Editing Burbank, California (section)

=== Railroad drives growth (1876–1888) ===
The arrival of the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] in 1876, linking [[San Francisco]] and Los Angeles, marked a turning point for the [[San Fernando Valley]], including what would become Burbank. A shrewd businessman, Dr. Burbank sold a {{convert|100|foot||adj=mid|-wide}}, nearly {{convert|3|mile||adj=mid|-long|spell =in}} right-of-way to the railroad.<ref>{{ cite web |title=Burbank history timeline: Burbank in Focus |website=Burbank in Focus |access-date=2024-10-26 |url=https://burbankinfocus.org/node/22 }}</ref> This decision helped shape Burbank’s future, positioning it as a vital transportation and commerce hub within the Valley.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.americassuburb.com/timeline.html | title = Timeline of Valley history | work = The Valley Observed | first = Kevin | last = Roderick | date = November 24, 2005 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111121163451/http://www.americassuburb.com/timeline.html | archive-date = November 21, 2011 }}</ref> The first train passed through Burbank on April 5, 1874. A boom created by a rate war between the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe]] and [[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific]] brought people streaming into [[California]]. By 1886, a group of speculators had purchased much of Burbank's land holdings for $250,000, possibly due to a severe drought that had made it challenging to sustain his livestock, killing approximately 1,000 sheep due to the lack of water and grass that year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wesclark.com/burbank/american_period.html |title=Chapter 2 – The American Period |access-date=January 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028072046/http://wesclark.com/burbank/american_period.html |archive-date=October 28, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Providencialandwaterdevelopment.jpg|thumb|right|Burbank as envisioned by Providencia Land, Water & Development Co.]]

The group of speculators who bought the acreage formed the Providencia Land, Water, and Development Company and began developing the land, calling the new town Burbank after its founder, and began offering farm lots on May 1, 1887. The townsite had Burbank Boulevard/Walnut Avenue as the northern boundary, Grandview Avenue as the southern boundary, the edge of the Verdugo Mountains as the eastern boundary, and Clybourn Avenue as the western border.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/default/files/community_documents/City%20of%20Burbank%20Citywide%20Historic%20Context%20Report,%202009.pdf |title=City of Burbank: Citywide Historic Context Report |date=September 2009 |access-date=October 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412182157/https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/default/files/community_documents/City%20of%20Burbank%20Citywide%20Historic%20Context%20Report,%202009.pdf |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The establishment of a water system in 1887 allowed farmers to irrigate their orchards and provided a stronger base for agricultural development.<ref name="Ref-3">{{cite web | url = http://www.ci.burbank.ca.us/citymanager/history.htm | title = History of Burbank, California | publisher = City of Burbank | access-date = January 4, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090114115910/http://www.ci.burbank.ca.us/citymanager/history.htm | archive-date = January 14, 2009 | url-status = unfit }}</ref> The original plot of the new townsite of Burbank extended from what is now [[Burbank Boulevard]] on the north, to Grandview Avenue in [[Glendale, California]] on the south, and from the top of the Verdugo Hills on the east to what is now known as Clybourn Avenue on the west.{{r|Ref-1}}

At the same time, the arrival of the railroad provided immediate access for the farmers to bring crops to market. Packing houses and warehouses were built along the railroad corridors. The railroads also provided access to the county for tourists and immigrants alike. A Southern Pacific Railroad depot in Burbank was completed in 1887.

The boom lifting real estate values in the Los Angeles area proved to be a speculative frenzy that collapsed abruptly in 1889. Much of the newly created wealthy went broke. Many of the lots in Burbank ended up getting sold for taxes.{{r|Ref-1}} Vast numbers of people would leave the region before it all ended.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://file.lacounty.gov/lac/cms1_146766.pdf | title = The County of Los Angeles Annual Report, 2009–2010 | year = 2009 | access-date = August 1, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100527225405/http://file.lacounty.gov/lac/cms1_146766.pdf | archive-date = May 27, 2010 | url-status = live }}</ref> The effects of the downturn were felt for several years, as the economy struggled to recover and many businesses closed. However, the region eventually rebounded and continued to grow and develop in the decades that followed.

Before the downturn, Burbank built a hotel in the town in 1887.<ref name="a new town">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115883666/burbank-a-new-town-to-be-located-on/ |title=Burbank: A New Town To Be Located On The Providencia |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date= April 20, 1887|page=2 |accessdate=January 6, 2023}}</ref> Burbank also later owned the Burbank Theatre, which opened on November 27, 1893, at a cost of $200,000.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu | title=A new theater | newspaper=Press Democrat | date=April 22, 1888 | access-date = January 21, 2023}}</ref> Burbank, who came to California in his early thirties, died in 1895 at the age of 73.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu | title=Dr. Burbank Gone - Death of a prominent property-holder of Los Angeles | newspaper=San Francisco Call | date=January 22, 1895 | access-date = January 21, 2023}}</ref> The theater continued to operate but struggled for many years and by August 1900 had its thirteenth manager.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uNk5AQAAMAAJ&q=morosco+theatre+los+angeles&pg=RA4-PR10 | title = The Theatre Magazine Company, 1913 | volume = XVIII, 1913 | page = X | work = Cornell University Library | access-date = May 4, 2019 | df = mdy-all | year = 1913 }}</ref> The new manager's name was [[Oliver Morosco]], who was already known as a successful theatrical impresario. He put the theater on the path to prosperity for many years. Though the theater was intended to be an opera house, instead it staged plays and became known nationally. The theatre featured leading actors of the day, such as [[Fay Bainter]] and [[Marjorie Rambeau]], until it deteriorated into a burlesque house.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/SFVH&CISOPTR=4100 | title = Dr. David Burbank, 1850 | work = Oviatt Library Digital Collections | access-date = February 16, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120225125928/http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2FSFVH&CISOPTR=4100 | archive-date = February 25, 2012 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>