After 122 Years, Hollywood Forever Cemetery Finally Designated Historic-Cultural Monument By The City Of L.A.
deadline.comIt took forever — well, 122 years — but Hollywood Forever Cemetery was designated a historic-cultural monument by the Los Angeles City Council today following a unanimous recommendation from the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission.The cemetery, which was founded in 1899, was included in the National Register of Historic Places on its 100th anniversary, but equivalent local recognition took another quarter century or so.
On June 25, 2021, Councilman Mitch O’Farrell began the city’s effort to include the cemetery on its own list of historic-cultural monuments.
Following O’Farrell’s actions, the Cultural Heritage Commission considered the property on Oct. 21 and recommended the City Council add it to the list.“I was surprised that this wasn’t already on our list,” Commissioner Richard Barron said during the meeting. “It’s always interesting when something comes before us that you think, ‘That’s not a monument yet?’ ” Among the boldfaced names buried at Hollywood Forever are Judy Garland, Cecil B.
DeMille, Rudolph Valentino, Mickey Rooney, Tyrone Power, Douglas Fairbanks, Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone and Chris Cornell.The monument designation was recommended due to the cemetery’s association with the early development of Hollywood and the western expansion of Los Angeles during the 20th century, as well as for its association with the development of the cemetery industry and Jewish burial facilities in the city.The commission also said the cemetery represents one of the earliest and most stylized examples of lawn-park cemetery designs in Los Angeles and a notable work of cemetery planner Joseph Earnshaw.Heather Goers, senior architectural historian of Historic Resources Group, spoke to the commission about the significance of
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