Mysterious “H” in the Hollywood Hills Explained
- KP
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
A year before the Hollywoodland sign, there was another “H” in the hills … for Hollywood High School.
In January 1922, students proved their school spirit by erecting a massive wood-and-tin white “H” atop Mount Cahuenga, just west of Mount Lee.
To the people of Hollywood, the emblem represented the entire community. Because of this, there were several attempts by rival schools to destroy Hollywood High’s “H,” despite the vigilance of the property owner whose land bordered the region.
Between vandals and the elements, by March 1923 the upper half of the hillside letter had been torn down.
To reconstruct it, Hollywood High senior Sidney Meeks formed the “H” Committee. Early one Saturday morning, he and seven other members of the school’s Boys League hiked up to the structure to assess the damage. Their findings were then presented during a special meeting called by the senior class to discuss a restoration project to make the “H” bigger and better.
It was an ongoing effort: In October 1924, fifty boys took as many sheets of metal from the Hollywoodland subdivision to the “H” during a repair effort.
Every year, a group hiked up to Mount Cahuenga, the highest summit in Griffith Park, to give it a fresh coat of white paint. By 1927, maintenance had become such a chore, students organized “a movement to shoulder the responsibility.”
Not long after, the “H” vanished from the Hollywood Hills skyline—the latest photo I can find is circa 1929.
Sidney Meeks spent the remainder of his life in Hollywood, working for years at Guaranty Building & Loan on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1977, he passed away and was buried at Forest Lawn, in the northern valley 1,800 feet below Mount Cahuenga … where the “H” once proudly stood.
Commentaires