Beverly Hills, California | |||
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City | |||
City of Beverly Hills | |||
Beverly Hills at the corner of Rodeo Drive & Via Rodeo | |||
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Nickname(s): "Garden Spot of the World", "B.H.", "Bev Hills", "90210" | |||
Location of Beverly Hills in Los Angeles County, California | |||
Aerial view, 3D computer generated image | |||
Coordinates: 34°4?23?N 118°23?58?W / 34.07306°N 118.39944°W / 34.07306; -118.39944Coordinates: 34°4?23?N 118°23?58?W / 34.07306°N 118.39944°W / 34.07306; -118.39944 | |||
Country | United States of America | ||
State | California | ||
County | Los Angeles | ||
Incorporated | January 28, 1914 | ||
Government | |||
o Type | Council-manager | ||
o Mayor | Lili Bosse | ||
o Vice Mayor | Julian A. Gold | ||
o City Council | William W. Brien John A. Mirisch Nancy Krasne | ||
o City Manager | Jeff Kolin | ||
Area | |||
o Total | 5.710 sq mi (14.790 km2) | ||
o Land | 5.708 sq mi (14.784 km2) | ||
o Water | 0.002 sq mi (0.006 km2) 0.04% | ||
Elevation | 259 ft (79 m) | ||
Population (2010) | |||
o Total | 34,290 | ||
Time zone | PST (UTC-8) | ||
o Summer (DST) |
PDT a (UTC-7) |
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ZIP Code(s) | 90209, 90210, 90211, 90212, 90213 | ||
Area code(s) | 310, 323, 424 | ||
FIPS code | 06-06308 | ||
GNIS feature ID | 1652672 | ||
Website | beverlyhills.org |
Gaspar de Portolà arrived in the area that would become Beverly Hills on August 3, 1769, travelling along native trails which followed the present-day route of Wilshire Boulevard. The area was settled by Maria Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband in 1828. They called their 4,500 acres (18 km2) of property the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. However, she was constantly harassed by Native Americans and seriously assaulted in 1852. Two years later, in 1854, she sold the ranch to Benjamin Davis Wilson (1811-1878) and Henry Hancock (1822-1883). By the 1880s, the ranch had been subdivided into parcels of 75 acres (0.30 km2) and was being rapidly bought up by anglos from Los Angeles and the East coast.
Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker acquired most of it and used it for farming lima beans. At this point, the area was known as the Hammel and Denker Ranch. By 1888, Denker and Hammel were planning to build a town called Morocco on their holdings.
In 1900, Burton E. Green, Charles A. Canfield, Max Whittier, Frank H. Buck, Henry E. Huntington, William G. Kerckhoff, William F. Herrin, W.S. Porter, and Frank H. Balch, formed the Amalgamated Oil Company, bought the Hammel and Denker ranch, and began looking for oil. They did not find enough to exploit commercially by the standards of the time, though. In 1906, therefore, they reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company, renamed the property "Beverly Hills," subdivided it, and began selling lots. The development was named "Beverly Hills" after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts and because of the hills in the area. The first house in the subdivision was built in 1907, although sales remained slow.
Beverly Hills was one of many all-white planned communities started in the Los Angeles area around this time. Restrictive covenants prohibited non-whites from owning or renting property unless they were employed as servants by white residents. :57 It was also forbidden to sell or rent property to Jews in Beverly Hills.
Burton Green began construction on The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1911. The hotel was finished in 1912. The visitors drawn by the hotel were inclined to purchase land in Beverly Hills, and by 1914 the subdivision had a high enough population to incorporate as an independent city. That same year, the Rodeo Land and Water Company decided to separate its water business from its real estate business. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission was split off from the land company and incorporated in September 1914, buying all of the utilities-related assets from the Rodeo Land and Water Company.
In 1919, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land on Summit Drive and built a mansion, finished in 1921 and nicknamed "Pickfair" by the press. The glamor associated with Fairbanks and Pickford as well as other movie stars who built mansions in the city contributed to its growing appeal.
By the early 1920s the population of Beverly Hills had grown enough to make the water supply a political issue. In 1923 the usual solution, annexation to the city of Los Angeles, was proposed. :65 There was considerable opposition to annexation among such famous residents as Pickford and Fairbanks, Will Rogers and Rudolph Valentino. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission, opposed to annexation as well, managed to force the city into a special election and the plan was defeated 337 to 507. :65
PDT
Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood.
Originally a Spanish ranch where lima beans were grown, it was incorporated in 1914 by a group of investors who had failed to find oil, but found water instead and eventually decided to develop it into a town. It is now home to 34,290 inhabitants. Sometimes merely known by one of its primary ZIP codes, "90210", it has been home to actors and celebrities. The city also includes the shopping district Rodeo Drive and the Beverly Hills Oil Field.
Gaspar de Portolà arrived in the area that would become Beverly Hills on August 3, 1769, travelling along native trails which followed the present-day route of Wilshire Boulevard. The area was settled by Maria Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband in 1828. They called their 4,500 acres (18 km2) of property the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. However, she was constantly harassed by Native Americans and seriously assaulted in 1852. Two years later, in 1854, she sold the ranch to Benjamin Davis Wilson (1811-1878) and Henry Hancock (1822-1883). By the 1880s, the ranch had been subdivided into parcels of 75 acres (0.30 km2) and was being rapidly bought up by anglos from Los Angeles and the East coast.
Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker acquired most of it and used it for farming lima beans. At this point, the area was known as the Hammel and Denker Ranch. By 1888, Denker and Hammel were planning to build a town called Morocco on their holdings.
In 1900, Burton E. Green, Charles A. Canfield, Max Whittier, Frank H. Buck, Henry E. Huntington, William G. Kerckhoff, William F. Herrin, W.S. Porter, and Frank H. Balch, formed the Amalgamated Oil Company, bought the Hammel and Denker ranch, and began looking for oil. They did not find enough to exploit commercially by the standards of the time, though. In 1906, therefore, they reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company, renamed the property "Beverly Hills," subdivided it, and began selling lots. The development was named "Beverly Hills" after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts and because of the hills in the area. The first house in the subdivision was built in 1907, although sales remained slow.
Beverly Hills was one of many all-white planned communities started in the Los Angeles area around this time. Restrictive covenants prohibited non-whites from owning or renting property unless they were employed as servants by white residents. :57 It was also forbidden to sell or rent property to Jews in Beverly Hills.
Burton Green began construction on The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1911. The hotel was finished in 1912. The visitors drawn by the hotel were inclined to purchase land in Beverly Hills, and by 1914 the subdivision had a high enough population to incorporate as an independent city. That same year, the Rodeo Land and Water Company decided to separate its water business from its real estate business. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission was split off from the land company and incorporated in September 1914, buying all of the utilities-related assets from the Rodeo Land and Water Company.
In 1919, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land on Summit Drive and built a mansion, finished in 1921 and nicknamed "Pickfair" by the press. The glamor associated with Fairbanks and Pickford as well as other movie stars who built mansions in the city contributed to its growing appeal.
By the early 1920s the population of Beverly Hills had grown enough to make the water supply a political issue. In 1923 the usual solution, annexation to the city of Los Angeles, was proposed. :65 There was considerable opposition to annexation among such famous residents as Pickford and Fairbanks, Will Rogers and Rudolph Valentino. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission, opposed to annexation as well, managed to force the city into a special election and the plan was defeated 337 to 507. :65