Verdugo Hills Ridgeline Drive Proposed in 1924

Our Verdugo Mountains are an amazing treasure. The north side that faces the Crescenta Valley is lush with oaks and sage. The entire range, which extends from Glendale northwest to Sunland and Sun Valley, provides a wildlife oasis almost entirely surrounded by development. It is a hiking and recreation mecca for greater Los Angeles. While the south side features many hillside homes, for the most part the north side facing our valley has been largely free from development. In recent history, large-scale development has been fought down by grass-roots efforts and most of the land today is dedicated open space.

But as Glendale grew after the turn of the last century, developers eyed the Verdugo Mountains. The first proposal to access and develop the mountains was a rail line. In 1912 a serious stab was made at building a funicular style railway, similar to Angels Flight in Downtown Los Angeles, going from Glendale to the top of the mountains. But by 1924 the automobile had become king and a roadway across the mountains was proposed instead. 

The ’20s were boom years in both Glendale and the Crescenta Valley with hundreds of homes being built. The development of Sparr Heights had been completed by the Barnum-Walters Company and Mr. Walters cast his eyes on the Verdugo Mountains as his next grand development scheme. 

In the summer of 1924, Walters put together a big meeting of Glendale movers and shakers, large property owners adjacent to the Verdugo Mountains and local realtors, to pitch his vision for a roadway across the mountains that would open them up for massive development. The meeting started with an automobile tour of Sparr Heights. The caravan then wound up to a hilltop in the foothills of the Verdugos overlooking the Crescenta Valley. A steak dinner was served and speakers stood to extol the virtues of building a ridgetop road across the mountains.

First up was Harry Merrick, a big developer of housing in the Hollywood Hills. At that point in time Mulholland Drive was halfway finished. Merrick explained how the highway had been financed and built, and its critical importance to the development in the Hollywood Hills. He stated that land in the Hollywood Hills had been $3 an acre before the highway but was now going for $3000 an acre.

Next up was M.V. Hartranft, the founding father of Sunland-Tujunga. He praised Glendale for both its growth and for considering the development of the “Verdugo Skyway.” He said it would be good for both Glendale and Tujunga. The head of planning for Glendale got up and presented a map the planners had drawn of the proposed road. It would have two entrances, at the top of Brand Boulevard and from Verdugo Road, and would wind along the top of the mountains all the way to Foothill Boulevard in Sunland. As the sun set and the lights of Montrose below flickered to life, the meeting was adjourned and it was voted to continue planning and assemble again later.

That next meeting happened in October under the auspices of the newly formed Verdugo Hills Crestline Boulevard Association. The association members toured the Mulholland Highway, then under construction, and finished at the Oakmont Country Club to elect officers and form committees. It was proposed there that the entire range of the Verdugos be annexed to the City of Glendale. The so-called Verdugo Skyway would be financed by bonds. Perry Whiting of Whiting Woods even offered 500 acres of his own land free to the city for a park along the new road.

So what happened to the Verdugo Skyway? Perhaps the bond issue failed. Perhaps it was the massive fire of 1927 that consumed nearly the entire Verdugo mountains range. Whatever the reason, the grand plans fizzled. The plans came back in the 1960s and ’70s for a ridgeline road, the Verdugo Mountains Scenic Parkway, which included the building of tens of thousands of hillside homes on both sides of the Verdugos. That ambitious plan was fought down by community effort and the Verdugo Mountains have remained for the most part wildland.