West Hollywood

Not one to let a good meme die, I figured I'd take a look at the history of other LA neighborhoods, and the landmarks they contributed to this 1937 Hollywood Star Map. Having already tackled the Los Feliz/Silverlake/Griffith Park area, we'll move on down the road to West Hollywood. In my Carthay Circle Theater/Red Car article, I mentioned that Sunset Junction took it's name from a Red Car stop and that West Hollywood actually began as a railroad town. This KCET article has the scoop, but I'll pull out the relevant details.

One of Southern California's first electric interurban railroads was the Pasadena and Pacific, stretching from LA to Santa Monica in the Cahuenga Valley; it is now Santa Monica blvd. The railway was constructed in part by Moses H. Sherman. Because rail cars need servicing, Sherman built a small yard midway on the line and the yard workers bought lots around the yard to build houses on. The town was named after its founder Sherman.

Sherman was just outside the boarders of Hollywood, which was an independent city from 1903-1910 before it was annexed by the city of LA. Sherman, as well other Hollywood adjacent town Colegrove housed some of the spillover from Hollywood; sets and studios and nightclubs.

Of course, one can attract Hollywood types better with a name like West Hollywood than Sherman so in 1925 the city voted to officially change it's name. I love this bit:

The August 23, 1925 Los Angeles Times reported on the controversy: "Like a healthy, outdoor child, Sherman has suddenly burst all her old dresses and thinks while she is getting a wardrobe, suitable for a fully grown girl, she might as well discard plain 'Mary' and become up-to-date 'Marie.'"

Looking at the Stars map from 1937, we can see that many of West Hollywood's landmarks were nightclub related. For instance, there was the 1934 night club Cafe Trocadero.

Cafe Trocadero, 1930s. Photo LAPL

It might not look like much, but that Sunset Strip hotspot was the place to be if you wanted to jitterbug. The club was founded by William Wilkerson, who was famous for founding The Hollywood Reporter. He also owned nearby clubs Ciro and LaRue, which were not cool enough to make it onto the Stars map. Because it was frequented by Fred Astaire, Cary Grant and the like it was popular for Hollywood movie premier parties. 

Cock and Bull, 1940s

If you were looking for a Halloween party, or just for a good British pub, you might want to check out the Cock and Bull. Here the lovely Diane Smith bobs for apples as her apples bob (hi-o!) in a fairy tame Halloween environment. The Cock and Bull was founded not by an Englishman but an Anglophile named Jack Morgan. It was a more informal place than the other Sunset Strip night houses, where autograph hounds and paparazzi weren't allowed inside. It closed down in 1987, long after the Trocadero was a parking lot. 

It wasn't just nightclubs that you'd find in West Hollywood. It was also a place for some high end restaurants. Bit of Sweden is just one such place, but when it was marked on the map with a viking I just couldn't rest. Love that not only is it serving up Swedish favorites, but doing it smorgasbord style.

Back down on Santa Monica Blvd. the Pacific Electric railway continued to run cars until 1941. Not an incorporated city, not annexed by LA, and with it's Hollywood nightlife declining - West Hollywood was ripe for a demographic change. By 1984, the town had become a haven for gays and lesbians in Los Angeles. Almost twenty years after a police raid at the Black Cat club in Sunset Junction, and four years after the first Sunset Junction Street Fair, West Hollywood voted for incorporation and a majority of openly gay city council members. 

What I love about West Hollywood (beyond the obvious) is that it shows the fluid nature of communities. From rail yard to movie star hot spot to immigrant neighborhood to openly gay community. 

Anyhow, since we've done East Hollywood and West Hollywood, I guess we can do South Hollywood (Colgrove Addition) next. See y'all soon