Broadway in Los Angeles was once the western terminus of the famed Route 66. The road across America served as the gateway to the Pacific coast for many travelers who got their first glimpse of LA on this street. Over the years Broadway developed into a district filled with some of the most frequented attractions in the city. This started with the construction of Hamburger's department store, a five-story shopping mecca that welcomed 35,000 people on its first day of business in 1905, according to the National Park Service website. In 1903 the Mason Opera House opened as the first theater in what would become the premiere theater district on the west coast. The Orpheum (laorpheum.com), the Palace (losangelestheatre.com), the Globe, the Tower (towertheaterla.com) and the Roxie were among the theaters that made this area the place to be for entertainment form the early 1900s until after World War II. Twelve of these theater buildings are still standing, offering a look into the architectural movements of the era. The entire district is a part of the National Registry of Historic Places.
One of the most familiar sights in all of Los Angeles County is the Hollywood sign. This sign, erected in 1923 by LA Times publisher Harry Chandler originally read "Hollywoodland" as an advertisement for one of his real estate ventures. But over time the sign came to identify the area associated with the motion picture industry, and served as a constant marquee for the entire city. The sign was changed to simply read "Hollywood" eventually and has stood in the same place atop Mt. Lee ever since.
One of the must-see historic sites in Los Angeles is Grauman's Chinese Theater (manntheatres.com/chinese). This architecturally unique theater on Hollywood Boulevard opened in May of 1927 with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's "The King of Kings." Thousands packed the streets trying to get a glimpse of the movie stars. Sid Grauman built several theaters, including the Egyptian (americancinematheque.com) and the Million Dollar Theater (milliondollartheater.com) downtown. The Chinese was his dream movie palace, and at a cost of $2 million he made the dream into a reality that still serves as a tourist attraction in 2011. It is also still the most sought-after venue for Hollywood film premieres in the industry.
Not everything in Los Angeles is about the entertainment business --- just almost everything. In reality, the history of Los Angeles is interesting going back much farther than the silent films following the turn of the century --- 40,000 years farther back. The La Brea tar pits (tarpits.org) are a bubbling pool of asphalt that trapped many ancient plants and animals in the tar, preserving their fossils for eons. Since 1906, more than a million bones have been recovered from the pits and many are on display in the adjacent Page Museum. Saber-toothed cats, dire wolves and hundreds of other vertebrates, invertebrates and plants have been discovered here, showing the population of LA from long ago.
