Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in
Los Angeles County,
California,
United States. It lies at the eastern end of the
San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the
Verdugo Mountains, and is an important
suburb in the
Greater Los Angeles Area. The city is bordered to the southwest by the
Atwater Village district of
Los Angeles; to the west by
Burbank; to the northwest by the
Tujunga district of Los Angeles; to the northeast by the city of
La Cañada Flintridge and the unincorporated
La Crescenta area; to the east by
Pasadena; and to the southeast by the
Eagle Rock and
Glassell Park, neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The
Golden State,
Ventura,
Glendale, and
Foothill freeways run through the city.
As of the 2000 census, the city population was 194,973. Since then, there have been estimates of 201,326 by the
U.S. Census Bureau in
2004 and 207,007 by the California State government in
2005, making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the seventeenth largest city in the state of California.
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, located in Glendale, contains the remains of many celebrities and local residents. It is famous as the pioneer of a new style of cemetery.
Several large companies have offices in Glendale. The U.S. headquarters of the Swiss foods multinational
Nestlé are located in Glendale. So is the "southern campus" of
DreamWorks SKG, the diversified entertainment company founded in 1994 by
Steven Spielberg,
Jeffrey Katzenberg and
David Geffen. The Los Angeles regional office of California's
State Compensation Insurance Fund is in Glendale.
The area was long inhabited by the
Tongva people.
José María Verdugo, a
corporal in the
Spanish army from
Baja California, received a grant of the
Rancho San Rafael in
1798, an area he had been farming since
1784. In
1860 His grandson Teodoro Verdugo built the
Verdugo Adobe, which is the oldest building in Glendale. The property is the location of the
Oak of Peace where early
Californio leaders including
Jesus Pico met in
1847 and decided to surrender to American General
John C. Frémont.
Verdugo's descendants sold the ranch in various parcels, some of which are included in present-day
Atwater Village,
Eagle Rock, and
Highland Park neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
In
1884 residents gathered to form a town and chose the name "Glendale". Residents to the southwest formed "Tropico" in
1887. The
Pacific Electric Railroad brought streetcar service in
1904.
The City of Glendale was incorporated in
1906 and Tropico was annexed 12 years later. The most important civic
booster of the era was
Leslie C. Brand, who built in
1909 a grand estate
El Miradero in a stunning blend of architectural styles. Brand built a private airstrip in
1919 and hosted "fly-in" parties. The grounds of
El Miradero are now city-owned
Brand Park and the mansion is the
Brand Library. One of the city's main thoroughfares is
Brand Boulevard.
The city grew quickly. Its population rose from 13,756 in 1920 to 62,736 in 1930 before slowing down. The
Forest Lawn Memorial Park opened in
1917. Pioneering
endocrinologist and entrepreneur Dr.
Henry R. Harrower opened his clinic in Glendale in
1920, which for many years was the largest business in the city. The
American Green Cross, an early
conservation and tree preservation society, was formed in
1926 (it disbanded three years later and the current organization of that name is unrelated).
|
Grand Central Air Terminal, October 2005 |
The "Grand Central Airport" was an important facility to the city and to the history of aviation. It provided the first paved runway west of the
Rocky Mountains in
1923. In
1928 it opened its
terminal, making it the first official
airport in
Greater Los Angeles. For the next two decades it was the main airport in the county and references to "Los Angeles Airport" from that era generally refer to the Grand Central Airport, not to
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which was known as
Mines Field at the time (commercial airline operations at LAX did not begin until
1946).
Jack Northrop built his first aircraft factory here in
1927, though it was soon moved to Burbank's "United Airport" (now
Bob Hope Airport). The first regularly-scheduled airline service between Southern California and
New York City was initiated on
July 28,
1929 by
Transcontinental Air Transport, with owner
Charles A. Lindbergh piloting the first flight. Among the passengers on the 48-hour trip were
Mary Pickford and
Douglas Fairbanks. Pioneering female aviator
Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly solo across in the country when she landed at Glendale in
1930. The first transcontinental flight by
African American pilots,
Albert Forsythe and
Charles Anderson, was completed at Glendale in
1933.
Howard Hughes built his innovative and record-setting "H-1 Racer" in a plant next to the airport in
1935. During
World War II it became a
P-38 base where the
319th Fighter Wing trained.
After the war the airport eventually returned to private use but its runways were too short for jet planes and the airport was closed in
1959. The Grand Central Air Terminal building, with its control tower, was designed by
Henry L. Gogerty. The building is currently owned by
The Walt Disney Company, though the terminal and tower were made uninhabitable by the
1994 Northridge earthquake. The airport was the setting of several films, including Hughes'
1930 Hell's Angels,
Shirley Temple's
1934 Bright Eyes, and the musical
Hollywood Hotel with
Dick Powell. The city of Glendale is also part owner of the
Bob Hope Airport (formerly "Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport").
The
Bob's Big Boy chain of
hamburger restaurants started in Glendale in
1936, and the
Baskin-Robbins, "31 Flavors" chain of
ice cream parlors started there in
1945.
In
1964, Glendale was selected by
George Lincoln Rockwell to be the West Coast headquarters of the
American Nazi Party. Its offices, on Colorado Boulevard in the downtown section of the city, remained open until the early
1980s.
The Glendale Public Library contains one of the largest collections of books on cats in the world, over 20,000 volumes.
["The 20,000 books ... on cats is the largest such collection in the world." ] It was donated to the library in the 1950s by the Jewel City Cat Fanciers Club, with the understanding that it would be made into a special collection and kept permanently for club members to use and enjoy.
[Personal communication by Wikipedia editor "JesseW" with Glendale head reference librarian, 20 June 2005 (UTC).] |
The skyline of downtown Glendale. |
The city saw significant development in the
1970s. Completion of the
Glendale Freeway (HWY 2) and the
Ventura Freeway (HWY 134), redevelopment of Brand Boulevard, renovation of the
1925 Alex Theatre, and construction of the
Glendale Galleria shopping mall, all contributed to the resurgence of the city.
In 1994,
Steven Spielberg,
Jeffrey Katzenberg and
David Geffen formed
DreamWorks SKG, a diversified entertainment company. The company's "southern campus" is located in the city's Grand Central Business Park on a tract of land formerly occupied by a Sparkletts Water bottling facility.
On
January 26,
2005, 11 people were killed in a
Metrolink train crash just south of downtown Glendale.
Glendale is located at (34.170939, -118.250081) at the juncture of two large valleys, the
San Fernando and the
San Gabriel. According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 79.4
km² (30.7
mi²). 79.4 km² (30.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.07%) is water. It is bordered to the north by the foothill communities of
La Canada Flintridge,
La Crescenta, and
Tujunga; to the south by the
Atwater Village community incorporated by the city of Los Angeles; to the east by
Pasadena and
Eagle Rock (also incorporated within Los Angeles); and to the west by the city of
Burbank.
Foreign-born residents accounted for 54% of the population in
2000. Glendale has a distinctively ethnic flavor, with large
Armenian,
Iranian,
Filipino and
Arab populations, and many businesses catering to them. While it has descendants from many countries, it is most famous for its Armenian population. Census figures indicate that the ethnic heritage of city population is 40% Armenian, 20%
Latino, 16%
Asian, and roughly one-third Anglo. Glendale's Armenian population is abundant and the majority of Glendale's city council members (3 of 5) are of Armenian descent.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 194,973 people, 71,805 households, and 49,617 families residing in the city. The
population density was 2,456.1/km² (6,362.2/mi²). There were 73,713 housing units at an average density of 928.6/km² (2,405.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 63.58%
White, 1.27%
Black or
African American, 0.32%
Native American, 16.12%
Asian American, 0.08%
Pacific Islander, 8.57% from
other races, and 10.06% from two or more races. 19.72% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 71,805 households out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were
married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.27.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 32.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $41,805, and the median income for a family was $47,633. Males had a median income of $39,709 versus $33,815 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $22,227. About 13.6% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.
The
Glendale Unified School District operates schools in Glendale.
Glendale High School and
Herbert Hoover High School are two of the GUSD schools.
Glendale is also home to
Glendale Community College.
The City of Glendale includes a variety of nonprofit organizations that enhance the quality of life in Glendale. Strong links between local residents, business owners, and government have created a network of organizations that provide support in the areas of education, employment, homeless services, after-school activities, and social services. Local organizations include:
*
The Salvation Army Glendale*
Glendale Community Free Health Clinic*
PATH Achieve Glendale (Homeless Access Center & Shelter)Currently, Glendale has 5
sister cities.
[http://www.sister-cities.org/icrc/directory/USA/CA]*
Kapan,
Armenia*
Higashiosaka,
Japan*
Hiroshima,
Japan*
Tlaquepaque,
Mexico*
Rosarito Beach,
Baja California,
Mexico*
Captain Beefheart, musician
*
Elvin Bishop, musician
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Clara Bryant, actress
*
Jamie Denton, actor
*
Nicole Eggert, actress
*
Erika Eleniak, actress
*
Robert Englund, actor
*
Edward Furlong, actor
*
Daryl Gates, former LAPD police chief
*
Scott Gorham, musician
*
Joe Hahn, musician
*
Maren Jensen, actress
*
Daron Malakian, musician
*
Eva Mendes, actress
*
Dennis Muren, special effects artist
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Paul Petersen, actor
*
Debra Jo Rupp, actress
*
Ron Underwood, director
*
Paul Walker, actor
*
John Wayne, actor
*
The Game, rapper
*
John Cho, actor
*
Joel Madden, musician
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List of cities in California*
Glendale official website
