| Sun Valley | |
|---|---|
| — Neighborhood of Los Angeles — | |
| Stonehurst Recreation Center building | |
|
Sun Valley
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
Sun Valley is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, about 15 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles.
It is bordered by Burbank in the east, Shadow Hills and the city of Glendale in the north, Panorama City in the west, Pacoima to the northwest, and North Hollywood in the south. The district is served by the Golden State and Hollywood freeways. Major thoroughfares include San Fernando Road, Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Roscoe Boulevard, Vineland Avenue, Sheldon Street, Glenoaks Boulevard and Sunland Boulevard.
Most of the stone, gravel, and sand used in construction in Los Angeles County between the 1920s and the 1970s came from quarries in Sun Valley.
Located at the base of the Verdugo Mountains, Sun Valley is notably prone to flash floods, and one such flood on Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 2237 (10:37 PM PST) destroyed a portion of the 8000 block of Tujunga Avenue and killed a Los Angeles City Civil Engineer when a sinkhole 30 feet deep opened up.[1]
Contents |
In 1874, California State Senator Charles Maclay (for whom Maclay Street in San Fernando is named) acquired 56,000 acres (230 km2) of land across the San Fernando Valley. The area extended from Sunland Blvd., all the way west to the Chatsworth Hills. East of Sunland was Rancho San Rafael, a large land grant to Jose Maria Verdugo by the Spanish Crown. By 1876 the Southern Pacific Railroad was constructed through the eastern San Fernando Valley, linking Southern and Northern California.
Around the 1880s, Sun Valley was originally known as Roberts, which was the name of a general store - and the only business in the area. At that time the area was classified as one of the five healthiest places in the United States to live (before smog) and with the increased accessibility of the railroad, parcels of land in the area were being sold off to families coming to the area. The population of the Greater Los Angeles area at the time was about 200,000.
In 1896 Roberts changed its name to Roscoe. There is speculation that the name for the community came from a railroad employee by the name of Roscoe, who was killed in a train wreck during a train robbery near Sunland Blvd. and San Fernando Road. There are some spurious reports in later years that is was named after famous actor, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, after he had made movies on location in the area, however Roscoe was already the name of the community before motion pictures were in widespread use. By 1905 there were seven families living in Roscoe. In (or around) 1915 the first gas pump on Route 99 (San Fernando Road/the main route between Glendale and Bakersfield) was installed at Sunland Blvd. and San Fernando Road by Alex Ratner. The Ratners were a new family in town and have remained active and supportive members of the community ever since. Ratner Street is named for this family. Adom Ratner-Stauber, involved in real estate development and property management in the area, is the great-grandson of Alex. The change to the current name of Sun Valley was made in 1948 by residents in a movement spearheaded by the Chamber of Commerce. Vestiges of the former name remain in the name of Roscoe Elementary School and the telephone exchange 76x-xxxx (ROscoe x-xxx).
The A. Louis Forsch family, relatives of Mrs. Alex Ratner, arrived soon after the Ratners and within a short time were the owners/operators of Roscoe Hardware. Being run by son Jack, and grandsons Gary and Glenn, this was probably one of the longest continuously running businesses in Sun Valley until its closure around 2003.
Grace Coummunity Church is a non-denominational, evangelical megachurch located in Sun Valley. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of the congregation, founded in 1956.
The Consulate-General of the Dominican Republic in the County of Los Angeles is located in Suite 204 at 9001 Laurel Canyon Boulevard.[2]
Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Station 77[3] is located in the Sun Valley area. The station is in the Battalion 12 district.
The United States Postal Service Sun Valley Post Office is located at 10946 Ratner Street.[4]
Sun Valley is zoned to schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Elementary schools serving the Sun Valley area include:[5]
Two middle schools, Sun Valley Middle School and Byrd Middle School, both in Sun Valley, serve the area.
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley serves much of Sun Valley, although in 2009 much of the 9th, 10th and some of the 11th grade students were moved to the recently renovated Sun Valley High School, while East Valley High School in North Hollywood serves other portions of Sun Valley.
Robert H. Lewis Continuation High School is located on the campus of Francis Polytechnic.
Village Christian School and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic School are located in Sun Valley.,
The Los Angeles Public Library operates the Sun Valley Branch.[6]
The Sun Valley Recreation Center in Sun Valley includes a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, and American football field, picnic tables, a lighted soccer (football) field, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts.[7] The Fernangeles Recreation Center in Sun Valley includes an auditorium, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted football field, an indoor gymnasium with weights, picnic tables, and a lighted soccer field.[8]
The Stonehurst Recreation Center in Sun Valley is a historic site. The center has an indoor gymnasium and auditorium with a capacity of 400 people, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, a lighted American football field, an indoor gymnasium with weights, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, and volleyball courts.[9]
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||