Editing Northridge, Los Angeles (section)

==History==
{{Further|History of the San Fernando Valley}}

===Tongva===
The Northridge area was first inhabited over 2,000 years ago by the [[Tongva]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=University |first1=Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast 2016 Conference © California State |last2=Street |first2=Northridge 18111 Nordhoff |last3=Northridge |last4=Us |first4=CA 91330 Phone:677-1200 / Contact |date=2015-09-12 |title=About Northridge |url=https://www.csun.edu/asian-studies-pacific-coast-2016/about-northridge |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=California State University, Northridge |language=en}}</ref> The village of Totonga was located in the Northridge area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tongvapeople.com/villages.html |title=Villages of the Gabrielino-Tongva |publisher=Tongvapeople.com | author=Sam |access-date=January 13, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718040308/http://www.tongvapeople.com/villages.html | archive-date= July 18, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Tongva lived in dome-shaped houses and are sometimes referred to as the "people of the earth".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tongva.com |publisher=Gabrieleno/Tongva Tribal Council of San Gabriel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010923234724/http://tongva.com/ |archive-date=2001-09-23 |url-status=dead |title=Gabrieleno/Tongva Nation }}</ref> They spoke a [[Takic]] [[Uto-Aztecan]] (Shoshonean) language. Many of their [[pictographs]] were destroyed by the development of [[Greater Los Angeles]].<ref name="Pictographs of the Tongva">{{cite web | url=http://sinay.com/sls/rockart/rock/rock-9.htm#pgfId-1340345 | title=Pictographs of the Tongva or Gabrielino | publisher=Hanon Sinay / [[Rancho Los Alamitos]] Foundation, Long Beach, CA | work=Puvungna Educational Materials Regarding the Native Southern Californians In and Around the Long Beach Area |date=1993| access-date=April 7, 2019 | author=Roe, Diane |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526135349/http://www.sinay.com/rockart/rock/rock-9.htm|archive-date=May 26, 2010}}</ref>

===Mexican land sale===
In the late 1840s, Mexican Governor [[Pio Pico]] broke with the tradition of "granting" land and, instead, sold it, without the usual area limitations, to Eulogio de Celis, a native of Spain. By 1850, de Celis was in the Los Angeles census as an agriculturist, 42 years old, and the owner of real estate worth $20,000.<ref>{{cite book|author=TheOkayNetwork.com |url=http://www.laokay.com/halac/AndresPicoAdobe.htm |title=Andres Pico Adobe - Historic Adobes of Los Angeles County by John R. Kielbasa - Things To Do In Los Angeles |date=1997 |isbn=0-8059-4172-X |publisher=Laokay.com |access-date=January 13, 2013}}</ref>

===Land division===
A few years later, the land was split up. The heirs of Eulogio de Celis sold the northerly half – {{convert|56,000|acre|km2}} – to Senator George K. Porter, who had called it the "Valley of the Cumberland" and Senator Charles Maclay, who exclaimed: "This is the Garden of Eden." Porter was interested in ranching; Maclay in subdivision and colonization. Francis Marion ("Bud") Wright, an Iowa farm boy who migrated to California as a young man, became a ranch hand for Senator Porter and later co-developer of the {{convert|1,100|acre|km2|adj=on}} Hawk Ranch, which is now Northridge land.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalsociet38hist|title=The Historical Society of Southern California quarterly|last=Historical Society of Southern California|date=1949|publisher=Los Angeles, Calif. : The Society|others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}</ref>

=== Early community ===
In 1908, the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] lays tracks through the Hawk Ranch property; following this and continuing the pattern of railroad boom towns, the Hawk Ranch was sold for subdivision and was renamed ''Zelzah'' in 1910. The name is derived from a [[Zelzah (biblical place)|biblical name]] for an oasis as a reference to a water well located in the area. The Zelzah Train Station or Depot was built on the site that is now the northwest corner of Parthenia Avenue and Reseda Boulevard, across the street from the water well. Also in 1910, on January 13, the large balloon America landed on the so-called ''Zelzah ranch'' after a {{Convert|31|mi|km|adj=on}} trip from [[Huntington Park, California|Huntington Park]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 14, 1910 |title=Balloon Makes Enjoyable Trip |volume=XXXVII |page=3 |work=[[Los Angeles Herald]] |issue=105 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19100114.2.33}}</ref> By April, The Scandia Land and Loan Company was advertising ''Zelzah Acres'' with land going for $250 per acre.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 24, 1910 |title=For Sale |volume=XXXVII |page=11 |work=[[Los Angeles Herald]] |issue=205 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19100424.2.161.48.4 |access-date=May 16, 2023}}</ref> The company advertised the acres as the "cream of the San Fernando valley, the richest soil in California," describing the ease of transportation provided by the station, the lack of [[Alkali soil|alkali]], adobe or [[hardpan]] soil, and stating that water for domestic purposes could be welled from 35 to 65 feet and at 140 to 300 feet for general irrigation; water would later become a major selling point for land in the valley after the arrival of the [[Los Angeles Aqueduct]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 11, 1911 |title=Zelzah Acres |volume=XXXIII |page=11 |work=[[Los Angeles Herald]] |issue=102 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19110111.2.163.4}}</ref> The initial growth in the region was so marked that discussions of the creation of new school districts were being forwarded to the county school superintendent [[Mark Keppel]], one of these districts being named Zelzah which would benefit 15 children of school age living nine to ten miles from a schoolhouse.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 3, 1910 |title=Suburbanites Ask for New School Districts |volume=XXXIII |page=9 |work=[[Los Angeles Herald]] |issue=33 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19101103.2.88.7 |access-date=May 16, 2023}}</ref> By the beginning of 1912, a post office had been established in Zelzah.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 15, 1912 |title=Post Office Changes |volume=14 |page=2 |work=San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram |issue=159 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SLODT19120215.2.13.3 |access-date=May 16, 2023}}</ref> By April 1913, sales agents E. O. Hanson & Sons were advertising that only 300 of the original 1100 acres were left for sale, by then at $325 an acre.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 3, 1913 |title=Suburban Property: You Should Buy Zelzah Acres |volume=XXXIX |page=20 |work=[[Los Angeles Herald]] |issue=158 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19130403.2.152.3 |access-date=May 16, 2023}}</ref>

The first church built in Northridge, the [[Faith Bible Church, Northridge, California|Faith Bible Church]], was built in 1917.<ref name=":0" /> By the 1920s, the town became a shipping center for agricultural products and continued to be a rural community for many years.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Northridge Community Plan |url=https://planning.lacity.org/plans-policies/community-plan-area/northridge |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=planning.lacity.org}}</ref>

Residents of Zelzah voted to change the community's name to ''North Los Angeles'' in 1929.<ref name=":1" /> Reseda Boulevard, the main thoroughfare of the community, was paved in 1930.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Binghannam |first1=Abdul |url=https://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/NGV%20Final%20III_compressed.pdf |title=Northridge Village Gateway Vision |last2=Baltazar |first2=Jason |last3=Salazar |first3=Jinmi |last4=Sugarman |first4=Joel |last5=Jimenez |first5=Maria |last6=Lanyon |first6=Reva |year=2015 |location=California State University, Northridge}}</ref>

In 1938, the community's name was changed to the more popular ''Northridge Village'' at the suggestion of local resident and director of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles Carl Denzel; it would later be shortened to just ''Northridge''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

=== Post-war years ===
The community began to develop rapidly [[History of the United States (1945–1964)#Society|after World War II]] and agricultural lots were subdivided into suburban housing tracts to meet the demand for single-family homes by veterans and their families. Commercial development began to take place in the 1950s; the [[San Fernando Valley State College]] was opened in 1956. Light industry moved into the area and spurred a building boom.<ref name=":1" /> The train depot was torn down in 1961 and underpasses were constructed below the railway over Reseda Boulevard and Parthenia Street.<ref name=":0" />