Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States
Shadow Hills
(originally
Hansen Heights
) is a neighborhood in the
Verdugo Mountains
and northeastern
San Fernando Valley
, within the city of
Los Angeles, California
.
Geography
[
edit
]
Shadow Hills is in the northwestern
Verdugo Mountains
, near the western end of the
Crescenta Valley
. It is north of the city of
Burbank
and southeast of the
Hansen Dam
Reservoir.
It is adjacent to the communities of
Lake View Terrace
to the north,
Sunland and Tujunga
to the east,
Sun Valley
to the south, and
Pacoima
to the west. The area is primarily
equestrian
zoned
, one of the last remaining such neighborhoods within the City of Los Angeles.
Shadow Hills is an acceptable city name for
ZIP Code
91040, with Sunland the default city name assigned to 91040.
[1]
Demographics
[
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]
As of the 2000 census, Shadow Hills had a population of 3,739 people.
[2]
The racial breakdown was 79% Caucasian, 14% Latino, 3% Asian American, and 1% African American.
[3]
Shadow Hills falls within Census Tract 103300.
[
citation needed
]
In 2009, the
Los Angeles Times
'
s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Shadow Hills neighborhood statistics: population: 13,098; median household income: $82,796.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
The community began as
Hansen Heights
when it opened for a planned settlement at $150 an
acre
in 1907. Its first publicity was an article in
The Los Angeles Record
which announced a "public land meeting" in the
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
Building "with
Stereoptican
Pictures."
[5]
Further promotional "illustrated lectures" about these "little farms" were held nightly.
[6]
In 1927, "Butterfly Gardens" was a six-acre plot "in the hills a little way off the main traveled road" owned by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Carter which were seeded to
wildflowers
in the expectation of attracting and "raising"
butterflies
.
[7]
In the same year Frank Kenniston owned a grocery in Hansen Heights and also "one of the largest bee
apiaries
in this part of the country." Kenniston noted that Hansen Street was still unpaved and that owners of large tracts were unwilling to subdivide, "thus retarding development."
[8]
In 1946 the Shadow Hills Rodeo grounds were situated "on Wheatland Avenue in the Hansen Heights District of Roscoe," in a "beautiful setting with the green trees standing like guards."
[9]
The arena was at 9951 Wheatland Avenue,
[10]
a parcel that in 2021 was occupied by a six-bedroom, four-bath house.
[11]
During the area's development, some homes were built on hilltops, reachable only "by narrow roads chewed out of the hillsides." In 1948, Los Angeles City Building and Safety Chief G.E. Morris raised ire when he ordered the property owners on Johanna Street south of Sunland Boulevard to "vacate and demolish" any structure because the roads were so narrow they could not be reached by fire engines. Boyd assured a deputation of angry owners and their families who visited him at
Los Angeles City Hall
that he would seek a compromise which would not work "undue hardship."
[12]
The area became known as "Dad's Canyon," which the city claimed was illegal because adequate police, fire, and sanitation could not be provided.
[13]
In 1966, the
Valley Times
reported that "The 'town' ? such as it is ? includes one
market
, a
hitching post
and a
beauty parlor
."
[14]
Renaming
[
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]
Agitation to rename the area began in 1947 with a mass meeting in the Stonehurst School auditorium called by real estate broker John F. Willey "to discuss the possibility of securing a new post office and delivery district" for Shadow Hills.
[15]
A second rally featured a song called "Shadow Hills" by
Starr von Fluss
.
[16]
[17]
Dorothy Neely, secretary-manager of the Roscoe Chamber of Commerce said that "Shadow Hills people don't like the name of Roscoe," they with others objecting to it as "unimaginative, not
euphonious
, and not descriptive of the location or the present-day development of the area."
[18]
The name change was approved by a vote taken among the four hundred members of the Hansen Heights Improvement Association, who also decided to change the name of their organization to Shadow Hills Civic Association. The officers were Stanley M. Love, president; Norwood Simmons, vice president; Mrs. Lee Payne, treasurer, and Ronald King, secretary.
[19]
Shadow Hills did not receive a new post office, but the local address for 1,500 residents was changed from Roscoe to Sunland for properties between Johanna Street and Stonehurst Avenue.
[18]
[20]
Freeway off-ramp
[
edit
]
In the 1960s a section of the
Foothill Freeway
was mapped from Sunland southwest through Lakeview Terrace to
Van Nuys Boulevard
.
[21]
The Shadow Hills Property Owners Association fought against the freeway mainly because its members, mostly horse enthusiasts, feared their rural environment
would be spoiled, particularly if a freeway bridge were built over the
Tujunga Wash
.
[22]
Education
[
edit
]
Former
[
edit
]
A Hansen Heights school district was formed in 1912, with M.W. Fuhrman as one of the
trustees
and E.D. Lamb as
clerk
.
[23]
Current
[
edit
]
By 1931, Hansen Heights School had become a part of the Los Angeles City school system. In June of that year it was announced that Hansen Heights stood "highest of any high or elementary school in the city of Los Angeles in
thrift
" because every child "has an account in the school savings bank." Evangeline Hymer was the
principal
.
[24]
The school, at 9900 Wheatland Avenue,
[25]
was declared surplus in 1945 and the property put up for sale.
[26]
The
Los Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD) today serves Shadow Hills. Not one LAUSD school is inside of Shadow Hills. Students must travel outside of Shadow Hills to Sun Valley for Stonehurst Elementary School, Maclay Middle School in Pacoima, and Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga.
Attendance boundary, 1966
[
edit
]
A 1966 plan to require Shadow Hills students to switch from the overcrowded and virtually all-white Mount Gleason Junior High School in Sunland to the more
diversified
Maclay Junior High in
Pacoima
was opposed by the Shadow Hills Homeowners Association. The Los Angeles school board approved the boundary switch in a 4?3 vote on July 14, 1966.
[27]
Government
[
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]
Representation
[
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]
Shadow Hills is represented by:
Public safety
[
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]
Notable residents
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"ZIP Code Lookup tool"
. United States Postal Service
. Retrieved
2007-03-18
.
- ^
"City of Los Angeles Population by Community & Race"
. Los Angeles Almanac. Archived from
the original
on 2010-01-11
. Retrieved
2007-03-18
.
- ^
"Population of Communities of the City of Los Angeles"
. Archived from
the original
on 2010-01-11
. Retrieved
2010-04-04
.
- ^
"Shadow Hills" entry on the
Los Angeles Times
"Mapping L.A." website
- ^
"Little Farms Near the City and the Foothills,"
Los Angeles Record,
September 21, 1907, image 5
- ^
"Suburban Acre Homes,"
Los Angeles Record,
September 25, 1907, image 2
- ^
"Raising of Butterflies for Market New Work in Hansen Heights,"
Burbank Daily Review,
January 21, 1927, image 2
- ^
"Hansen Heights Outlook,"
Burbank Daily Review,
February 17, 1927, image 5
- ^
Chris Christopher, "Foothill Findings,"
Valley Times,
March 7, 1946, image 9
- ^
"Burbank Boy, 12, Winner at Valley Horse Show,"
Valley Times,
November 3, 1947, image 2
- ^
Zillow.com
- ^
"Homeowners March on City Hall; Fight Order to Vacate,"
Daily News,
December 10, 1948, image 43
- ^
Dan Swinton, "Dad's Canyon Peace Uneasy,"
Citizen-News,
December 17, 1948, image 4
- ^
Mary Reinholz, "Shadow Hills,"
Valley Times,
North Hollywood, December 14, 1966, image 3
- ^
"Shadow Hills Meeting Set,"
Valley Times,
January 22,1947, image 6
- ^
"Shadow Hills Song to Make Debut Tonight,"
Valley Times,
February 19, 1947, image 5
- ^
"'Shadow Hills' Makes Ban at Club,"
Valley Times,
February 22, 1947, image 6
- ^
a
b
"Shadow Hills Quits Roscoe Postal Zone,"
Citizen-News
(Valley Edition), April 14, 1948, image 1
- ^
"Renamed Shadow Hills Town Now Wants P.O.,"
Valley Times,
May 17, 1947, image 7
- ^
"New Mail Service for Shadow Hills,"
Valley Times,
April 13, 1948, image 2
- ^
Don Snyder, "Freeway Link to Nowhere May Go Somewhere by Next Spring,"
Los Angeles Times,
San Fernando Valley Section, July 25, 1976, image 414
- ^
Don Snyder, "Freeway Link,"
Los Angeles Times,
San Fernando Valley Section, July 25, 1976, image 416
- ^
"Local and Personal,"
The Burbank Review,
June 7, 1912, image 8
- ^
"Hansen Heights,"
Burbank Daily Review,
June 11, 1931, image 9
- ^
"Valley Offices for Draft Registration Are Announced,"
San Fernando Valley Times,
February 6, 1942, image 11
- ^
Legal advertisement,
Valley Times,
March 26, 1945, image 24
- ^
Turpin, Dick (15 July 1966). "School Ruling Hit by Angry Parents".
Los Angeles Times
. p. 3.
ProQuest
155478411
.
- ^
"Welcome to LA Council District 7"
.
- ^
a
b
"Statewide Database"
. UC Regents
. Retrieved
December 10,
2014
.
- ^
"LAFD - Fire Station 24"
. Archived from
the original
on 2006-11-02
. Retrieved
2007-02-24
.
- ^
"LAFD - Fire Station 77"
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-08-02
. Retrieved
2009-09-23
.
- ^
"Foothill Community Police Station - Los Angeles Police Department"
.
www.lapdonline.org
.
- ^
"
Ken Osmond The Trouble Maker Eddie Haskell on 'Beaver', Dies at 76
".
The New York Times
. Retrieved on January 16, 2023.
- ^
"
Ex-'Glee' star Mark Salling indicted on child-porn charges
".
Houston Chronicle
. Saturday, May 28, 2016. Retrieved on May 28, 2016.
- ^
"
Sunland Tujunga Directory
". Retrieved on March 12, 2022.
External links
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Districts and
neighborhoods
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Points of interest
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Neighboring cities
and communities
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