City's First Historical Survey Coming to North Hollywood and Toluca Lake

Marylin Monroe went to elementary school here for some time. Amelia Earhart lived here the last years before her death. Audie Murphy used to frequent the North Hollywood Masonic Lodge. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby used to play golf here. The list goes on and on.

The North Hollywood and Toluca Lake areas are and now the city of Los Angeles is taking a big step toward preserving, protecting and identifying locations and buildings that are part of that history. 

SurveyLA has been conducting a citywide historical survey and is coming to North Hollywood and Toluca Lake soon. According to its website, it is looking for places that are important because of reasons such as architecture, city planning, landscape design, ethnic heritage, residential development, commerce or industry.

Carol Henning, a volunteer at the Office of Historic Resources, which is conducting the survey and is part of the Office of Public Resources, spoke at the Midtown NoHo Neighborhood Council Meeting on March 16 at North Hollywood Park to explain the process.

"This is the first ever historic survey of historic resources in this city. Only 15 percent of Los Angeles has previously been surveyed," said Henning. "What this includes is background research, and that is what I am here to ask you. Second, once we have done the background research, then there are field inspections in the public right-of-way."

SurveyLA in particular is looking for lesser known properties and buildings that might not immediately come to mind when thinking of historical landmarks. Most everyone with an interest in North Hollywood and Toluca Lake knows about locations such as , the , , and other famous locations. But SurveyLA is also looking for stores, parks, social halls, canals and bridges.

"This is to provide a foundation for Los Angeles' historic preservation program," Henning said. "The survey does not mean historic preservation as a historic site, but it does mean more information for conducting community planning updates, for adaptive reuse projects, for planning disaster responses, and for filmmaking."

The field surveys for this began in July of 2010, Henning said. According to SurveyLA's website, the 2010 site focused on Palms-Mar Vista-Del Rey, West Los Angeles, San Pedro, Harbor Gateway, South Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles, Central City North, Sunland-Tujunga-Shadow Hills-Lakeview Terrace-East La Tuna Canyon, West Adams-Baldwin Hills-Leimert, San Pedro, and Hollywood.

The 2011 project will focus heavily on the San Fernando Valley, including North Hollywood and Toluca Lake.

In 2012 the survey will cover the remaining areas of the city, including the large Northeast and Wilshire Plan Areas along with a survey of industrial properties.

For more information, and to learn about how to get specific locations and buildings surveyed, go to SurveyLA.org or see the attached PDF.