What would Hollywood be without its famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign? It would seem like something was missing! Even though it is truly a permanent fixture nowadays, it began as just a real-estate advertising gimmick. In the 1920s, when this section of Los Angeles was being developed, the real estate developers erected a sign steering people towards the new construction site, like most developers still do---but what a sign this particular one was! The letters were 50 feet high and 30 feet across! Its goal was not to advertise the town of Hollywood, but rather, the real estate being sold there, so the sign DIDN'T say just "Hollywood." It read "HOLLYWOODLAND," just like the name of the development. Well, of course, the developing period wound down, and the developer just abandoned its maintenance of the sign. For a decade, it sat abandoned. Finally, in 1949, one of the letters blew down, and the people of Hollywood realized just how much they'd grown attached to their funky local monument. It was restored, this time just as the word "Hollywood," and the rest is history.
You can see the sign from a number of places in town. If you're at the Hollywood & Highland Center, it can be seen from the upper levels. I like to drive up Beechwood Canyon Drive--that's where my photo of the sign below was taken. (Note: The hill around the sign will be green only during the rainy season, winter through early spring. The rest of the year it's brownish.) You can't drive up to the sign or even WALK up to it, because that's forbidden. (Warning: enforcement by security cameras!) But there are other historical things to see in this area. You can see the "gates" of Hollywoodland and the Hollywoodland Realty Co. office. You can admire the old-fashioned architecture. The homes built during the early days are distinctly different from the more modern ones. The older homes have more rounded features and almost remind me of the illustrations seen in fairy-tale books.