Daeida Wilcox Beveridge
Born1861
DiedAugust 7, 1914
OccupationBusinesswoman
Known forfounder of Hollywood
Spouse(s)Harvey Henderson Wilcox
Philo J. Beveridge

Daeida Hartell Wilcox Beveridge (/dˈdə/;[1] 1861 August 7, 1914) donated land, named, and founded Hollywood, northwest of Los Angeles, California, in 1888.

Early life

Born in Hicksville, Ohio, Daeida was the daughter of farmers Amelia and John Emerson Hartell, and attended private school in Hicksville and later public school in Canton, Ohio.

Hollywood

A few months after her family acquired its new ranch, Daeida visited her hometown of Hicksville. Daeida heard the name Hollywood from another traveler, who owned an estate by that name in Illinois.[2]

In August 1887 at the age of 25, she and her husband began to lay out a new town on their ranch, with a subdivision map filed for "Hollywood, California," with the Los Angeles County Recorder's office. Their ranch, purchased at $150 an acre, was sold for $1,000 a lot. The 1880s real-estate boom busted that same year, yet Hollywood began its slow growth.

With her second husband, Daeida continued leading development efforts and was instrumental in establishing much of Hollywood's civic infrastructure, including the city hall, library, police station, primary school, tennis club, post office, city park, and one of the two original commercial districts.[3] She built the Hollywood National Bank and Citizens Savings Bank, a post office, a theatrical playhouse, and the city's first sidewalks. She gave land for three churches, and donated three prime lots on Cahuenga Boulevard and on Prospect (Hollywood Boulevard) to the painter Paul de Longpré, for an estate that came to include extensive flower gardens and a Mission Revival style mansion with a public art gallery. It became a popular tourist attraction.

Personal life

She married prohibitionist Harvey Henderson Wilcox, and they moved to Kansas. In 1886 they moved to Southern California and in 1887 purchased a 120 acres (0.49 km2) ranch of apricot and fig groves outside of Los Angeles at the foot of the Hollywood Hills. Harvey Wilcox died in 1891.

In 1894, Daeida married Philo J. Beveridge, a businessman and prominent citizen of Hollywood, the son of an Illinois governor, who shared her vision of community. The Beveridges had four children [3]

Death

She came to be called the "Mother of Hollywood." Daeida Wilcox Beveridge died of cancer on 7 August 1914.[3]

The Los Angeles Times obituary stated that it was Daeida's dream of beauty that gave world fame to Hollywood, years before the first movie company arrived in 1913. Her associates said she was "reliable, forcible, kindly, a woman of rare judgment, and a worthy opponent."[3]

Daeida Hartell Wilcox Beveridge was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995.[4]

Namesakes

See also

References

  1. Daeida.com: Daeida Hartell Wilcox Beveridge history
  2. "California Holly: How Hollywood Didn't Get its Name | nhm". nhm.org. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hicksville Historical Society—Daeida Beveridge
  4. Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame: Daeida Hartell Wilcox Beveridge
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