The area now known as Reseda was inhabited by Native Americans of the Tongva tribe who lived close to the Los Angeles River.

[1] In 1909 the Suburban Homes Company, a syndicate led by H. J. Whitley, general manager of the Board of Control, Harry Chandler, H.G.

[2] Henry E. Huntington extended his Pacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) through the Valley to Owensmouth (now Canoga Park).

The Suburban Home Company laid out plans for roads and the towns of Van Nuys, Reseda (Marian) and Canoga Park (Owensmouth).

The geographic name "Reseda" was first used for a siding on a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which ran between the cities of Burbank and Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley.

As the Zelzah Tribune reported: The Marian territory has made application for a post office to serve that district.

Mrs. Turner, we are told, who has taken an active interest in the canvass and to create a sentiment for post office advantages, will possibly be the postmistress.

[6] The central business district began in 1915, at what is now the intersection of Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way, with the construction of a hardware store.

Soon a blacksmith shop and an auto repair garage were built nearby, followed by a grocery store and a drugstore.

The wooden building housing the fire department was then moved to the southeast side of Sherman Way, where it remained until 1933.

Reseda grew slowly, with the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression further slowing expansion.

Around that time, manufacturing roof tile, canning poultry products, and processing walnuts began to emerge as viable businesses as well.

[12] The mid- to late 1940s saw a large increase in the numbers of single-family dwellings and the loss of numerous acres of agriculture, and the addition of First Class Postal Service.

The large ranches were subdivided, and the area was developed by realtors just as World War II veterans were returning home.

[16] Reseda is flanked on the north by Northridge, on the east by Lake Balboa, on the south by Tarzana and Encino, on the southwest by Woodland Hills, and on the west by Winnetka.

[24] Nineteen percent of Reseda residents 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average figure for both the city and the county.

With the advent of class-size reduction becoming the priority, many parents began returning their children to the city's schools, and the number of newly arrived immigrants was boosting enrollments, officials said.

[32] The Reseda Country Club was a well-known concert venue during the Los Angeles punk rock and new wave scenes of the 1980s.