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Beverly Hills, California

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Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately 12.2 miles (19.6 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills' land area totals 5.71 square miles (14.8 km2) and (together with the neighboring smaller city of West Hollywood to the east) is entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 32,701, marking a decrease of 1,408 from the 2010 census count of 34,109.

In American popular culture, Beverly Hills has been known as an affluent location within Greater Los Angeles, which corresponds to higher property values and taxes in the area. The city is well known for its Rodeo Drive shopping district that includes many designer brands. Throughout its history, the city has been home to many celebrities. It is noted for numerous hotels and resorts, including the Beverly Hilton and the Beverly Hills Hotel. The city has been featured in many movies, television series, music, and media, in the United States and internationally.

After its initial settlement in 1828, Beverly Hills was originally a primarily agricultural community centered around Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas, a Mexican-era rancho grant. Beverly Hills was first incorporated as a city in September 1914 by a group of investors who had failed to find oil but found water instead, and eventually decided to develop it into a town.

Gaspar de Portolá arrived in the area that would later become Beverly Hills on August 3, 1769, traveling along native trails which followed the present-day route of Wilshire Boulevard. The area was settled by Californio ranchera María Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband in 1828. They called their 4,500 acres (18 km2) of property the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. In 1854, she sold the ranch to Benjamin Davis Wilson (1811–1878) and Henry Hancock (1822–1883). By the 1880s, the ranch had been subdivided into parcels of 75 acres (0.30 km2) and was being rapidly bought up by Anglos from Los Angeles and the East coast.

Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker acquired most of it and used it for farming lima beans. At this point, the area was known as the Hammel and Denker Ranch. By 1888, they were planning to build a town called Morocco on their holdings.

In 1900, Burton E. Green, Charles A. Canfield, Max Whittier, Frank H. Buck, Henry E. Huntington, William G. Kerckhoff, William F. Herrin, W.S. Porter, and Frank H. Balch formed the Amalgamated Oil Company, bought the Hammel and Denker ranch, and began looking for oil. They did not find enough to exploit commercially by the standards of the time, though. In 1906, therefore, they reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company, renamed the property "Beverly Hills", subdivided it, and began selling lots. The development was named "Beverly Hills" after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts, and because of the hills in the area.

The Los Angeles Times reported on September 2, 1906:

Percy H. Clark Company are managing the development of the foothill portion of the Hammel & Denker ranch for the Rodeo Land and Water Company (the Canfield-Huntington-Kerckhoff syndicate), to be known as Beverly Hills. No expense is being spared to make this a fine suburban district. . . . The property has been laid out on beautiful curved lines.

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