"I grew up in a place that has vanished, in a world that can be recalled by only a very few..."
Catherine Mulholland
Blog archive: Vanishing Valley
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Oh crumb. Dennis McCarthy's column in the Daily News brings word that the 11-acre Jack Oakie estate — maybe the last intact vestige of the old Northridge horse culture — is being developed into 29 homes. The estate at 18650... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted January 13, 2007 07:55 PM
I just noticed today that Daniel van Meter's tower of wooden pallets — aka City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #184 — has been razed and cleared, along with the rest of the overgrown lot at 15357 Magnolia Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted August 24, 2006 07:25 PM
Today's Los Angeles Times notes the passing of Linda Menary, who ran the ramshackle barnyard petting zoo and pony ride called The Farm that has been at Tampa Avenue and Lanark Street in Reseda for about four decades. She died... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted May 10, 2006 02:15 AM
The blog Here in Van Nuys turns its gaze east to North Hollywood to point out the creeping destruction of a neighborhood of older, Spanish-style homes where actresses Carol Burnett and Agnes Moorhead once lived. The photo stream at Flickr... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted March 7, 2006 11:38 PM
The cover of the Studio City Sun features the impending closure of longtime bookstore Dutton's. Davis Dutton, whose parents opened on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in 1960, met his wife Judy in the library at North Hollywood High. Once the final... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted March 7, 2006 05:33 PM
The Craigslist posting says that everything must go "including shelves, racks, display cases, counters. We're trying to make some money so please feel free to come in and make offers." The cover of the Studio City Sun says the store... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 15, 2006 03:48 PM
The Hot Dog Show at Coldwater and Ventura, June Ellen Donuts, the Roger Jessup and Manfull dairies and Murmak Hardware have been added to the honor roll of Valley landmarks that are no longer around. The list at Gone but... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 10, 2006 11:55 AM
Citybeat's Steve Appleford pens an appreciation of Dutton's, the North Hollywood bookstore that is closing come March after 45 years. Excerpts: Owner Dave Dutton and his wife, Judy, are simply moving on to their home on Washington State’s beautiful Puget... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 9, 2006 12:36 AM
Gary Ritter Sherman emails: I saw that someone was trying to find out where the Wild Goose Restaurant was located. It used to be on the south side of Ventura Blvd at Fulton, across the street from Casa Vega, and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 5, 2006 10:42 PM
In answer a question about the Wild Goose in Sherman Oaks, it turns out to have been quite a popular place. I found more than two hundred mentions in the L.A. Times between 1953 and 1967, as a favorite restaurant... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 3, 2006 06:44 PM
The once-lush corner lot in Encino where John Wayne entertained his Hollywood pals at the top of a small rise is now a construction site. Wayne's former white Colonial has been demolished and a giant multi-story residence is being built... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 1, 2006 07:07 PM
This photo reportedly shows the Nike Hercules missile installation on Oat Mountain above Chatsworth in the 1960s. It appears larger on this website about the history of Nike missiles, along with a note indentifying these warheads as nuclear. Thanks to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 1, 2006 06:49 PM
Just about all evidence of the old Marquardt Aviation Co. plant along the west side of Van Nuys Airport has been removed. Started by Caltech graduate Roy Marquardt, the company moved to the Valley in the late 1940s and became... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 1, 2006 06:24 PM
Buck Jones was a movie cowboy in silent films and westerns who built a Spanish Revival home at 14050 Magnolia Blvd. in Sherman Oaks in 1937. Frescoes of western scenes covered some of the walls, and the structure was specifically... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted February 1, 2006 06:10 PM
A glaring omission here at AmericasSuburb.com has been any mention of the vanished local landmark Busch Gardens -- as several readers have pointed out. Well no more! Busch Gardens was a 20-acre tropical-theme amusement park and exotic bird preserve... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted December 4, 2005 06:24 PM
Many evidences of the old Valley have disappeared—and more vanish every year. This page lists some unofficial Valley landmarks that are no longer with us, taken from The San Fernando Valley: America's Suburb, the author's files and reader submissions.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Posted November 24, 2005 12:54 PM








