San Fernando Valley History

Featuring the Back to the Future series and other stories from the Valley’s past.

This page brings together the numbered BTTF series and other historical stories from across the Valley. Some places are long gone, some have been repurposed, and others remain hidden in plain sight.

Have a correction, memory or story suggestion? Email SFValleyblog@gmail.com.

Featured History Stories

25. Irv Robbins (from Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors) Ice Cream Cone Shaped Pool in Encino

26. The Chatsworth Ranch That Broke Hollywood's Femme Fatale Veronica Lake 

27a. Straight Outta West SFV: Tarzana's Legendary Can-Am Recorders Turned Death Row Records 

27b. Music History: West Coast Hip-Hop’s Connections to the West San Fernando Valley

28. Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy was a Pet Store Owner and Apartment Landlord in the SFV

29. Toto's Van Nuys Garage that Created Musical Legends and A Small Tribute to Mike Porcaro

30. Michael Hutchence's North Hollywood Home Before Becoming INXS' Lead Singer

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Back to the Future Series

The numbered series documenting significant Valley locations and the stories behind them.

1. Clem Ruh Chevrolet 21100 Sherman Way Canoga Park 

2. Valley Music Theatre (60s-70s), Jehovah's Witness Assembly Hall (80s - 2004)

3. First McDonald's Restaurant In The San Fernando Valley

4. Valley Ho Restaurant 8126 Van Nuys Blvd Van Nuys

5. The Promenade Mall at Woodland Hills

6. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM aka Star Wars Special Effects Studio) 6842 Valjean Ave Van Nuys CA 91406

7. San Fernando Valley Council Headquarters for Boy Scouts of America 14955 Saticoy St Van Nuys CA 91407

8. Partying With Gun's N Roses In Canoga Park's Rumbo Recorder

9. Tower of Wooden Pallets, 15357 Magnolia Blvd. Sherman Oaks Historical Cultural Monument# 184 (site of)

10. The Piano Shaped Pool in Sherman Oaks by the Great Liberace

11. One Acre and Independence in Promising Winnetka: The Charles Weeks Colony Story

12. Edward Everett Horton's Encino Ranch Estate and the 101 Freeway; How A Celebrity Lost His Ranch to Suburbanization

13. Encino Velodrome

14. Drive-In Theatres of the San Fernando Valley

15. Melody Land In Northridge; The Elvis Presley Mini Graceland Tribute by Impersonator Danny Uwnawich

16. Josef Von Sternberg House by Richard Neutra

17. James Cagney Ranch in Granada Hills

17a. James Cagney Ranch Update with Slideshow and Article

18. The Jue Joe Ranch on Vanowen Street in Van Nuys Now Van Nuys Tennis Ranch

19. The Tragic Death of Child Actress Judith Barsi in Canoga Park Remembered 25 Years Later

20. Reseda's Filmation Studios and A Tribute to Louis Scheimer, The Legend Behind Saturday Morning Cartoons

21. Andy Devine's Gravel Flats Ranch in Van Nuys

22. Valley History: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s Desilu Ranch in Chatsworth
22a. Was Chatsworth's Desilu Ranch Designed by Noted Architect, Paul Williams?

23. Redken Laboratories in Canoga Park later turned to Ray-Art Studios and a Tribute to founder Paula Kent Meehan

24.  Barry Minkow's ZZZZ Best Carpet Cleaning Based in Reseda: The SFV Version of a Ponzi Scheme

25. Irv Robbins (from Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors) Ice Cream Cone Shaped Pool in Encino

26. The Chatsworth Ranch That Broke Hollywood's Femme Fatale Veronica Lake 

27a. Straight Outta West SFV: Tarzana's Legendary Can-Am Recorders Turned Death Row Records 

27b. Music History: West Coast Hip-Hop’s Connections to the West San Fernando Valley

28. Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy was a Pet Store Owner and Apartment Landlord in the SFV

29. Toto's Van Nuys Garage that Created Musical Legends and A Small Tribute to Mike Porcaro

30. Michael Hutchence's North Hollywood Home Before Becoming INXS' Lead Singer

More San Fernando Valley History

Additional historical stories that were not originally published as numbered Back to the Future entries.

World's First Partial Nuclear Meltdown in the San Fernando Valley

The Oldest and Second Oldest Homes in the San Fernando Valley

What Happened to the Vans Shoe Store On Topanga Canyon Blvd in Canoga Park?

Don't Raise Your Kids In The West Valley: A Retrospective Review of Young Adult Crime In The West Valley

The Air Raid Sirens of the San Fernando Valley

General Motors Futureliner Parade of Progress Spotted in Canoga Park

Cinderella Homes of the San Fernando Valley

Richard Neutra in the San Fernando Valley

A List of SFV Sites Closing in 2012

The Late Huell Howser's Visits to the San Fernando Valley

Exploring Sage Ranch and What Remains of Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory

Stepping out of the SFV and Exploring Bamboo Charlie's World in 

Boyle Heights

A Naked and Burning Richard Pryor Running Down Parthenia Street

A Bus Tour of Rocketdyne on June 29, 2013

Automotive Filming Needs Fulfilled in the San Fernando Valley

Historic Rocketdyne Engine Moves Down The Street to Nordhoff and De Soto

Celebrity Homes: The Menendez Family’s Former Calabasas Estate

A List of SFV Sites and People Lost in 2013

Another National Tragedy with SFV Origins, Elliott Rodger of Woodland Hills/West Hills Kills 6 College Students

The Former Home of Pink Panther's Henry Mancini in Northridge

A List of SFV Sites and People Lost in 2014

A Hiking Tour of Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory on April 25, 2015

Sun Valley's U-Pick Parts Closing Down January 1st; Hollywood's Preferred Junkyard

My Presentation to the Canoga-Owensmouth Historical Society on October 14, 2015

Remembering 2015's Places and People Lost in the SFV

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