1926 Map of Burbank

About this map

The San Fernando Valley landscape is captured here in the mid-1920s, showing a critical transition from agricultural ranch land to the suburban and industrial hubs of modern Los Angeles. The town of Lankershim is central to this development, serving as a primary rail junction where the Southern Pacific and Pacific Electric lines converged. To the south, the emergence of the entertainment industry is evident at Universal City, while the iconic Hollywood Bowl and Hollywood Lake anchor the base of the Santa Monica Mountains. The map traces the early engineering of the region, from the route of the Mulholland Highway winding through the hills to the Power Line corridors and the containment of the Los Angeles River. Small stops like McNeil and La Paco dot the rail lines, marking a time before the rapid post-war urbanization obscured these smaller rural identities.