Wilshire Boulevard

Wilshire Boulevard ( "Will-shur") is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire (1861–1927), an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire Boulevard in the 1890s by clearing out a path in his barley field. A historic apartment building, the Gaylord, across from the site of the Ambassador Hotel carries his middle name.

Overview

Running from Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles to Ocean Avenue in the City of Santa Monica, Wilshire Boulevard is densely developed throughout most of its span, connecting five of Los Angeles's major business districts to each other, as well as Beverly Hills (where much of Wilshire is the postal divider between north and south) and Santa Monica downtown. Many of the post-1956 skyscrapers in Los Angeles are located along Wilshire; indeed, one of the oldest and tallest is known simply as "One Wilshire." Aon Center, at one point Los Angeles's largest (and presently second-largest) tower, is at 707 Wilshire Boulevard in Downtown Los Angeles.

One particularly famous stretch of the boulevard between Fairfax and Western Avenue is known as the Miracle Mile. The area just to the east of that is referred to as the Park Mile.

All of the boulevard is at least four lanes in width, and most of the portion between Hoover Street and Robertson Boulevard has a raised...
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