A Short History of Burbank...

The land Burbank occupies today was originally home to the Shoshone Indian tribe.  In the late 1790s and early 1820s, the area became two large Spanish ranchos.  Dr. David Burbank, a dentist from New Hampshire, purchased portions of both ranchos in 1867.  He raised sheep, building a house on what was later to become the Warner Brothers back lot.  The doctor sold a section of right-of-way to the Southern Pacific Railroad for the bargain price of $1.  The first train roared through on April 5, 1874.

In 1886, Dr. Burbank sold out to land speculators (sound familiar?), spawning the formation of the Providencia Land, Water and Development Company.  This industrious group spearheaded construction of the community's first business district.  On the corner of San Fernando Rd. and Olive Ave., they constructed the area's first brick structure, which still stands today.  The remaining property was subdivided into residential lots and small farms.  When this land was put up for sale on May 1, 1887, the town of Burbank was born.

In 1911, the Pacific Electric streetcar line was extended from Glendale to Burbank, replacing the old horse-drawn cars.  The first "Red Car" rolled into Burbank later that year and stayed until 1956. The city's first major industry, The Moreland Truck Company, was founded in 1917.  Proudly bearing the label "Made in Burbank", Moreland's vehicles became famous throughout the world.

A land boom started in the early 1920s and subdivisions soon began to replace the older ranches.  Promotion wizard Earl White developed the Magnolia Park area, and by 1929 more than 3,500 homes had been built, as well as the shopping center at the corner of Hollywood Way and Magnolia Blvd. Aviation in the mid 1920s was still in its infancy when the Lockheed Aircraft Company relocated its airplane factory from Hollywood to a section of Burbank farmland near "Turkey's Crossing" (now the corner of San Fernando Rd. and Empire Ave).  Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart were among those who purchased Lockheed's early planes. In 1929, construction of the city's United Airport commenced.

Burbank's fledgling motion picture business had also taken shape in the 20's.  First National Pictures bought up a 78 acre site on Olive Ave.  1st National was soon aquired by the four Warner brothers.  In 1935, Columbia Studios built a "movie ranch" on the site where the Burbank Motion Picture Stables at Hollywood Way, between Verdugo Ave. and Oak St., had formerly stood.  After purchasing 51 acres of Burbank property on Buena Vista St., Disney completed construction on it's million-dollar studio in 1939.

By the time the United States entered World War II, The Lockheed Corporation had nearly 94,000 employees producing 19,000 planes, including the sleek new P-38 Lightning.  Bendix Aviation and others followed suit.  Burbank's new City Hall was comissioned in 1943.  This marble landmark is still standing, and has been added to the National Register of Historic Buildings.  Starlight Bowl opened in Stough Park in the summer of 1950, and became the setting for many cultural and community activities.

In 1951, the National Broadcasting Company bought property at Olive Ave. and Alameda St.  By 1962, NBC had completed work on its state-of-the-art television studios. 

In the latter years of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century, Burbank continued to change.  After years of effort, the city finally obtained a major retail shopping center on a 41-acre site bounded by the Golden State Freeway, Burbank Blvd., Third St., and Magnolia Blvd.  The "Burbank Center" now has a Macy's, Sears, AMC movie theaters, and other national chain stores. The downtown area was revitalized with a wide variety of restaurants and multi-screen movie theatres, and a new loft project opened in Spring 2008.

When Lockheed announced in 1990 that it was closing its Burbank operations, the city began efforts to see that the land was put to good use.  Ten years later, a new shopping complex, the Empire Center, opened.  It features a Costco, Lowe's, Best Buy, Target and The Great Indoors, among other stores.  By January 1998, the Burbank Police and Fire Departments had also moved to their new, modern headquarters at 200 N. Third St.