1952 - Pacific Park

1952

In 1947, ten acres of land for a future park site (Pacific Park) was purchased. Five acres of that purchase were deeded to the State of California as a site for a new National Guard Armory. It was hoped that the two parcels might be developed cooperatively so as to provide maximum utility for both State and the people of Burbank. Pacific Park was officially dedicated on September 7, 1952. In 1948, the National Guard requested a 99 year lease for a portion of the property for use as an Armory. A resolution was adopted by the City in 1950 finding certain land to be impractical for park purposes and then selling to the State of Armory. Pacific Park was renamed to Larry L. Maxam Memorial. Larry Maxam was born January 9, 1949 in Glendale, California. He attended Emerson Elementary School, John Muir Junior High School in Burbank and Burbank High School in Burbank, CA, leaving the latter in 1964. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in Los Angeles in 1965 and served with the Marine Aviation Detachment, Naval Air Technical Training Center in Jacksonville, Florida. He was promoted to private first class on April 1, 1966 and to Lance Corporal on January 1, 1967. Lance Corporal Maxam next served as a rifleman with Company F, Battalion Landing Team 2/8, in the Caribbean. In July 1967, he arrived in the Republic of Vietnam and served as rifleman, radioman and squad leader with Company D, Operation Kentucky. On February 2, 1968 he was killed in action at Cam Lo District Headquarters in Quang, Tri Province, Vietnam. Corporal Maxam was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard Nixon for his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty”. Corporal Maxam was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Oahu, Hawaii. On Saturday, April 17, 2010 Pacific Park was renamed Larry L. Maxam Memorial Park in honor of Corporal Larry L. Maxam, Medal of Honor Recipient. From notes on photo: “1952 Pacific Park. 4-17-10 dedication to rename park Larry L. Maxam Memorial Park.”

3715 W Pacific Ave, Burbank, CA 915

Burbank (Los Angeles County, Calif.)
Parks and Recreation
Park facilities
Automobiles
1950s

4 x 5 b&w print

Burbank Public Library, Burbank in Focus Office

cco00335

City Clerk’s Office