Culver City, California

History

Early history

Archaeological evidence suggests a human presence in the area of present-day Culver City since at least 8000 BCE. The region was the homeland of the Tongva-Gabrieliño Native Americans. For centuries, native people lived in areas currently part of and surrounding Culver City. California's native people were massacred by waves of Spanish, Mexican and Euro-American invaders through a combination of slavery, disease, relocation, forced labor, imprisonment, broken treaties and a genocidal war of extermination, including paid bounties for dead "Indians". The Spanish and Mexican governments offered concessions and land grants from 1785 to 1846 forming the Ranchos of California. Culver City was founded on the lands of the former Rancho La Ballona and Rancho Rincon de los Bueyes. When Culver City was founded, native Latino people were not allowed to buy property.

During the American Civil War, a U.S. Army post called Camp Latham was established from 1861 to 1862 on the south bank of Ballona Creek.

Culver City

Harry Culver first attempted to establish Culver City in 1913. It was officially incorporated on September 20, 1917, and named after its founder. The area benefited from pre-existing transportation links; Culver's first ads read "All roads lead to Culver City". Culver ran ads promoting "this model little white city", while his close associate, Guy M. Rush, promoted lot sales "restricted to Caucasian race". The city also at times excluded people of non-Christian religious faiths.

The weekly Culver City Call was the first newspaper in the community. The paper was founded in 1915.

The first film studio in Culver City was built by Thomas Ince in 1918 for The Triangle Motion Picture Company. Silent film comedy producer Hal Roach built his studios there in 1919, and Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) took over the Triangle studio complex in 1924. During Prohibition, speakeasies and nightclubs such as the Cotton Club lined Washington Boulevard.

Culver Center, one of Southern California's first shopping malls, was completed in 1950 on Venice Boulevard near the Overland Avenue intersection.

Hughes Aircraft Company

Hughes Aircraft opened its Culver City plant in July 1941. There the company built the H-4 Hercules transport (commonly called the "Spruce Goose"). Hughes was also an active subcontractor during World War II. It developed and patented a flexible feed chute for faster loading of machine guns on B-17 bombers, and manufactured electric booster drives for machine guns. Hughes produced more ammunition belts than any other American manufacturer, and built 5,576 wings and 6,370 rear fuselage sections for Vultee BT-13 trainers.

Hughes grew after the war, and in 1953 Howard Hughes donated all his stock in the company to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. After he died in 1976, the institute sold the company, which made it the second-best-endowed medical research foundation in the world.

The studios (1960s, 1970s and 1980s)

The Hal Roach Studios were demolished in 1963. In the late 1960s, much of the MGM backlot acreage (lot 3 and other property on Jefferson Boulevard), and the nearby 28.5 acre known as RKO Forty Acres, once owned by RKO Pictures and later Desilu Productions, were sold by their owners. In 1976 the sets were razed to make way for redevelopment. Today, the RKO site is the southern expansion of the Hayden Industrial Tract, while the MGM property has been converted into a subdivision and a shopping center known as Raintree Plaza.

In October 1975, Fox Hills Mall opened in the place of a golf course.

Rebirth of downtown (1990s and 2000s)

In the early 1990s, Culver City launched a successful revitalization program in which it renovated its downtown as well as several shopping centers in the Sepulveda Boulevard corridor near Westfield Culver City. Around the same time, Sony's motion picture subsidiaries, Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, moved into the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot which was renamed Columbia Studios in 1990 and took on its current name, Sony Pictures Studios, a year later.

There was an influx of art galleries and restaurants on the eastern part of the city, which was formally designated the Culver City Art District.

Geography

The city is surrounded by the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Mar Vista and Palms to the north; Westchester to the south; Mid-City, West Adams, and Baldwin Hills to the east; the Ladera Heights unincorporated area to the southeast; and the L.A. neighborhoods of Venice and Playa Vista to the west, along with the unincorporated area of Marina del Rey.

Culver City's major geographic feature is Ballona Creek, which runs northeast to southwest through most of the city before it drains into Santa Monica Bay in Marina Del Rey.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.1 sqmi, over 99% of which is land. Over the years, it has annexed more than 40 pieces of adjoining land.

Neighborhoods

The city recognizes 15 neighborhoods within city limits:

• Blair Hills
• Blanco-Culver Crest
• Clarkdale
• Culver West
• Downtown Culver City
• Fox Hills
• Jefferson
• Lucerne-Higuera
• McLaughlin
• McManus
• Park East (also known as Carlson Park)
• Park West (also known as Veterans Park)
• Studio Village
• Sunkist Park
• Washington Culver

Climate

|Jan record high F = 90 |Feb record high F = 92 |Mar record high F = 92 |Apr record high F = 105 |May record high F = 100 |Jun record high F = 98 |Jul record high F = 102 |Aug record high F = 103 |Sep record high F = 111 |Oct record high F = 106 |Nov record high F = 100 |Dec record high F = 91 |year record high F = |Jan avg record high F = 79.8 |Feb avg record high F = 79.6 |Mar avg record high F = 81.5 |Apr avg record high F = 84.8 |May avg record high F = 83.2 |Jun avg record high F = 82.8 |Jul avg record high F = 86.0 |Aug avg record high F = 87.3 |Sep avg record high F = 91.2 |Oct avg record high F = 90.8 |Nov avg record high F = 85.1 |Dec avg record high F = 77.1 |year avg record high F = 95.1 |Jan avg record low F = 39.6 |Feb avg record low F = 40.3 |Mar avg record low F = 42.6 |Apr avg record low F = 45.6 |May avg record low F = 50.0 |Jun avg record low F = 54.5 |Jul avg record low F = 57.3 |Aug avg record low F = 58.3 |Sep avg record low F = 55.1 |Oct avg record low F = 50.6 |Nov avg record low F = 44.1 |Dec avg record low F = 39.3 |year avg record low F = 36.0 |Jan record low F = 24 |Feb record low F = 24 |Mar record low F = 31 |Apr record low F = 32 |May record low F = 32 |Jun record low F = 43 |Jul record low F = 46 |Aug record low F = 43 |Sep record low F = 40 |Oct record low F = 39 |Nov record low F = 28 |Dec record low F = 30 |year record low F =

|access-date = May 7, 2023 |archive-date = May 7, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230507220457/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00042214&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL |url-status = live |access-date = May 7, 2023 |archive-date = July 4, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220704041819/https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=lox |url-status = live

Demographics

|1920|503 |1930|5669 |1940|8976 |1950|19720 |1960|32163 |1970|34451 |1980|38139 |1990|38793 |2000|38816 |2010|38883 |2020|40779

2020

Ethnic groups

According to the 2020 Census, the population of Culver City was 46.5% Non-Hispanic White, 16.1% Asian, 15.2% Hispanic White, 8.24% Black or African American, and 5.57% Other Hispanic.

According to Mapping L.A., Mexican and German were the most common ancestries in 2000. Mexico and the Philippines were the most common foreign places of birth.

Economy

Corporations with headquarters in Culver City include Beats Audio, MedMen, NantHealth, Sweetgreen and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Largest employers

According to the city's 2020–21 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:

Movie and television production

Hundreds of movies have been produced on the lots of Culver City's studios: Sony Pictures Studios (originally MGM Studios), Culver Studios, and the former Hal Roach Studios. In 2017, Amazon MGM Studios announced plans to build a studio in Culver City.

Businesses

• Westfield Culver City, a shopping mall.
• Beats Electronics
• Disney Digital Network
• MedMen
• NPR West
• Sony Pictures Studios
• The Ripped Bodice, one of the first romance novel bookstores in the northern hemisphere

Arts and culture

Museums

The Wende Museum possesses a collection of Soviet and East German visual art and everyday artifacts to promote an understanding of Soviet art, history and culture between 1945 and 1991. Additionally, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, founded in 1988 by David Hildebrand Wilson and Diana Drake Wilson, provides over 30 permanent exhibits displaying an eclectic mix of items that blend fact and fiction.

Library

The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Julian Dixon Culver City Branch.

Architecture

The architecture of Culver City reflects its history as an early location for film studios and, more recently, as a site for architectural experimentation, particularly for the projects of Eric Owen Moss at the Hayden Tract. The architecture office of Morphosis headquartered here. Styles represented include Mission Revival and Colonial Revival from the city's early days, to the PWA Moderne of the 1930s, to modern, postmodern, and deconstructivist styles from the past few decades. Notable architectural landmarks include:

• Ivy Substation (1907), a Mission Revival building that houses The Actors' Gang
• Culver Studios (1918–1920), offices in the style of a Colonial Revival mansion
• Culver Hotel (Curlett and Beelman, 1924), a six-story brick flatiron

• Helms Bakery (1930), in PWA Moderne style
• Kirk Douglas Theatre (1946)
• St. Augustine Catholic Church (1957), a Gothic Revival church
• Robert Frost Auditorium, at Culver City High School, 4401 Elenda St. Constructed in 1963–64, its unique scallop shell design became an instant modern architectural landmark for the city. Its original 1,250-seat design was the inspiration of then 26-year-old Andrew Nasser, a consulting structural engineer with Johnson & Nielsen. Credit was claimed, however, by Ralph Flewelling of Flewelling & Moody, the project architects. The record was set straight 54 years later at the unveiling of a $16.3M renovation in 2018. Capacity was increased to 1,300 seats, acoustics improved, and a new 40-foot high steel proscenium arch supports catwalks, lighting, and air conditioning (Hodgetts + Fung architects).
• Platform (2016)

Parks and recreation

Main article: List of Culver City municipal parks

The City of Culver City Parks and Recreation department operates 14 outdoor parks within city limits.

Government

Culver City has a five-member city council.

In Los Angeles County, Culver City is in the 2nd Supervisorial District, represented by Holly Mitchell.

In the California State Legislature, Culver City is in , and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, Culver City is split between , and .

Education

Primary and secondary schools

The Culver City Unified School District administers the following public schools:

• Culver City High School
• Culver City Middle School
• Culver City Unified School District iAcademy
• Culver Park High School
• Culver City Adult School
• El Marino Elementary School
• El Rincon Elementary School
• Farragut Elementary School
• La Ballona Elementary School
• Linwood E. Howe Elementary School

Private schools

• STAR Prep Academy, a middle and high school that shares its campus with an exotic wildlife rescue center.
• The Willows Community School (elementary and middle school)
• Turning Point School (elementary and middle school).
• Kayne Eras Center (school for disabled).
• Wildwood School (primary through high school).
• Echo Horizon School (primary through middle school).

Colleges and universities

• Antioch University Los Angeles, a nonprofit liberal arts college in Culver City's Corporate Pointe district.

Media

Newspapers

• Culver City Call
• The Citizen

Movies

Movies filmed or partially filmed in Culver City include:

• The Wizard of Oz
• The Thin Man
• Gone with the Wind
• Rebecca
• Tarzan
• King Kong
• Grease
• Raging Bull
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• The Man with Two Brains
• City Slickers
• Air Force One
• Wag the Dog
• Contact
• Pee-wee's Big Adventure
• Tron
• Bewitched
• Fun with Dick and Jane
• Get Shorty
• Superbad
• Killers
• Dinner for Schmucks
• Lincoln Lawyer
• Moneyball
• Horrible Bosses
• Jack and Jill
• Think Like a Man
• The Campaign
• Matchstick Men

Television shows

Television shows filmed or partially filmed in Culver City include:

• Jeopardy!
• Las Vegas
• Gunsmoke
• Cougar Town
• Mad About You
• Lassie
• Hogan's Heroes
• Batman
• The Green Hornet
• Arrested Development
• The Andy Griffith Show
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
• The Nanny
• Hell's Kitchen
• MasterChef
• Wheel of Fortune
• Tosh.0
• The Wonder Years
• CHiPs
• The Hogan Family

Infrastructure

Transportation

Transit

The Culver City station of the Los Angeles Metro E Line sits at the Culver Junction near Venice and Robertson Boulevards in Culver City. The E Line provides a light rail connection from Culver City to Downtown Los Angeles and East Los Angeles to the east and Downtown Santa Monica to the west, mostly following the right-of-way that the Pacific Electric Santa Monica Air Line used, also known as the Exposition Boulevard line. Culver City station was the western terminus of what was then known as the Expo Line from its opening on June 20, 2012, to the opening of Expo Line phase two on May 20, 2016.

Culver CityBus was founded on March 4, 1928, making it the second oldest municipal bus line in California and the oldest public transit bus system still operating in Los Angeles County. Big Blue Bus was founded on April 14, 1928. Culver CityBus operates seven regular bus lines as well as a short-term downtown circulator shuttle.

The Culver City Transit Center in the Westfield Culver City parking serves as a bus depot for three Culver CityBus lines and two Metro bus lines. The Washington Fairfax Hub, just across the border of the City of Los Angeles under the I-10 freeway, connects residents to seven bus lines, two operated by Culver CityBus and five operated by Metro.

The Baldwin Hills Parklands Link is a shuttle service operated by Los Angeles County that stops at Stoneview Nature Center on weekends only.

Bike routes

The city is served by multiple separated bike paths:

• Culver Boulevard Median bike route
• Ballona Creek bike path, connecting to the Park to Playa Trail
• Elenda Street bikeway, 12-block route between Ballona Creek Pedestrian Bridge and Washington Boulevard
• Separated bike and bus lanes through downtown Culver City, part of the MoveCulverCity complete streets initiative

Air travel

The city is served by the Los Angeles International Airport, about 7 mi south of the city. Smaller nearby airports include Santa Monica Airport and Hawthorne Municipal Airport.

Freeways

Culver City is served by Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway), Interstate 10 (Santa Monica Freeway), and California State Route 90 (Marina Freeway). California State Route 187 runs along Venice Boulevard in Culver City.

Public safety

Culver City is served by the Culver City Police Department, and the Culver City Fire Department, which operates three stations and a fire training facility.

Cemeteries

• Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
• Holy Cross Cemetery

Notable people

• Art Alexakis, musician, founder and lead singer of the band Everclear
• Drew Barrymore, actress
• Shayla Beesley, actress
• Big Boy, radio host
• Jack Black, actor
• Jackson Browne, singer, songwriter, and musician
• Michael Bumpus, NFL player, Seattle Seahawks
• Dean Byington, visual artist
• Gary Carter (1954–2012), Major League Baseball player, Hall of Famer
• Michael Chacon, professional fixed-gear bike rider
• Tiffany Cohen, double-gold champion in swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics
• Glenn Cowan (1952–2004), table tennis player
• Carolyn Craig, actress
• Dee Dee Davis, actress
• Jeff Fisher, NFL coach
• Tim Foli (born 1950), Major League Baseball player
• Dick Gautier, actor
• Kron Gracie, son of Rickson Gracie, teaches Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in town
• Linda Gray, film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer
• Charles Herbert, actor
• Win Headley, NFL and CFL player
• Kelly Lytle Hernández, professor and Thomas E. Lifka Chair of History at UCLA, author, and MacArthur Fellowship recipient
• Howard Hughes, founder of Hughes Aircraft
• Helen Hunt, Oscar-winning actress
• HuskyStarcraft, aka Mike Lamond, YouTube commentator
• Darrin Jackson, Major League Baseball player and MLB sportscaster
• Taran Killam, actor and comedian
• Tim Layana (1964–1999), Major League Baseball player
• Merry Lepper, set world record marathon time for women, December 16, 1963, in Culver City.
• Masiela Lusha, Albanian-American actress and poet
• Ron Mael, musician, member of Sparks
• Bill Monning, California State Senator
• Michael Richards, actor and comedian
• Michelle Horn, actress
• Michael Ruppert, journalist and former LAPD officer
• Ryan Sherriff (born 1990), Major League Baseball player
• Dick Stuart (1932–2002), Major League Baseball player
• Robert Trujillo, bass player with Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy Osbourne, and Metallica
• Gwen Verdon, four-time Tony Award-winning actress
• Michael Whelan, artist and illustrator

Sister cities

• Italy Capo d'Orlando, Messina, Sicily, Italy
• South Korea Iksan, South Korea
• Japan Kaizuka, Japan
• Canada Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
• Mexico Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico

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