Hollywood Boulevard began as a residential road called Prospect Avenue. It took its current name in 1910, boomed into a movie-palace strip between 1915 and 1935, and gained the Walk of Fame in 1960. Every block still carries a layer of that story, and a guided tour with a storyteller is the fastest way to see them all. Golden Ticket LA’s guided bus tours include stops at the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Sign, so you hear the history at the spot where it happened.
TL;DR
- Prospect Avenue became Hollywood Boulevard in 1910, when Hollywood joined the City of Los Angeles.
- Between 1915 and 1935, the street changed from Victorian homes to a commercial center of theaters and storefronts.
- The Walk of Fame was dedicated in 1960 and runs about 1.3 miles along the boulevard.
- The Egyptian, Chinese, El Capitan and Pantages theaters are the core of the history, and the strip became a national historic district in 1985.
- A guided tour turns a crowded sidewalk into a story you can follow, block by block.
Table of Contents
- From Prospect Avenue to Hollywood Boulevard
- How a Residential Street Became a Movie Capital
- A Timeline of the Boulevard
- The Theaters That Define the Street
- The Walk of Fame
- Why the Boulevard Is a Protected District
- Best Way to Experience It: Walk It With a Storyteller
- Staying Nearby
- Our Take on Hollywood Boulevard
- Ready to See It for Yourself?
- FAQ
- Sources
From Prospect Avenue to Hollywood Boulevard
The street’s first name was Prospect Avenue. Water and Power Associates dates the name to the years from 1887 to 1910, and PBS SoCal’s Lost LA notes that it shows up on an 1887 map. In those years it was a quiet road lined with stately homes, not a tourist magnet.
The change came in 1910. Hollywood Heritage explains that the name switched when the independent town of Hollywood consolidated with the City of Los Angeles, and that the new name fit a community that wanted to be seen as a more upscale, first-class district. KCRW reports the same 1910 date.
In other words, the name came before the movies. The industry arrived on a street that already had an ambitious brand.
How a Residential Street Became a Movie Capital
The big change was fast. According to Hollywood Heritage’s On the Boulevard page, between 1915 and 1935 the boulevard went from a residential street of Victorian homes to a bustling commercial center. The growth of the movie industry poured capital into the street, and studio chiefs and civic boosters used it to build a special urban environment.
That is why the architecture looks the way it does. The same page lists Classical Beaux Arts Revival high-rises, modern storefronts, flamboyant fantasy and Art Deco theaters, and Spanish Colonial Revival business blocks. When you look up from the stars on the sidewalk, you are seeing a 20-year building spree that happened almost all at once.
The federal paperwork backs this up. The National Register of Historic Places nomination form counts 102 buildings in the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District, and the vast majority date from 1915 to 1939. It also describes the district as a pedestrian-oriented shopping street with few intrusions, which is exactly why it is still pleasant to walk.
A Timeline of the Boulevard
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1887 | Prospect Avenue appears on a local map |
| 1910 | Prospect Avenue becomes Hollywood Boulevard as Hollywood joins Los Angeles |
| 1915 to 1935 | Victorian homes give way to theaters, high-rises and storefronts |
| 1922 | The Egyptian Theatre hosts Hollywood’s first movie world premiere |
| 1927 | The Chinese Theatre opens with The King of Kings |
| 1930 | The Pantages Theater opens |
| 1958 | Eight sample Walk of Fame stars are unveiled |
| 1960 | The first star is laid and the Walk of Fame is dedicated |
| 1985 | The boulevard is recognized as a national historic district |
Each row is sourced in the sections that follow.
The Theaters That Define the Street
The best way to read Hollywood Boulevard history is through its movie palaces. You can walk past most of them in a single afternoon.
Egyptian Theatre
The Egyptian staged Hollywood’s first movie world premiere in October 1922, for Douglas Fairbanks’ Robin Hood, according to the Jewish Journal’s profile of Sid Grauman. That one night set the template for every red carpet since: searchlights, crowds, and a street closed for a film.
Chinese Theatre
The Chinese Theatre opened on May 18, 1927, with the premiere of The King of Kings. The Los Angeles Daily Mirror adds that Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks made the first prints in the forecourt on April 30, 1927. Those handprints and footprints are the reason crowds still pack the forecourt today.
Pantages Theater
The Pantages opened on June 4, 1930, at a cost of $1.25 million as part of the Fox theater chain. From 1950 to 1960, the Academy Awards ceremony was held there, according to LA Weekly. It is a fine place to picture the boulevard when it was the center of the film world’s biggest night.
Warner Pacific Theatre
The largest theater on the boulevard had 3,500 seats. Hollywood Heritage says G. Albert Landsburgh designed the Warner Pacific Theatre for Warner Brothers Studio, and that it sits in the center of the National Register district. Its scale tells you how much money the studios were willing to spend to bring audiences to this one street.
The Walk of Fame
The Walk of Fame is the part of Hollywood Boulevard history most visitors know, and its story is more interesting than the sidewalk suggests.
According to the official Walk of Fame history, the idea was proposed in 1953 by E. M. Stuart, then volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The Los Angeles City Council received the plans in January 1956. Eight sample stars were unveiled at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue on August 15, 1958, construction began on February 8, 1960, and the first star, Stanley Kramer’s, was laid on March 28, 1960.
The Hollywood Partnership describes the Walk as spanning approximately 1.3 miles. Plan on a slow stroll: with photo stops at the Chinese Theatre forecourt and the star of your favorite actor, it takes much longer than a mile and a third suggests.
Tip for photographers: the sidewalk is busiest from late morning on. Go early or in the soft light before sunset, shoot low and wide to catch the star and the theater marquee in the same frame, and keep a polarizer handy to cut the glare off the brass.
Why the Boulevard Is a Protected District
By the 1970s and 1980s, the street’s glamour had faded. The July 1985 California Preservation newsletter says the preservation effort began in 1978 with a state grant and matching money from Los Angeles Councilwoman Peggy Stevenson, and that a nomination covering 103 structures reached the State Office of Historic Preservation in August 1984. The district was registered in 1985, which is why so many of those 1920s facades are still standing.
That protection is the reason the boulevard rewards a visit with a guide. The buildings are original, the details are in the stonework, and the stories are in the places where the cameras and crowds once stood.
Best Way to Experience It: Walk It With a Storyteller
A plaque tells you a date. A good guide tells you why that date mattered, who stood on that corner and what the street looked like before the neon. That is the gap between a quick selfie stop and a real feel for the place.
If you are planning a day around the boulevard, here is how a few options fit.
- First-timers and families: a hop-on hop-off ticket lets you ride between sights and spend as long as you like at each stop, the Walk of Fame included.
- Fans of the Hollywood story: the Hollywood Sign Tour pairs the boulevard’s history with the landmark that became the city’s emblem. Our Ultimate Guide to the Hollywood Sign covers its own story.
- Couples and small groups: a private tour is $450 and lets you set the pace and the stops.
- Movie buffs: our guide to finding famous movie locations shows how to connect the boulevard to the rest of the city.
Staying Nearby
The boulevard makes a good base for a few days, and families often want room to cook breakfast or pack a picnic for the Hollywood Sign trails. A directory of hotels with kitchens in Los Angeles lists properties with verified in-room cooking surfaces, which helps when you are traveling with kids or staying more than a weekend.
Our Take on Hollywood Boulevard
We think Hollywood Boulevard is best understood as a story with chapters, not a list of stops. Prospect Avenue, the 1910 renaming, the theater boom, the Walk of Fame and the preservation fight each explain something you can see with your own eyes.
That is how we design our tours: exclusive stops at iconic places such as the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Sign and Beverly Hills, and guides who fill in the history and culture behind each one. Our guests tell us in their reviews that the professionalism of the guides is what they remember.
If you want the boulevard to feel like more than a crowded sidewalk, come with someone who can tell you what happened on the spot where you are standing.
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Ready to See It for Yourself?
Golden Ticket LA offers guided bus tours, hop-on hop-off tickets, private tours, exotic car tours and helicopter flights, all built around storytelling and stops at the places that made Los Angeles famous. If you want a bird’s-eye view of the sign that crowns the story, the Hollywood Sign helicopter flight is $159. For a day of stops with a guide, browse our bus tours or head to goldenticket.la to book online or by phone.
More on the neighborhoods around the boulevard: our history of Beverly Hills and our look at the landmark hotels of the Sunset Strip.
FAQ
What was Hollywood Boulevard called before?
It was called Prospect Avenue. The name changed to Hollywood Boulevard in 1910, when Hollywood consolidated with the City of Los Angeles, according to Hollywood Heritage.
How long is the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
About 1.3 miles along Hollywood Boulevard, per the Hollywood Partnership. Allow extra time for photos and theater stops.
When was the first Walk of Fame star laid?
Stanley Kramer’s star was the first, laid on March 28, 1960, according to the official Walk of Fame history. The idea itself dates to 1953.
Which landmarks tell the story of the boulevard best?
Start with the Egyptian Theatre, the Chinese Theatre and the Pantages. Together they cover the first premiere in 1922, the 1927 forecourt handprints and the Academy Awards years of 1950 to 1960.
Is Hollywood Boulevard a historic district?
Yes. The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the nomination form counts 102 buildings, most built between 1915 and 1939.
Sources
- Hollywood Heights: How Hollywood’s Streets Got Their Names, Hollywood Heritage
- Water and Power Associates, Hollywood Hotel
- Photos: From Prospect & Weyse to Hollywood & Vine, PBS SoCal Lost LA
- What’s in a street name? Hollywood Blvd, KCRW
- On the Boulevard, Hollywood Heritage
- National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form
- Laud the Life of Sid Grauman, Jewish Journal
- Hollywood Heights: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre Turns 90, LA Daily Mirror
- Hollywood Ups and Downs, LA Weekly
- History of the Walk of Fame
- Hollywood Walking Tour, Hollywood Partnership
- California Preservation, July 1985