Every week when I read the Burbank Leader I feel like yelling
"stop."
It's those infernal captions on your story's where you so often have
the incorrect locations. For example, a couple weeks ago you had John
Burroughs High School in Magnolia Park and more recently the Gordon
Howard Museum also in Magnolia Park. You are so far off it isn't funny.
Magnolia Park was started in Burbank by developer Earl L White. He
started working on plans for Magnolia Park in 1917 and before that he was
operating a dairy business on 400 acres he bought in 1915 which is now a
Warner Brothers lot and formerly Columbia Ranch. Magnolia Park was the
west entrance to Burbank from Cahuenga Pass northward. White's initial
plan had 320 acres and on March 4, 1923 he put up 300 lots for sale for
$15,000 down and $10.00 a month. The first lots sold for $590.00 and up.
White and co-partner, C.F. Riggins, sold 147 homes in seven years. By
1929 they built 3500 homes in the area, not all in Burbank. The
depression of the 1930s caused an end to the subdivisions.
Early on when Earl White asked the City of Burbank to help him build a
short cut to Cahuenga Pass. When the city declined he did it himself and
named it Hollywood Way. It cost him $1200.00 and eventually the city gave
him $500.00 toward his expense.
A point of this little history lesson is that Mr. White's nephew,
Donald White and I are fixing up a map for your information so maybe
Leader articles in the future will be correct.
MARY JANE STRICKLAND
Burbank Historical Society
