Hollywood walking tour

After purchase, to begin your Hollywood walking tour, you will need to head to 7083 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, at the corner of N La Brea Ave. This is the start location.

Once there, log in to this website and begin your hunt, or go to My Account for full instructions.

This tour was launched in 2017.

It was reviewed, modified, and updated in 2023.

This scavenger hunt is of NORMAL difficulty.

The ideal group size ranges between 2 and 6 people – but not restricted to this. Children are welcome and will enjoy most challenges.

History of Hollywood

In fact, Hollywood is a neighborhood located in central Los Angeles. You now know it as the home of the film industry. However, if you will be visiting any of the film studios, you will quickly realize that they are not located in Hollywood anymore. The city incorporated as a municipality in 1903. Actually, its origins go back to 1870.

The origin of the name Hollywood is actually quite funny. In 1886, when H.J. Whitley (Father of Hollywood) was on his honeymoon in this area, he came upon a Chinese man in a wagon carrying wood. The man got out of his wagon and bowed. When Whitley asked him what he was doing, the man replied, “I holly-wood”. That was his pronunciation for “hauling wood”.  Whitley decided to call this area Hollywood as another meaning for him was Holly to represent England and wood to represent his Scottish heritage. Whitley had already started over 100 towns across the western United States by that time.

Did you know the motion-picture business started here in the early 1900s? The first studio here was the Nestor Company in 1911. Then, by the 1920s, four major studios were already here: Paramount, Warner Bros, Columbia, and RKO. Incidentally, the term Tinseltown came about around that time.

The Hollywood sign was originally built in 1923. Back then, the sign read “Hollywoodland”, only meant to be up for 18 months! However, it is still here 90+ years later, with a few letters missing. And as they say, the rest is history. As for the history, you will learn a little more about it on this self-guided walking tour/tourist scavenger hunt.