Edward C. Hurd (often styled “E. C. Hurd”) arrived in Southern California during a period of great transition. According to historical records, Hurd amassed his early fortune in Colorado mines and then turned his attention westward, recognizing in the Los Angeles region an opportunity for transformation.
By Allan R. Ellenberger for The Hollywoodland Revue
The home of Hollywood pioneer Edward C. Hurd at 6594 Hollywood Boulevard.
By the late 1880s and early 1890s, Hurd was operating at the nexus of transportation, land, and development—three forces that would prove instrumental in the metamorphosis of the then-rural Cahuenga Valley into the suburban and entertainment district of Hollywood.
The Hollywood Investment & Transportation Link
Hurd’s name appears in the annals of early Hollywood largely through two interlocking ventures:
- In circa 1890 he and partner S. E. Mattison purchased from James McLaughlin the small narrow-gauge steam railroad known as the Cahuenga Valley Railroad, extending the line west along what was then Prospect Avenue (later renamed Hollywood Boulevard) toward Laurel Canyon.
- He owned (or acquired) one of the elegant Victorian homes on the northwest corner of Prospect (Hollywood Blvd) and Wilcox Avenue, which later passed into the hands of the developer H. J. Whitley.
These two moves—control of transit infrastructure and ownership of strategically placed land—put Hurd in the driver’s seat of early Hollywood’s growth. By enabling access by rail (or “dummy line”) and positioning himself in key real-estate parcels, Hurd helped open the valley for subdivision, residences, and eventually commercial development.
Building the Vision and The Home
Hurd invested in the land at the intersection of what became one of Hollywood’s major crossroads and his home became something of a showpiece. By around 1900 his residence at 6594 Hollywood Blvd (at Wilcox) stood as a symbol of transformation—from ranch fields and orchards to grand homes and the beginnings of suburban living.
His involvement with the local utility and water companies (such as the Cahuenga Valley Water Company) further underlines the role he played not simply as speculator but as infrastructure builder.
Legacy Through Land and What It Means Today
While H. J. Whitley is frequently called “Father of Hollywood,” and others receive the lion’s share of attention in the histories, E. C. Hurd’s role is a quieter yet pivotal one: he bridged the transition from agricultural to suburban to urban-entertainment land uses. Without the roads, rails, and residential foundations he helped lay, the glitz of Hollywood may have taken a different form—or arrived later.
One historian of the area writes bluntly: “In the mid-1880s… H. J. Whitley arrived… this large Victorian home (once Hurd’s) … The sale of both the railroad and the residence marked a transition point in Hollywood’s history.”
From Life to Mortality: The Final Chapter
Detailed biographical records of Hurd’s later years and his death are scant, which is not uncommon for many of these early developers whose fame was overshadowed by the glamor of the motion-picture era that followed. What is clear is that his investments paid off—and his land holdings eventually became part of the fabric of Hollywood as we know it.
Hurd may have faded from the popular story, but his Victorian home and the rails he helped extend live as muted monuments in the layered terrain of Hollywood’s memory.
So when you walk the boulevard and look at the towering signs, the Walk of Fame stars, the tourists and the neon—remember that beneath that spectacle lies the groundwork laid by men like E. C. Hurd: a miner turned investor, a transit extender, a builder of homes—and ultimately a quiet pioneer of the Hollywood we watch on screen.