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Los Angeles County: Woodland
Hills
Little is known about the Chumash Indians, who were
this community's earliest settlers. When the first white
men rode in with the Portola Expedition in 1769 to explore
the beautiful hills and valleys, they encountered the
Indians and called the area the Valley of the Oaks.
It was in this area, now named Woodland Hills, that
the treaty was signed to end the Mexican War. This cleared
the way for California to be admitted to the union in
1850 as the 31st state.
When Victor Girard Kleinberger first laid eyes on the
rolling grasslands with pools of water, he called it
the "dream city." A visionary and entrepreneur,
he foresaw a large population and a thriving economy
in the town he named Girard, as he later came to call
himself.
Girard was an ambitious man who had a penance for deceit.
In 1922, Girard and Boulevard Land Company purchased
2,886 acres, which was subdivided into 6,000 lots. Girard
sold thousands of small lots to families in a farming
area where 80 acre parcels had more typically been sold.
To expedite land
sales in his new town in 1923, Girard erected
gates, a mosque tower, and a business district
with rows of stones with false fronts to convey
the impression of a flourishing economy.
Later, in an attempt to hold off bankruptcy and
his creditors, Girard attached liens to all the
property he sold without informing the buyers!
In spite of his unscrupulous methods, Girard believed
in the town and the land, and his plan worked.
His advertisements in the newspaper did, in fact,
attract new residents and businesses, and a great
deal of new construction was initiated.
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He beautified the area by importing and planting more
than 120,000 eucalyptus, sycamore, fir, pine and pepper
trees. Years later, as the trees grew, it was appropriate
to change the town's name to Woodland Hills.
With the country in the throes of the Depression, Girard's
"super community" crumbled. Despite the forlorn
economic state of Woodland Hills, in which only 75 families
remained, the town survived. Large family landholders
moved in, including Harry Warner of Warner Brothers Pictures.
In 1941, residents of the community banned together to
improve the community's image and rename it Woodland Hills.
This was the origin of the Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce.
Originally acquiring land to breed thoroughbred horses,
Warner eventually owned 1,100 acres. When Warner liquidated
much of his real estate holdings in the 1980s, a number
of large corporations bought and developed portions of
the master planned business development that was to become
known as Warner Center.
With Warner Center still at the core of the business district,
Woodland Hills enjoys a strong financial establishment,
an upscale residential base, the finest health care, outstanding
retail and restaurant facilities, excellent educational
institutions, and recreational opportunities without equal
- all in beautiful Southern California.
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