Author Archives: Sam Gnerre

When the Perry School District officially was founded in 1905, the school building physically was situated on Los Angeles County land north of Torrance and northeast of Redondo Beach. Torrance wasn’t founded until 1912, so in the early days, Perry was associated with Redondo Beach. Its name came from Los Angeles & Redondo Railroad SuperintendentContinue reading “Perry School served generations of South Bay students”

The Vermont Drive-In Theatre in Gardena began as a new, innovative entertainment venue, and ended as the last of a dying breed. The Pacific Theatres chain started building drive-in theaters after World War II, and the Vermont was just the fifth such outdoor theater to be built by Pacific in the Los Angeles area. TheContinue reading “Gardena’s Vermont Drive-In Theatre becomes the South Bay’s last drive-in”

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club in New York City gets the credit in America for the oldest organized ritual of swimming in cold winter waters to start the New Year, having formalized the practice in 1903. Residents of Milwaukee began their well-known tradition of hopping into icy Lake Michigan on Jan. 1, 1916, accordingContinue reading “Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears began their annual New Year’s Day forays in 1953”

Rufus Parnell “Parnelli” Jones competed in and won in all types of auto races in all types of cars during his racing days, and the businesses he started in Torrance led to a long and successful career once he stepped out of the driver’s seat. Jones was born on Aug. 13, 1933, in Texarkana, Arkansas.Continue reading “Auto racing legend Parnelli Jones has deep South Bay roots”

Albert Isen, the first mayor of Torrance elected by popular vote, was born Albert Ben Israel Isenstein in Los Angeles on Oct. 19, 1907. He arrived in Torrance in 1912 at the age of five when his parents, Jacob and his wife, Mollie, moved to the then-new community. Jacob then changed his name to Jack,Continue reading “Torrance Mayor Albert Isen led the city through its period of rapid postwar growth”

The Port of Los Angeles first proposed building a wall in Wilmington in 1994 as part of a $30 million development project. The Harbor Commission approved the plan that March, but progress on it stalled after residents raised objections to the noise barrier planned south of C Street between Figueroa St. and Lagoon Ave. TheContinue reading “A proposed high wall morphs into an award-winning park in Wilmington”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor Area traces its roots back to the days of the Great Depression. The economic hardships of the era affected children and teens as well as their parents. Thousands of teenagers left their families to try and find a better life. Some lived the hobo life, Continue reading “The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor have served youths since 1937”

Hired under a Works Progress Administration program, Albert Dyer worked as a crossing guard at Centinela Elementary School in Inglewood in 1937. The 32-year-old Redondo Beach resident saw the students going to school every day and got to know many of them, including three girls for whose brutal murders he later would be executed. InglewoodContinue reading “Redondo Beach man gets death penalty for 1937 slaying of three Inglewood girls”

The idea seems like a no-brainer now: Build a communal center for occupational and vocational education that can serve multiple school districts who might not be in a position to fund such training programs on their own. But no such facility existed in California when Capt. Charles Gardner of the U.S. Naval Station in LongContinue reading “Torrance occupational center SoCal Roc has offered job training for more than 50 years”

Developer Clifford Reid started selling lots for new homes in the Hollywood Riviera section of Torrance in 1928. He felt the area was a natural for luxury homes, and hoped to attract celebrity homeowners to spur sales. Reid’s dream didn’t become a reality right away. The movie stars never came, with the prominent exception ofContinue reading “Thousands cheered glider meets at Hollywood Riviera Field”