The history of Hollywood
For many years, Hollywood was the center of the movie-making world. The area has changed a lot over the years, but today young actors who hope to be on TV, or in the movies, still travel to Hollywood to try and start their careers in show business. Many film companies also continue to have their studios and business offices here.
Of course, Hollywood wasn’t always famous for making movies. Native Americans were the first people to live in the area which was originally called Cahuenga—the name of an important Native American leader. In the late 1700s, Spanish explorers arrived and the native people were forced to move to other areas of what is now the city of Los Angeles, Cahuenga was divided into east and west, and the Spanish called the west side Rancho La Brea. Here the new settlers grew crops such as bananas, pineapples and oranges on land good for farming.
In 1886, a man named H. H. Wilcox bought a part of Rancho La Brea, which his wife renamed Hollywood. Wilcox believed that California’s warm weather could attract people to the area, and he was right. Soon, Wilcox was building luxury homes for many wealthy Americans from the middle and northern parts of the United States.
In 1911, the first film studio opened in Hollywood on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Soon after, movie director Cecil B. DeMille made the first feature-length film, the squaw man. Over the next ten years, many more movies were made in Hollywood. During the 1920s and 1930s, as the film industry grew, business replaced farms. Glamorous nightclubs and expensive homes were built for the growing population that worked in the movie industry.
By the 1950s, many movie stars were leaving the area and moving to nearby places like Beverly Hills. When they left, so did many of the upscale shops and restaurants.
Today, Hollywood is still famous, thousands of tourists visit the area every year to see sites such as Mann’s Chinese theater and the avenue of the stars. Very few see celebrities, though. Unlike in the early days, the only stars you are likely to see today are under your feet.

Cahuenga was a famous Spanish explorer.