Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/38228
HOLLYWOODLAND “The Supreme Achievement in Community Building” by Mary Mallory LEFT: Hollywoodland entrance, 2690 Beachwood Drive, circa 1925. Courtesy of Hollywood Heritage, Inc. BELOW: Workers, encircled in red, lend scale to the towering letters of the sign, circa 1978. Courtesy of Bison Archives O ne of the most popular tourist attractions in Hollywood, California isn’t a place, but a sign. The Hollywood Sign, created in 1923 to promote the new real estate development Hol- lywoodland, is the most visible representation of an elegant neighborhood now known as Beach- wood Canyon. Hollywoodland contains many special features and sophisticated homes that attract artists and celebrities, and has served as a filming location for movies and television shows. The neighbor- hood possesses a real history and beauty, resem- bling a charming European hillside town. Beginnings Early residents of what is now Beachwood Canyon raised crops in the 1880s. In 1905, streetcar tycoons and brothers-in-law Eli P. Clark 34 DISCOVER HOLLYWOOD / SUMMER 2011 and M. H. Sherman acquired 640 acres at the very top of the canyon. In honor of William Shakespeare’s 300th birth- day in April 1916, the community staged an out-