History of Culver City
 

Did you know that in 1929, the founder of Culver City, Harry Culver was president of the California and National Real Estate Associations?

Culver City History contributed by Julie Lugo Cerra
Honorary Culver City Historian

http://www.seeing-stars.com/Studios/MGM.shtml


Hughes Aircraft Headquarters
Culver City, California


Howard Hughes at the controls of his HK-1 Hercules flying boat.

One of the most famous projects to come out of the Hughes Culver City facility was the HK-1 Hercules flying boat (better known as the "Spruce Goose").



The 2nd prototype of the Hughes XF-11 takes off from Culver City on April 4, 1947.


The Hughes Culver City facility eventually became the Hughes Helicopter Company, where thousands of civil & military helicopters were built, including the Hughes 300, 500, and OH-6 models.

The last aircraft taxied down Culver City's Runway 23 in 1985. Playa Capital Corporation had shortened the runway to 4,000' to make room for their Playa Vista development. The runway pavement has since been reduced to aggregate, to be used to pave the streets of planned new developments at the site.

In 1995, many of the former Hughes factory buildings were used in the filming of the science-fiction movie "Independence Day", according to designer Kenneth A. Larson, who worked on the movie at the site. The Hughes buildings were used for stages, production offices, model shops, and workshops. Scenes for the movie were shot on a stage constructed within the historic Hughes Cargo Building, where the Spruce Goose was built fifty years before.

Although many of the former factory buildings have been demolished, as of 2002 there were still 11 former Hughes buildings remaining at the site. The most notable of the remaining buildings are the administration & cargo buildings. The cargo building, where the Spruce Goose was built, has been used as a movie studio sound stage in recent years.

The administration building also still stands, with Howard Hughes hardwood paneled personal office also still inside. The wall-sized global aeronautical chart has been earmarked to be removed & shipped to the Smithsonian Institution.

The remaining buildings, were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and thus cannot be torn down. Therefore, any redevelopment of the site will have to take into account their historic preservation. 


The March 2004 USGS aerial photo of the Hughes Airport site showed that
 all of the runway had been removed, but Building 45 (the hangar)
 & Building 15 (the former Spruce Goose factory building) still remained standing.


A February 2005 photo by Paul Freeman of the redevelopment on the middle portion of the former
 Hughes runway, with the former Building 45 (the hangar) on the right.