Lankershim Boulevard

Last updated
Lankershim Boulevard
Maintained byLocal jurisdictions
Nearest metro station LAMetroLogo.svg
South endVentura Boulevard/Cahuenga Boulevard in Studio City
Major
junctions
US 101 (1961 cutout).svg US 101 in Studio City
California 134.svg SR 134 in Toluca Lake
I-5 (1961).svg I-5 in Sun Valley
North endSan Fernando Road in Sun Valley
Looking north-west along Lankershim Boulevard in the "NoHo Arts District" of North Hollywood. Lankershim blvd noho night.jpg
Looking north-west along Lankershim Boulevard in the "NoHo Arts District" of North Hollywood.

Lankershim Boulevard is a major north-south thoroughfare in the eastern San Fernando Valley, primarily within the City of Los Angeles, in Los Angeles County, California.

Contents

Geography

Looking south on Lankershim Boulevard as it approaches the Hollywood Freeway and Ventura Boulevard. Lankershim blvd at hollywood fwy.jpg
Looking south on Lankershim Boulevard as it approaches the Hollywood Freeway and Ventura Boulevard.

Lankershim Boulevard begins 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 (11.7 km) before ending directly south of Ventura Boulevard. It crosses intersections with Interstate 5, State Route 134, and US Route 101. From a 5-way intersection at Victory Boulevard it runs diagonally to the southeast, creating 6-way intersections at the crossings of Burbank Boulevard and Tujunga Avenue, as well as Vineland Avenue and Camarillo Street.

At its busy southern end, Lankershim crosses the Los Angeles River as it briefly merges with Cahuenga Boulevard before passing the historic Campo de Cahuenga and the Universal City/Studio City Metro Station, then crossing the Hollywood Freeway and Ventura Boulevard, all within the space of about 0.5 miles (0.80 km). [1]

Transportation

Metro Local line 224 serves Lankershim Boulevard.

It passes two Metro Rail stations, North Hollywood and Universal City/Studio City, both served by the B Line, and the former station is also served by the G Line.

History

Pacific Electric station at Lankershim and Chandler, 1919 North Hollywood Pacific Electric Car Station, 1919 (LAVC15).jpg
Pacific Electric station at Lankershim and Chandler, 1919

Named for one of the area's founding families, Lankershim Boulevard is one of the oldest streets in the area surrounding what is now the neighborhood of North Hollywood. It was a major thoroughfare for the town of Toluca (which was itself renamed "Lankershim" in 1896), connecting it to Los Angeles by way of the Cahuenga Pass. In the center of Toluca, it crossed the Southern Pacific Railroad, with a depot near the current location of the North Hollywood Metro Station at Chandler Boulevard. [2] The foundations of the original Campo de Cahuenga adobe were unearthed beneath Lankershim Boulevard during construction of the Metro Red Line subway. These parts of the foundations within the park are preserved as an exhibit, and the "footprint" of the foundations under the street and sidewalk is marked by decorative pavement.

Lankershim Boulevard around Magnolia Boulevard was the heart of the town of Lankershim and of North Hollywood and until the mid-1950s boasted the largest concentration of retail stores, banks, restaurants, and entertainment in the Valley. In 1953, for example, the shopping strip included three full-line department stores: J.C. Penney at 5261 Lankershim, Yeakel & Goss department store at 5272, and the upscale single-location Rathbun's department store at 5307–15. There were also branches of the large Harris & Frank clothing chain at 5236 Lankershim, J. J. Newberry five and dime at 5321, and Safeway at 5356. [3] However, the nearby Valley Plaza shopping center, designed for accessibility by car with plenty of free parking, opened in 1951 and kept growing until 1956 when it claimed to be the third-largest shopping center in the country. [4] It was difficult for the Lankershim retail district to compete and by 1980, most stores had closed including Rathbun's. [5] Donte's, one of the West Coast's best known jazz clubs in the 1970s and 1980s was at 4269. It opened in 1966 and closed in 1988 and is now the Century West BMW auto dealer site. [6] [7]

CicLAvia

In 2015, Lankershim Boulevard, along with Ventura Boulevard, was the site of CicLAvia, an event sponsored by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in which major roads are temporarily closed to motorized vehicle traffic and used for recreational human-powered transport. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Fernando Valley</span> Large populated valley in Los Angeles County, California, US

The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated areas and the incorporated cities of Burbank, Calabasas, Glendale, Hidden Hills, and San Fernando. The valley is well known for its iconic film studios such as Warner Bros. Studio and Walt Disney Studios. In addition, it is home to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toluca Lake, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California

Toluca Lake is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley 12 miles (19 km) northwest of downtown. The name is also given to a private natural lake fed by wells and maintained by neighboring property owners. Prior to the paving of the Los Angeles River in 1938 and L.A. well extraction in the late 19th and 20th century which lowered the water table, Toluca Lake was fed by artesian springs.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventura Freeway</span> Freeway in Southern California

The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From the Santa Barbara County line to its intersection with the Hollywood Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, it is signed as U.S. Route 101 (US 101), which was built in the late 1950s and opened on April 5, 1960. East of the Hollywood Freeway intersection, it is signed as State Route 134 (SR 134) which was built by 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventura Boulevard</span> Thoroughfare in San Fernando Valley

Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thoroughfares in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley as it was originally a part of the Camino Real. It was also U.S. Route 101 (US 101) before the freeway was built, and it was also previously signed as U.S. Route 101 Business.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal City/Studio City station</span> Los Angeles Metro Rail station

Universal City/Studio City station is an underground rapid transit station on the B Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located under Lankershim Boulevard at its intersection of Campo de Cahuenga and Universal Hollywood Drive in the neighborhoods of Universal City and Studio City, after which the station is named.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Hollywood station</span> Los Angeles Metro Rail station

North Hollywood station is a combined rapid transit and bus rapid transit (BRT) station in the Los Angeles Metro Rail and Metro Busway systems. It is the northwestern terminus of the B Line subway and eastern terminus of the G Line BRT route. It is located at the intersection of Lankershim Boulevard and Chandler Boulevard in the NoHo Arts District of the North Hollywood neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campo de Cahuenga</span> Historic house in California, United States

The Campo de Cahuenga, near the historic Cahuenga Pass in present-day Studio City, California, was an adobe ranch house on the Rancho Cahuenga where the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed between Lieutenant Colonel John C. Frémont and General Andrés Pico in 1847, ending hostilities in California between Mexico and the United States. The subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, ceding California, parts of Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona to the United States, formally ended the Mexican–American War. From 1858 to 1861 the Campo de Cahuenga became a Butterfield Stage Station.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cahuenga Boulevard</span> Boulevard of northern Los Angeles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Fernando Line</span> Part of the Pacific Electric Railway system

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the San Fernando Valley</span> Aspect of history

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Lankershim may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CicLAvia</span> Open streets festival in Los Angeles, California

CicLAvia is a nonprofit, car-free streets initiative in Los Angeles, California. The organization temporarily closes streets to motor vehicles to make them accessible to vendors and the public. It runs six times a year on new and repeating routes.

Nahas was a chain of department stores owned by A. S Nahas, operating in Greater Los Angeles, carrying clothing, household goods and electronics. They also acquired Rathbun's department store at 5311 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood and cobranded it "Nahas Rathbuns" before the branch closed in 1980. The remaining Nahas stores closed in 1981–2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lankershim, Los Angeles County, California</span> Archaic settlement name and train stop, now North Hollywood

Lankershim and West Lankershim are historical names for an area in what is now the greater North Hollywood section of the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donte's</span>

Donte's was a jazz club and diner and cocktail bar at 4269 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, to the north of Universal Studios. One of the West Coast's best known jazz clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, it opened in 1966 and closed in 1988.

References

  1. Google (2014-03-12). "Lankershim Blvd. at Campo de Cahuenga" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
  2. "North Hollywood - Valley Village Community Plan Area" (PDF). Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources. 2013-02-26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
  3. "Christmas Gift Ideas", supplement to the Valley Times, December 3, 1953
  4. Esquivel, Ralph (May 1, 1956). "Survey of Sales Reveals Record by Valley Plaza". Valley Times (North Hollywood, CA).
  5. "Nahas/Rathbun's advertisement". Los Angeles Times. 31 October 1980. p. 74. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  6. Feather, Leonard (2 April 1988). "After 22 Years, Donte's Owner Bids Adieu to Noted Jazz Club". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  7. Google (19 January 2022). "4269 Lankershim Boulevard" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  8. "Valley CicLAvia Crowd Estimated At 100K". CBS Los Angeles. 2015-03-23. Archived from the original on 2015-03-24.