inspired by his home in Laurel Canyon. He wrote the song "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)", which came out in 1967. The next year, blues artist John Mayall recorded the album Blues from Laurel Canyon. This album was based on his experiences during a vacation he spent there.

The area and its residents also inspired Joni Mitchell's third album, Ladies of the Canyon, released in 1970. Her house was remembered in the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song "Our House" (1970), written by Graham Nash. It's said that the group first met and sang together in Mitchell's living room.

Rock photographer Henry Diltz also lived in Laurel Canyon. He used the beautiful canyon scenery for many of his famous photos of rock musicians. Several of his pictures became symbols of the West Coast music scene during the 1960s and 1970s. Other photos became album covers, like the one for CSN's first album Crosby, Stills & Nash (which was photographed in nearby West Hollywood).

Later Musical Influences

Musician Josh Tillman, known as Father John Misty, has said that his music was partly inspired by moving to Laurel Canyon. The song "I Went to the Store One Day" from his 2015 album I Love You, Honeybear tells the story of how Tillman met his wife, Emma, in the parking lot of the Laurel Canyon Country Store.

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