History of the Burbank Rancho

The Burbank Rancho Neighborhood is a rare remnant of urban equestrianism. Along with the Riverside Rancho in Glendale and Atwater Village in Los Angeles, it forms a historic cluster of equestrian neighborhoods in the Glendale Narrows.

Located on the banks of the Los Angeles River and sandwiched between Griffith Park (the nation’s largest municipal park) and Burbank’s Media District (the nation’s largest cluster of film and media jobs), the Burbank Rancho has asserted its unique identity for over a hundred years. It is part of a commercial-equestrian area historically known as the Riverbottom that includes the cities of Burbank (Burbank Rancho) and Glendale (Riverside Rancho), as well as the Los Angeles Equestrian Center (physically located in the City of Los Angeles and a part of Griffith Park). The Riverbottom has for several decades provided equestrian support services like stables, tack and feed stores, horse rentals, and riding academies.

Burbank Rancho’s equestrian identity and lifestyle has also been supported in part by the adjacency of movie studios and the Westerns they made and filmed in Griffith Park. The Burbank Rancho is the only area within Burbank that allows the unique activity of urban horse keeping, as allowed by the City’s Municipal Code since 1950. It benefits from direct access to Griffith Park and its rugged dirt trails via the historic Mariposa Street Bridge. Built in 1939 — after the concrete channelization of the Los Angeles River — the bridge links the equestrian communities north of the river to Griffith Park on the south. It has a storied past and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 2024.

Subdivision of Rancho Providencia, 1886 (City of Burbank)