Hollywood High School – Los Angeles CA

City:
Los Angeles, CA

Site Type:
Schools, Education and Health

New Deal Agencies:
Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding

Started:
1935

Designer:
Marsh Smith and Powell

Quality of Information:
Very Good

Marked:
No

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

Hollywood High School, which opened in 1910, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935.

In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake. One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months.

Hollywood High School’s beautiful Streamline Moderne styling was designed by the architectural firm of Marsh, Smith and Powell. Built of reinforced concrete, the two-story Science Building ($208,968 in PWA funds) features a recessed entrance and elegant curved corners with staircases. “The science building contains 11 classrooms, recitation rooms, laboratories for physics and biology, and lecture rooms” (Short & Stanley-Brown, 1939). Several of the classrooms have since been converted into offices.

The Science Building was featured alongside the newly completed Liberal Arts Building in Hollywood High School’s 1939 yearbook: “Two of the most beautiful buildings on the Hollywood High School campus house the six Academic Departments. Alike in general appearance and yet distinctive in detail, the Science and Liberal Arts Buildings are considered the two most architecturally perfect high school structures in the city. The Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in April bestowed on the Science Building an Honor Award in recognition of its outstanding architectural qualities. Only fifteen new buildings of any type were so recognized in Southern California” (p. 48).

In addition to the Science and Liberal Arts Buildings, Marsh, Smith and Powell designed a modernistic facade for the school’s original 1904 auditorium, which was converted into a library.

Hollywood High School is one of the most famous schools in the world, thanks to its many notable graduates and having been featured in any number of movies.

Source notes

C. W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown, Public Buildings: Architecture Under the Public Works Administration, 1933 to 1939 (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1939).

Public Works Administration, "List of all Allotted Non-Federal Projects, All Programs, by State and Docket, as of May, 30, 1942,” entry A1, no. 59, Record Group 135. Washington D.C.: Federal Works Administration, 1942. Located at the National Archives II, College Park, MD.

1939 Hollywood High School Poinsettia Yearbook (Hollywood, CA)

“Washington Allocation of $9,380,000 Speeds Rebuilding of Quake-Damaged Schools,” Los Angeles Times (1923-1995), January 7, 1934.

“The P.W.A. Program,” Los Angeles Times (1923-1995), February 27, 1934.

"School Project Launched," Los Angeles Times (1923-1995), Apr 10, 1934.

Site originally submitted by Shaina Potts on October 7, 2011.
Additional contributions by Richard Walker & Natalie McDonald.

Location Info


1521 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Los Angeles County

Coordinates: 34.0992, -118.3401

Site Details

Total Cost
$344,064

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7 comments on “Hollywood High School – Los Angeles CA

  1. Mark Gannett

    I presently work at Hollywood High. I teach chemistry and physics on the 2nd floor of the science bldg. My room is right in the middle of the east side of the bldg. Hollywood is a beautiful example of Streamline Moderne architecture designed, I believe, by the same architectural firm that designed Manual Arts High as well as a few other school campuses after the devastating 1933 Long Beach earthquake. As a side note, the current library at Hollywood High, with its 1930’s facade, was the original school auditorium built in 1908 and is the oldest building on campus. It is also one of the oldest buildings in Hollywood. The current auditorium, built in the 1920’s, was remodeled drastically in about 1956 and has changed little since (it’s pretty unique, too. Straight out of the ’50’s.). The science building now has 7 or 8 (depending on enrollment) science classrooms with the remaining classrooms all converted to administrative offices. The original red brick administration building was demolished and turned into a parking lot in the early or mid 1970’s. The gymnasium and shop building (no more shop classes-building used for storage) were built in 1966 and ’68, resp.

  2. Mark Gannett

    As a note to my original comment, the library also contains a mural painted by a famed Hollywood artist (whose name I can’t remember) during the 1930’s by the WPA I believe.

  3. Andrea Daniel

    So glad to know the mural is still there. Going to Hollywood High and Hollywood Bowl were my introduction to New Deal architecture. My interest started there and has never stopped.

  4. Does anyone have any info on the lettering used for the building fronts? It’s a big part of the overall aesthetic which building history is constantly missing out on…

  5. Can anyone tell me what happened to the original building built in 1904? When was it demolished or was it merely redesigned in Art Deco.

  6. Andrew Laverdiere

    @Steve Dimmick, As Mark Gannet mentioned, this school along with most of the school system in the Los Angeles area was either damaged or destroyed by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, which is why there is such a large number of PWA moderne style school buildings in Los Angeles,

  7. Paul N. Leckner

    Wow! I too have worked at that particular high school. “Home of the Sheiks” Rudolph Valentino. It has one of thee smallest parking lots, and I have to get there early or it is outside on the street. It has so much history since it was built. The high school where future Hollywood celebrities went to high school.

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7 comments on “Hollywood High School – Los Angeles CA

  1. Mark Gannett

    I presently work at Hollywood High. I teach chemistry and physics on the 2nd floor of the science bldg. My room is right in the middle of the east side of the bldg. Hollywood is a beautiful example of Streamline Moderne architecture designed, I believe, by the same architectural firm that designed Manual Arts High as well as a few other school campuses after the devastating 1933 Long Beach earthquake. As a side note, the current library at Hollywood High, with its 1930’s facade, was the original school auditorium built in 1908 and is the oldest building on campus. It is also one of the oldest buildings in Hollywood. The current auditorium, built in the 1920’s, was remodeled drastically in about 1956 and has changed little since (it’s pretty unique, too. Straight out of the ’50’s.). The science building now has 7 or 8 (depending on enrollment) science classrooms with the remaining classrooms all converted to administrative offices. The original red brick administration building was demolished and turned into a parking lot in the early or mid 1970’s. The gymnasium and shop building (no more shop classes-building used for storage) were built in 1966 and ’68, resp.

  2. Mark Gannett

    As a note to my original comment, the library also contains a mural painted by a famed Hollywood artist (whose name I can’t remember) during the 1930’s by the WPA I believe.

  3. Andrea Daniel

    So glad to know the mural is still there. Going to Hollywood High and Hollywood Bowl were my introduction to New Deal architecture. My interest started there and has never stopped.

  4. Does anyone have any info on the lettering used for the building fronts? It’s a big part of the overall aesthetic which building history is constantly missing out on…

  5. Can anyone tell me what happened to the original building built in 1904? When was it demolished or was it merely redesigned in Art Deco.

  6. Andrew Laverdiere

    @Steve Dimmick, As Mark Gannet mentioned, this school along with most of the school system in the Los Angeles area was either damaged or destroyed by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, which is why there is such a large number of PWA moderne style school buildings in Los Angeles,

  7. Paul N. Leckner

    Wow! I too have worked at that particular high school. “Home of the Sheiks” Rudolph Valentino. It has one of thee smallest parking lots, and I have to get there early or it is outside on the street. It has so much history since it was built. The high school where future Hollywood celebrities went to high school.

Join the Conversation

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  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

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