Historical Notes

Although people often think the name Hollywood Bowl refers to the dome-shaped band shell on the stage, it is actually a reference to the natural bowl-shaped area surrounded by the Hollywood Hills formerly known as the Daisy Dell.

The 59 acre Bolton Canyon site was originally purchased circa 1918 by the Theatre Arts Alliance Inc. for $47,500 to build a community park and art center. They originally called it "The Park".^^

Christine Wetherill Stevenson, president of Theatre Arts Alliance, wanted the Alliance to focus on religious productions such as the Pilgrimage Play. When her partners objected to limiting the site's use to religious productions, she sold them her share of the property and built the theater across the street that became the Pilgrimage Play Theatre (later the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre) to host her show.^

Christine Stevenson was an heiress of the Pittsburgh Paint Company. A 32-foot-high steel cross, at 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard was erected in 1923 to the memory of Miss Stevenson.*^