
That’s Mt. Lee, future home of the Hollywood Sign, in the distance. U.S.C. Digital Library
This photo, taken around 1915, shows what the terrain around the Sunset Strip looked like before it was developed. It shows ranchland owned by E.A. Melrose in what was then called the Cahuenga Valley, which today is southeast Hollywood. The view looks north toward what were known then as the Cahuenga Mountains but are now called the Hollywood Hills. That mountain to the right is Mt. Lee, home today of the Hollywood sign.