Editing Burbank, California (section)

=== Rapid growth and modernization (1900–1940) ===
[[File:Woman%27s_Club,_Burbank.jpg|thumb|left|The Burbank Women's Club, built in a [[Mission Revival]] style.]]
In August 1900, Burbank established its first telephone exchange, making it the first in the [[San Fernando Valley]]. Within five years, several other telephone exchanges were established in the Valley, and a company known as the San Fernando Valley Home Telephone Company was formed, based in Glendale.<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/arthi/part/part11/articles/bills.html | title = The Telephone Shapes Los Angeles, 1880–1950 | first = Emily | last = Bills | journal = PART | issue = 11 | year = 2004 | access-date = January 4, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090113190624/http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/arthi/part/part11/articles/bills.html | archive-date = January 13, 2009 | url-status = dead }}</ref> This company provided telephone service to the entire Valley, connecting communities and facilitating growth. Home Telephone competed with Tropico, and in 1918 both were taken over by Pacific Telephone Company. At this time, there were an estimated 300 hand-cranked telephones in Burbank. The telephone network helped to connect the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas such as Burbank, making it easier for people to move around and do business.

By 1904, Burbank gained worldwide recognition when the renowned heavyweight boxing champion [[James J. Jeffries]] became a significant landowner in the town. Jeffries acquired  {{convert|107|acres|km2}} of land along Victory Boulevard to establish his ranch. He ventured into cattle farming and exported his livestock to Mexico and South America, becoming one of the pioneering residents to participate in foreign trade. Eventually, he constructed a sizable ranch house and barn near the present-day intersection of [[Victory Boulevard (Los Angeles)|Victory Boulevard]] and Buena Vista Street. Subsequently, the barn was relocated and reconstructed at [[Knott's Berry Farm]] in [[Buena Park, California]].{{r|Ref-1}}

The town's first bank was formed in 1908 when Burbank State Bank opened its doors near the corner of Olive Avenue and San Fernando Blvd. On the first day, the bank collected $30,000 worth of deposits, and at the time the town had a population of 300 residents.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ira Brown Cross|title=Financing an Empire: History of Banking in California|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2XBEAAAAIAAJ|year=1927|publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company|page=160}}</ref> In 1911, the bank was dissolved; it would then become the Burbank branch of the Security Trust & Savings Bank.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://articles.burbankleader.com/2003-03-05/news/export7278_1_first-time-burbank-olive-avenue-business-district |title=A person living in Burbank at the beginning of the 20th Century |work=[[Burbank Leader]] |first=Craig |last=Bullock |date=March 5, 2003 |access-date=June 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725052940/http://articles.burbankleader.com/2003-03-05/news/export7278_1_first-time-burbank-olive-avenue-business-district |archive-date=July 25, 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:"Fawkes' Folly", aerial trolley designed by J.W. Fawkes in Burbank and adorned with flags and decorations, 1907-1910(?) (CHS-5015).jpg|thumb|left|"Fawkes' Folly" being displayed in front of a large crowd]]
In 1911, wealthy farmer Joseph Fawkes grew apricots and owned a house on West Olive Avenue. He was also fascinated with machinery, and soon began developing what became known as the "Fawkes’ Folly" aerial trolley.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf8779p41q/ | title = Aerial Trolley Car Co., Inc. L.W. and E.C. Fawkes, Palentees. Burbank, California C.C. Pierce | work = Calisphere | access-date = January 4, 2009 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120708201500/http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf8779p41q/ | archive-date = July 8, 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref><!-- updated archiveurl due to missing image -->{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}} He and his wife Ellen C. Fawkes secured two patents for the nation's first [[monorail]]. The two formed the Aerial Trolley Car Company and set about building a prototype they believed would revolutionize transportation.<ref name="Ref-4">{{cite book | title = A history of Burbank | chapter-url = http://wesclark.com/burbank/city_of_burbank.html | year = 1967 | publisher = Burbank Unified School District | chapter = The City of Burbank | url = http://wesclark.com/burbank/a_history_of_burbank.html | access-date = August 10, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090825042549/http://wesclark.com/burbank/a_history_of_burbank.html | archive-date = August 25, 2009 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Joseph Fawkes called the trolley his Aerial Swallow, a cigar-shaped, suspended monorail driven by a propeller that he promised would carry passengers from Burbank to downtown Los Angeles in 10&nbsp;minutes. The first open car accommodated about 20 passengers and was suspended from an overhead track and supported by wooden beams. In 1911, the monorail car made its first and only run through his Burbank ranch, with a line between Lake and Flower Streets. The monorail was considered a failure after gliding just a foot or so and falling to pieces. Nobody was injured but Joseph Fawkes' pride was badly hurt as Aerial Swallow became known as "Fawkes' Folly." City officials viewed his test run as a failure and focused on getting a Pacific Electric Streetcar line into Burbank.<ref name="coscia">{{cite book| author=Coscia, David| title=Pacific Electric and the Growth of the San Fernando Valley |year= 2011|publisher=Shade Tree Books |location=Bellflower, CA| isbn =978-1-57864-735-4}}</ref>

Laid out and surveyed with a modern business district surrounded by residential lots, wide boulevards were carved out as the "Los Angeles Express" printed:
<blockquote>
Burbank, the town, being built in the midst of the new farming community, has been laid out in such a manner as to make it by and by an unusually pretty town. The streets and avenues are wide and, all have been handsomely graded. All improvements being made would do credit to a city&nbsp;... Everything done at Burbank has been done right.
</blockquote>

The citizens of Burbank had to put up a $48,000 subsidy to get the reluctant Pacific Electric Streetcar officials to agree to extend the line from Glendale to Burbank.<ref name="Ref-3" /> The first Red Car rolled into Burbank on September 6, 1911, with a tremendous celebration. That was about two months after the town became a city. The "Burbank Review" newspaper ran a special edition that day<ref name="Ref-4"/> advising all local residents that:
<blockquote>
On Wednesday, the first electric car running on a regular passenger-carrying schedule left the Pacific Electric station at Sixth and Main streets, Los Angeles, for Burbank at 6:30&nbsp;a.m. and the first car from Burbank to Los Angeles left at 6:20&nbsp;a.m. the same day. Upon arrival of this car on its maiden trip, many citizens gave evidence of their great joy by ringing bells and discharging firearms. A big crowd of both men and women boarded the first car and rode to Glendale and there changed to a second car coming from Los Angeles and rode home again. Every face was an expression of happiness and satisfaction.
</blockquote>

The Burbank Line was completed through to Cypress Avenue in Burbank, and by mid-1925 this line was extended about a mile further along Glenoaks Boulevard to Eton Drive. A small wooden station was erected in Burbank in 1911 at Orange Grove Avenue with a small storage yard in its rear. This depot was destroyed by fire in 1942 and in 1947 a small passenger shelter was constructed.

On May 26, 1942, the California State Railroad Commission proposed an extension of the Burbank Line to the Lockheed plant.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.erha.org/pewgb.htm | publisher = The Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California | title = Pacific Electric Glendale-Burbank Line | access-date = January 4, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090114163234/http://www.erha.org/pewgb.htm | archive-date = January 14, 2009 | url-status = live }}</ref> The proposal called for a double-track line from Arden Junction along Glenoaks to San Fernando Boulevard and Empire Way, just northeast of Lockheed's main facility. But this extension never materialized and the commission moved on to other projects in the San Fernando Valley. The Red Car line in Burbank was abandoned and the tracks removed in 1956.

In 1923, Burbank transitioned from a marshal’s office to a police department. The early department consisted of only a handful of officers who were responsible for maintaining law and order in a rapidly growing community. The first police chief was George Cole, who later became a U.S. Treasury prohibition officer. Through the decades, the department has grown and evolved, adapting to the changing needs of the city. Today, the Burbank Police Department is a well-respected agency, known for its professionalism and commitment to serving the community. The department has a diverse range of specialized units, including a SWAT team, K-9 unit, air support, and a detective bureau.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.burbankpd.org/inside-bpd/history-of-burbank-police-department/#:~:text=Law%20enforcement%20presence%20in%20Burbank,change%20in%20the%20city%20charter. | publisher = Burbank Police Department | title = History of Burbank Police Department | access-date = January 16, 2023 }}</ref>

In 1928, Burbank was one of the first 13 cities to join the [[Metropolitan Water District of Southern California]], one of the largest suppliers of water in the world. This contrasted with other [[San Fernando Valley]] communities that obtained water through political annexation to Los Angeles. By 1937, the first power from [[Hoover Dam]] was distributed over Burbank's own electricity lines.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.burbankwaterandpower.net/the-history-of-burbank-water-and-power | title = The History of Burbank Water and Power | work = Burbank Water and Power | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110723033518/http://www.burbankwaterandpower.net/the-history-of-burbank-water-and-power | archive-date = July 23, 2011 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> The city purchases about 55% of its water from the MWD.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cadelago |first1=Christopher |title=Service fees may rise soon |url=http://burbankleader.com/articles/2009/05/20/politics/blr-utilities16.txt |access-date=June 14, 2020 |work=[[Burbank Leader]] |date=May 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718060144/http://articles.burbankleader.com/2009-05-18/news/blr-utilities16_1_electric-rates-rate-increase-rationing-plan |archive-date=July 18, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}}