Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region,[10] with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley,[11] of Los Angeles County, California, United States.

[13][14] In 1797, José María Verdugo, a corporal in the Spanish army from Baja California, received the Rancho San Rafael from Governor Diego de Borica, formalizing his possession and use of land on which he had been grazing livestock and farming since 1784.

[14] Mexican rule ended during the Mexican–American War: Americans took control from the Californios after a series of battles, culminating with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847.

Andrew Glassell and Alfred Chapman were awarded the great Rancho La Cañada and more than 2,000 acres of what is now Highland Park and York Valley.

[19] On March 11, 1887, Erskine Mayo Ross, Cameron E. Thom, and several others, filed the first plat for Glendale, described as "Pasadena's first and only rival.

[22] An important civic booster of the era was Leslie Coombs Brand (1859–1925), who partnered with Henry E. Huntington to bring the Pacific Electric Railway, or the "Red Cars", to the area.

At the railroad dedication celebration, Brand spoke of "his early dreams coming true, in which he pictured a country home in close proximity to the city."

[27] Pioneering endocrinologist and entrepreneur Henry R. Harrower opened his clinic in Glendale in 1920, which for many years was the largest business in the city.

It was also at Grand Central that Moseley established the first of his private flying schools, Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute (later renamed Cal-Aero Academy).

[43][44] The emergence of increasingly visible ethnic groups — including Armenians, Cubans, Filipinos and Koreans — changed the official discourse in Glendale.

This construction boom resulted in Glendale's population growing at a rate 60% higher than that of the county at large, turning the city into a denser, younger and more cosmopolitan urban center.

It is bordered to the north by the foothill communities of La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Tujunga; to the south by the Atwater Village and Glassell Park communities incorporated by the city of Los Angeles; to the east by Pasadena and Eagle Rock (also incorporated within Los Angeles); and to the west by Griffith Park and the city of Burbank.

Fall often brings clear and dry weather, but can be gusty due to the Santa Ana winds, blowing in once or twice a year from October to December.

Beginning in the late 1970s, as a result of the Lebanese Civil War and the Iranian Revolution, a dramatic influx of Armenians began to arrive in Glendale.

ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian stated "One could look at it cynically and say they're coming because this is an election year, but on the other hand[,] the Armenian community has a lot of friends, because we're active in the public life of many cities[.

[100] In the 1930s, Glendale prevented the Civilian Conservation Corps from stationing African American workers in a local park, citing sundown town ordinances that both cities had adopted.

The late 1980s and early 1990s also saw increases in Mexican American population as Glendale offers higher-quality education in a safer suburban environment away from the city.

At the Glendale City Council's 2024 proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, GALAS Boardmember Shant Jaltorossian commented, stating "Our work as a cultural hub and resource group emphasizes the importance of intersectionality in our fight for justice.

In August 2013, Avery Dennison Corp., a label maker for major brands, announced plans to move its headquarters from Pasadena to Glendale.

The facility was the first official terminal for the Los Angeles area, as well as the departure point for the first commercial west-to-east transcontinental flight flown by Charles Lindbergh.

[127] When The Walt Disney Company outgrew its Burbank studio lot in the early 1960s, it expanded to Glendale's Grand Central Business Centre.

[136] In 2024, East End Studios announced the completion of a film production complex, named "Glendale", featuring two sound stages and ancillary facilities.

[138] In October 2024, Mayor Elen Asatryan travelled to South Korea, where she struck an entertainment partnership deal with the Incheon Free Economic Zone.

The agreement includes a new government-to-government platform jointly built by the governments of Incheon and Glendale and sharing it with entertainment companies in both cities.

[141] In 2023, Glendale and neighboring Burbank partnered to launch Upstart Valley, a program to support startups, entrepreneurs, and the technology industry.

[176] The Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services operates the Glendale DPSS welfare office on San Fernando Road.

The line is planned to connect downtown Burbank to Glendale via Glenoaks Boulevard before heading south on Central Avenue and then continuing east on Broadway.

[200] A 2021 Metro staff report for the Metro Board's Planning and Programming Committee has recommended corridors where the transportation agency could pursue new bus rapid transit lines, including one between downtown Glendale and East Los Angeles College, a 13.64-mile (21.95 km) corridor passing through Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Echo Park.

Also studied has been the creation of a light rail line along the Burbank-Glendale-Union Station corridor, potentially allowing trains to leave the existing right-of-way to travel through the commercial core of Glendale.

The city is considering two alignments for the proposed system, both of which would feature 16 stops running approximately 2.88 miles (4.63 km) between Stocker Street in the north and the Glendale Transportation Center in the south, where it would connect with Metrolink and Amtrak trains.