This strip of commercial and retail businesses, which includes more than 100 buildings, is recognized for its significance with the entertainment industry, particularly Hollywood and its golden age, and it also features the predominant architecture styles of the 1920s and 1930s.

Three commercial centers rose and expanded until they merged into one, with every major film studio, the industry's most significant talent and advertising agencies, numerous theaters and movie palaces, and other entertainment-related businesses and institutions located in the area.

Other features that add to the historic nature of the district are its colored terrazo entryways, neon signage, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and its streetlights, the latter of which were developed specifically for the neighborhood.

[1] The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District boundaries were defined by the United States Department of the Interior based on the area's remaining integrity.

[8] These buildings cover a wide range of purposes, including financial, commercial/mercantile, office, theater, residential, hospitality, food service, institutional, and even one medical and another industrial.

Most buildings that housed financial and mercantile institutions were designed in Classical Revival styles, limited by a city ordinance to twelve stories and meant to reflect the prestige of the businesses within.

Revival styles featured in the district include Beaux Arts, Georgian, Gothic, Mediterranean, Neoclassical, Renaissance, and Romanesque, with prominent examples that include Hillview Apartments (1919), Security Trust and Savings (1921), Masonic Temple (1921), Taft (1923), Guaranty (1923), Hollywood Professional (1924), and the Christie (1922), Plaza (1924), and Knickerbocker (1929) hotels.

[1][2] The district also has a significant grouping of Spanish Colonial Revival buildings, ones that feature designs meant to create a feeling of sophisticated and upscale yet relaxed shopping and entertainment.

The style, which often features courtyards or other open space and extensive Churrigueresque detailing, was used primarily in the district's low-rise office, retail, service, and entertainment establishments.

Prominent examples of this style in the district include Hotel Roosevelt (1924), El Capitan Theatre (1925), and the Baine (1926), Hollywood Toys (1927), and Cherokee (1930) buildings.

Prominent examples of this style in the district include J. J. Newberry (1928), Pantages Theater (1930), Max Factor Salon (1931), S. H. Kress (1935), and the 7001 Hollywood Blvd.

These include the Victorian Janes Residence (1903); Vernacular Musso & Frank (1917) and Seven Seas (1920); Chateausque Holly Cinema (1920), Hallmark (1922, 1931 redesign), Johnny's Steak House (1930), and demolished Gilbert Books (1932); Parisian Montmartre (1922); and International Leed's (1935).

[1] In 1903, the Beveridge family attempted to rename Prospect Avenue after Paul de Longpré, who they and others believed "had done more than any other man to make Southern California...known to the world," but were not successful as many in the community did not want the street named after a Frenchman.

Around Hollywood and Cahuenga, Palmer Building and Security Trust and Savings were built in 1921, the former home to multiple news organizations[36] while the latter housed a bank that would become "a power center of the entertainment industry," with clients that included Charlie Chaplin, the Three Stooges, Lana Turner, W.C. Fields, Cecil B. DeMille, and Howard Hughes.

[11] Along with these was the El Capitan playhouse, which opened in 1926 and was converted to a movie palace in 1942,[40] and the Masonic Temple, built in 1921 and the second of two institutional buildings that remain in the district today.

[69] The Equitable Building fared somewhat better, undergoing a $1 million renovation in 1969, after which nearby Capitol Records occupied 44,500 square feet (4,130 m2) of office space on the third through eighth floors.

[70] Elsewhere in the district, Hollywood Wax Museum opened in the Christie Realty Building in 1965,[71] the Masonic Temple began leasing out its ground floor in the 1970s[72] and was sold altogether in 1982,[73] the Church of Scientology bought the Christie Hotel in 1974,[74] Shane Building housed The Masque from 1977-1978,[75] and Garden Court Apartments was vacated in 1980, after which it was inhabited by squatters and nicknamed "Hotel Hell.

Pacific Theatres bought Pantages Theater in 1967 and ten years later they partnered with Nederlander Organization to reopen the movie palace as a playhouse.

[1][8] Many of these have also been designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the years since, as has William Stromberg Clock, Raymond Chandler Square, and non-contributing Artisan's Patio Complex, all located in the district.

[79] Garden Court Apartments was initially considered as a contributing property but ultimately not listed due to the state of the building, which at the time was badly damaged by an attempted demolition.

[93] Finally, several more museums opened in the district during this period, including Fredericks of Hollywood's Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame in S. H. Kress in 1986,[94] Ripley's Believe It or Not!

In 1996, the American Cinematheque bought the Egyptian for a nominal $1, with the provision that the building be restored to its original grandeur and reopened as a movie theater.

[103] Nearby, a Mel's Drive-In opened in Max Factor Salon's one-story wing in 2001,[104] while the Hollywood Museum took over the rest of the building in 2002.

[105] Gilbert Books was demolished to make way for this project, while the Stores (1632 N. Vine St.) building survived multiple eminent domain attempts and was not.

Frederick's of Hollywood vacated S. H. Kress in 2005, after which the building underwent a $30 million renovation, re-opening in 2008 as a multi-use dining and entertainment venue that would go vacant three years later.

[120][121] Security Pacific also went vacant in 2008,[122] iO West ceased operations and Palmer Building was condemned in 2018,[98][123] and several businesses were unable to survive the COVID-19 lockdowns, including Fox Theater's new lounge/nightclub[26] and the Pig 'n Whistle, the latter of which was gutted and turned into a cantina.

[76] Musso & Frank, Frolic Room, Boardner's, Larry Edmunds Bookshop, Hollywood Toys & Costumes, Amoeba Records, and numerous other establishments continue to do business in the district, as do a multitude of museums that moved in over the years.

[129] The Walk of Fame unveils an average of two new stars every month, each accompanied by a media event,[130] and hand and footprints continue to be added to the Chinese forecourt.

2022 saw the Hollywood and Highland Center rebranded Ovation Hollywood, with all Babylonian theming removed;[132] 2023 saw another renovation at the Egyptian, this one by its new owner Netflix, who amongst other alterations removed every aesthetic addition received over the years, effectively bringing the theater back to its original form;[133] and 2024 saw the abrupt closure of Snow White Cafe.

[135] Furthermore, the City of Los Angeles has proposed a comprehensive renovation of the district's entire streetscape, with changes that include: adding sidewalk dining, event plazas, and community gathering spaces; improving landscaping, lighting, signage, and mobility access; doubling pedestrian space; and restoring the Walk of Fame.