THE MANY SIGNS OF HOLLYWOODLAND

Everyone know the story of the HOLLYWOODLAND SIGN, stating off as a real estate development in 1923. eventually the LAND was lobed off sometime during 1940s and to this day looks like this~

What most don't know know was across Los Angeles in the 1920s, signs announced new real-estate subdivisions in big block letters perched high above the cities like. BEVERLY CREST. BRYN MAWR. TRYON RIDGE.

Time has largely forgotten these other signs. One still rusts away in the chaparral day, toppled and discarded long ago.

The Hollywoodland Sign—a mere real-estate advertisement when it rose from the face of Mt. Lee in November 1923, as disposable as the rest—might have suffered a similar fate. But as Hollywood soon became an accepted metonym for L.A.'s glamorous film industry, the sign's letters acquired a new meaning. Nine decades later, it's become one of the city's greatest monuments.

here is a sample of the other real estate signs that didn't survive~

Beverly Terrace

Beverly Terrace

This sign might have predated Hollywoodland's. Angled toward Beverly Hills from the slopes above Benedict Canyon, these giant white letters advertised Beverly Terrace, a 110-acre subdivision that developer George E. Read opened in 1922.

Here's a circa 1922 aerial view of the sign from the Security Pacific National Bank Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL):

Beverly Crest

Beverly Crest

Seemingly a close relative of the Hollywoodland Sign, Beverly Crest's block-letter sign first appeared on the slopes above Coldwater Canyon in December 1923—only one month after Hollywoodland's. Large signs weren't all the two developments had in common; they also both featured elaborate stone gates modeled after fairy-tale castles.

Like Beverly Terrace, Beverly Crest was the work of George E. Read. Though its sign rose in 1923, houses and lots didn't hit the market until 1926. 

Bryn Mawr

Bryn Mawr

The hillside subdivision of Bryn Mawr opened just west of Hollywoodland in 1924—and of course it featured its own block-letter advertisement. Here's an aerial view of the sign, located near the Mulholland Dam and Lake Hollywood.

Tryon Ridge

Tryon Ridge

Another Hollywood Hills subdivision, Tryon Ridge also opened to sales in 1924. Unlike the other signs held up by stilts, these letters were embedded into the hillside itself. 

Eagle Rock

Eagle Rock

In 1911, what was once a small farming community in the rural Eagle Rock Valley north of Los Angeles incorporated as the independent city of Eagle Rock. 

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glassellland

The mysterious Glassellland sign  popped up on a Glassell Park hillside near Forest Lawn during april, 2013.  It was then removed a few days later,  and then erected again over a different part of the neighborhood. we're not sure if it's still up. if so it would be on a hill near Kinney Street, about a half mile away from where a Glassellland sign first popped up above Fletcher Drive. It’s not clear if someone built a new sign or just moved the old letters to a new and more prominent location.