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In 1923, Los Angeles Times newspaper owner and real estate investor, Harry Chandler was looking for a way to advertise a new segregated housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. His friend H.J. Whitley had already used a sign to advertise his development Whitley Heights, which was between Vine Street and Highland Avenue. Whitley who claimed to have coined the name of the Hollywood area in 1886, offered a suggestion: Build a colossal sign above the development touting its name, Hollywoodland.
The idea stuck, and the developers contracted the Crescent Sign Company to build the erect thirteen south-facing letters on the hillside with letters 43 feet high and 30 feet wide sign studded with around 4,000 light bulbs, at a cost of $21,000.
The sign flashed in segments: "HOLLY," "WOOD," and "LAND" lit up individually, and then the whole. Below the Hollywoodland sign was a searchlight to attract more attention. The poles that supported the sign were hauled to the site by mules. The project cost $21,000, equivalent to $320,000 in 2019. The sign was only meant to stay up for a few months, but as Hollywood became known the world over as the heart of all things glamorous and cinematic, the sign became iconic.
The “LAND” was removed in 1949, but the sign stayed as a permanent fixture on the hillside. It fell into disrepair over the decades, but was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1973 and rebuilt with more permanent materials in 1978.
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