Security Guard in Pacific Palisades, CA

Archeological evidence shows Native American Indians living in the Santa Monica Mountains and the surrounding area including Pacific Palisades for over 10,000 years. Prior to European contact, the western sections of the Santa Monica mountains were inhabited by the Tongva people. The closest Tongva settlement to Pacific Palisades with a written record is the village of Topa’nga. The village of Topa’nga sits on the western-most edge of Tongva territory, neighboring the territory of the Chumash people to the north. Due to this close proximity to the Chumash, the culture in western Tongva territory contained elements of Chumash influence.

The land that became Pacific Palisades was originally located within the boundaries of Rancho Boca de Santa Monica, granted by the governor of California during the Mexican period to Francisco Marquez and Ysidro Reyes in 1839. The Ysidro Reyes Adobe was the first adobe home ever built in Santa Monica Canyon, erected in the year 1838 on land now known as Pampas Ricas Blvd, located in Pacific Palisades. Sketches of adobe dwelling exist in the collection of the UCLA Library. A memorial plaque sits in a boulder on Pampas Ricas Blvd commemorating the adobe house, dedicated in the 1950s. Ysidro Reyes died in 1863. Reyes left his portion of Rancho Boca de Santa Monica to his widow, Maria Antonia Villa, who sold it to developer and railroad magnate Robert Symington Baker in 1875.

In 1911, film director Thomas Ince constructed his film studio, “Inceville”, which was located on a 460-acre (1.9 km²) tract of land he leased called Bison Ranch located at Sunset Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway in the Santa Monica Mountains. Today this is where the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is located. By the following year, Ince had earned enough money to purchase the ranch and was able to lease an additional 18,000 acres (73 km²) lot located in what is now in the Palisades Highlands neighborhood. stretching 7.5 miles (12.1 km) up Santa Ynez Canyon. This was the first major development was built in the Palisades since the Mexican rancho era.