your comments
Kim Burns From Bridgend
My mother has recently found out thet Griffith J Griffith may be related to us.
Doug Griffith from Irving, TX
Gr. J. Gr. (Gr was an early Celtic abbreviation for Griffith) would be a good fit with my family tree. Don't shake it too hard though, there's no telling what might fall out.
Tracey Maurer from Pennsylvania
My mother's maiden name is Griffith. My pap (her dad) always talked about the three Griffith brothers that came over from Wales. One being his dad or pap, we cannot remember which one. But my pap was John W. Griffith born in 1913. Does anyone know the exact names ofthe three brothers?
Critical Thinker from Los Angeles, CA
Move on? Sorry Julie Daniels, but some of us are intellectually curious and find history interesting. Have fun forming more "happy memories" in your brain-dead, glossy-eyed Stepford stupor.
Helen Bule from Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
Sounds like a typical gangster mentality, circa 1900. I am researching my family tree and he just might be hung after all! Poetic justice?
Will Campbell, Los Angeles
Technically the landmark Hollywood sign stands outside the boundaries of Griffith Park.
Julie Daniels, Los Angeles
It's a beautiful park where many happy memories are created, and the observatory is a great asset to Los Angeles - move on, people!
Mary Ann Salisbury of Valley Village, California
Griffith Park is the largest municipal park and urban wilderness area in the United States. The 4,210 acre park is five times the size of New York's Central Park.
Griffith Park history and trivia:
On December 16, 1896, Col. Griffith bequeathed 3,015 acres as a Christmas gift to the people of Los Angeles:
"It must be made a place of recreation and rest for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people," Griffith said on that occasion. "I consider it my obligation to make Los Angeles a happier, cleaner, and finer city. I wish to pay my debt of duty in this way to the community in which I have prospered."
Babe Ruth found out he was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees while golfing at the park,thus making it the birthplace of the 'Curse of the Bambino' which lasted for 86 years.
Diana Holliday of Hollywood, CA
While Col Griffith may have been an alcoholic, abusive husband who made his wife kneel down so he could shoot her in the head, I am thankful for his gift of Griffith Park to the city of LA because I was born & raised in Los Feliz so it's like an extended backyard for me.
Dorian Willliams Santa Rosa, California
I read that at first, the city of Los Angeles did not want to receive the ground, but accepted it for the water rights. Water in the Far West is still a hotly contested item - States sue each other over the matter. "Lawyers make out like Bandits"
R Mills of Los Angeles
If you view Col Griffith's grave, you will notice a noticable black spotch. Cemetery legend (as opposed to rumor) has it that there were lines of people (both men and women) who urinated on his grave, permanently staining the monument.
zapdada
"Col" Griffith shot his wife's eye out. There might have been no charges filed against him, except his wife was a member of the wealthy Verdugo family. They hired a special prosecutor from Sacramento.
Pete G
Found on a search of LA History:
.... Griffith J. Griffith, a Colonel, tycoon, and all-around nutcase. Griffith attempted the murder of his wife, accusing her of conspiring against him with the Pope in a plot to overthrow the President. His wife lived and testified against him. For whatever reason ($$$$), Griffith only spent about two years in prison. He offered to donate his property to the city of L.A. with the stipulation that they build an outdoor ampitheater. Initially, the city refused to accept the donation, but later accepted it. Today, that property is known as Griffith Park, and the ampitheater is The Greek Theater.
Rumor has it that flowers have never been placed on his grave.
Neil ap Jones of 'Great's of Wales' , Pyle
Sir, Mr Dean Powell, he was born in Bridgend. Can you await the publication of my books...
Dean Powell from Llantrisant
Any idea where Col Griffith actually came from in Wales?
Mining millionaire and Los Angeles city father
He donated 3,015 acres to the city which became the largest city park in the United States on the 16th of December 1896. Griffith Park (right) is five times larger than New York's Central Park in Manhattan.
This gift to the people of his beloved city of angels became known as the Griffith Observatory (left) and the entire facilty would be wholly owned and operated by Los Angeles for the benefit of the public.
