Over the years, I have spoken to audiences around the world on television, radio talk shows, newspaper interviews, and at Hollywood Academy Award functions. Many times, I have been asked, “How did Hollywood get its name?”

To start with, I am going to share with you the way my great-grandmother wrote it in her handwritten memoirs. While on their honeymoon in 1886, they rode horses out to the foothills of the Cahuenga Valley. They dismounted near the top of the hill to look at the view of the entire valley. Along came a Chinese man riding in a wagon. He stopped, got out of the wagon, and politely bowed. H.J. Whitley asked him what he had been doing. The man said in broken English, “Up early. Work hard. Hauly wood.” The man was hauling wood.

With that, H.J. had an epiphany. He decided to name the new town he planned to build there Hollywood. “Holly” would represent his British roots and “Wood” his Scottish ancestry.

The next day, he rode back to Hollywood (Cahuenga) and obtained a verbal contract to buy the 480 acres from Mr. Hurd. A handshake was used to finalize the deal. A picture of the tract of land (subdivision map) that was purchased is below. The center of the land is Highland and Hollywood Boulevard. The square on the bottom right is where the Whitley Estate was located and the site where the first Hollywood Studio filmed on October 26, 1911.

After securing the land, H.J. visited with his friend Ivar Weid. He told Ivar of his plans to build a town named Hollywood. Ivar Weid then told his neighbors Daeida and Harvey Wilcox of Whitley’s plan.

Many people have been confused by an advertisement printed by the Los Angeles Litho Company, which was produced at a later date. It was added to a pamphlet given away by a bank as an advertisement. Many of the features on the map are inaccurate, and many of the buildings never existed.

Much of the misinformation currently circulating comes from Edwin Palmer. Below is a disclaimer written in the front of the book Hollywood History by Edwin O. Palmer, Edwin O. Palmer Publisher, 1936. Unfortunately, much of his misinformation was counted as a reliable source by authors who published in the 1950s onward.

The following letter addresses issues that H.J. Whitley had with Doctor Palmer, an employee of Mrs. Wilcox. He was concerned that history was being incorrectly recorded. This appears to be something we need to watch out for—history is history, and we can learn from it.

The truth is, H.J. Whitley named Hollywood in 1886.