Must admit I had not known of the old, now-dry Girard reservoir until the L.A. City Nerd blog mentioned it recently. Now the Daily News and the Los Angeles Times both have stories today about residents in Woodland Hills trying to block a condominium development on the adjacent Nicholson Ranch property. Their strategy is to nudge the city Department of...

More than a month ago I gave Los Angeles Times editor-at-large Thomas Curwen some ideas for places that played meaningful but little appreciated roles in the history and lore of Southern California land and real estate. I'm happy to say he composed a nice piece for the Sunday paper that picks up on some of the suggestions and adds other...

Joe Dungan at the website The Simon drove out to Magnolia Boulevard to see if Sherman Oaks' most unusual city historic-cultural monument—make that the Valley's most unusual landmark—still stands. He found that the 22-foot tower of wooden pallets built by Daniel Van Meter starting in 1951 is still there, but barely. An official photographer was there recording the tower for...

The blog Here in Van Nuys posted a series of evocative photos taken around the exterior of the decaying former Air National Guard base on the west side of Van Nuys Airport. Old hangars that used to be along Stagg Street are long gone; I don't know what the plans are for the last post-war office buildings along Balboa or...

If you want a glimpse of what the Valley terrain looked like 200 years ago, before wheat fields or orange trees, the new Michael D. Antonovich Regional Park is your place. The park opens to public use the rolling foothills of upper Browns Canyon above Chatsworth, on what used to be called the Joughin Ranch. Here's what the official...

Victor Medina's moviesites.org gives the history and updated information on several Los Angeles area filming locations. Historic Beale's Cut, a favorite backdrop for Westerns, is located just on the north side of Newhall Pass from the Valley, off Sierra Highway. Earth slides have filled in the original gap, which probably existed in the Tongva days and was widened and deepened...

The rock outcropping beside Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth has caught people's eyes since before Portola led his expedition into the Valley in 1769 and came upon a society of native Tongva and Chumash. Native artifacts have been found at several spots around the base of Stoney Point, but I just like this photo. It was taken last spring by...

Reader Tony Gaudenti took these photos comparing the 1980s scenery to the later development of the old Benjamin Porter ranch foothills around today's intersection of Rinaldi Street and Corbin Avenue. The first pair are looking south from above Rinaldi down the path (August, 1984) that by March, 1993 had been paved as Corbin Avenue. In these two below, looking south...

Hello,   My name is Anthony. I've lived in the valley my whole life. I recently purchased your book. It's great. I was reading through it and found a sentence under "Castle Peak: A beacon for the ages." It says that something happens on winter solstice at 730 a.m. near Castle Peak. Well I live in Woodland Hills and...

Jerry L. Schneider's great website Movie Making Locations Plus has posted the story (with photos) of Lasky Mesa. It was a historic movie location ranch apparently established by the Jesse Lasky-Famous Players Co. in 1914. Gone with the Wind and other classic films had scenes shot there. We know the locale now as Ahmanson Ranch, the new public park adjacent...

The former Southern Pacific Railroad station at Chandler and Lankershim boulevards is one of the last true relics of the 19th century San Fernando Valley. Built in 1895, it is reputed to be the oldest structure in North Hollywood. In 1911 it became the Lankershim stop on the Pacific Electric streetcar line across the Valley. It is eligible for...

The cemetery believed to be the Valley's second oldest (other than Mission San Fernando Rey) accepted burials from about 1870 to 1939 and contains some 750 graves. Recently the San Fernando Valley Historical Society took over ownership. Once known as Morningside Cemetery, the four-acre plot at Foothill Boulevard and Bledsoe Avenue has been designated as both a city cultural-historic monument...