This image is the cover for the book Culver City Chronicles, American Chronicles

Culver City Chronicles, American Chronicles

Culver City has rivaled Hollywood for nearly a century as the "Heart of Screenland"--a center of the movie and television trades. Here, the giant Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer evolved into Sony Pictures, and the Ince and Selznick movie empires became today's Culver Studios. But the same lands along Ballona Creek had been a wilderness traversed by Native Americans and settled by hardy Spanish pioneers named Machado, Talamantes and Higuera. Union soldiers occupied the area's Civil War-era Camp Latham. By 1910, visionary Harry H. Culver saw possibilities for these ranchlands and led Culver City to incorporate in 1917. Join official city historian Julie Lugo Cerra, a descendant of early settlers, as she relates the fascinating stories of how and why Culver City grew and prospered.

Julie Lugo Cerra

Julie Lugo Cerra is a sixth-generation Californian, and a Culver City native who enjoys being called "the accidental historian."? She was appointed official City historian by the Culver City Council in 1996. Julie, a past president of the Culver City Historical Society, wrote hundreds of articles about her hometown's past in the Culver City News.

The History Press