Bell Canyon is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

in eastern

Ventura County, California Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...

, United States. Bell Canyon is a gated community in the

Simi Hills The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States. Geography The Simi Hills are aligned east-west and run for , and average ar ...

with the main access through the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

community of West Hills and the western San Fernando Valley. Bell Canyon sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Bell Canyon's population was 2,049. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Bell Canyon as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

(CDP). According to a 2016 study, Bell Canyon is the seventh wealthiest community in the state of California with an annual median income of $230,000. Incomes are commonly upwards of millions of dollars a year.

History

Pre-20th century

Chumash Native Americans lived in the canyon for around 8,000 years B.P. The Chumash had the village of Hu'wam here in the canyon on Bell Creek upstream from Escorpión Peak. It was multi-cultural, where Chumash,

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historica ...

, and Tataviam peoples lived and traded together. Nearby is the Burro Flats Painted Cave. Escorpión Peak (aka: Castle Peak) is one of nine alignment points in Chumash territory and is considered essential to maintaining the balance of the natural world. In 1845 the Mexican land grant for

Rancho El Escorpión Rancho El Escorpión was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash Native Americans - Odón Chijulla, Urbano, and Mañuel.

, named for the peak and located beside it at the mouth of Bell Canyon, was given by Mexican Governor

Pío Pico Don Pío de Jesús Pico (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a Californio politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the last governor of California (present-day U.S. state of California) under Mexican rule. A member of t ...

. Chumash- Ventureño Chief Odón Eusebia (1795–), his brother-in-law Urbano, and Urbano's son Mañuel were the grantees of the

Rancho Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos *Ranchos, Buenos Ai ...

grant, formerly

Mission San Fernando Rey de España Mission San Fernando Rey de España is a Spanish mission in the Mission Hills community of Los Angeles, California. The mission was founded on 8 September 1797 at the site of Achooykomenga, and was the seventeenth of the twenty-one Spanish mi ...

(Mission San Fernando) lands. After California U.S. statehood, as required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho El Escorpión was filed with the United States

Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established a three-member Public Land Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

in 1852, and the grant was patented to Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Mañuel in 1876. In 1871, Miguel Leonis acquired Odón Eusebia's holdings of Rancho El Escorpión, along with an adobe on the adjacent southern ranch lands in Calabasas. He used the land for cattle and sheep herds. Through various landowners that use continued at the Rancho until 1959 and Bell Canyon until 1967.

20th century - onward

In 1967 the Spruce Land Corporation and Boise Cascade joined in a partnership to purchase the Bell Canyon area to develop the community of Bell Canyon. In the fall of 1968, the Bell Canyon Equestrian Center, designed by '

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

modern ranch style' architect

Cliff May Cliff May (1903–1989) was an architect practicing in California best known and remembered for developing the suburban Post-war "dream home" (Ranch-style house, California Ranch House), and the Mid-century modern, Mid-century Modern. The R ...

, was built and began operation. In 1969 a new subdivision called "Woodland Hills Country Estates" was developed and opened for sales. It was a success, selling nearly all the 800 home site lots within ten days. In the fall of 1969 the new residential property owners took leadership of the community association and renamed the development "Bell Canyon," after Charles A. Bell, the original homesteader here and son of pioneer

Horace Bell Horace Bell (December 11, 1830 – June 29, 1918), was active in the American era of 19th century California, especially in the Los Angeles region. He was a Los Angeles Ranger, filibuster, soldier, lawyer, journalist and newspaper publisher ...

. He was a leading late 1880s newspaper publisher, Los Angeles attorney winning many cases for clients against neighbor Miguel Leonis, and the 1906 Justice of the Peace for

Calabasas Calabasas may refer to: * Calabasas, Arizona, former populated place in what is now Rio Rico, Arizona * Calabasas, California, city in Los Angeles County, California See also * Calabaza Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish languag ...

. Legend says he lost a right arm in an 1887 shootout when raiding a moonshiner. The

compound adobes, from the 1840s to the 1960s at the mouth of Bell Canyon, were actually outside the land grant and on Bell's property.

Geography and environment

Bell Creek, a tributary to the

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition Th ...

of the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

, winds its way through the community. Bell Canyon is an important part of the crucial

Wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat (ecology), habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of i ...

linking migrations between the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

and Santa Susana Mountains. There are many hiking and riding trails around the community, some of which border the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve Park connecting to the south and west. The Bell Canyon Trail extends north from Bell Canyon Park.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Bell Canyon had a population of 2,049. The population density was . The racial makeup of Bell Canyon was 1,724 (84.1%)

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 58 (2.8%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 4 (0.2%) Native American, 179 (8.7%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 10 (0.5%) from other races, and 74 (3.6%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 103 persons (5.0%). The Census reported that 2,049 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 661 households, out of which 286 (43.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 533 (80.6%) were heterosexual married couples living together, 40 (6.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 19 (2.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 15 (2.3%) unmarried heterosexual partnerships, and 8 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 45 households (6.8%) were made up of individuals, and 15 (2.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.10. There were 592 families (89.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.23. The population was spread out, with 521 people (25.4%) under the age of 18, 152 people (7.4%) aged 18 to 24, 287 people (14.0%) aged 25 to 44, 839 people (40.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 250 people (12.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.7 males. There were 688 housing units at an average density of , of which 629 (95.2%) were owner-occupied, and 32 (4.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.7%. 1,933 people (94.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 116 people (5.7%) lived in rental housing units.

Government

The Bell Canyon Community Services District, an independent government agency provides services such as waste removal, community recreation programs and security services to the residents in its boundaries. The independent government agency was established in 1984.

Education

Bell Canyon is served by the Las Virgenes Unified School District, with students bused each day to attend the schools of Round Meadow Elementary School, Alice C. Stelle Middle School, and Calabasas High School.

Notable people

John Aniston John Anthony Aniston (born Yannis Anastassakis, , July 24, 1933 – November 11, 2022) was a Greek-born American actor who played Victor Kiriakis on the NBC daytime drama series ''Days of Our Lives'', which he originated in July 1985 and played ...

, actor (1933- ) *

Roger Arnebergh Roger Arnebergh (August 17, 1909 – January 25, 2004) was an American attorney and elected official. He served as Los Angeles City Attorney from 1953 to 1973. Early life Roger Arneberg was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was the son of Targ ...

, Los Angeles City Attorney (1910–2004) * Guy Bee, television director, television producer, steadicam operator (1961- ) * Matt Earl Beesley, television director (1953- ) *

Shelley Berman Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. In his comedic career, he was awarded three gold records and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy reco ...

, comedian (1925–2017) *

Jonathan Butler Jonathan Kenneth Butler (born 10 October 1961) is a South African singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music. Biography Born and raised in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa, during A ...

, musician (1961- ) *

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film '' Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low- ...

, actor (1958- ) *

José Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oakla ...

, baseball player (1964- ) * Scott Carpenter, astronaut (1925–2013) * Katie Cassidy, musician/actress (1986- ) * Holly Marie Combs, actress (1973- ) *

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the Pop music, pop-Rock music, rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, ...

, musician (1945- ) *

Roxann Dawson Roxann Dawson (née Caballero, born September 11, 1958), also credited as Roxann Biggs and Roxann Biggs-Dawson, is an American actress and director. She is best known for her role as B'Elanna Torres on the television series '' Star Trek: Voyager' ...

, actress (1958- ) *

Stuart Duncan Stuart Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band. ...

, CEO, founder, TEN Broadcasting Inc. (1956- ) * Bobbie Eakes, actress (1961- ) * Jeff Eastin, television producer, screenwriter (1967- ) * Elliot Easton, musician (1953- ) * Kevin Eubanks, jazz musician (1957- ) *

Cory Everson Corinna "Cory" Everson (née Kneuer; born January 4, 1958) is an American female bodybuilding champion and actress. Everson won the Ms. Olympia contest six years in a row from 1984 to 1989. Education Corinna Kneuer was born in Racine, Wiscons ...

, bodybuilder/actress (1959- ) * Jamie Farr, actor (1934- ) *

Lyndsy Fonseca Lyndsy Marie Fonseca (born January 7, 1987) is an American actress. She began her career by appearing as Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', on which she starred between 2001 and 2005. Thereafter, she h ...

, actress (1987- ) * Ryan Friedlinghaus, MTV's Pimp My Ride, C.E.O. of West Coast Customs * Snuff Garrett, record producer (1938–2015 ) *

Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Brookl ...

, pianist (1945- ) * Kathy Garver, actress (1945- ) *

Floyd Gaugh Floyd I. "Bud" Gaugh IV (born October 2, 1967) is an American drummer who played in the bands Sublime (band), Sublime (1988–1996), Long Beach Dub Allstars (1997–2002), Eyes Adrift (2002–2003), Volcano (supergroup), Volcano (2004), and Sub ...

, musician (1967- ) * Bruce Hall, musician (1953- ) * Butch Hartman, animator (1965- ) * Don Herbert, "Mr. Wizard": scientist (1917–2007) * Ernie Hudson, actor (1945- ) * Alex Katunich, musician (1976- ) * Paul Leonard-Morgan, composer (1974- ) * Pattie Mallette, Canadian author * Sam McMurray, actor (1952- ) *

John McVie John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...

, musician (1945- ) *

Alyssa Milano Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress. She has played Samantha Micelli in '' Who's the Boss?'', Jennifer Mancini in '' Melrose Place'', Phoebe Halliwell in '' Charmed'', Billie Cunningham in '' My Name Is Earl'', S ...

, actress (1972- ) * Erin Murphy, actress (1964- ) * Niecy Nash, comedian/actress (1970- ) *

Vince Neil Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961), best known by the stage name Vince Neil, is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 format ...

, musician (1961- ) * Melissa Reeves, actress (1967- ) * Scott Reeves, actor/musician (1966- ) *

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American UFC color commentator, podcaster, comedian, actor, and former television presenter. He hosts ''The Joe Rogan Experience'', a podcast in which he discusses current events, comedy, polit ...

, actor, comedian, commentator, game show host (1967-) *

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA ( ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the ''de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums ...

, rapper, music producer (1969- ) * Kenny Wayne Shepherd, musician (1977- ) * Al Schmitt, recording engineer (1930-2021) * T.T. Boy, actor (1968- ) *

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day'' ...

, R&B/Hip Hop Artist (1984- ) * Marc Summers, game show host (1951- ) * Larry Wilcox, actor (1947- )

References

External links

*
CSUN Oviatt Library Digital Collections
Rancho El Escorpión vintage photographs website. {{authority control Census-designated places in Ventura County, California Populated places established in 1969 Gated communities in California Simi Hills Census-designated places in California