Glendale, California

Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, in the U.S. state of California. It is located about north of Downtown Los Angeles.

As of 2025, Glendale had a Census-estimated population of 187,823 making it the 4th-most populous city in Los Angeles County and the 24th-most populous city in California.

Glendale—along with neighboring Burbank and nearby Hollywood—has served as a major production center for the American film industry, and especially animation, and is home to Disneytoon Studios, Marvel Animation, and DreamWorks Animation.

History

Indigenous history

Native Americans lived along the Glendale Narrows of the Los Angeles River, known to the Tongva people as Paayme Paxaayt ("West River"), for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. Villages in the Glendale–La Crescenta-Montrose area included Ashwaangna, Hahamongna, Maungna, Tujunga and Wiqanga.

Spanish era

In 1769, the Portolá expedition established a permanent Spanish presence in the area. Many of the native inhabitants were displaced in 1771 for use as slave labor for the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. This migration, together with European diseases such as syphilis, measles, and smallpox, depopulated their communities.

In 1784, José María Verdugo, a corporal in the Spanish army from Baja California, received the Rancho San Rafael from Pedro Fages, the Province of Las Californias' Lieutenant Governor,

In 1798, Verdugo retired from the military and began expanding his ranch operations. Soon he had nearly 2,000 head of cattle, 670 horses and 70 mules. With the help of his son, Julio, he built several adobe structures for various uses. Workers grew crops such as grains, peppers, oranges, figs, grapes and pomegranates, and also made wine.

When Jose Maria Verdugo died in 1831, his estate was divided between his son, Julio, and his daughter, Catalina. With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, confirmed by the Commission in 1855, and the grant was patented to Julio and Catalina Verdugo in 1882.

In 1861, Julio Verdugo took out a mortgage to build a larger house. Unable to make the loan payments, the family was forced into bankruptcy proceedings. In 1871, the court divided the ranch into several parcels to satisfy the many claims against the Verdugos.

The court gave Benjamin Dreyfus, of California, the largest allotment: more than 8,000 acres, which later became Eagle Rock and Tropico. Andrew Glassell and Alfred Chapman were awarded the great Rancho La Cañada and more than 2,000 acres of what is now Highland Park and York Valley. David Burbank was awarded 4,607 acres, and his property eventually became the neighboring city of Burbank. On March 11, 1887, Erskine Mayo Ross, Cameron E. Thom, and several others, filed the first plat for Glendale, described as "Pasadena's first and only rival." It was bounded by First Street (now Lexington Drive) on the north, Fifth Street (now Harvard Street) on the south, Central Avenue on the west, and the Childs Tract on the east.

Incorporation and growth

thumb|right|A [[Glendale–Burbank Line streetcar stops to pick up and drop off passengers in 1915.]]

The city officially incorporated in 1906. Also that year, Forest Lawn Cemetery opened.

An important civic booster of the era was Leslie Coombs Brand (1859–1925), who partnered with Henry E. Huntington to bring the Pacific Electric Railway, or the "Red Cars", to the area. The Glendale–Burbank Line, which was operational from 1904 to 1955, ran from Downtown Los Angeles to Burbank via Glendale. At the railroad dedication celebration, Brand spoke of "his early dreams coming true, in which he pictured a country home in close proximity to the city." Brand also owned Glendale Light & Power Company, the Miradero Water Company, and the Consolidated Water Company.

The architecture firm of Anderson and Murdock won a contract to construct a new city hall in 1910, and it was completed in 1912.

Pioneering endocrinologist and entrepreneur Henry R. Harrower opened his clinic in Glendale in 1920, which for many years was the largest business in the city.

Following the 1922 demolition of the Atwater Tract Office, Southern Pacific Railroad constructed the Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. Glendale was served by the Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Daylight daytime and Lark overnight passenger trains.

The Hotel Glendale, a six-story beaux-arts building which boasted 160 rooms and two elevators, became Glendale's tallest building when it opened in 1925. Its location, at the intersection of Broadway and Glendale Avenue, was chosen because of its proximity to several transportation lines.

The Alexander Theatre opened in 1925, and featured vaudeville performances and silent films on a single screen.

thumb|right|The [[Douglas DC-1 at Grand Central Airport, circa 1933]]

The Grand Central Airport opened in 1929. Within a year, the enterprise was sold to the Curtiss-Wright Flying Service, managed by C. C. Moseley, a co-founder of the future Western Airlines. It became the city's largest employer. It was also at Grand Central that Moseley established the first of his private flying schools, Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute (later renamed Cal-Aero Academy).

The Renaissance Revival-style Glendale Main Post Office opened in 1934.

Between 1935 and 1937, the Works Progress Administration, under the supervision of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, channelized the Verdugo Wash and built ten bridges over it. Other Works Progress Administration projects include Glendale Community College's John A. Davitt Administration Building (1937) and the Glendale Civic Auditorium (1938).

Second World War and post-war development

The Second World War proved to be a boon to Glendale as Southern California became a major staging area for the Pacific War. Grand Central Airport served as a training facility for pilots and mechanics, while a foundry on San Fernando Road produced airplane parts. The Grayson Power Plant entered service in 1941, providing the city energy independence. Also that year, the city launched a municipal bus system named Glendale City Lines. In 1942, a new Glendale City Hall, a Works Progress Administration project in the PWA Moderne style, was completed in Glendale Civic Center, on the site of Glendale's first permanent city hall from 1912. In 1943, the Los Angeles County Superior Court opened a courthouse in Glendale.

In 1948, the Glendale News-Press moved to a new, 35,000-square-foot building across the street from City Hall.

thumb|right|Last day of Glendale–Burbank Line service (June 19, 1955)

In October 1953, the Glendale–Burbank Line came under the purview of Metropolitan Coach Lines, which initiated a series of service reductions. Interurban service ended in 1955, bringing an end to Glendale's streetcar suburb era.

With the proliferation of jet aircraft, Grand Central Airport's relatively short 3,400-foot runway was unable to accommodate modern aircraft. In 1959, the airport shut down. In 1961, Walt Disney purchased a large portion of the closed airport to establish a creative workshop for employees working on the construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. Initially named WED Enterprises, the team came to be known as Walt Disney Imagineering.

Until as late as the 1960s, Glendale was a sundown town, which meant that non-white people were required to leave city limits by a certain time each day or risk arrest and possible violence. This was achieved through, among other methods, racist housing covenants and police intimidation.

In 1964, Glendale was selected by George Lincoln Rockwell to be the West Coast headquarters of the American Nazi Party. In 1965, an anti-Nazi political demonstration co-sponsored by several groups — Christians Against Bigotry, Anti-Nazi Congress of America, and Jewish Survivors of Concentration Camps — featured actor Ronald Reagan as a speaker. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors became involved, amending a law regarding the activities of subversive groups, which was originally drafted in 1941 to control the German American Bund. After a legal battle with the city of Glendale, the party moved their headquarters to El Monte in 1966.

Demographic changes and urbanization

The emergence of increasingly visible ethnic groups—including Armenians, Cubans, Filipinos and Koreans—changed the official discourse in Glendale. In 1972, C.E. Perkins, then city manager, encouraged the Rotary Club of Glendale to prepare itself as the city could no longer remain isolated in an increasingly diverse America. Through the 1970s, concurrent with increasing immigration into Glendale, was the city's rapid urbanization. During this era, the Glendale Freeway and the Ventura Freeway were constructed. The Glendale Galleria shopping mall opened in 1976, and was further expanded in 1982.

In the 1980s, many single-family homes in south Glendale were demolished for apartment and condominium construction. This construction boom resulted in Glendale's population growing at a rate 60% higher than that of the county at large, turning the city into a denser, younger and more cosmopolitan urban center. In 1983, Larry Zarian was elected as the city's first Armenian city council member, and in 1986, he became the city's first Armenian mayor. In 1984, the city revived municipal bus service with the Glendale Beeline.

By 1990, Glendale was, proportionately, more immigrant than either the city or county of Los Angeles, with 45% of its residents being foreign-born.

Recent history

thumb|200px|High-rises in Downtown Glendale

On January 26, 2005, a train crash occurred when a southbound Metrolink commuter train collided with a sport utility vehicle that had been abandoned on the tracks immediately south of the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing, on the Glendale-Los Angeles border. The train jackknifed and struck trains on either side of it — one a stationary Union Pacific freight train, and the other a northbound Metrolink train traveling in the opposite direction. The collision caused the deaths of 11 individuals and injured 177 more.

By the late 2000s, Glendale had outgrown its "sleepy bedroom community" reputation as an urban area of its own, in large part due to the Americana at Brand lifestyle center and residential community. The new development was opened to the public in 2008, featuring 75 shops, restaurants, apartments, condominiums, and an 18-plex cinema.

In response to the Americana at Brand's opening, the Glendale Galleria underwent an extensive renovation in 2012. By 2014, the construction of thousands of luxury apartments in downtown Glendale raised fears of gentrification. In 2016, the Museum of Neon Art's new location opened. The post-Americana development boom has also included several hotels, such as a Hampton Inn & Suites (2016), a Hyatt Place (2017), The Glenmark (2020) and a Hotel Indigo (2025). There has also been an increase in "luxury wellness" in Glendale, including an upcoming Erewhon grocery store, "a stone's throw from a lower-cost competitor, Whole Foods Market."

In 2021, the Armenian American Museum broke ground in Central Park. In 2024, the Martial Arts History Museum moved to an 8,000 square foot facility in downtown Glendale, the latest piece in the "new 'museum row' now that Glendale has the Neon Museum, the Armenian Museum and now the Martial Arts History Museum."

Geography

thumb|right|View of Glendale with the [[San Gabriel Mountains and the Verdugo Mountains in the background]]

Glendale is located in the southeastern San Fernando Valley, north of downtown Los Angeles. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; of it is land and of it (0.43%) is covered by water. Glendale is the fourth largest city within Los Angeles County.

Glendale is bordered to the north by the foothill communities of La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Tujunga; to the south by the Atwater Village and Glassell Park communities incorporated by the city of Los Angeles; to the east by Pasadena and Eagle Rock (also incorporated within Los Angeles); and to the west by Griffith Park and the city of Burbank.

Geology

Several known earthquake faults criss-cross the Glendale area and adjacent mountains, as in much of Southern California. Among the more recognized faults are the Sierra Madre and Hollywood faults, situated in the city's northern and southwestern portions, respectively. Additionally, the Verdugo and Raymond faults intersect through the city's central and southeastern areas. The San Gabriel fault, meanwhile, is located northeast of the city. Roughly northeast of Glendale is a major portion of the San Andreas Fault known as the "Big Bend", where quake-recurrence tracking shows major activity roughly every 140–160 years. The closest portion of the San Andreas is actually from Glendale. The last major quake along the southern San Andreas was recorded in 1857.

thumb|right|[[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park and the Verdugo Mountains]]

In the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, which took place along the western edge of the Sierra Madre Fault, surface ruptures were nearly long, including one portion a few miles northwest of Glendale. Most of the damage was in the northern San Fernando Valley, though 31 structures in Glendale suffered major damage and had to be demolished, plus numerous chimneys collapsed. The 1994 Northridge earthquake had an epicenter about from Glendale. The city suffered severe damage to a public parking structure and sections of the Glendale Galleria parking structures and exterior columns incurred damages.

Climate

Glendale has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), with hot summers and mild winters with occasional rainfall. The highest recorded temperature in Glendale was on September 6, 2020. The lowest recorded temperature was on February 15, 1990. The warmest month is August and the coolest month is January.

The annual average precipitation is just over , mostly falling between November and April. Rainfall totals are highly variable from year to year, with the wettest years (sometimes over of rainfall) usually associated with warm El Niño conditions, and the drier years (sometimes under of rainfall) with cool La Niña episodes in the Pacific.

The hills and mountains of northern Glendale very rarely have snow, owing to its warmer temperatures during the winter. Frost sometimes occurs at night from late November to early March. Heavy rains and thunderstorms are also common during the winter. The spring brings temperate weather, with little rain. The summer is usually fairly warm, with highs from , to the low 100s (40 °C). Summer is usually very dry, but thunderstorms can come from Arizona, bringing high humidity into the area. These rare days cause heat indices over . Fall often brings clear and dry weather, but can be gusty due to the Santa Ana winds, blowing in once or twice a year from October to December. Santa Ana winds can reach up to , with gusts up to in mountain passes and canyons. Thunderstorms occur very rarely and they are accompanied by gusty winds and hail.

Surrounding areas

: Los Angeles

: Los Angeles 20px 30px 20px La Crescenta-Montrose / La Cañada Flintridge

: Burbank 30px 30px La Cañada Flintridge / Pasadena

: Los Angeles 20px 30px 20px Pasadena / Los Angeles