Los Angeles and Hollywood united yesterday in celebration of the opening of Sunset boulevard and its adjacent systems. The splendid highway was inspected by nearly 2,000 Los Angeles people, who proceeded to Hollywood in vehicles of every sort, ranging in design from a high-geared automobile to a goat cart.
The boulevard is now practically completed, representing an outlay of about $350,000. When the procession reached the end of the street in Hollywood, a genuine celebration was held, at which prominent men of Hollywood and Los Angeles spoke. The affair was under the auspices of the Hollywood Board of Trade and the Sunset Boulevard Improvement Association.
It was a gala day for Hollywood, for Los Angeles and for the territory intervening. Gen. M. H. Sherman and E. P. Clark of the Los Angeles Pacific railway, H. J. Whitley—known as the champion of Hollywood—were among the notable guests.
May 15, 1904 — Los Angeles Herald
Over the years, I have spoken to audiences around the world on television, radio talk shows, newspaper interviews, and at Hollywood Academy Award functions. Many times, I have been asked, “How did Hollywood get its name?”
To start with, I am going to share with you the way my great-grandmother wrote it in her handwritten memoirs. While on their honeymoon in 1886, they rode horses out to the foothills of the Cahuenga Valley. They dismounted near the top of the hill to look at the view of the entire valley. Along came a Chinese man riding in a wagon. He stopped, got out of the wagon, and politely bowed. H.J. Whitley asked him what he had been doing. The man said in broken English, “Up early. Work hard. Hauly wood.” The man was hauling wood.
With that, H.J. had an epiphany. He decided to name the new town he planned to build there Hollywood. “Holly” would represent his British roots and “Wood” his Scottish ancestry.
The next day, he rode back to Hollywood (Cahuenga) and obtained a verbal contract to buy the 480 acres from Mr. Hurd. A handshake was used to finalize the deal. A picture of the tract of land (subdivision map) that was purchased is below. The center of the land is Highland and Hollywood Boulevard. The square on the bottom right is where the Whitley Estate was located and the site where the first Hollywood Studio filmed on October 26, 1911.
After securing the land, H.J. visited with his friend Ivar Weid. He told Ivar of his plans to build a town named Hollywood. Ivar Weid then told his neighbors Daeida and Harvey Wilcox of Whitley’s plan.
Many people have been confused by an advertisement printed by the Los Angeles Litho Company, which was produced at a later date. It was added to a pamphlet given away by a bank as an advertisement. Many of the features on the map are inaccurate, and many of the buildings never existed.
Much of the misinformation currently circulating comes from Edwin Palmer. Below is a disclaimer written in the front of the book Hollywood History by Edwin O. Palmer, Edwin O. Palmer Publisher, 1936. Unfortunately, much of his misinformation was counted as a reliable source by authors who published in the 1950s onward.
The following letter addresses issues that H.J. Whitley had with Doctor Palmer, an employee of Mrs. Wilcox. He was concerned that history was being incorrectly recorded. This appears to be something we need to watch out for—history is history, and we can learn from it.
The truth is, H.J. Whitley named Hollywood in 1886.
Whitley's impact extended well beyond Hollywood itself. As a businessman and land developer, he was instrumental in founding or helping develop over 140 towns across the American West. Before his California endeavors, he worked as a land agent for the Rock Island Railroad and played a key role in organizing towns across Oklahoma's Cherokee Strip and other areas. After moving to California, Whitley also led large-scale developments in regions including Corcoran and the San Fernando Valley, contributing to the urban expansion and infrastructure of greater Los Angeles.
His legacy is evident in the geography of Hollywood and Los Angeles, with streets and neighborhoods bearing his name and his title of "The Father of Hollywood" inscribed on his crypt. Through his vision and real estate ventures, Whitley helped set the stage for Hollywood’s eventual rise as the center of the American film industry, though the film studios arrived a few years after his initial developments.