Many Glendale hillsides still look as they did before Spanish and American settlement.

Tinted postcard of the Teodoro Verdugo Adobe, from about 1916. Courtesy of the Glendale Public Library Special Collections Department.

WCB Richardson Original rancher in Tropico Area

Leslie C. Brand
Early developer of business and banking And builder of Brand Castle
A Woodland Setting
The City of Glendale fills a major portion of the geographical triangle formed by the Sierra Madre Foothills, the Los Angeles River, and the Arroyo Seco. It was this area, 36,400 acres of woodland, chaparral and grassland inhabited by native Americans known as Gabrielinos, which attracted the attention of Corporal Jose Maria Verdugo of the San Diego Company of the Spanish army.
The Era of the Verdugos
In 1784 Corporal Verdugo, a native of Loreto, Baja California, received permission from his army commander Governor Pedro Fages to settle and graze this land. In 1798 he retired from the army to become a full-time rancher, and title was established. His ranch, Rancho San Rafael, supported herds of cattle, horses, sheep, mules, watermelons, corn, beans, peppers, and fruit. Senor Verdugo's route to and from Los Angeles, via San Fernando Road at his property's southern edge, came to be known as Verdugo Road.

California became Mexican territory in 1822. Nine years later Verdugo died, leaving his vast property to his son Julio and daughter Catalina.
The Rancho San Rafael is Partitioned
The next half-century brought many changes, with California being ceded to the United States in 1848 and being admitted as a state in 1850. The fortunes of the Verdugo family declined, causing them to sell or mortgage parts of their Rancho San Rafael. There was great confusion due to differences between Mexican and American title laws until finally in "The Great Partition of 1871" the courts specified the areas owned by twenty-eight different people and members of the Verdugo family. In 1871 Catalina died, followed by her brother in 1876. Of the Verdugo residences, one, built by Julio's son Teodoro in about 1860, survived and became honored as an important local landmark. The home and grounds were purchased in 1989 by the City of Glendale and became a public park.
A Trip Back In Time To Tropico
The Great Partition opened the way for more American settlers. They cleared the cactus and sagebrush, usually to establish fruit orchards. Sections of the former Rancho San Rafael began to develop individual identities. Residents of the central area gathered in a school house in 1884 to choose a name for their community, with "Glendale" being chosen. In 1887 residents in the southwestern part organized themselves as a separate town, "Tropico". This fertile area, for several years owned by W. C. B. Richardson as Santa Eulalia Ranch, produced barley, nuts, fruits, poultry, and dairy products and became famous for its strawberries. The southeastern portions of the former Rancho were developing separate identies, and would later become Eagle Rock and Highland Park. The extreme southern edge became Atwater.
It's Official: Glendale Becomes a Town
Glendale and Tropico shared in the economic and immigrant boom of the 1880s, with trainloads of tourists and new residents arriving from the eastern and midwestern states. A Glendale newspaper was started, the Glendale Improvement Society was formed, and many farms were subdivided into residential sized lots. Elegant homes such as the Queen Anne-Eastlake style E. D. Goode home and "The Doctors' House" -- both restored during the late 20th century -- were built.

In March 1887 the Map of the Town of Glendale was recorded by the County Recorder. It consisted of six blocks north to south (1st Street later being renamed Lexington and 6th Street Colorado) and seventeen blocks east to west (with consecutive letters of the alphabet assigned to the streets bounded by Chevy Chase on the east and Central on the west).

The neatly laid out street grid set the pattern for Glendale's subsequent growth and development.
L. C. Brand Leaves His Mark
By the turn of the century Glendale was rapidly becoming urbanized. In 1902 the Glendale Improvement Society, under the leadership of Mr. Edgar D. Goode and Dr. D.H. Hunt, embarked on a campaign to advertise Glendale, to develop new business, to attract residents, and above all to bring the Los Angeles Interurban railroad to Glendale from Los Angeles. The tracks were laid in 1904 through a strip of land owned by Leslie C. Brand -- a location well to the west of the then main thoroughfare, Glendale Avenue. The railway (by then called the Pacific Electric) brought a shift of the business center to Brand Boulevard, and also the desired population growth.
"The Fastest Growing City in America"
In 1906 Glendale incorporated as a city, and in 1918 Tropico was annexed to it. During the 'teens and 'twenties Brand boulevard grew into a lively, modern commercial and entertainment street. Banks, department stores, movie theaters and automobile showrooms appeared.

Citrus orchards and vineyards were further subdivided, giving way to homes built in the popular California Bungalow and Spanish Colonial Revival styles. Grand Central Airport and the Southern Pacific train depot connected Glendale to other communities and to the growing film and aviation industries. Churches and civic and fraternal organizations thrived. With population increasing from 13,756 in 1920 to 62,736 in 1930. Glendale called itself "The Fastest Growing City in America".
Glendale Develops into a Regional Center
Glendale's growth soon stabilized, as the city maintained its reputation as a pleasant suburb of Los Angeles. However, the 1970s brought a sudden, planned surge of development which made Glendale's a bustling regional center of business and commerce. The Glendale Galleria shopping mall was built; Brand Boulevard and adjacent streets were "redeveloped", with large office buildings replacing many small shops; and the 134 Freeway was constructed across the center of the city. A "Golden Triangle" of freeways thus echoed the geographic triangle of Jose Maria Verdugo's ranch.
New Cultures Blend With the Old
During the 1980s and 1990s Glendale's population grew dramatically with the arrival of many thousands of immigrants, especially from Armenia, the Middle East, Korea, Mexico, and the Philippines. Large and small entertainment companies played an expanding role in Glendale culture and business. The newly restored Alex Theatre, 234 N. Brand Boulevard, and numerous international style restaurants made downtown Glendale a dining and entertainment magnet.
Glendale in the Twenty-First Century
As the new millennium began, Glendale's population was about 195,000. Brand Boulevard continues to be our downtown "Main Street", and the site of many new projects. Traditional neighborhood centers such as Montrose, Kenneth Village, and Adams Square are also thriving, and there is a growing appreciation of historic landmarks and residential architecture. In 2006 we will celebrate our centennial as a city -- a city which, though very modern, retains much of its historic small-town feeling and natural beauty. And the 200 year old legacy of Corporal Jose Maria Verdugo and his Rancho San Rafael survives in the names of the gentle mountains which embrace the our city: on the east, the San Rafael Hills, and on the north, the Verdugo Hills.