The planned industrial/residential community of Playa Vista had been on corporate drawing boards long before the Hughes Aircraft complex located there closed. Summa Corp., the firm formed by Howard Hughes in 1972 to manage his business enterprises, began planning to develop the 2.3-square-mile chunk of land as far back as 1978. The 926 acres theContinue reading “How Playa Vista sprang up from scratch at the foot of the Westchester Bluffs”
Author Archives: Sam Gnerre
Hughes Aircraft: Birthplace of the Spruce Goose, the world’s largest seaplane
Howard Hughes bought 380 acres at the foot of the Westchester Bluffs for $500,000 in 1940, when he was 34 years old. He wanted the sizable chunk of land for his aviation firm, Hughes Aircraft Company, which he had started in Glendale in 1932. The new company plant would be located on what was thenContinue reading “Hughes Aircraft: Birthplace of the Spruce Goose, the world’s largest seaplane”
Torrance women rise up against rumored 1952 plan to repeal the 19th Amendment
The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the woman’s suffrage movement’s greatest triumph in the U.S.: the passage of the 19th Amendment enfranchising all adult women with the right to vote. The passage of the amendment marked the culmination of a decades-long struggle by a determined group of activists. Leaders of the suffragist movementContinue reading “Torrance women rise up against rumored 1952 plan to repeal the 19th Amendment”
Murals by Frank Bowers graced churches, civic buildings — and many a dive bar
The walls of the Foc’sle Bar in Wilmington are adorned with a pair of racy murals painted more than half a century ago by an artist who allegedly agreed to render the tropical island tableaus featuring topless women as payment for his bar tab there. The man who created them was Frank Howard Bowers, anContinue reading “Murals by Frank Bowers graced churches, civic buildings — and many a dive bar”
Torrance’s Palos Verdes Bowl served up strikes for more than 60 years
The recent closure of the Palos Verdes Bowl in Torrance after 61 years of operation brings the number of bowling alleys in the city to two, Gable House Bowl and Bowlero. It also marks the end of an era on Crenshaw Blvd, where the alley’s celebrated Googie-style space-age “BOWL” vertical sign had become a familiarContinue reading “Torrance’s Palos Verdes Bowl served up strikes for more than 60 years”
Terranea: Creating the $480 million seaside development took more than two decades
The land along the rocky coast at Long Point in Rancho Palos Verdes owns a place on any short list of the most scenic locales in the South Bay/Harbor Area. The developers of Marineland of the Pacific deemed it the perfect location for their new aquatic theme park, which opened on the site in AugustContinue reading “Terranea: Creating the $480 million seaside development took more than two decades”
Renowned architect Paul Revere Williams left his touch on the South Bay
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) bestowed its highest honor, the Gold Medal, on Paul Revere Williams in December 2017. The posthumous award marked the first time an African-American architect had been so recognized. But then, Williams spent a lifetime as a pioneer in his field. He designed more than 2,000 buildings during his long,Continue reading “Renowned architect Paul Revere Williams left his touch on the South Bay”
The long, tumultuous voyage of the USS Potomac, FDR’s presidential yacht
The USS Sequoia was the official presidential yacht in service at the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office as president in 1933. Herbert Hoover had the Sequoia commissioned in 1931, and used it for fishing trips as well as official business. FDR continued to use the mahogany-hulled boat for the first couple of years ofContinue reading “The long, tumultuous voyage of the USS Potomac, FDR’s presidential yacht”
Rancho San Pedro housing project originally housed defense workers
The Rancho San Pedro housing project in San Pedro has its origins in a prewar Los Angeles City Housing Authority (CHA) proposal to build living quarters for defense industry workers that were nearer to the factories and shipyards where they worked. The Housing Act of 1934, part of FDR’s New Deal, had created the foundation forContinue reading “Rancho San Pedro housing project originally housed defense workers”
William Wrigley’s Catalina Island Bird Park hosted hundreds of avian species
When William Wrigley Jr. bought Catalina Island from its owner Phineas Banning in 1919, he immediately set about to strengthen its already strong appeal as a tourist attraction. In 1921, the chewing gum magnate opened the Sugarloaf Casino on a spit of land at the northern entrance into Avalon Bay known as Sugarloaf Point. The casinoContinue reading “William Wrigley’s Catalina Island Bird Park hosted hundreds of avian species”
