Today's stop on our San Fernando Valley tour is Tarzana. If you guessed that the town has something to do with The King of the Jungle, you're right! But the history goes back a couple hundred years beyond.
In the late 1700's, what is now Tarzana was part of the San Fernando Mission. Over the next 100-plus years, the land changed hands as cattle ranches and farm land until 1911 when 550 acres were purchased by General Gary Otis, the founder of the Los Angeles Times.
Edgar Rice Burroughs brought his family and his writing here in 1919 when he bought the Otis ranch, built his home on a hill, and called it Tarzana. Before long, a town named Runnymede grew up around and including Tarzana, helped in part by Burroughs' subdividing his land and selling acreage for building lots. By 1927, the 300 or so residents of the town of Runnymede wanted their own post office. Only trouble was, there was already a Runnymede in California. A contest decided it: the town would be called Tarzana in honor of its most famous inhabitant and his heroic man of the jungle.
Today, Tarzana is home to almost 30,000 people, most of who live in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains south of Ventura Blvd. According to Wikipedia, Tarzana is a multi-cultural town with many lands and languages represented. It is well known for its Persian (Iranian) restaurants and bookstores, as well as a thriving and long-established Jewish community and the first and only branch of the Hebrew language bookseller Steimatzky constructed outside of Israel. A number of popular delicatessens can be found in Tarzana, including the Tarzana Armenian Grocery and Mort's Deli.
We promised you trivia:
• Edgar Rice Burroughs also wrote "The Girl from Hollywood" which received bad reviews. Burroughs complained: "The critics have panned 'Girl from Hollywood.' They said that no ranch such as I described in the story ever existed. The joke of it was that I merely described my own ranch!"
• According to the Tarzana Chamber of Commerce, Tarzana was the site of the Valley's first swimming pool.
• Wikipedia tells us that notable residents have included comedian Jeremy Hotz, actor Jamie Foxx, actor Chuck Norris, filmmaker John-Erik Jordan, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, and frequent Star Trek guest star Hana Hatae (in both TNG and DS9 as Molly O'Brien – Miles' and Keiko's daughter.)
• And do we really need to mention a certain celebrity's recent self-shearing in a Tarzana salon? No, probably not.
Tarzana is just one of the fascinating destinations on our San Fernando Valley tour. Next stop…Woodland Hills.
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