Imagine a time when the only stars in Hollywood were found in the crystal- clear night skies arching over rolling hills. This was the setting for the area’s native people, the Gabrielinos.

All was quiet until 1907, when bad weather drove a small Chicago film company westward to complete a shoot. The first real studio, Nestor Film Company, soon followed from New Jersey, cranking out three pictures a week – one ‘western,’ one ‘eastern,’ and one comedy – for a grand total of $1,200.

By 1915, America was officially film crazed, and Hollywood was shaping into the glamorous, sometimes surreal landscape we’ve come to know and love. Hopeful actors and actresses filled the streets, dazzled by a new American dream: film stardom.

Hollywood, which by now represented not just a city, but also an industry, a lifestyle and, increasingly, an aspiration, was officially crowned when the “Hollywoodland” sign was erected in 1923.

Hollywood has always been a place where visionaries harness technology for entertainment and communications. Mount Lee, the home of the Sign, bears the name of a famous entrepreneur who made this ridge in Griffith Park into one of the most important historical sites in television history.

The advent of synchronized sound sent the picture industry reeling, as the big studios frantically re-tooled and acting careers were ruined and made overnight.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Hollywood mobilized to become a full-time war industry. Studio trucks transported troops instead of movie sets. Stars like Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Victor Mature quickly enlisted.

The film industry’s high profile made it vulnerable in the postwar climate of anti-liberal hysteria. By the early 50’s, 400 actors, writers, directors and producers were blacklisted, and paranoia prevailed.

During the 1960s, Hollywood suffered through a mass exodus of residents to the suburban San Fernando Valley. Even more distressing was the flight of film power centers to the Valley and other less cramped environs. By 1970, Paramount was the only studio left in town.

By the late 1970’s, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce determined that the Sign required a complete rebuilding – carrying a price tag of a quarter million dollars. Thankfully, some of showbiz’s biggest names came to the rescue.

The Sign has always served as a barometer for the community; and as Hollywood re-blossomed, so too did the Sign, which benefited from a range of new preservation efforts.