Burton Edmond Green (September 6, 1868 – May 13, 1965) was an American oilman and real estate developer. He was critical in the development of

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

, and he is credited with naming it Beverly Hills after

Beverly Farms Beverly Farms is a neighborhood comprising the eastern part of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, in the state's North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore region, approximately 20 miles north of Boston. Beverly Farms is an oceanfront community wi ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Early life

Burton Edmond Green was born on September 6, 1868, near

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

.Marc Wanamaker, ''Early Beverly Hills'', Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, pp. 17-1

/ref>''Notables of the West'', Press Reference Library: Western Edition, 1913, volume I, p. 11

/ref> His father was Richard Green and his mother, Amanda Hill (Bush) Green. He attended the Beaver Dam Academy in Wisconsin. He moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

with his family in 1886, at the age of sixteen. He graduated from the

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

in 1889.

Career

Green worked as an orange grower in

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

for five years. He then decided to return to Los Angeles and invest in the oil industry. Together with

Max Whittier Mericos "Max" Whittier (1867–1925) was a pioneer in the early California oil industry and was instrumental in the development of 3 of California's billion barrel oil fields: Kern River, Midway-Sunset, and South Belridge. With his partner Burt ...

(1867–1928), he established the Green & Whittier Oil Company and drilled oil in the Los Angeles area. Shortly after, they started drilling near

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. In 1905, the Green & Whittier Oil Company merged with two other oil companies to become the

Associated Oil Company Associated Oil Company (Flying A) was an American oil and Natural gas, gas company once headquartered in San Francisco, California and served much of the West Coast of the United States, Pacific West Coast, including Hawaii, as well as the Orient ...

of California. As a result, he served on the board of directors of the Associated Oil Company, later serving as its president. He served as the President of the Bellridge Oil Company, which encompassed 32,000 acres of the

Lost Hills Oil Field The Lost Hills Oil Field is a large oil field in the Lost Hills Range, north of the town of Lost Hills, California, Lost Hills in western Kern County, California, Kern County, California, in the United States. Production While only the 18th-large ...

Kern County, California Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

. In 1900, together with Max Whittier, Charles A. Canfield (1848–1913), Frank H. Buck (1887–1942), Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927), William G. Kerckhoff (1856–1929), William F. Herrin (1854-1927), W.S. Porter and Frank H. Balch, known as the Amalgamated Oil Company, he purchased

Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas was a land grant in present day Beverly Hills in Los Angeles County, California, given to María Rita Quinteros Valdez de Villa in 1838. Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas (Ranch of the Gathering Waters), is named for the stre ...

from Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker and renamed it Morocco Junction. After drilling for oil and only finding water, they reorganized their business into the Rodeo Land and Water Company to develop a new residential town later known as

. Green served as the President of the Rodeo Land and Water Company.David Gebhard, ''An Architectural Guidebook to Los Ángeles'', Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2003, p. 15

/ref>Robert Winter, ''The Architecture of Entertainment: LA in the Twenties'', Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2006, p. 5

/ref> He called the new town Beverly Hills after his fond recollections of time spent in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. He hired architects Wilbur David Cook and

Myron Hunt Myron Hubbard Hunt (February 27, 1868 – May 26, 1952) was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Archi ...

to design the master plans of the city. Green was a large investor in the Booth-Kelly Lumber Company. The company spanned 200,000 acres of timber land in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and owned many wind mills in Oregon. It also founded several towns in Oregon.

Personal life

Green was married to Lillian Wellborn (1875-1957), the daughter of Judge

Olin Wellborn Olin Wellborn (June 18, 1843 – December 6, 1921) was a United States representative from Texas and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Education and career Born on June ...

(1848-1921). They had three daughters: Dorothy (Dolly), Liliore, and Burton, who was named after her father. Their daughter Dolly was a philanthropist and horsebreeder. The ''Liliore Green Rains Houses'', one of the largest housing complexes on the campus of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, is named for their second daughter. Burton E Greens residence in Beverly Hills

They resided in a Tudor Revival mansion at 1601 Lexington Road, North of the

Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Hollywood film stars, rock stars, and ...

, in Beverly Hills.Peter Halderman
Affinity for Opulence: Paying Tribute to a Founder of Beverly Hills With a Remake of His Former Estate
''

Architectural Digest ''Architectural Digest'' (stylized in all caps) is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The magazine is published by Condé Nast ...

''City of Beverly Hills: Historic Resources Inventory
/ref> It was built in 1913–1914. The Green family owned the house until the 1960s. The house still stands, although it has been remodeled several times. Green was a member of the

California Club The California Club is an invitation-only private club established in 1888, based in Los Angeles, California. According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', "The people who run Los Angeles belong to the Jonathan Club; the people who own Los Angeles b ...

, the

Jonathan Club __NOTOC__ Jonathan Club is a social club with two California locations—one in Downtown Los Angeles and the other abutting the beach in Santa Monica. The club is routinely ranked as one of the top clubs in the world by Platinum Clubs of Americ ...

and Crags Country Club (ceased operations in 1936 and the lodge was torn down in 1955) in Los Angeles, as well as the

Pacific-Union Club The Pacific-Union Club is a social club located at 1000 California Street in San Francisco, California, in the Nob Hill neighborhood. It was founded in 1889, as a merger of two earlier clubs: the Pacific Club (founded 1852) and the Union Club ( ...

and the

Bohemian Club The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California, and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of jour ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Additionally, he enjoyed "hunting, fishing, golf ngand motoring" at the

Los Angeles Country Club The Los Angeles Country Club is a golf and country club in Los Angeles, California, United States. The club is noted for being very exclusive. It hosted the 2023 U.S. Open on its North Course. History In the fall of 1897, a group of Los Ang ...

, the San Francisco Country Club, the Bolsa Chica Gun Club, the

Flat Rock Club Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Apartment, known as a flat in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), a two-dimens ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, and the San Ysidro Rancho Co. in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Death

Green died on May 13, 1965, in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

Legacy

*The thoroughfare Burton Way in Beverly Hills is named in his honor, as is Greenway Drive. *The CII Burton E. Green Campus of the Children's Institute Inc. in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

, is named in his honor.Children's Institute Inc.: Locations
/ref> *The Burton E. Green Professor of Pediatric Neuropathology at

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care Pediatrics, children's hospital in the East Hollywood, Los Angeles, East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue ...

is named in his honor.Press Release Archives: Floyd H. Gilles, M.D., Named Vice Chair of the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles
, Children's Hospital Los Angeles It has been held by Floyd H. Gilles since 1982. *The Burton E. Green Public Policy and Leadership Award is granted to a Beverly Hills High School Student each year.

Early life

Career

Personal life

Death

Legacy

References

Further reading