Glendale

Sister cities

• Kapan
• Victoria de Durango

History

Native Americans lived along the Glendale Narrows of the Los Angeles River, known to the Tongva people as Paayme Paxaayt ("West River"), for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. Villages in the Glendale–La Crescenta-Montrose area included Ashwaangna, Hahamongna, Maungna, Tujunga and Wiqanga. In 1769, the Portolá expedition established a permanent Spanish presence in the area. Many of the native inhabitants were displaced in 1771 for use as slave labor for the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. This migration, together with European diseases such as syphilis, measles, and smallpox, depopulated their communities. In 1784, José María Verdugo, a corporal in the Spanish army from Baja California, received the Rancho San Rafael from Pedro Fages, the Province of Las Californias' Lieutenant Governor, In 1798, Verdugo retired from the military and began expanding his ranch operations. Soon he had nearly 2,000 head of cattle, 670 horses and 70 mules. With the help of his son, Julio, he built several adobe structures for various uses. Workers grew crops such as grains, peppers, oranges, figs, grapes and pomegranates, and also made wine. When Jose Maria Verdugo died in 1831, his estate was divided between his son, Julio, and his daughter, Catalina. With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, confirmed by the Commission in 1855, and the grant was patented to Julio and Catalina Verdugo in 1882. In 1861, Julio Verdugo took out a mortgage to build a larger house. Unable to make the loan payments, the family was forced into bankruptcy…

Geography

Glendale is located in the southeastern San Fernando Valley, north of downtown Los Angeles. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; of it is land and of it (0.43%) is covered by water. Glendale is the fourth largest city within Los Angeles County. Glendale is bordered to the north by the foothill communities of La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Tujunga; to the south by the Atwater Village and Glassell Park communities incorporated by the city of Los Angeles; to the east by Pasadena and Eagle Rock (also incorporated within Los Angeles); and to the west by Griffith Park and the city of Burbank. Several known earthquake faults criss-cross the Glendale area and adjacent mountains, as in much of Southern California. Among the more recognized faults are the Sierra Madre and Hollywood faults, situated in the city's northern and southwestern portions, respectively. Additionally, the Verdugo and Raymond faults intersect through the city's central and southeastern areas. The San Gabriel fault, meanwhile, is located northeast of the city. Roughly northeast of Glendale is a major portion of the San Andreas Fault known as the "Big Bend", where quake-recurrence tracking shows major activity roughly every 140–160 years. The closest portion of the San Andreas is actually from Glendale. The last major quake along the southern San Andreas was recorded in 1857. In the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, which took place along the western edge of the Sierra Madre Fault, surface ruptures were nearly long, including one portion a few miles northwest of Glendale. Most of the damage was in the northern San Fernando Valley, though 31 structures in Glendale suffered major damage and had to be demolished, plus numerous chimneys collapsed. The 1994…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• North Hollywood Senior High
  High · North Hollywood · 2,489 students · 20.9:1 ratio
• Crescenta Valley High
  High · La Crescenta · 2,488 students · 23.9:1 ratio
• Burbank High
  High · Burbank · 2,447 students · 24.7:1 ratio
• Burroughs High
  High · Burbank · 2,305 students · 23.1:1 ratio
• John H. Francis Polytechnic
  High · Sun Valley · 2,232 students · 19.1:1 ratio
• Alhambra High
  High · Alhambra · 2,160 students · 22.7:1 ratio
• Eagle Rock High
  High · Los Angeles · 2,069 students · 19.9:1 ratio
• La Canada High
  High · La Canada · 1,993 students · 24.3:1 ratio