AirTalk is off this week, so we’ll be supplying our podcast listeners with reruns of our Southern California history segments. Today’s episode is on Griffith Park. If you’d like to suggest a topic for a future SoCal history segment, email it to [email protected]. 

Griffith Park dwarfs other city parks. Its 4,300 acres make it about five times bigger than New York’s Central Park. And, unlike Central Park’s man-made rolling hills, Griffith Park is a true urban wilderness, comprised of a chunk of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park, originally Tongva-Gabrielino land, was gifted to the city by Welsh philanthropist Griffith J. Griffith in 1896, who also provided funds for the Griffith Observatory and the Greek Theatre. Griffith is a divisive figure: in 1903, he assaulted his wife with a gun and subsequently served time in prison. According to Casey Schreiner in his book Discovering Griffith Park, in its lifetime, “the park has been home to an airfield, multiple zoos, a landfill, a Civilian Conservation Corps work camp, a pre-internment camp and prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, housing for veterans, and more.” Joining us to discuss the history of the park and how Angelenos use it today are Mike Eberts, author of Griffith Park: A Centennial Historyand Casey Schreiner, founder of the site Modern Hiker and author of Discovering Griffith Park: A Local’s Guide.