Beverly Hills, in Los Angeles, was founded and named by Burton Green in 1906. Green and his wife named it after Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. Green wanted to create wide curving streets that hugged the hills and honored the beautiful scenery instead of defacing it. The city's first streets were Rodeo, Canon, Crescent, Carmelita, Elevado and Lomitas, which were constructed in 1907 by landscape architect Wilbur D. Cook. Cook also created Santa Monica Park.

To stimulate more development, the Beverly Hills Hotel was constructed in 1912. The hotel became the center of community life, serving as a theater, meeting place and church. The elegant lifestyle made possible by the hotel prompted movie stars to build their Hollywood homes here. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the among first to relocate to Beverly Hills in 1919. They were soon followed by stars such as Gloria Swanson, Will Rogers, Thomas Ince, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Mix, Carl Laemmle, Ronald Coleman, King Vidor, John Barrymore, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Jack Warner, Clara Bow, Marion Davies, Harry Cohn and Rudolph Valentino.

After the World War II years, Beverly Hills continued to develop into one of the most popular and glamorous places to eat, live, frolic and shop. High-end shopping districts like Rodeo Drive, were marketed as a once-in-a-lifetime shopping experience. Glamorous hotels like the Beverly Wilshire and the Beverly Hilton opened their doors, accomodating even more visitors. As the film and television industry took off, the city's global reputation proliferated as images of sets from shows like The Jack Benny Show and The Beverly Hillbillies were beamed to living rooms around the world.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, the population of the city is 33,784. The development and population growth of the city has slowed down, due to wanting to preserve what remains of the past and keeping its history alive, but the mystique of Beverly Hills as a place of wealth and beauty will never stop growing.