"Bewteen a crucifix and the Hollywood Sign..."

May 28, 2018

"Bewteen a crucifix and the Hollywood Sign..."

“Holy crap! What is that!?” I screamed as I drove with my friend Rachel to her apartment just off of Cahuenga. I had somehow failed to notice the ginormous glowing cross that towered over the 101 until that point. I suppose without the fluorescent light shooting in your eyes it can be easy to miss during the daytime.

I had no idea prior to researching the Hollywood Cross that it has stood upon the Cahuenga Pass watching the entire history of Hollywood unfurl below it. It saw the end of Hollywood’s humble beginnings as a settlement for a religious community (For reals guys - Hollywood was founded to be a Utopia for Christians coming out West.), through the golden age of cinema, and into the sprawling mecca of “the industry” as we know it today.

Our history lesson on this historic marker begins in the early 20th century when Christine Wetherill Stevenson, an heiress to the Pittsburgh Paint company, made her way to California and began forming art alliances allowing her to produce religious plays of all sorts. After the enormous success of the run of her production, Life of Asia, which chronicled the life of the Buddha, Christine embarked on her lifelong dream of creating a permanent amphitheater. Stevenson along with other Hollywood leaders created the Theater Arts Alliance and went in search of a magical spot to share arts and culture with the surrounding community. Members of the Art Alliance stumbled upon a natural amphitheater near the Cahuenga Pass. They purchased 60 acres of land and instantly set up shop in what was popularly known as the “Daisy Dells.” Thus the Hollywood Bowl began from these simple roots - a square wooden stage to perform on with play attendees picnicking in the grass.

As in all good stories, conflicts arose between members of the alliance. By 1920 Christine wanted a place that solely put on religious plays and when the group didn’t agree with her vision, she simply looked across the canyon to build her own amphitheater. When the new structure was built, Christine’s dramatic work, “The Pilgrimage” played every summer and continued until 1964. By this point in time, Los Angeles County owned the land and the play was shut down due to lawsuits around its religious nature, citing separation between church and state.

The Pilgrimage Play Theater lay mostly untouched until they reopened it in 1976 and named it after John Anson Ford, the former County Supervisor who helped found the Los Angeles County Arts Commision that aided in reopening the theater. In 2014 the theater underwent a HUGE restoration and is open to the public to see plays and concerts once again!

I bet you’re wondering what this brief history of the Hollywood Bowl and the Ford Theater have to do with the Hollywood Cross. Well, the cross was erected in memory of Christine Wetherill Stevenson, in recognition of her role as a pioneer in arts and culture during the beginnings of Hollywood, whose legacy (The Ford theatre) is still enjoyed by Angelenos and visitors who come to see performances held there today.

Not unlike the history of the play and amphitheater, the Hollywood cross has gone through its own trials and tribulations. Christine was able to see the initial success of her play, but she was never able to see the legacy she would leave behind when she died suddenly in 1922. A year after her death, friends and supporters built a 40-foot lighted cross on top of the hill located next to the Pilgrimage Play (Ford) Theater. The cross was lit for evening performances and Easter sunrise services at the Hollywood Bowl. Sunday school children helped pay to keep the cross lit, and then Southern Edison took on the payments, providing free electricity to keep the cross aglow. In 1941 operators of the theater officially donated the land beneath the cross to Los Angeles County.

Sadly, the original cross burned down in 1965 due to a brush fire and the county replaced it with a steel and plexiglass structure. This began the end of County involvement with the cross. As noted before with the theater, multiple lawsuits arose in Los Angeles county protesting the need for the separation of church and state. In 1979 protesters turned their gaze to the Hollywood cross and the county had to pull the plug and ceased the payments keeping it lit. The county first rented the cross/land to church groups and then eventually sold it to Hollywood Heritage, an AMAZING local preservation organization I would recommend checking out. Strong Santa Ana winds knocked the cross down in 1984 and it wasn’t permanently rebuilt until 1993 when two organizations raised funds and took on the project.

So now we have our beautiful, glowing cross as it stands today, continuing to inspire those who drive past it. An LA Times article written by Steven M. Churn illuminates the importance of the cross to residents who live in the surrounding area. Churn interviewed several people who discussed the impact of the cross in moments of their lives. Ron Roy said, "When I moved here from Houston in '73, I had high hopes, you know, big dreams of making a splash, particularly as an actor. So many times I'd be driving back up the Hollywood Freeway, depressed after another failed audition, and then I'd see the cross," he said. "It was a symbol of peace and tranquility that seemed to calm my anxieties. It really had a powerful effect on me."

In another quote from the same article, Actor R. J. Johnson shared, “I have one friend who went to Hollywood High School and every time he'd have a geometry test, he'd drive by that cross and look up and pray."

If you’re interested in visiting this piece of Hollywood history it’s definitely an adventure. Yelp gave me these detailed instructions: “Park at Ford Amphitheater and walk down the street and make the short hike up a very slippery and steep hill.”

So helpful right…? They were not wrong in their description of “very slippery and steep.” There is no trail per say to get to the cross… but it is doable. You can park your car near the Ford Theater or on a little side street off of Cahuenga called Cahuenga Terrace. Once parked, walk along Cahuenga and you’ll find a place where a short wall has been built with sandbags stacked on top to trap the dirt from falling onto the sidewalk. Hop up and begin your climb to the top. The views of Los Angeles are amazing! A little tip for the way down for people who aren’t super nimble or don’t have a lot of hiking experience: go ahead and drop it low and slide your way down a majority of it. You’ll fall less and it’s fun!

If you decide to visit please take pictures and tag us in them! We would love to share!! Have fun adventuring!

Works Cited

CHURM, STEVEN R. “Replacement of Pilgrimage Cross: A Dedication to Resurrect a Landmark.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 1985, articles.latimes.com/19850408/local/me-18561_1_pilgrimage-cross.