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Griffith Park
Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, ranging from the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California to the San Fernando Valley. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Griffith Observatory, and the Hollywood Sign. Due to its appearance in many films, the park is among the most famous municipal parks in North America.
It has been compared to Central Park in New York City and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, but it is much larger, less tamed, and more rugged than either of those parks. The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission adopted the characterization of the park as an "urban wilderness" on January 8, 2014. The park covers 4,310 acres (1,740 ha) of land, making it "the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States." By another account, it is the largest wilderness park in the center of any major city worldwide.
Griffith Park was within the territory of the Tongva. The Tongva placename Mocovenga has been associated with the area just southwest of the Ferndell area of the park. Ferndell was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 112 in 1973.
After a career speculating in mining, Griffith J. Griffith purchased Rancho Los Feliz (near the Los Angeles River) in 1882 and later leased some land to investors for an ostrich farm there. Although ostrich feathers were commonly used in making women's hats in the late 19th century, Griffith's purpose was primarily to lure residents of Los Angeles to his nearby property developments, which supposedly were haunted by the ghost of Antonio Feliz (a previous owner of the property). After the property rush peaked, Griffith and his wife, Christina, donated 3,015 acres (1,220 ha) to the city of Los Angeles on December 16, 1896. It came with instructions: "Public parks are a safety valve of great cities...and should be accessible and attractive, where neither race, creed nor color should be excluded."
Griffith was tried and convicted of shooting and severely wounding his wife in a 1903 incident. When released from prison, he funded the construction of an amphitheater and observatory in the park. As his reputation was tainted by his crime, some objected but the city eventually accepted his money. An earlier plan approved by Griffith to build a funicular to the highest peak in the park never materialized.
In 1912, Griffith designated 180 acres (73 ha) of the park, at its northeast corner along the Los Angeles River, for the Griffith Aviation Park, and under the management of his son, Van, an early aviator. Other aviation pioneers such as Glenn L. Martin, Bill Boeing, Donald Douglas and Silas Christofferson used it; afterwards the aerodrome was passed to the National Guard Air Service. Air operations continued on a 2,000-foot (600 m)-long runway until 1939, when it was closed, partly due to danger from interference with the approaches to Grand Central Airport across the river in Glendale, and because the City Planning commission complained that a military airport violated the terms of Griffith's deed. The National Guard squadron moved to Van Nuys, and the aerodrome was demolished, though the rotating beacon and its tower remained for many years. From 1946 until the mid-1950s, Rodger Young Village occupied the area which had formerly been the Aerodrome. Today that site is occupied by the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot, the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, soccer fields, and the interchange between the Golden State Freeway and the Ventura Freeway.[citation needed]
Griffith set up a trust fund for the improvements he envisioned, and after his death in 1919 the city began to build what Griffith had wanted. The amphitheater, called the Greek Theatre, was completed in 1930, and Griffith Observatory was finished in 1935. Subsequent to Griffith's original gift, further donations of land, city purchases, and the reversion of land from private to public have expanded the park to its present size.
In December, 1944 the Sherman Company donated 444 acres (180 ha) of Hollywoodland open space to Griffith Park. This large, passive, eco-sensitive property borders the Lake Hollywood reservoir (west), the former Hollywoodland sign (north), and Bronson Canyon (east) where it connects into the original Griffith donation. The Hollywoodland residential community is surrounded by this land.
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Griffith Park
Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, ranging from the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California to the San Fernando Valley. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Griffith Observatory, and the Hollywood Sign. Due to its appearance in many films, the park is among the most famous municipal parks in North America.
It has been compared to Central Park in New York City and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, but it is much larger, less tamed, and more rugged than either of those parks. The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission adopted the characterization of the park as an "urban wilderness" on January 8, 2014. The park covers 4,310 acres (1,740 ha) of land, making it "the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States." By another account, it is the largest wilderness park in the center of any major city worldwide.
Griffith Park was within the territory of the Tongva. The Tongva placename Mocovenga has been associated with the area just southwest of the Ferndell area of the park. Ferndell was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 112 in 1973.
After a career speculating in mining, Griffith J. Griffith purchased Rancho Los Feliz (near the Los Angeles River) in 1882 and later leased some land to investors for an ostrich farm there. Although ostrich feathers were commonly used in making women's hats in the late 19th century, Griffith's purpose was primarily to lure residents of Los Angeles to his nearby property developments, which supposedly were haunted by the ghost of Antonio Feliz (a previous owner of the property). After the property rush peaked, Griffith and his wife, Christina, donated 3,015 acres (1,220 ha) to the city of Los Angeles on December 16, 1896. It came with instructions: "Public parks are a safety valve of great cities...and should be accessible and attractive, where neither race, creed nor color should be excluded."
Griffith was tried and convicted of shooting and severely wounding his wife in a 1903 incident. When released from prison, he funded the construction of an amphitheater and observatory in the park. As his reputation was tainted by his crime, some objected but the city eventually accepted his money. An earlier plan approved by Griffith to build a funicular to the highest peak in the park never materialized.
In 1912, Griffith designated 180 acres (73 ha) of the park, at its northeast corner along the Los Angeles River, for the Griffith Aviation Park, and under the management of his son, Van, an early aviator. Other aviation pioneers such as Glenn L. Martin, Bill Boeing, Donald Douglas and Silas Christofferson used it; afterwards the aerodrome was passed to the National Guard Air Service. Air operations continued on a 2,000-foot (600 m)-long runway until 1939, when it was closed, partly due to danger from interference with the approaches to Grand Central Airport across the river in Glendale, and because the City Planning commission complained that a military airport violated the terms of Griffith's deed. The National Guard squadron moved to Van Nuys, and the aerodrome was demolished, though the rotating beacon and its tower remained for many years. From 1946 until the mid-1950s, Rodger Young Village occupied the area which had formerly been the Aerodrome. Today that site is occupied by the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot, the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, soccer fields, and the interchange between the Golden State Freeway and the Ventura Freeway.[citation needed]
Griffith set up a trust fund for the improvements he envisioned, and after his death in 1919 the city began to build what Griffith had wanted. The amphitheater, called the Greek Theatre, was completed in 1930, and Griffith Observatory was finished in 1935. Subsequent to Griffith's original gift, further donations of land, city purchases, and the reversion of land from private to public have expanded the park to its present size.
In December, 1944 the Sherman Company donated 444 acres (180 ha) of Hollywoodland open space to Griffith Park. This large, passive, eco-sensitive property borders the Lake Hollywood reservoir (west), the former Hollywoodland sign (north), and Bronson Canyon (east) where it connects into the original Griffith donation. The Hollywoodland residential community is surrounded by this land.
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