Slowly fading with the city's ever-changing landscape, the places and people of Burbank's past tell a vibrant story. Before the arrival of Warner Bros. and Walt Disney, First National Pictures built its original studio lot on Olive Avenue in 1926. For over sixty years, Lockheed Aircraft Company produced some of the nation's best airplanes where the massive Empire Shopping Center now stands. Heavyweight champion James Jeffries turned his Burbank ranch home and barn into a beloved landmark and boxing venue. And inventor Joseph Wesley Fawkes's scheme to build a monorail to Los Angeles became a local laughingstock. Die-hard Burbankers Wes Clark and Michael McDaniel collect these and many more forgotten local stories where they can finally be found.
Wes Clark was born in Los Angeles but his family moved to Burbank when he was eight; he was educated in Burbank schools. He met Mike McDaniel in 1972 and they graduated from Burbank Senior High School in 1974. They have always been intensely interested in history. Clark lives in Springfield, Virginia, with his wife of thirty-five years—they have three kids and five grandchildren. An electrical engineer, he works for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Mike Mc Daniel was born in the now disappeared Burbank Community Hospital, and has lived in Burbank in the same house for nearly sixty years. He attended all Burbank Schools. Mike still lives in Burbank and has been married for thirty-six years; he and his wife have five children. Mike has worked for the City of Burbank for thirty years and is the supervisor of the City Print Shop (printing being a vocation he learned in high school).