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The first Spanish land grant in the San Fernando Valley or El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de los Encinos, called ‘Rancho Encino’ (present day Mission Hills on the Camino Viejo before Newhall Pass), in the northern part of the San Fernando Valley. Juan Francisco Reyes built an adobe dwelling was built beside a Tongva village or rancheria at natural springs, but ‘Rancho Encino’ was short lived with the land traded so a Mission could be sited and built there. Mission San Fernando Rey de España was established in 1797 as the 17th of the twenty-one missions. The land trade granted Juan Francisco Reyes the similarly named Rancho Los Encinos, also beside springs (Los Encinos State Historic Park in present day Encino). Later the Mexican land grants of Rancho El Escorpión (West Hills), Rancho Providencia and Rancho Cahuenga (Burbank), and Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando (rest of valley) were established to cover the San Fernando Valley.

The Treaty of Cahuenga, ending the Mexican-American War fighting in Alta California, was signed in 1847 by Californios and Americans at Campo de Cahuenga, the Verdugo Family adobe at the entrance to the Cahuenga Pass in the southeast San Fernando Valley (North Hollywood). The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the entire war.

Statehood and beyond
The valley, not ‘a desert,’ was naturally a “Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Biome” of grassland, oak savanna, and chaparral shrub forest types of plant communityhabitats, along with lush riparian plants along the river, creeks, and springs. This Mediterranean climate meant that post 1790s European agriculture for the mission’s support was primarily limited to cattle and sheep grazing, with small vineyards, crops, and orchards the exception. This continued with subsequent Mexican, Californio, and American ranchers while the Valley became part of Mexican Alta California (1821), the California Republic (1846), and a U. S. State (1850). In 1874 ‘dry wheat’ farming was introduced by J. B. Lankershim andIssac Van Nuys and became very productive for their San Fernando Homestead Association that owned the southern half of the Valley. In 1876 they sent the very first wheat shipment from both San Pedro Harbor and from the United States to Europe.​
 

20th century
Aqueduct
Through late 19th century court decisions, Los Angeles had won the rights to all surface flow water atop and aquifer groundwater beneath the Valley, without it being within the city limits. After the construction and opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley Aqueduct) in 1913, pressure was put upon the residents of each independent Valley town to vote for annexation to the city with the ‘benefit’ being connected to the municipal water system. Concurrently and perhaps pre-aware, the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company, a syndicate led by Harry Chandler, Hobart Johnstone Whitley,Predident of the company, James B. Lankershim, and Isaac Van Nuys, extended the Pacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) through the Valley to Owensmouth (now Canoga Park and West Hills) and laid out plans for roads and the towns of Lankershim (now Toluca Lake), Van Nuys, Marion (now Reseda) and Owensmouth. The rural areas became annexed by Los Angeles in 1915. The growing towns voted for annexation, for example; Owensmouth (Canoga Park) (1917), Laurel Canyon(1923), Lankershim (1923), Sunland (1926), La Tuna Canyon (1926), and the incorporated city of Tujunga (1932); more than doubling the size of the city. A fictionalized story based on these events is told in the 1974 film Chinatown.​
 

The Aqueduct water shifted farming from wheat to irrigated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and cotton; orchards of apricots, persimmons, and walnuts; and major citrus groves of oranges and lemons. They continued until the next increment of development converted land use, with post-war suburbanization leaving only a few enclaves, such as the ‘open air museum’ groves at the Orcutt Ranch Park and CSUN campus.

Developments
Also the advent of three new introductions and industries in the early 20th century – motion pictures, automobiles, and aircraft – spurred urbanization and population growth. World War IIproduction and the subsequent post war boom accelerated this growth so that by 1960, the valley had a population of well over one million. Los Angeles continued to consolidate its territories in the San Fernando Valley by annexing the former Rancho El Escorpión for Canoga Park-West Hills (1959), and the huge historic “Porter Ranch” at the foot of the Santa Susana Mountains for the new planned developments in Porter Ranch (1965). The additions expanded the Los Angeles portion of San Fernando Valley from the original 169 square miles (438 km2) to 224 square miles (580 km2) today.​
 

Six Valley cities incorporated independently from Los Angeles: Glendale (1906), Burbank (1911), San Fernando (1911) Hidden Hills (1961), and Calabasas (1991). Universal City is an unincorporated enclave that is home to Universal Studios theme park and Universal CityWalk. Other unincorporated areas in the Valley are Bell Canyon and West Chatsworth.​
 

Northridge earthquake
Main article: 1994 Northridge Earthquake
The 1994 Northridge Earthquake, striking on January 17, 1994, measured a significant 6.7 on the Richter Scale. It was one of the few major earthquakes to originate and strike directly under a large city in modern times. Its epicenter was ‘precisely’ located just east of the intersection of Elkwood Street and Baird Avenue under Reseda.​
 

Parks and recreation

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The San Fernando Valley is home to numerous neighborhood ‘pocket parks,’ city parks, Recreation areas, and large Regional Open Space preserves. Many preserves are maintained as public parkland by: the National Park Service’s Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the California State Parks, and local county and municipal parks districts. A place to enjoy the big overview is the Top of Topanga Overlook, as shown in the photo at page-top here.​
 

Small garden parks
Gardens: The CSUN Botanic Garden, and Sepulveda Basin Sepulveda Park: Japanese Garden are mid-Valley for garden ideas and relaxation.​
 

Gardens at Adobes: The Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center historic house and garden, with a community garden and annual public citrus picking; the Leonis Adobe; Andrés Pico adobe; Los Encinos State Historic Park; and the evocative Mission San Fernando.

Recreation areas
Griffith Park: The largest of Los Angeles’ municipal parks, lies at the southeastern end of the valley in the Hollywood Hills of the Santa Monica Mountains.​
 

Recreation areas: Two large areas dedicated to sports and recreation are the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area and Wildlife Preserve behind Sepulveda Dam, and the Hansen Dam Recreation Area behind Hansen Dam.
Los Angeles River: There is an emerging bikeway, and numerous parks of various sizes, along and near the Valley’s stretch of the River, and also the Tujunga Wash.



Santa Susana Mountains: In the northern Valley the O’Melveny Park above Granada Hills preserves Bee Canyon; andRocky Peak Park  at the west , all are protected parks in the Santa Susana Mountains for enjoyment.

Simi Hills: In the northeastern Valley’s mountains are the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, Chatsworth Park South, and Sage Ranch Park . The sizeable recreation areas in the west Valley at Bell Canyon Park, El Escorpión Park, and Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve at the end of Victory Boulevard in West Hills andWoodland Hills give a large greenbelt and miles of hiking, mountain-biking, and horseback riding in the southern Simi Hills. They adjoin the Palo Commado-Cheeseboro Open Space Preserve and El Escorpión Park for an immense system of trails, with others in the Hills.

Verdugo Mountains: In the east side mountains are; Deukmejian Wilderness Park, La Tuna Park , Brand Park, and Verdugo Mountains Open Space Preserve, among other Verdugos parks.

Santa Monica Mountains: In the southern Valley Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park, Wilacre Park Wilacre Park, Laurel Canyon Park, and numerous others allow exploration of the ’close in’ Santa Monica Mountains’, withTopanga State Park nearby.​
 

Future Valley natural area
The Backbone Trail System, Rim of the Valley Trail, and Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail are each in incremental land acquisition and construction through and around the Valley, with future completion dates. The City of Los Angeles :: Los Angeles River Revitalization Plan andCity of Los Angeles :: River Improvement Overlay District – RIO are in planning stages for returning the River to an aesthetic and ‘green’ amenity’ with safe and accessible recreation, among many goals, for the ‘upper river in the Valley and downstream.​
 

Many future large tracts of undeveloped or ranch lands in the mountains surrounding the Valley are in the priority sights to be transformed into parkland. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and its affiliated agencies contract property trades, conservation easements, land donations, and outright purchases – of small to substantial natural lands in all the Valley’s surrounding Ranges; the Santa Monicas, Santa Susanas, Simi Hills, Verdugo Mountains , and San Gabriel Mountains.