Where Did the Name Hollywood Come From and How Did the Neighborhood in Los Angeles Originate?

The name “Hollywood” is a synonym for fantasy for some and decadence for others.

Yet the dream capital acquired its name from strangers on a train and became a gesture of love between a husband and a wife.

In 1887, Mrs. Harvey Wilcox, whose husband owned the California land, overheard the woman next to her on a train refer to her summer home as “Hollywood.”

Mrs. Wilcox liked the name Hollywood so much that her husband gave it to their California property.

The first hotel in Hollywood, the Glen-Holly Hotel, is located at the corner of what is now Yucca Street.

It was built by Joakim Berg, a famous artist back in the 1890s.