Photos show the Hollywood sign's transformation from a temporary billboard to an iconic landmark

• Dedicated on July 13, 1923, the Hollywood sign in California is now known around the world.

• The structure wasn't initially meant to last more than two years.

• Now, 100 years later, neither Los Angeles nor California would be the same without it.

The Hollywood sign is a shining monument to the entertainment industry and a tourist attraction as culturally iconic for the city of Los Angeles as the Golden Gate Bridge is to San Francisco.

Towering over the City of Angels, this structure has a storied history, from a short-lived advertisement to a famous landmark.

Here is that evolution in photos as the structure, which was dedicated in 1923, celebrates its centennial.

The Hollywood sign, which is situated on Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains, overlooks the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

Originally reading "Hollywoodland," the first version of the sign was constructed in 1923 to promote an affluent new housing development in the Hollywood Hills.

Initially meant to be an 18-month-long advertisement, it was built by former Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler for about $378,000 today.

Source: The Hollywood Sign

The original 13 letters were 30 feet wide and about 43 feet tall, and they featured 4,000 bright white lights that blinked at night.

In 1932, the sign became an emblem for Hollywood's dark side when, after setbacks in the industry, actress Peg Entwistle scaled a ladder to the top of the "H" and jumped, killing herself. She became known as "The Hollywood Sign Girl."

When the Great Depression hit, the new owner, M.H. Sherman Company, had to power down the display and ultimately abandon it.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

The M.H. Sherman Company officially gave the dilapidated sign to the City of Los Angeles in December 1944.

Despite efforts by the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission to have the sign torn down in 1947, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce proposed to restore it after locals protested.

"Hollywoodland" became "Hollywood" in 1949 — so it no longer just referenced the original housing development — when the City of Los Angeles officially took ownership.

The billboard would appear in many high-profile movies over the decades, from "Earthquake" to "Superman."

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

The Los Angeles Heritage Commission declared the then-50-year-old sign a cultural landmark in 1973.

In August 1978, Playboy's Hugh Hefner symbolically auctioned off the sign to celebrities for $27,700 a letter to raise money to reconstruct it.

The new sign, revealed in November 1978, is the same sign we see today. It's 450 feet long and weighs 480,000 pounds.

While shooting for a National Geographic cover story in 1997, Michelle Yeoh performed a daring stunt dangling from a helicopter over the Hollywood sign.

The repainting of the Hollywood sign, which happens about once a decade, is a process that takes weeks.

Source: The Guardian

The sign has been altered many times over the years. It was changed to "Holywood" ahead of Pope John Paul II's visit in 1987, and pranksters switched the letters to read "Hollyweed" in 1976 and 2017.

Source: Business Insider

In 2023, Los Angeles commemorated 100 years of the sign by announcing October 31 as the official "Hollywood Sign Day."

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