Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. It starts off at Polk Street in

Sylmar Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and the northernmost neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past t ...

in the northern

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

near the junction of the

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

( Interstate 405) and the Golden State (I-5)) freeways. Laurel Canyon Boulevard bypasses the city of San Fernando to the west, running parallel to I-5 in the vicinity of

Pacoima Pacoima (Tataviam language: ''Pakoinga'', meaning "entrance") is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley region of LA. Geography Location Pacoima is bordered by the Los Angele ...

and

Arleta Arleta () is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. It contains a high percentage of Latino residents and of people born outside the United States. Geography Arleta is bordered by the Los Ange ...

. The portion through Sun Valley passes through

rock quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safety ...

and a great deal of open space. From the intersection with Webb Avenue, Laurel Canyon Boulevard heads due south, cutting through

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

, closely following the

Hollywood Freeway The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California (the boundaries of which it does not leave) and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route through the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortc ...

( SR 170). Laurel Canyon Boulevard passes through the

Valley Village Valley Village is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, located within the San Fernando Valley. History Founding According to Elke Garman, co-president of the Valley Village Homeowners Association in 1991, the history of Valley Village w ...

neighborhood, one mile (1.6 km) west of the

Hollywood Split The Hollywood Split (officially Bruce T. Hinman Memorial Interchange) is a freeway interchange in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California. The interchange is officially named in the memory of California Highway Patrol officer Bru ...

(the intersection of the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

(

U.S. 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

/ SR 170) and Ventura (U.S. 101/ SR 134) freeways). This would have been the start of the proposed Laurel Canyon Freeway, which would have provided a direct freeway connection from the southeastern San Fernando Valley to the

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

. The proposed route was along the current routing of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, but the emergence of the

Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neig ...

neighborhood as a movie star enclave doomed the project, as did local opposition. Laurel Canyon itself found counterculture fame in the 1960s as home to many of L.A.'s top rock musicians, such as

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

. The bohemian spirit endures; every year, residents gather for a group photograph at the country market. Laurel Canyon Boulevard was also immortalized by

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

in their 1968 song "

Love Street "Love Street" is a song performed by the American rock band the Doors. Sequenced as the second album track on ''Waiting for the Sun'' (1968), its lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison and as with other songs, it was dedicated to his gir ...

." Laurel Canyon Boulevard crosses the Laurel Canyon G Line station at its intersection with Chandler Boulevard in Valley Village. Laurel Canyon Boulevard is served by

Metro Local The Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro Bus operates in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and th ...

lines 218 (south of

Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thoroughfares in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley as it is along the commem ...

) and 230 (north of Ventura Boulevard). South of

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...

, Laurel Canyon Boulevard ascends the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its p ...

, where it maintains a width of four lanes until the intersection of

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura counties is n ...

. The road climbs up Lookout Mountain before descending into

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

, passing through

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

. Laurel Canyon Boulevard’s southern terminus is at its intersection with

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

and Crescent Heights Boulevard. Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Avenue to the west between the southern San Fernando Valley and West Hollywood are also popular alternate routes to the

(

US 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

) during rush hour.

Laurel Canyon Freeway

The Laurel Canyon Freeway was to have been a north-south

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

Central Los Angeles Central Los Angeles is the historical urban region of the city of Los Angeles, containing downtown Los Angeles, and several nearby regions in southwest Los Angeles County, California. Geographic designation by The City of Los Angeles The Los Ang ...

and its suburbs. It derived its name from Laurel Canyon, the proposed route by which the freeway would traverse the

. Its proposed alignment was from the intersection of the

(U.S. Route 101) and the

Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, that runs from the Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east–west route (designate ...

(California State Route 134) in the southeastern

— to the

San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway is one of the named principal Southern California freeways. It consists of the following two segments: *Interstate 5, from California State Route 94 in San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of South ...

( I-405) near

. However, the emerging popularity of Laurel Canyon as a

movie star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and whose names ...

enclave in the 1960s ultimately doomed the project. The only portion of the freeway that was built was a small section of

La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las ...

through the Baldwin Hills district of southwestern Los Angeles.

History

In 1919

Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

rented the cottage at 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, while making movies for Lasky Pictures. His wife occupied it for a time after his death. As of 2011 that site was a vacant lot. The main mansion building itself was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 1959 Laurel Canyon fire, and is now a historic venue. While Houdini did not likely live at the "mansion," there is some probability that his widow did.

References

Notes

Citations

Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Streets in the San Fernando Valley Boulevards in the United States Hollywood Hills Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles North Hollywood, Los Angeles Pacoima, Los Angeles San Fernando, California Studio City, Los Angeles Sun Valley, Los Angeles Streets in West Hollywood, California San Fernando Valley Santa Monica Mountains