Back in 1913, William Ellsworth Smythe, founder of a social movement known as "Little Landers," established a colony in Los Terrenitos, as Tujunga was then known. His disciples immediately began constructing Bolton Hall, which became the center for all community activities. The building later served as Tujunga's City Hall and town jail, though by 1920 the Little Landers utopian society was little more than a memory. 

However, its legacy can still be observed and studied today at the restored Bolton Hall. It's now a museum charged with the responsibility of preserving the history it was so much a part of.
      
The McGroarty Art Center is also in Tujunga. It was built in 1923 by poet laureate and Congressman John Steven McGroarty. The statesman named his home "Rancho Chupa Rose," and upon his death in 1944, it became the property of his niece, Margaret McHale. The home and 16 adjoining acres were purchased by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks in 1953. The complex was declared a historical monument in 1970, and four years later it opened the restored John Steven McGroarty Memorial Archive Library.