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Los Angeles Native
People & History
The area now
known as Los
Angeles County has been
continuously occupied by several native American nations since
prehistory.
The bulk of Los Angeles city was occupied by the Tongva.
Along the Pacific coast the Chumash occupied what is now Malibu
north
to San Luis Obispo County.
The Tataviam lived in the northern San
Fernando Valley.
The Tongva and Chumash also lived on the islands off
the California
coast and are both known as great seafarers.
It is believed among
some
researchers that they had contact with the oceangoing prehistoric
Polynesians.
European contact began as early as 1542 when a
Tongva
boat (ti'at) sailed out to greet Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo off the
shores of present-day San Pedro.
See our links page for links to
our California
native
heritage page...
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Beyond Los Angeles
OK, not that far, Burbank is right next door
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The
city of
Burbank calls itself the Media Capital of the World. It is
located in the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles
County, 12 miles from the downtown area of the City of Los
Angeles. It was founded in 1887 and was incorporated in 1911.
Burbank sits on the ancestral lands of the Tongva Indian Nation.
The Spanish later removed the indians and renamed them after the San
Gabriel and other missions. Read more on the LA
Natives Page...
Burbank later became part of a Spanish land grant, then a sheep ranch
and
finally it was developed by a shrewd dentist into farm lots and housing
tracts. In the early 1900's defense contractors developed secret
aircraft.
Today, the secrets are kept on famous studio lots like
Disney, Warner
Bros. and the TV complex of NBC. The phrase "Beautiful
downtown Burbank" was coined on the old Laugh In show
originating at NBC. The joke at the time was that Burbank mainly
consisted of a few main streets and not much else.
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The Disney Channel Building and Tower Burbank
Together they
stand shoulder to shoulder like two pin stripe suits looming over
Riverside Drive.
The glass on the Disney Channel Building is tinted a deep green with a
unique shade of pink marble. The sunlight bounces off the top
corner with an iridescent shine. It stands next to the Tower
Burbank, clad in gray granite and black glass.
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The Tower Burbank
The knife edge view of the Tower
Burbank. It looks a bit menacing in
this image.
Actually, it's much scarier if you work inside; it's
called the Tower of Terror by the Cast Members scurrying around the
cubicles.
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Photos From
the Pacific Coast
Technically, Malibu isn't part of Los Angeles city,
they incorporated in 1991 |
Moonshadows on PCH in Malibu
Pacific Coast Highway, or State Highway 1, hugs the cliffs along the
Pacific Ocean. This portion is four lanes. One side is a
steep, crumbling cliff, notorious for landslides. The other side
has houses clinging to the
roadway with drop-offs into the surf directly below. PCH is
slippery and dangerous
in the rain, at night it isn't the most well lit stretch of road - and
watch out for those pesky drunken movie stars!
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The Santa Monica Pier in Santa
Monica
The Santa Monica Pier reaches out over the Pacific Ocean at the edge of
the pacific coast. The pier has a roller coaster, carnival games,
fabulous deep fried fish with greasy fries. The main attraction
is our world famous wooden carousel.
From the vantage point of the sign, you are standing on a cliff
overlooking PCH and Brian Wilson's beloved Santa Monica Beach.
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