Los Angeles Valley College in 1957 Postcard: The Bungalows Along Burbank Boulevard

An archival collage made from the supplied postcard and a later sign at Burbank Boulevard and Ethel Avenue. The corner view is included for sign comparison only; it is not presented as the postcard’s historical location.

Before Los Angeles Valley College filled its corner of the Valley with large academic buildings, one of its entrances had the modest scale of a temporary campus. Low, bungalow-like structures stood behind clipped hedges and a flower bed. A simple roadside sign announced “Valley College” and directed student parking to Ethel Avenue.

This postcard preserves that early landscape. Its reverse identifies the school as Los Angeles Valley Junior College, 13161 Burbank Boulevard, Van Nuys, California. The card was postmarked in Van Nuys on February 16, 1957, giving the image a firm latest possible date even though the photograph itself may have been taken earlier.

Los Angeles Valley College’s low early buildings, landscaped lawn and roadside sign. The sign directs student parking to Ethel Avenue. Color photograph by Max Mahan; Columbia Wholesale Supply postcard H-1706.

Searching for the postcard view

The exact present-day location and camera angle could not be confirmed. Finding both the original sign—which appears to have been demolished—and a surviving group of buildings that precisely matches the postcard proved difficult. The strongest evidence is the printed address, 13161 Burbank Boulevard, together with the bungalow-like architecture and the smaller sign reading “Student Parking on Ethel Ave.” Those clues confirm that the scene was somewhere along Burbank Boulevard, just west of Ethel Avenue, near the 13161 address.

The location should therefore be understood as a short stretch of Burbank Boulevard, not as the Ethel Avenue corner itself. The architectural connection is nevertheless strong. Valley College says its student body was housed in 33 temporary bungalows when the permanent campus opened, a number that grew to 45 between 1951 and 1956. The college later described the Academic Complex site as the former location of its original 1950s postwar bungalows. That history confirms the type and era of the buildings seen on the postcard, but it does not identify the exact bungalow group or the position of the lost sign.

The reverse names Los Angeles Valley Junior College at 13161 Burbank Boulevard. The Van Nuys postmark reads February 16, 1957. The handwritten card was sent to Elgin, Illinois.

The message on the back is personal rather than promotional: a few lines to friends or family about a valentine, pictures of a “new house,” and relatives looking at the pictures. That ordinary correspondence turns the campus view into a small piece of lived Valley history—a local landmark sent across the country as part of someone’s everyday news.

A new sign, then another rebuilding

For the purpose of comparing Valley College signs over time, the author used the entrance at the corner of Ethel Avenue and Burbank Boulevard. This is a convenient documented comparison point, but it should not be interpreted as the confirmed historical location of the postcard sign. The monument sign visible below appears to have been installed after 2011 but before 2014 and identifies Los Angeles Valley College and the Burbank Entry.

The later monument sign at Ethel Avenue and Burbank Boulevard in December 2015. It is shown for sign comparison and is not claimed as the postcard sign’s location. Available street views place its installation sometime after 2011 and before 2014. Image: Google Street View.

The corner comparison site continued to change. A 2021 Los Angeles Daily News report described the removal of the old-school bungalows for a new academic complex. Valley College’s own construction record is more precise: the demolition of Bungalows 1–77 was completed in 2020 and included lead and asbestos abatement along with removal of deteriorating planters, stairs, ramps, railings and paving. A construction view shows the corner screened by fencing while a much larger building rises behind it. Although the demolished structures were original 1950s postwar bungalows, the surviving evidence does not establish which individual buildings—if any—appear in the postcard.

Construction at the Ethel Avenue and Burbank Boulevard comparison site in July 2024, after its older buildings had been removed. This is not presented as an exact match for the postcard location. Image: Google Street View.

From bungalows to Valley Academic Hall

The gallery below brings together the surviving bungalows and cleared site, early architectural renderings, and the May 10, 2023 groundbreaking for Academic Complex 1, later named Valley Academic Hall.

Rendering of the planned complex’s landscaped interior walkway.	Rendering of the stairs, terraces and central approach.
An evening rendering of the planned building.	Bungalow 48 before demolition.
A boarded bungalow on the future project site.	The cleared bungalow site before construction.

Rendering of the new academic building and its Burbank Boulevard frontage.

Los Angeles Valley College President Barry Gribbons and other officials at the Academic Complex 1 groundbreaking on May 10, 2023. The project was later named Valley Academic Hall. Image: San Fernando Sun; photo courtesy of Jennifer Borucki.

By 2025, the new building began to appear clearly in street imagery. It is Valley Academic Hall, an approximately $90 million, 80,000-square-foot, three-story classroom building near Burbank Boulevard and Ethel Avenue. The building officially opened on February 6, 2026, just before the spring semester. LACCD reported that it would house six departments and become the site of a planned cybersecurity center. Its broad roofline, glass entrance and long upper-story facade transformed the scale of the corner and provide a modern endpoint for the sign comparison.

Valley Academic Hall along Burbank Boulevard in October 2025. The building officially opened on February 6, 2026. Image: Google Street View.

The postcard does not yield a precise geographic match, but it records something just as valuable: the temporary-looking, garden-like character of the college in its early years. The 13161 Burbank Boulevard address, the building style and the Ethel Avenue parking notice place the lost scene along Burbank Boulevard just west of Ethel. The later corner views provide a useful comparison of Valley College signage and campus change, but they should remain separate from the question of exactly where the 1957 photographer stood.

Explore more: SFV Postcards · Van Nuys Postcards · Valley College in Van Nuys Postcard

Sources and notes

• Original Los Angeles Valley Junior College postcard, front and back, from the supplied collection. The reverse credits Max Mahan and Columbia Wholesale Supply and carries the number H-1706.
• Later views supplied by the author from Google Street View.
• Los Angeles Daily News: “Old-school bungalows at LA Valley College campus will make way for cutting-edge complex”, September 7, 2021.
• About Los Angeles Valley College — campus history, including the growth from 33 temporary bungalows to 45 between 1951 and 1956.
• Los Angeles Valley College construction projects — records the 2020 completion of the Bungalows 1–77 demolition and describes Valley Academic Hall.
• Los Angeles Valley College: “LAVC Kicks Off Construction on a New Academic Complex Building”, May 10, 2023 — identifies the project site as the former location of the college’s original 1950s postwar bungalows.
• San Fernando Sun: “LA Valley College Kicks Off Construction on a New $90 Million Academic Complex Building”, May 17, 2023 — source for the groundbreaking photograph; photo courtesy of Jennifer Borucki.
• Los Angeles Community College District: “Valley College Unveils New Academic Hall to House Six Departments”, February 11, 2026.