Culver City History: Harry H. Culver, a native of Milford, Nebraska, arrived in Southern California in 1910 from the Philippines, where he worked in the mercantile business, as a reporter for the Manila Times. In 1913, at a luncheon at the downtown California Club, he announced his plans for a city between the growing Los Angeles and the resort of Venice. The following year, the last try by Los Angeles to augment its westside only netted the annexation of "The Palms," and in September 1917, Culver City became an incorporated city of its own.

Culver earned a national reputation as an innovative promoter. He marketed his little city by busing people in for a "free lunch" and offered a piece of land to the winner of the prettiest baby contest, started a marathon race, and he established a real estate force of 150 headquartered in Main Street. His next brainstorm altered forever the future of Culver City. After watching Thomas Ince make a movie on location on the banks of the La Ballona Creek, Culver convinced the movie maker to relocate his Sunset Boulevard facilities to 10202 Washington Boulevard and by 1919 director Hal Roach built the second major motion picture facility in what became known as the "Heart of Screenland." Culver City, through a series of 37 annexations over the years, grew from 1.2 square miles to nearly five miles. Today, there are many fine Culver City hotels and restaurants, and the population is approximately 40,000. However, its entertainment expenditures are higher than the entire San Francisco Bay area.