Universal City or Universal Studios Complex is an unincorporated area within the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Approximately 415 acres (1.7 km) within and around the surrounding area is the property of Universal Pictures (NBCUniversal's film studio), one of the five major film studios in the United States: about 70 percent of the studio's property is inside this unincorporated area, while the remaining 30 percent is within the Los Angeles city limits. Universal City is primarily surrounded by Los Angeles with its northeastern corner touching the city of Burbank, making the unincorporated area a county island.
Located within the area of Universal City is the film studio complex Universal Studios Lot and the theme park Universal Studios Hollywood, as well as the Universal CityWalk shopping and entertainment center. Within the Los Angeles city limits lies 10 Universal City Plaza, a 36-floor office building for Universal and NBC; the Sheraton Universal; and the Universal Hilton. The Metro B Line underground station of the same name is located opposite the 10 Universal Plaza.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) station is located at Universal CityWalk, and the community also houses the only government-funded fire station in the United States located on private property. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) Station 51 (formally Station 60 until the mid 1990s) is of special significance to Universal, as "Station 51" was the fictional setting of the Universal and Jack Webb television series Emergency!. However, the current Station 51 was not used for external shots, or used as a model for the interior shots seen on the show (LACFD Station 127 in Carson was used).
Universal City's ZIP code is 91608, and the community is inside area code 818.
History
Carl Laemmle officially opened the Second Universal City (Lankershim Boulevard) on March 15, 1915, on the Taylor Ranch property. At the launch event, in what is now the North Hollywood area, a crowd of men and women eagerly awaited the display of the film stages, daredevil stunt pilots and silent film idols, as well as the movie cameras Laemmle had brought along. "See how slapstick comedies are made. See your favorite screen stars do their work. See how we make the people laugh or cry or sit on the edge of their chairs the world over!" stated a poster touting Universal's opening. "C'mon out! Aw, c'mon!"
Laemmle, a German immigrant, was Universal Pictures' founder who opened his first nickelodeon in Chicago in 1906. He moved to New York City, where he soon joined half a dozen small motion picture companies to create the movie company he called Universal Pictures.
In 1912, Laemmle briefly operated three small studios - Bison, Nestor, and Oak Crest Ranch. After a court battle with New York Motion Picture Company, control of the Bison lot was returned to the New York Motion Picture Company. The court allowed Carl Laemmle to retain use of the name "Bison" as "Bison 101" for his westerns, which were filmed on the Oak Crest property in the San Fernando Valley. The Oak Crest Ranch is where Laemmle filmed the western At Old Fort Dearborn. The Providencia Land and Water company, called "Oak Crest Ranch" in the trade papers, became the first Universal City location.
In 1913, Laemmle consolidated the Nestor studio (Hollywood) and Oak Crest ranch (Providencia) property. His first Universal City was too small, so he ordered a search for a new and larger property in the valley, a location with more space. Laemmle leased Providencia ranchland in the San Fernando Valley in 1912. If it was a city, it was a haphazard one: with the help of nearly 300 movie hands and actors, Laemmle erected makeshift buildings, set up cameras and began churning out hundreds of one- and two-reel silent westerns.
Other studio chiefs called the place "Laemmle's Folly", mocking that the property was so far out of town and that Laemmle could film scenery for free anywhere he wanted. Laemmle worried that he had made a huge mistake, though Universal was a success because the public could observe movies being made.
In the meantime, Laemmle added a zoo to the Oak Crest Ranch, which was open to visitors to generate free advertising by word of mouth. The Rotarians of Los Angeles were one of the groups permitted to visit the Oak Crest - Universal City.
The Oak Crest ranch being too small for his larger Universal City, Laemmle bought the Lankershim Land and Water property, the Taylor Ranch for $165,000, calling it his "New Universal City".