Like a carousel, LAX, the second busiest airport in the world, is consistently in a spin, welcoming enthusiastic visitors from all around the globe. Whether they get to explore quaint streets like the steepest street in Los Angeles, shop at Rodeo Drive, or decide to rough it out along the 11 miles worth of hidden (not so hidden now, though) tunnels, sprinkled with former speakeasies during the country’s Prohibition which ran along Spring Street and Temple Street to Grand Avenue and 1st Street, there are bound to be a few attractions that will knock your socks off.
These are just a few of the interesting 'hidden' facts about the City of Angels. It’s literally impossible to list down everything that is intriguing in this article, but here are five interesting facts to give you quick insights into the city’s illustrious and decorous history and culture.
1. The Birth of Hollywood...and its Iconic Sign
Everyone equates being in Los Angeles as being in Hollywood but few know how it all began. Without giving you for a history lesson, let’s just say it began with a fleeing group of film producers in the 1900s. As the film industry started developing in New Jersey where Thomas Edison held the intellectual property right claims, filmmakers fled New Jersey and made their way across to the other coast. The small single adobe hut outside of Los Angeles, already known as Hollywoodland, was a mere agricultural community then.The small agricultural community was caught like a deer in the headlights. However, apart from daring cord cutting from Thomas Edison, filmmakers were also deeply attracted to the vast terrain, pleasant weather conditions and wide open space that were ideal for the budding filmmaking industry. Back then, Beverly Hills was merely a modest bean ranch. With the setting up of Biograph Company and its spreading reach, orange groves were transformed into residential areas, movie studios, and theaters. Its population exploded from the 100s into the 100,000s within a short period of time. The Golden Age of Hollywood further spurred on growth with studios like the Charlie Chaplin Studio, Paramount, RKO, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. They bestowed upon the world the talents of Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Mae West, Will Rogers, Betty Grable and John Wayne.
If you’re intrigued with the touching historic events surrounding Hollywood, be sure to drop by attractions like Capitol Records, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Hollywood Bowl, Rock Walk, Griffith Park, Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditorium, NBC Radio City Studios, KTLA-TV, Grauman’s Chinese and Egyptian theaters and many more.
- Best
place to view the iconic Hollywood Sign
Beachwood Canyon - North Beachwood Drive and Franklin Avenue, Lake Hollywood Park, Hollywood & Highland Center - Capitol
Records Building
1750 Vine St, Los Angeles, CA 90028 - Frederick's
of Hollywood
6751 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 - Hollywood
Bowl
2301 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90068
(323) 850-2000
www.hollywoodbowl.com - Rockwalk
7425 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 874-1060 - Griffith
Park
4730 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 913-4688
www.laparks.org/dos/parks/griffithpk - Ripley's
Believe It or Not!
6780 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 466-6335 - Grauman's
Egyptian Theatre
6706 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA
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