The Hollywood sign is marking its 100th year. It is one of the most popular landmarks in the world.
Hollywood is not just a place, it’s an industry. Before Hollywood became globally known for the movies, newspaper publisher Harry Chandler built the sign Hollywoodland to advertise his real estate development. Chandler spent $21,000 for the billboard he planned would only be around a year and a half.
The exact date it was first lit, and even the year is was fully erected, has been the topic of historical debate, but many historians are celebrating its 100th birthday this year.
The Hollywood sign is in a restricted area and attempting to get close to or touch the sign is prohibited. The closest you can hike to it is behind and above. The sign is protected by the Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments and Park Rangers.
Trams that failed to be
There have been plans drawn up for an aerial tram near the sign since the 1940s. Nothing has been developed yet. Here are a couple other recent attempts that have not panned out.
In 2017, a gondola plan was proposed by Barry Diller and his wife, Diane von Furstenberg. The $25 million to $30 million gondola was to ferry tourists to the Hollywood sign starting from the Los Angeles Zoo, four miles east of the Warner lot.
In 2018, Warner Bros. disclosed that it was considering financing a $100 million aerial tram from its lot in Burbank to the Hollywood sign in Griffith Park. The company canceled plans in 2021.
TV history next door
Hollywood might be closely associated with the movie business, but the sign is right next to a symbol of the beginnings of TV. The Hollywood sign sits on Mount Lee, named for Don Lee. Lee was a successful Cadillac salesman in the 1920s and purchased several radio stations in the West in 1926. The first image dissector (TV) was invented by Philo T. Farnsworth in San Francisco in 1927.
In 1930, Lee saw an opportunity in the beginnings of broadcast television. Lee hired a team to expand on the television filming, transmission and receiving technologies that were just emerging. W6XAO went live in December 1931 from a location near Gardena, launching more than eight years before NBC began its broadcasts in New York. The studio moved around until a 20-acre site was purchased behind the Hollywood sign.
When the facility was completed in 1939, it was the highest elevation television transmission tower in the world. In 1940, it became the first station on the West Coast to transmit a live remote telecast.
Later, Mount Wilson became a better site for transmitting.
The site atop Mount Lee and the large radio tower there eventually came to be operated and owned by the city of Los Angeles.
Sources: The Hollywood Sign Trust, Warner Bros.
