Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Van Nuys is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley
region of Los Angeles, California
.
Look at the two photos of Van Nuys' first year—and then listen to what the Los Angeles Times
wrote on February 23, 1911, the day after the Van Nuys town lot auction--
"Between dawn and dusk, in the shadow of the encircling San Fernando Hills,and upon a bed that was the rough plank platform of a strident auctioneer, a city was born yesterday. Cut out of the heart of land that for long generations had been part of a single great property, stretching in every direction beyond the compass of the eye's sweep, the natal day of Van Nuys, the next town to be created out of the Van Nuys and Lankershim tract, was spectacular wonderful. Nothing like it was ever seen in California."
Classic "boomerism"--classic real estate hype—but that was Van Nuys then. After a week of Los Angeles Times ads, and special excursion trains from Los Angeles to a bare townsite, lot sales began at the new town of Van Nuys on Washington's Birthday, February 22, 1911. The area is named after Isaac Van Nuys
, who was of Dutch descent and participant in a ranching enterprise called the San Fernando Homestead Association, a group that purchased most of the southern San Fernando Valley (south of present-day Roscoe Blvd) in 1869 to grow grain and run sheep. Van Nuys split this huge acreage with his senior partner, Isaac Lankershim, getting the east area (present-day Lankershim Blvd
. crossed his section). Van Nuys also built the first wood frame house in the San Fernando Valley
in 1872.
But in an odd sense, it was never Isaac Van Nuys's town as land speculators simply borrowed the name of his holding, the Van Nuys Ranch. The City of Los Angeles, and William Mulholland
were building the Owens River
aqueduct, starting in 1905 and to be finished in 1913. The San Fernando Valley was where the water was headed first and speculators were out to buy the Van Nuys Ranch and subdivide it into 3 cities, Van Nuys, Marian (now Reseda), and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park) and start land sales just as the aqueduct was finished. Isaac Van Nuys took his money—left his name on the town—left nothing else—not even a $5 gold piece for Van Nuys High's best student—and returned to his Los Angeles elite—with an office building built of his proceeds remaining downtown with his name.
The speculators, organized into the Los Angeles Suburban Home Association, including Harry Chandler
and Harrison Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times
, Moses Sherman
, a streetcar line owner, and Hobart Johnstone Whitley
, a real estate promoter with ties as far back as the "Land Run of 1889
" (the Great Oklahoma Land Rush), bought Mr. Van Nuys out, and prepared to "sell" the San Fernando Valley.
From the grand opening and barbecue, Washington's Birthday, 1911, Van Nuys was sold as "The Town That Started Right," plotted with set-asides for a high school and commitments to build important buildings "first", including the Bank of Van Nuys, changed but still standing on the southwest corner of Van Nuys Blvd and Sylvan Street, to give a sense that the vacant lots sold, with little more than stakes and ribbons flapping in the breeze, would bloom into a city. A major artery—double wide street—with a Pacific Electric "Red Car" line between the traffic—was built all the way from Hollywood, over Cahuenga Pass, through Lankershim (now North Hollywood) out Chandler Bl, turning right into Van Nuys on Van Nuys Bl, and then turning to the west on Sherman Way to extend to the other "new cities" on the Van Nuys Ranch, Marian (now Reseda) and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park). Big selling points in 1911—H.J. Whitley's idea—built by partner and builder Moses Sherman, take the Pacific Electric interurban and be downtown in an hour, or drive the paved road alongside--("no speed limit" if your Model A could go 35 mph) all season.
The unlimited Owens River aqueduct water allowed oranges, orchards, and sugar beets to be available when the young Van Nuys voted to join the greater City of Los Angeles in 1915.
But the so-called "The Town That Started Right" was built on Tyrone Wash, two blocks east of Van Nuys Blvd, and would flood at the drop of a hat. Pontoon bridges were parked behind
Van Nuys Elementary School--ready for a rainy day on Tyrone St.
Two pioneers to be noted: Hobart Johnstone Whitley
, promoter extraordinare, one of the "Boomers" who built towns in a day after the 1889 "Oklahoma Land Rush", who drew the designs for some 150 towns with a stick in the dust, including the San Fernando Valley cities of Van Nuys, Reseda and Canoga Park, and founder of Hollywood, just over the hill. Whitley also had a huge home along his ceremonial boulevard, the "first house" you saw as you turned from Chandler Blvd unto Van Nuys Bl.
As well, William P.Whitsett, who bought a half-interest in the Van Nuys townsite, and remained as real estate salesman and town booster, and whose influence grew till he was Chairman of the Metropolitan Water District, where he helped oversee the second great aqueduct that boosted Los Angeles' position, the Colorado River Aqueduct
to Los Angeles in the 1930s. A life finished off by his building an 8-story bank building, tallest in the Valley, the Valley Federal building, currently the Phoenix Building, on Van Nuys Bl just north of Vanowen.
Written accounts in the 1910s and 1920s gave much of the credit to H.J. Whitley, but Whitsett's long residence in town and political savvy towards building the Colorado River aqueduct gave him more "historical credit" for the San Fernando Valley's progress.
Van Nuys developed slowly: currently remaining is a fine collection of 1920s and 1930s churches and California-style bungalows, which now make up a "historic preservation overlay zone" (2004) generally east of the 1914 Van Nuys High School
. By the end of World War II, when the GI's were demobilized, and many came West, Van Nuys and the San Fernando Valley lived through a tremendous boom.
Many call the San Fernando Valley (and Van Nuys) in this period "America's Suburb", as in the Kevin Roderick book. Dr. Seuss
even opined on what made the typical Van Nuys resident in a bit of poetry parodying "The Organization Man
" of the 1950s.
In that same sense, the Van Nuys of the 1990s has suffered the criticism of another humorist, Sandra Tsing Loh
, in her book, A Year In Van Nuys--.
Van Nuys is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley and home to about 100,000 people; the main thoroughfare, Van Nuys Boulevard
, is noted for its car dealerships, its "Auto Row". It also functions similar to a "county seat" for the Valley, with its Government Center (Erwin Street Mall) containing a branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Van Nuys police station, the Van Nuys offices for Los Angeles City Hall, Van Nuys State Office Building and a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library
.
The 1945 General Motors Van Nuys Assembly
Plant, a major manufacturing facility for General Motors
' Chevrolet
division along with aerospace and defense plants in neighboring cities led to a prosperity which inspired many to call the San Fernando Valley "America's suburb" (as in Kevin Roderick's book). Neighboring Panorama City sprung up: a thousand tract homes and 1950s mall, all on the promise of GM's new factory.
And "America's suburb" had its own cultural institution—Wednesday night "cruising" on Van Nuys Blvd. If George Lucas
and his movie American Graffiti
was supposedly about Lucas' own Modesto teenage life, San Fernando Valley teenagers would disagree. Thousands of teenagers and their rebuilt 1940s and 1950s, cars would flood Van Nuys Blvd. every Wednesday night—for years—a "rite of passage" for any Valley teenager. But by the 1980s, times had changed, and LAPD stopped the tradition.
At the same time, Valley car culture and middle class jobs left when General Motors closed its assembly plant in 1992. When General Motors left, and the GM plant was dismantled in 1998, all that remains is a "big box store mall" called The Plant.
Like many central San Fernando Valley neighborhoods, Van Nuys was a middle-class neighborhood as late as the 1970s, but the demographics of some neighborhoods in Van Nuys have changed considerably since then.
In late 2004, the San Fernando Valley's first historic preservation overlay district was established in an area of early 20th-century bungalows east of Van Nuys High (founded 1914). According to the November 23, 2004, Los Angeles Times
, "The neighborhood has become a melting pot of ethnic groups and home styles. Nearby stand such historic buildings as Van Nuys High School
(1914), the Spanish colonial "old Van Nuys library (1927), the WPA-funded Van Nuys City Hall (a miniature 1/3 size copy of the downtown City Hall) and the 12th Church of Christ, Scientist
(1932)."
s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Van Nuys neighborhood statistics: population: 103,770; median household income: $41,134.
operates a Van Nuys-area TACA Center at 6710 Van Nuys Boulevard.
Digital Playground
a large adult movie studio operates at 16134 Hart Street.
Los Angeles Fire Department
operates Station 39 (Van Nuys), Station 90 (Van Nuys Airport Area), Station 100 (West Van Nuys/Lake Balboa), and Station 102 (South Van Nuys/Valley Glen), serving the community.
The Los Angeles Police Department
operates the nearby Van Nuys Community Police Station at 6420 Sylmar Avenue, 91401, serving the neighborhood .
operates the Civic Center Van Nuys Post Office at 6200 Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys and the Van Nuys Post Office at 15701 Sherman Way in the Lake Balboa neighborhood in Los Angeles, west of Van Nuys.
The U.S. Census Bureau operates the Los Angeles Regional Office in Van Nuys.
The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park is in Sherman Oaks, near Van Nuys. The park has an auditorium, two lighted baseball diamonds, six unlighted baseball diamonds, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a 60 person community room, a lighted American football field, an indoor gymnasium without weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and lighted tennis courts. Located in the same place as the park, the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Pool is a seasonal outdoor heated swimming pool. The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Senior Citizen Center (a.k.a. Bernardi Center), also on the park grounds, has an auditorium and multi-purpose room; its banquet capacity is 200 and its assembly capacity is 300. The senior center also has two community/meeting rooms; one can hold 50 people and one can hold 30 people. The senior center has two kitchens, a play area, a shuffle board place, a stage, and two storage rooms. The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Tennis Courts facility in the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park has eight courts.
Van Nuys is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District
.
LAUSD-operated schools within the Van Nuys community area include:
Adult schools:
Charter school:
6-12 schools:
K–12 school:
High schools:
Middle schools:
Elementary schools:
The administrative offices of the Lycée International de Los Angeles are in the RMG Airport Business Center.
The Van Nuys Branch Library of the Los Angeles Public Library
serves the community.
, the busiest general aviation airport in the world, the 25th busiest airport in the United States, and among the 20 busiest airports in the world by aircraft movements, is located in Van Nuys.
The closest airport with commercial airline service is Bob Hope Airport
in Burbank
.
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
region of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
History
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
wrote on February 23, 1911, the day after the Van Nuys town lot auction--
"Between dawn and dusk, in the shadow of the encircling San Fernando Hills,and upon a bed that was the rough plank platform of a strident auctioneer, a city was born yesterday. Cut out of the heart of land that for long generations had been part of a single great property, stretching in every direction beyond the compass of the eye's sweep, the natal day of Van Nuys, the next town to be created out of the Van Nuys and Lankershim tract, was spectacular wonderful. Nothing like it was ever seen in California."
Classic "boomerism"--classic real estate hype—but that was Van Nuys then. After a week of Los Angeles Times ads, and special excursion trains from Los Angeles to a bare townsite, lot sales began at the new town of Van Nuys on Washington's Birthday, February 22, 1911. The area is named after Isaac Van Nuys
Isaac Newton Van Nuys
Isaac Newton Van Nuys was an American businessman, real estate developer, banker, and agricultural entrepreneur. He founded the community of Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California in 1911...
, who was of Dutch descent and participant in a ranching enterprise called the San Fernando Homestead Association, a group that purchased most of the southern San Fernando Valley (south of present-day Roscoe Blvd) in 1869 to grow grain and run sheep. Van Nuys split this huge acreage with his senior partner, Isaac Lankershim, getting the east area (present-day Lankershim Blvd
Lankershim Boulevard
-Geography:Lankershim Boulevard starts off at San Fernando Road in the Sun Valley portion of the San Fernando Valley. In addition to Sun Valley, it runs through North Hollywood and Universal City. It runs for about 7.3 miles before ending directly south of Ventura Boulevard...
. crossed his section). Van Nuys also built the first wood frame house in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
in 1872.
But in an odd sense, it was never Isaac Van Nuys's town as land speculators simply borrowed the name of his holding, the Van Nuys Ranch. The City of Los Angeles, and William Mulholland
William Mulholland
William Mulholland was the head of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, in Los Angeles. He was responsible for building the water aqueducts and dams that allowed the city to grow into one of the largest in the world. His methods of obtaining water for the city led to disputes collectively...
were building the Owens River
Owens River
The Owens River is a river in southeastern California in the United States, approximately long. It drains into and through the Owens Valley, an arid basin between the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the western faces of the Inyo and White Mountains. The river terminates at Owens Lake, but...
aqueduct, starting in 1905 and to be finished in 1913. The San Fernando Valley was where the water was headed first and speculators were out to buy the Van Nuys Ranch and subdivide it into 3 cities, Van Nuys, Marian (now Reseda), and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park) and start land sales just as the aqueduct was finished. Isaac Van Nuys took his money—left his name on the town—left nothing else—not even a $5 gold piece for Van Nuys High's best student—and returned to his Los Angeles elite—with an office building built of his proceeds remaining downtown with his name.
The speculators, organized into the Los Angeles Suburban Home Association, including Harry Chandler
Harry Chandler
Harry Chandler was an American newspaper publisher and investor who became owner of the largest real estate empire in the U.S.-Biography:...
and Harrison Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Moses Sherman
Moses Sherman
Moses Hazeltine Sherman was a land developer who built the Phoenix Street Railway in Phoenix, Arizona, and later built other lines and owned property in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, California. He also served on the Los Angeles Water Board.At the junction of his streetcar lines west of...
, a streetcar line owner, and Hobart Johnstone Whitley
Hobart Johnstone Whitley
Hobart Johnstone Whitley , also known as H.J. Whitley is the "Father of Hollywood", was a real estate developer who helped create the Hollywood subdivision in Los Angeles, Southern California. He and his wife, Margaret Virginia Whitley named the town while on their honeymoon in 1886...
, a real estate promoter with ties as far back as the "Land Run of 1889
Land Run of 1889
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the 2005 modern day Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the U.S. state of Oklahoma...
" (the Great Oklahoma Land Rush), bought Mr. Van Nuys out, and prepared to "sell" the San Fernando Valley.
From the grand opening and barbecue, Washington's Birthday, 1911, Van Nuys was sold as "The Town That Started Right," plotted with set-asides for a high school and commitments to build important buildings "first", including the Bank of Van Nuys, changed but still standing on the southwest corner of Van Nuys Blvd and Sylvan Street, to give a sense that the vacant lots sold, with little more than stakes and ribbons flapping in the breeze, would bloom into a city. A major artery—double wide street—with a Pacific Electric "Red Car" line between the traffic—was built all the way from Hollywood, over Cahuenga Pass, through Lankershim (now North Hollywood) out Chandler Bl, turning right into Van Nuys on Van Nuys Bl, and then turning to the west on Sherman Way to extend to the other "new cities" on the Van Nuys Ranch, Marian (now Reseda) and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park). Big selling points in 1911—H.J. Whitley's idea—built by partner and builder Moses Sherman, take the Pacific Electric interurban and be downtown in an hour, or drive the paved road alongside--("no speed limit" if your Model A could go 35 mph) all season.
The unlimited Owens River aqueduct water allowed oranges, orchards, and sugar beets to be available when the young Van Nuys voted to join the greater City of Los Angeles in 1915.
But the so-called "The Town That Started Right" was built on Tyrone Wash, two blocks east of Van Nuys Blvd, and would flood at the drop of a hat. Pontoon bridges were parked behind
Van Nuys Elementary School--ready for a rainy day on Tyrone St.
Two pioneers to be noted: Hobart Johnstone Whitley
Hobart Johnstone Whitley
Hobart Johnstone Whitley , also known as H.J. Whitley is the "Father of Hollywood", was a real estate developer who helped create the Hollywood subdivision in Los Angeles, Southern California. He and his wife, Margaret Virginia Whitley named the town while on their honeymoon in 1886...
, promoter extraordinare, one of the "Boomers" who built towns in a day after the 1889 "Oklahoma Land Rush", who drew the designs for some 150 towns with a stick in the dust, including the San Fernando Valley cities of Van Nuys, Reseda and Canoga Park, and founder of Hollywood, just over the hill. Whitley also had a huge home along his ceremonial boulevard, the "first house" you saw as you turned from Chandler Blvd unto Van Nuys Bl.
As well, William P.Whitsett, who bought a half-interest in the Van Nuys townsite, and remained as real estate salesman and town booster, and whose influence grew till he was Chairman of the Metropolitan Water District, where he helped oversee the second great aqueduct that boosted Los Angeles' position, the Colorado River Aqueduct
Colorado River Aqueduct
The Colorado River Aqueduct, or CRA, is a water conveyance in Southern California in the United States, operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California . The aqueduct impounds water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu on the California-Arizona border west across the Mojave...
to Los Angeles in the 1930s. A life finished off by his building an 8-story bank building, tallest in the Valley, the Valley Federal building, currently the Phoenix Building, on Van Nuys Bl just north of Vanowen.
Written accounts in the 1910s and 1920s gave much of the credit to H.J. Whitley, but Whitsett's long residence in town and political savvy towards building the Colorado River aqueduct gave him more "historical credit" for the San Fernando Valley's progress.
Van Nuys developed slowly: currently remaining is a fine collection of 1920s and 1930s churches and California-style bungalows, which now make up a "historic preservation overlay zone" (2004) generally east of the 1914 Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys High School established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2...
. By the end of World War II, when the GI's were demobilized, and many came West, Van Nuys and the San Fernando Valley lived through a tremendous boom.
Many call the San Fernando Valley (and Van Nuys) in this period "America's Suburb", as in the Kevin Roderick book. Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
even opined on what made the typical Van Nuys resident in a bit of poetry parodying "The Organization Man
The Organization Man
The Organization Man is a 1956 bestselling book by William H. Whyte, originally published by Simon & Schuster. It is considered one of the most influential books on management ever written.-Background and influence:...
" of the 1950s.
In that same sense, the Van Nuys of the 1990s has suffered the criticism of another humorist, Sandra Tsing Loh
Sandra Tsing Loh
Sandra Tsing Loh is a Los Angeles, California-based writer, actress, performance-artist, pop-culture analyst, and radio commentator.-Biography:Loh is the daughter of a Chinese father and a German mother...
, in her book, A Year In Van Nuys--.
Van Nuys is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley and home to about 100,000 people; the main thoroughfare, Van Nuys Boulevard
Van Nuys Boulevard
Van Nuys Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road that runs through the central San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. The boulevard was notable for its cruising lifestyle that was prevalent in the 1960s and '70s, which was depicted in the 1979 film Van Nuys Blvd..-The...
, is noted for its car dealerships, its "Auto Row". It also functions similar to a "county seat" for the Valley, with its Government Center (Erwin Street Mall) containing a branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Van Nuys police station, the Van Nuys offices for Los Angeles City Hall, Van Nuys State Office Building and a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...
.
The 1945 General Motors Van Nuys Assembly
Van Nuys Assembly
Van Nuys Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Van Nuys, California. Opened as a Chevrolet plant in 1947, Van Nuys produced the Chevrolet Corvair, Chevrolet Nova, Chevrolet Camaro, and Pontiac Firebird. The plant was closed in 1992 when Camaro/Firebird production was moved to...
Plant, a major manufacturing facility for General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
' Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
division along with aerospace and defense plants in neighboring cities led to a prosperity which inspired many to call the San Fernando Valley "America's suburb" (as in Kevin Roderick's book). Neighboring Panorama City sprung up: a thousand tract homes and 1950s mall, all on the promise of GM's new factory.
And "America's suburb" had its own cultural institution—Wednesday night "cruising" on Van Nuys Blvd. If George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
and his movie American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
was supposedly about Lucas' own Modesto teenage life, San Fernando Valley teenagers would disagree. Thousands of teenagers and their rebuilt 1940s and 1950s, cars would flood Van Nuys Blvd. every Wednesday night—for years—a "rite of passage" for any Valley teenager. But by the 1980s, times had changed, and LAPD stopped the tradition.
At the same time, Valley car culture and middle class jobs left when General Motors closed its assembly plant in 1992. When General Motors left, and the GM plant was dismantled in 1998, all that remains is a "big box store mall" called The Plant.
Like many central San Fernando Valley neighborhoods, Van Nuys was a middle-class neighborhood as late as the 1970s, but the demographics of some neighborhoods in Van Nuys have changed considerably since then.
In late 2004, the San Fernando Valley's first historic preservation overlay district was established in an area of early 20th-century bungalows east of Van Nuys High (founded 1914). According to the November 23, 2004, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, "The neighborhood has become a melting pot of ethnic groups and home styles. Nearby stand such historic buildings as Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys High School established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2...
(1914), the Spanish colonial "old Van Nuys library (1927), the WPA-funded Van Nuys City Hall (a miniature 1/3 size copy of the downtown City Hall) and the 12th Church of Christ, Scientist
Church of Christ, Scientist
The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, by Mary Baker Eddy. She was the author of the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Christian Science teaches that the "allness" of God denies the reality of sin, sickness, death, and the material world...
(1932)."
Timeline
- 1872 — Eugene Garnier buys Rancho Encino and erects house of limestone beside de Osa adobe. Isaac Van NuysIsaac Newton Van NuysIsaac Newton Van Nuys was an American businessman, real estate developer, banker, and agricultural entrepreneur. He founded the community of Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California in 1911...
builds first wood-frame house in Valley. - 1911 — Van Nuys was platted and sold by the Los Angeles Suburban Home Company. H.J. Whitley, the Father of Hollywood, was the General Manager of the Syndicate. Van Nuys is planned around the Pacific Electric Red Car line—running out Chandler Bl from Lankershim (now North Hollywood), turning into Van Nuys Bl, running through Van Nuys, and turning out Sherman Way to the future towns Marion (now Reseda) and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park) from Los Angeles. Burbank and San Fernando officially incorporate.
- 1914 — Universal CityUniversal City, CaliforniaUniversal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
opens as a studio-cum-town. Floods inundate Van Nuys and cut off Valley from Los Angeles. Van Nuys High School opens. - 1920 — St. Elisabeth's Roman Catholic Church is established.
- 1928 — Metropolitan Field, the future Van Nuys Airport, opens. Stop signs posted at major intersections.
- 1932 — Van Nuys city hall built.
- 1938 - Great floods on Los Angeles River and other streams on the Valley's flat plain kill 144—and highlight that many areas of the Valley are wide dry washes, unsuitable for development.
- 1941 - Sepulveda DamSepulveda DamLocated in Los Angeles, California, the Sepulveda Dam is a project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, built in 1941 to withhold winter flood waters along the Los Angeles River...
and Hansen DamHansen DamHansen Dam is a dam in Lake View Terrace, Los Angeles, California. It was built in 1940 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District...
built in response to 1938's great floods—and after World War II delay, a great public works program to channelize the Los Angeles River and other dry washes maximizes Valley's post-World War II suburban development. - 1942 — President Franklin RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
orders all West Coast residents of Japanese heritage (including 3,100 in Valley, many of them American citizens) relocated to inland campsJapanese American internmentJapanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
. National Guard squadron at Griffith ParkGriffith ParkGriffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America...
moves to new Van Nuys Army Airfield. - 1943 — Birmingham Army Hospital built for paraplegic World War II wounded at Balboa Blvd. and Vanowen St. in Van Nuys. (which now is the site of several schools including Birmingham Community Charter High School and Daniel Pearl Magnet High School)
- 1945 - On the day of the Hiroshima A-bomb blast (marking the end of WW2), General Motors announces the planned Van Nuys car plant, starting the Valley's great suburban boom of the 1950s.
- 1945 - 1950 - GM car plant and development of neighboring Panorama City (Valley's first mall) define the post WW 2 "suburban boom" that spread west, filling up the San Fernando Valley, and challenged Van Nuys' primacy as "Valley center".
- 1949 — Bethlehem Star Parade (a multi church-organized Nativity parade and bands) tradition begins in Van Nuys. Light standards of "Christmas angels" light up Van Nuys Bl. Valley College opens.
- 1953 — Birmingham Army Hospital becomes Birmingham Jr. & Sr. High School, the third Jr. & Sr. High School in Van Nuys.
- 1960 — Ventura FreewayVentura FreewayThe Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From Ventura to its intersection with the Hollywood Freeway in the southeastern San...
completed across the Valley. National Guard jets leave Van Nuys AirportVan Nuys AirportVan Nuys Airport is a public airport located in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley section of the city limits of Los Angeles, California, United States. No major commercial airlines fly into this airport; it is used by private, chartered, and small commercial aircraft...
over noise complaints. Population of Valley hits 840,000. - 1960s - Van Nuys Civic Center, a kind of redevelopment, brings government functions as a Valley center while much of pioneer Van Nuys was torn down.
- 1960s - 1980s — "Wednesday Cruise Night" on Van Nuys Bl. Though movie director George LucasGeorge LucasGeorge Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
may claim American GraffitiAmerican GraffitiAmerican Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
was his youth in Modesto, thousands of Valley teenagers claimed "Van Nuys Bl. cruise night" as a vital teenage right of passage. Thousands of kids would turn out. Journalist Tom WolfeTom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
writes of Valley car culture in \The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline BabyThe Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline BabyThe Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby is the title of Tom Wolfe's first collected book of essays, published in 1965...
. - 1966 — Busch GardensBusch GardensBusch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a division of Blackstone Group. One of the parks is in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the other is in Tampa, Florida...
amusement park opens in Van Nuys-- closes in the 1970s. - 1970 — Women join assembly line at Van Nuys GM plant.
- 1970 - Bethlehem Star Parade ends due to waning interest.
- 1992 — General Motors plant in Van Nuys closes. With closing at Lockheed and others, the end of the post-WW 2 boom based on building cars and aerospace ends—the area's industrial base is in decline.
Geography
Van Nuys is located at 34°11′00"N 118°26′00"W (34.1833, -118.4333).Demographics
In 2009, the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Van Nuys neighborhood statistics: population: 103,770; median household income: $41,134.
Notable locations
- The Japanese GardenThe Japanese Gardenright|thumb|250px|rightThe Japanese Garden 6.5 acres is located on the grounds of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Woodley Park, at 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, California, USA, in the midst of the San Fernando Valley. It was designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana and constructed between 1980 and...
- Sepulveda DamSepulveda DamLocated in Los Angeles, California, the Sepulveda Dam is a project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, built in 1941 to withhold winter flood waters along the Los Angeles River...
- Busch GardensBusch GardensBusch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a division of Blackstone Group. One of the parks is in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the other is in Tampa, Florida...
Theme Park (now demolished—1964–1979) - The Leo Magnus Cricket ComplexThe Leo Magnus Cricket ComplexThe Leo Magnus Cricket Complex is located in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, California, United States.The cricket complex is also called Woodley Cricket Field since it is located in Woodley Park. Former Jamaican Test cricketer Franklyn Rose says "It has the best cricket field facilities in...
- Van Nuys FlyAway Bus service
- Van Nuys BoulevardVan Nuys BoulevardVan Nuys Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road that runs through the central San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. The boulevard was notable for its cruising lifestyle that was prevalent in the 1960s and '70s, which was depicted in the 1979 film Van Nuys Blvd..-The...
- 6842 Valjean Ave, the original location of director George LucasGeorge LucasGeorge Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' visual effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). ILM abandoned the location for Marin County shortly after the release of the first Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
film.
Notable residents
- Jane RussellJane RussellJane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
- Actress - Bob WaterfieldBob WaterfieldRobert "Bob" Stanton Waterfield was an American football player.Waterfield attended Van Nuys High School, in Van Nuys, California and went on to play college football for UCLA. In 1943 he led the Bruins to the Pacific Coast Conference football championship...
, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback in 1940's, husband of Jane RussellJane RussellJane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
. - Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
- Actress (Briefly spent a few years of her youth in Van Nuys while living with her aunt) - Robert RedfordRobert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
- Actor, Academy Award winner, Van Nuys High alumni - Gary OldmanGary OldmanGary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
- English actor - Craig FergusonCraig FergusonCraig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
- Scottish comedian - Don DrysdaleDon DrysdaleDonald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...
- Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher for Los Angeles Dodgers. - Hobart Johnstone WhitleyHobart Johnstone WhitleyHobart Johnstone Whitley , also known as H.J. Whitley is the "Father of Hollywood", was a real estate developer who helped create the Hollywood subdivision in Los Angeles, Southern California. He and his wife, Margaret Virginia Whitley named the town while on their honeymoon in 1886...
- The Father of Hollywood - Cindy WilliamsCindy WilliamsCynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...
- Actress - Bill PaparianBill PaparianBill Paparian is an American politician, a former mayor of Pasadena, California, serving from 1995 to 1997. He was also a member of the Pasadena City Council from 1987 to 1999, and a Green Party candidate for Congress in 2006. He was the first Armenian-American mayor of Pasadena, as well as the...
- Mayor of Pasadena - Tristan BowenTristan BowenTristan Bowen is an American soccer player who currently plays for K.S.V. Roeselare in the Belgian Second Division, on loan from Chivas USA in Major League Soccer.-Youth:...
- Soccer player for Chivas USA - Nikki SixxNikki SixxNikki Sixx is an American musician, songwriter, author, fashion designer, radio host, and photographer, best known as the co-founder and bassist of the band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister band mate Lizzie Grey...
- Bassist and founder of the Glam metal band Mötley Crüe - Matt MooreMatt Moore (American football)Matthew Erickson Moore is an American Football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League.He played college football at UCLA and Oregon State...
- NFL Quarterback Miami Dolphins - Tom SelleckTom SelleckThomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
- American actor - Ricardo RodriguezRicardo Rodriguez (wrestler)Jesús Rodríguez is a Mexican-American professional wrestler and ring announcer, currently signed to WWE, performing on its RAW brand under the ring name Ricardo Rodriguez as Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer and occasional wrestler.-Early career:Rodriguez formerly wrestled for promotions...
- American professional wrestler and ring announcer - Natalie WoodNatalie WoodNatalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
- Actress (Went to Van Nuys High School - Delamere Francis McCloskeyDelamere Francis McCloskeyDelamere Francis McCloskey was a Canadian-born San Fernando Valley attorney who represented the 1st District on the Los Angeles City Council from 1941 to 1945.-Biography:...
, Los Angeles City Council member, 1941–43 - Jake RichardsonJake RichardsonJacob Matthew Richardson is an American actor, currently acting mostly in TV series. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the film Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves and the TV series Fudge.-Career:...
- Actor - Michael StarrMichael StarrMichael Starr, PC was a Canadian politician and the first Canadian cabinet minister of Ukrainian descent, his parents having immigrated from Ukraine, then a part of the Russian Empire....
- Lead Singer Of Steel Panther - Ernani BernardiErnani BernardiErnani Bernardi , known also as Noni Bernardi, was a big-band musician turned politician in Los Angeles, California. He represented District 7 on the City Council there from 1961 to 1993—at 32 years the second-longest-serving council member in the history of the city...
(1911–2006), big-band musician and member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council, 1961–93 - Paula AbdulPaula AbdulPaula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
Van Nuys High alumni 1978-1980 - Andy DevineAndy DevineAndrew Vabre "Andy" Devine was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive raspy voice.-Early life:...
- Actor, served as honorary mayor from 1938 to 1957.
Economy
Grupo TACAGrupo TACA
TACA is the trade name "brand" comprising a group of five independently IATA-coded and -owned Central American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one and a number of other independently owned and IATA-coded regional airlines which code-share and feed the TACA brand system...
operates a Van Nuys-area TACA Center at 6710 Van Nuys Boulevard.
Digital Playground
Digital Playground
thumb|right|250px|Digital Playground's 2010 Contract Girls at the [[AVN Adult Entertainment Expo]] at the [[Sands Expo]], [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] on January 7, 2010...
a large adult movie studio operates at 16134 Hart Street.
Government and infrastructure
Los Angeles Fire Department
The Los Angeles Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles....
operates Station 39 (Van Nuys), Station 90 (Van Nuys Airport Area), Station 100 (West Van Nuys/Lake Balboa), and Station 102 (South Van Nuys/Valley Glen), serving the community.
The Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
operates the nearby Van Nuys Community Police Station at 6420 Sylmar Avenue, 91401, serving the neighborhood .
County, state, and federal representation
The United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
operates the Civic Center Van Nuys Post Office at 6200 Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys and the Van Nuys Post Office at 15701 Sherman Way in the Lake Balboa neighborhood in Los Angeles, west of Van Nuys.
The U.S. Census Bureau operates the Los Angeles Regional Office in Van Nuys.
Parks and recreation
The Van Nuys Recreation Area is in Van Nuys. The area has an auditorium and gymnasium with a capacity of 420 people. The area also has a multipurpose/community room with a capacity of 20-25 people. The area has barbecue pits, lighted baseball diamonds, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, lighted handball courts, an indoor gymnasium with no weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer (football) field, and lighted tennis courts. Delano Park in Van Nuys has an auditorium, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted American football field, lighted handball courts, an indoor gymnasium with no weights, picnic tables, and a lighted soccer (football) field.The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park is in Sherman Oaks, near Van Nuys. The park has an auditorium, two lighted baseball diamonds, six unlighted baseball diamonds, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a 60 person community room, a lighted American football field, an indoor gymnasium without weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and lighted tennis courts. Located in the same place as the park, the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Pool is a seasonal outdoor heated swimming pool. The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Senior Citizen Center (a.k.a. Bernardi Center), also on the park grounds, has an auditorium and multi-purpose room; its banquet capacity is 200 and its assembly capacity is 300. The senior center also has two community/meeting rooms; one can hold 50 people and one can hold 30 people. The senior center has two kitchens, a play area, a shuffle board place, a stage, and two storage rooms. The Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Tennis Courts facility in the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park has eight courts.
Public schools
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
.
LAUSD-operated schools within the Van Nuys community area include:
Adult schools:
- Van Nuys Community Adult School (on the same campus as Van Nuys High School)
Charter school:
- Charter High School of the ArtsCharter High School of the ArtsCharter High School of the Arts Multimedia and Performing is a public high school that operates on the campus of the First Lutheran Church of Van Nuys. It is located at 6952 Van Nuys Boulevard, in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. Though it shares the facilities with the Lutheran Church, the...
6-12 schools:
- Robert Fulton College Preparatory (Van Nuys)
K–12 school:
- Valley Alternative Magnet School (on the same block as Birmingham Community Charter High School)
High schools:
- Van Nuys High SchoolVan Nuys High SchoolVan Nuys High School established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2...
- Nearby schools:
- Birmingham Community Charter High School (Lake Balboa)
- Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (Lake Balboa)
- Ulysses S. Grant High School (Valley Glen)
Middle schools:
- Van Nuys Middle School (Sherman Oaks)
- Millikan Middle School (Sherman Oaks)
- William Mulholland Middle School (Lake Balboa)
Elementary schools:
- Columbus Avenue Elementary School
- Cohasset Street Elementary School
- Hazeltine Avenue Elementary School
- Sherman Oaks Elementary School (Sherman Oaks)
- Sylvan Park Elementary School
- Van Nuys Elementary School
- Valley Region Elementary School #9
- Valerio Street Elementary School
- Valerio Street Primary Center
Private schools
- Children's Community School - an independent, progressive elementary school.
- St. Elisabeth's School - Preschool through 8th - Home of the Learning Academies and the Junior High Information Technology Preparatory Academy - Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los AngelesRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Los AngelesThe Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
- Montclair College Preparatory SchoolMontclair College Preparatory SchoolMontclair College Preparatory School, also commonly known as "Montclair Prep" is a school located in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, near Panorama City. The school teaches grades 9 through 12.-History:Founded in 1956, by the late Dr. Vernon E...
The administrative offices of the Lycée International de Los Angeles are in the RMG Airport Business Center.
Public libraries
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...
serves the community.
Transportation
Van Nuys AirportVan Nuys Airport
Van Nuys Airport is a public airport located in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley section of the city limits of Los Angeles, California, United States. No major commercial airlines fly into this airport; it is used by private, chartered, and small commercial aircraft...
, the busiest general aviation airport in the world, the 25th busiest airport in the United States, and among the 20 busiest airports in the world by aircraft movements, is located in Van Nuys.
The closest airport with commercial airline service is Bob Hope Airport
Bob Hope Airport
Bob Hope Airport is a public airport located 3 miles northwest of the central business district of Burbank, a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
in Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
.