section_path: History
section_name: History
paragraph_text: History
  
  In 1877, Harvey Henderson Wilcox, one of the earlier real estate owners from "back East", decided to subdivide more than 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land (mostly orchards and vineyards) along Sunset Boulevard, including what is today Hollywood and Vine.
  
  In 1890, Belgian diplomat Victor Ponet bought 240 acres (97 ha) of the former Rancho La Brea land grant. His son-in-law, Francis S. Montgomery, inherited this property and created Sunset Plaza.
  
  Originally, Sunset Boulevard only extended from Hollywood in the west to Marion Avenue in the Echo Park district in the east. The Board of Public Works proposed to extend Sunset east to Main Street in the Plaza by routing the road over the existing section of Bellevue Avenue, but the plan was delayed until approximately 1904, due to active opposition by affected land owners. According to the 1910 Baist Real Estate Survey Atlas, Sunset Boulevard reached the Plaza by that time, but it did so by two short and narrow segments which were not aligned with each other and thus did not provide a proper thoroughfare to it. In late 1912, several properties along the route were condemned so that the boulevard could be changed in both its width and its alignment. With these changes completed, Sunset Boulevard now reached North Main Street and continued as Marchessault along the northern end of the Plaza.
  
  In 1921, a westward expansion of Sunset began, extending the road from the then-current terminus at Sullivan Canyon toward the coast. This land, a portion of the original 1838 holdings of Francisco Marquez, stretched across a mesa and became known as the "Riviera section". Will Rogers, who had bought much of this land as an investment, later donated it to the State of California creating Will Rogers State Historic Park.
  
  c. 1931, Sunset was a paved road from Horn Avenue to Havenhurst Avenue.
  
  The section variously marked and signed as Marchessault Street or East Sunset Boulevard, remained open to traffic until the late 1960s or early 1970s. At that time, Sunset was realigned one block north and Marchessault was closed to motor traffic.
  
  The westernmost stretch of Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades runs through an area devastated by the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. Many homes, businesses, and landmarks along the boulevard, such as the Pacific Palisades Business Block, were burned down.