Missions and Movies in the San Fernando Valley - On the Tarzana Tour

Posted at 7:57 PM, Mar. 1, 2007

Our continuing tour of the San Fernando Valley visits Tarzana today. And it's not much of a guess that the town has close ties to The King of the Jungle. But before the friend of chimps was a celebrity, this town already had a couple hundred years of history.

In the late 1700's, what is now Tarzana was part of the San Fernando Mission. Through the next 100-plus years, the land changed hands several times and became cattle ranches and farm land until 1911 when 550 acres were

purchased by General Gary Otis, the founder of the Los Angeles Times.

The author Edgar Rice Burroughs brought his family here in 1919 when he bought the Otis ranch, built his home on a hill, and called it Tarzana. In time Burroughs subdivided his land and sold off building lots, and the town of Runnymede grew up around and including Tarzana. By 1927, the 300 or so residents of Runnymede wanted their own post office. Only trouble was, there was already another Runnymede in California. So a local contest was held and the decision was clear: the town would be called Tarzana in honor of its most famous inhabitant and his heroic character.

Today, almost 30,000 people call Tarzana home. Most of them 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.

Next time you need a conversation starter, here are some interesting tidbits about Tarzana:

·        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. Be sure to join us again when we visit…Woodland Hills.