Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California

history

Chatsworth is a district of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States in the San Fernando Valley region.

Geography

The district is bordered by the Santa Susana Mountains and unincorporated Los Angeles County lands to the north, Porter Ranch to the northeast, Northridge to the east, West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka to the south, and the Simi Hills, Ventura County, Simi Valley to the west. The nearby Chatsworth Peak in eastern Simi Hills overlooks the district.

Modern terrain

The topography of modern Chatsworth is varied, with many industrial areas, sleepy home communities, large apartment and condominium complexes, parks, ranches, horse stables, horse trails, and farms, a few shopping centers, restaurants, and a train station. Congressman Buck McKeon (25th District) notes on his web page, "Chatsworth still has a lot of horse zoned properties and it is not unusual to see horses tied to the hitching post out back of the Los Toros Mexican Restaurant or the Cowboy Palace Saloon."

Chatsworth's residential homes are mostly single-story classic American ranch houses. The district's boundaries are not visible, marked only by signs on the streets, as a profusion of stores, apartments, and automobile traffic dominate.

A distinctive feature in the Chatsworth Area is the mostly empty [http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=34231461&x=-118627925&z=15&l=0&m=a Chatsworth Reservoir]. The property belongs to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. All year round, coyotes can be heard howling at night from inside the reservoir's reserved area. Chatsworth Oaks Park and the Chatsworth Nature Preserve are located here giving views of migrating birds and other animals, and their sounds such as the coyotes calling in the evening.»Chatsworth Nature Preserve

Hiking trails

Chatsworth Park North includes more than 20 acres of the scenic rocky Simi Hills and is operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Chatsworth Park South is more than 100 acres of the Simi Hills. It is houses the Chatsworth Historical Society, and the Minnie Hill Palmer House, one of the Valley's original homesteads. It is adjacent to the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, a 174-acre National Register of Historic Places property consisting of historic features and deposits, prehistoric village site remnants, and portions of the Old Santa Susana Stage Road which was the main route for mail and travelers between Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1861 until the opening of rail connections between the two cities in 1876. The stage route was also declared Los Angeles City Historical Cultural Monument #92 (designated 01/05/1972) and Ventura County Historical Landmark #104 (designated 10/21/1986).»http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=611 Both parks have hiking trails with panoramic views.

Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park During the late 1800s, Chatsworth was a main thoroughfare for the figures of the American West. Joaquin Murrieta and his bandits hid out in the rocky crevices around Stony Point. The Old Stagecoach Trail above Chatsworth to the west, is now a popular hiking trail in the Simi Hills. It goes through Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, city park Chatsworth Park South, and by Chatsworth Oaks Park.

History

Chatsworth was originally inhabited by the Tongva-Fernandeño, Chumash-Venturaño, and Tataviam-Fernandeño Native American tribes. Native American civilizations had inhabited the Valley for an estimated 8,000 years.»USA Today article USA Today»Mercury News article The nearby Burro Flats Painted Cave remains a legacy of their culture. The first European explorers came into the Chatsworth area on August 5, 1769, led by the Spainish military leader Gaspar de Portolà. With its establishment in 1797 and subsequent Spanish Land Grant by the King of Spain, Mission San Fernando (Mission San Fernando Rey de España) gained dominion over the San Fernando Valley's lands, including future Chatsworth.

The Native American trail that had existed from the Tongva-Tatavium village called rancheria Santa Susana (Chatsworth) to another village, replaced by Mission San Fernando, became the route for missionaries and other Spanish travel up and down California. It was part of the El Camino del Santa Susana y Simi trail that connected the Valley's Mission, Los Angeles pueblo (town), and the southern missions with the Mission San Buenaventura, the Presidio of Monterey, and the northward missions. The trail crossed over the Santa Susana Pass to the in Simi Valley, through present day city park Chatsworth Park South and the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park. In 1795 the Spanish land grant had been issued for Rancho Simi, reconfirmed in in 1842 by the Mexican governor.» Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886»United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 103 SD»Diseño del Rancho Simi Its lands included part of current Chatsworth, westward from Andora Avenue.

In 1821, after the successful Mexican War of Independence] from [[Spain, the Mission San Fernando became part of Alta California, Mexico. In 1834, the Mexican government began redistributing the mission lands. In 1846 the Mexican land grant for Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando was issued by Governor Pío Pico. It was bounded on the north by Rancho San Francisco and the Santa Susana Mountains, on the west by the Simi Hills, on the east by Rancho Tujunga, and on the south by the Montañas de Portesuelo (Santa Monica Mountains). The Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando received a Federal land patent to retain ownership by the United States Public Land Commission in 1873, and was the single largest land grant in California.C. A. Ensign, 1903, Notes of Litigation on the Title of a Mexican Land Grant, The Michigan Engineer, Volumes 22-25, pp1124-147, Michigan Engineering Society

In 1869 the grantee's son, Eulogio F. de Celis, returned from Spain to Los Angeles.Romantic Day, Pathetic End: Sad Burial of Once Wealthy Scion of Spain, Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1903, Eulogio F. de Celis In 1874 the family sold their northern half of Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando to northern Californians, California State Senator Charles Maclay and his partners George K. Porter, a San Francisco shoe manufacturer, and his brother Benjamin F. Porter. The Porters land was west of present day Sepulveda Boulevard including most of Chatsworth, and the Maclay land was east of Sepulveda Boulevard.K. Roderick, 2001, The San Fernando Valley: America’s Suburb, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, ISBN 978-1883792558 Roscoe Boulevard was the border on the south, with a syndicate led by Issac Lankershim acquiring the southern half of the Valley.

The Old Santa Susana Stage Road or Santa Susana Wagon Road is a route taken by early travellers between the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley through Chatsworth and over the Santa Susana Pass. The main route climbs through what is now Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, with a branch in Chatsworth Park South. It was an important artery linking the Los Angeles Basin and inland Ventura county, and was part of the main route for travel by stagecoach between Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1861 until the opening of rail traffic between the cities in 1876. The Old Santa Susana Stage Road is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Part of the stage road is also a Historic-Cultural Monument of Ventura County and of the City of Los Angeles under the name 'Old Stagecoach Trail'.

The Santa Susana Pass Road continued in use as an alternative to the route along El Camino Viejo from 1861 to 1875, replacing the older road as the main route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1876, the Southern Pacific Railroad opened a tunnel through the Newhall Pass, enabling rail connections from Los Angeles north to San Francisco, and rail travel soon replaced travel by stagecoach between Los Angeles and San Francisco. From this time the stagecoach traffic to Santa Barbara once again used the coast route, and the Santa Susana Pass road was relegated to local traffic.

A new wagon route bypassing the deteriorating Devil's Slide was opened in 1895. Initially called El Camino Nuevo (the New Road), it was later named the Chatsworth Grade Road, which continued in use until Santa Susana Pass Road (now Old Santa Susana Pass Road) was built in 1917. , The present town was first called 'Chatsworth Park' and developed in 1888. It was named after Chatsworth House, the family seat of the Duke of Devonshire in Derbyshire, United Kingdom. The Devonshire name was also used for the naming the major east-west boulevard in Chatsworth.

Demographics

As of the 2000 census, and according to the Los Angeles Almanac there were 41,255 people and 15,668 households residing in Chatsworth. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 70.99% White, 14.33% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 3.51% African American, 0.51% Native American, 6.11% from other races, and 4.41% from two or more races. 16.31% of the population were Hispanic of any race.

Median household income in 2000 was $63,817.

In 2009, the Los Angeles Times'''s "Mapping L.A." project supplied these Chatsworth neighborhood statistics: population: 33,829; median household income: $84,549.»"Chatsworth" entry on the ''Los Angeles Times "Mapping L.A." website

Transportation

During the late 1800s, Chatsworth was a main thoroughfare for the figures of the American West. Joaquin Murrieta and his bandits hid out in the rocky crevices around Stony Point. The Old Stagecoach Trail above Chatsworth to the west, is now a popular hiking trail in the Simi Hills. It goes through Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park and Chatsworth Park South, a Los Angeles city park, and by Chatsworth Oaks Park. The Chatsworth train station is on the Coast Line of the Union Pacific Railroad. The Coast Line is shared with the Ventura County Line of Metrolink and Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner; the 2008 Chatsworth train collision occurred on the line.

Business

Chatsworth is the home of the National Notary Association and the headquarters for three major credit unions: Premier America (Formerly Litton Federal Credit Union), Matadors Community Credit Union and Telesis Community Credit Union.

The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), once busy with Rocketdyne testing rocket engines and doing nuclear research, is high in the Simi Hills west of Chatsworth.»ACME-SSFL info site It has been closed and will be undergoing an extensive environmental cleanup, and become an open-space park.»http://www.dtsc-ssfl.com/ State DTSC-SSFL info site The park will add to Chatsworth's green belt and hiking opportunities.» SSFL forum

MAG FADAL (machine tools), Moog Corporation, 3M Corporation, B&M Automotive, California Car Cover (California Duster), The Girl Scouts, NMB Technologies, Milodon, Capstone Turbine, Computer Optical Products, Allied Motion, Mighty Decker Trucking, and Lamps Plus have production/distribution facilities.

Entertainment industry

Chatsworth remained mostly rural until the 1980s, and as a result, it became the site for many western films and rural-themed television shows. The setting fit the popular conception of the American West; boulders larger than houses were strewn against a backdrop of mountains. Tumbleweeds were and still are a common sight. Oaks and sycamores, the native trees, along with imported Eucalyptus trees, and orange groves also lent to the rural feeling.

Between 1912 and 1960, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and hundreds of other cowboys made movies at Iverson's Movie Ranch. A five-hundred acre farm was transformed into Chinese farmland for the MGM classic The Good Earth (1937). The Zorro television series was filmed in Chatsworth, as were the opening credits of The Lone Ranger TV series. Also filmed partly in Chatsworth by Roy Rogers Productions was the western series Brave Eagle starring Keith Larsen as a young Cheyenne chief, which ran on CBS in the 1955–1956 season. Chatsworth continues to house numerous mainstream production offices, including that of the television show 24. Ghost of Zorro was filmed here in 1949. The Iraq scenes for the TV series Over There were filmed at Chatsworth. The Bad News Bears (1976) was filmed in Mason Park.

Chatsworth houses a significant percentage of the world's adult production and distribution studios, including Anabolic Video, Black Market, Combat Zone, KBeech, Red Light District Video, Third World Media, and Wicked Pictures. Sex industry trade magazine AVN is also headquartered in Chatsworth.

Government and infrastructure

The United States Postal Service Chatsworth Post Office is located at 21606 Devonshire Street."»Post Office Location - CHATSWORTH." United States Postal Service. Retrieved on December 6, 2008. The Chatsworth Post Office one of the locations of an anthrax scare shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The U.S. Census Bureau operates the Los Angeles Regional Census Center in Chatsworth."»The Los Angeles Region." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 17, 2010."»Boundary Map." Chatsworth Neighborhood Council. Retrieved on January 17, 2010.

Education

Chatsworth residents are zoned to the Los Angeles Unified School District. Chatsworth High School, Lawrence Middle School, Germain Street Elementary, Superior Street Elementary and Chatsworth Park Elementary School are all located in Chatsworth.

The area has several private schools including Sierra Canyon, Chatsworth Hills Academy, Chaminade College Preparatory Middle School, and St. John Eudes Elementary and Middle School.

There is also one charter school, Chime Charter Middle School previously known as Santa Susana School. The school is located just down the street from Chatsworth Park Elementary School.

Los Angeles Public Library operates the Chatsworth Branch at 21052 Devonshire Street."»Chatsworth Branch Library." Los Angeles Public Library. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.

Past and present residents

Philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand lived in Chatsworth for a period of time with her husband.

Chatsworth proximity to Hollywood means that a number of actors and musicians call or have called the district home. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz established their first home on a site in Chatsworth, which they called "Desilu," the same name as their studio. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had a horse ranch in Chatsworth for several decades, as did Errol Flynn, and cowboy film star Montie Montana. Mr. Ed, the 1960s equine star, was born in a red barn on "Harvester Farms" located near Topanga Canyon and Devonshire. The site became the home of the Palomino Horse Association of America for a short period of time. Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth is the final resting place of a number of Hollywood stars, including Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar winner Gloria Grahame, and silent film actor and director Grace Cunard.

Recent examples include:

Actors Val Kilmer, Kevin Spacey, Mare Winningham, Adam Rich, and Kirk Cameron graduated from Chatsworth High School. Spacey thanked the drama department of his alma mater when he won his first Oscar.

See Also

References

External links

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