The Will Rogers State Historical Park  

                                  1501 Will Rogers State Park Rd, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

The Will Rogers State Historic Park is the ranch estate of Will Rogers, the most popular and highest paid actor in Hollywood of the early 1930s. 

From his start in vaudeville theater with a trick roping act, Will rose to worldwide fame as a columnist, philosopher, radio personality, and movie star. During the 1920s, he bought land in Santa Monica, where he began to develop his ranch on 186 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in what is now known as Pacific Palisades. 

The ranch became the place where Will Rogers could relax with his family and friends, pursuing his favorite pastimes of riding and roping.  

At his untimely death in a plane crash in 1935, Will Rogers' ranch consisted of a 31-room ranch house, a stable, corrals, riding ring, roping arena, polo field, golf course, and hiking trails.  When his widow, Betty Rogers, died in 1944, she wanted to make sure that Will’s ranch would be available to the public as a memorial to her husband so she willed it to the state where it is now a state historical park.