A Hollywood Journey

22. Hollywood and Vine

Hollywood, CA

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One of the most famous intersections thanks to its concentration of radio and movie-related businesses, Hollywood and Vine was a glamorous boulevard in its prime before World War II. Originally a lemon grove until 1903, this intersection became a solid anchor as the home of nearly a dozen major theaters and weekly star studded movie premieres. As owner of the intersection, Daieda Wilcox Beveridge, whose first husband was prohibitionist H.H. Wilcox, allowed one corner of the dirt crossway of her property to be used by the Hollywood Memorial Church for the local German Methodist population. In the 1930s, newspaper columnists Hedda Hopper and Jimmie Fidler regularly spoke about the intersection's mystique. This corner is the central point of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and where Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, the astronauts of the first lunar landing mission Apollo 11, were awarded their stars for their moon landing. During the 1960s, the area fell into despair when many studios and broadcasters moved to more upscale areas. Squatters and panhandlers claimed the abandoned land, filled with empty offices and stores. It wasn't until 1999 that the Hollywood/Vine Metro Rail Station opened and started a more sustained and serious redevelopment. To commemorate Bob Hope's 100th birthday, Hollywood and Vine was named Bob Hope Square on May 29, 2003.