Even if you’ve never been to Griffith Park, in Los Angeles, you’ll definitely have seen it on TV.
One of Los Angeles‘ leading attractions, the public park, in California’s Santa Monica Mountains, is where the iconic Hollywood sign is located, as well as the Los Angeles Zoo, and Griffith Observatory, celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.
Every year, more than 1.5 million tourists visit the park to go hiking or sightseeing – and it’s been featured in tons of films over the years, including La La Land, Rebel Without a Cause and The Terminator.
But while the park is now best known for celebrity sightings, it has a much darker past than many realise – including a regular ‘sightings’ of monsters and a former owner and namesake, Griffith J Griffith, who was infamous for attempting to murder his wife.
Griffith was born in the small village of Bettws, in south Wales, in 1850. It’s thought that he emigrated to the USA at age 16.
The Welshman’s first job was as a mining correspondent for a San Francisco newspaper and his expertise gave him the chance to build a fortune in the mining industry.
Griffith’s wealth allowed him to circulate in elite society and he began to call himself Colonel, despite having no prior military experience except as a major with the California National Guard.
In 1882, Griffith purchased 4,000 acres of land at Rancho Los Feliz and started an ostrich farm there. The ambitious Griffith hoped to attract tourists to ride on ostriches but the farm was short-lived, closing in 1889.
Griffith Park might be one of Los Angeles’ leading attractions but the public park in California’s Santa Monica Mountains has a much darker past than many realise
The park is where Los Angeles’ iconic Hollywood sign is located, as well as the Griffith Observatory and Los Angeles Zoo
The park and its observatory have featured in tons of films over the years, including La La Land, Rebel Without a Cause and The Terminator
In the meantime, Griffith had cemented his place in LA high society by marrying Christina, the daughter of a wealthy local family.
Griffith and Christina donated 3,015 acres to the city of Los Angeles to use as a public park in 1896. He stipulated that the land must be made into a ‘place of rest and relaxation for the masses’ and a ‘resort for the rank and file’.
Griffith Park was duly named after the self-made man and continues to bear his name today.
While Griffith said he wanted to pay a ‘debt of duty’ to the ‘community’ in which he had ‘prospered’, the Welshman was far less benevolent behind the doors of his own home.
He was abusive to his wife and his violent behaviour came to a dramatic head in 1903 when he shot Christina at point blank range.
The couple were in the Arcadia Hotel’s presidential suite at the time. An article published in the New York Times said Griffith had ‘forced’ Christina to answer ‘irrational questions’ about her ‘faithfulness’ before shooting her.
Although Christina managed to escape by jumping onto a roof ‘fourteen feet below’, she lost her right eye and suffered facial disfigurement in the assault.
While Griffith’s brutal attack on his wife only landed him two years in jail, the incident damaged his reputation in Los Angeles.
Griffith Park was named after Griffith J Griffith (left), who was infamous for attempting to murder his wife Christina (right)
Upon his release and eager to repair his legacy, Griffith offered to pay for a theatre and science hall for Griffith Park. However, this donation was blocked by park commission members due to Griffith’s crime.
He still set up a trust fund for park improvements and when he died in 1919, the city did build The Greek Theatre at Griffith Park as well as the Griffith Observatory in 1935.
While many tourists are unaware of the park’s dark past, the BBC reports that a sticker decrying domestic violence was stuck to Griffith Park’s sign several years ago.
And even before Griffith J Griffith took over the land, Griffith Park had a sinister backstory. The park is said to carry a ‘curse’ dating back from the 1860s.
Don Antonio Feliz, the owner of the land in 1863, was reportedly convinced to sign away his land to a friend while he was on his deathbed with smallpox.
After his family discovered what had happened, Feliz’s niece Petranilla apparently put a curse on the friend, his lawyer and the land itself.
Some people believe that the ghosts of Don Antonio and Petranilla can be seen haunting Griffith Park and seeking revenge, and there have been many reports of strange beasts spotted throughout the park over the years.
The park is even believed to be home to monsters by some.
Griffith’s brutal attack on his wife only landed him two years in jail, the incident damaged his reputation in Los Angeles
One notable sighting occured in October 2005, when three men claim to have ‘encountered a beast with green skin and red hair late at night within the park’.
Thrice Cursed Pod writes: ‘The creature was described as having very long legs and feet. It walked in strides impossible for any known creature, and it’s back was bent backwards, with a neck that bent forwards.
‘The men said that no human could have possibly contorted their body to look the way this creature had.’
But the park’s curse hasn’t stopped people from visiting the stunning tourist attraction – and it’s more popular than ever.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .