Author Archives: Sam Gnerre

The stars came out in force in Westchester on Friday, Oct. 3, 1946, the night that Fox West Coast Theatres opened its state-of-the-art Loyola Theatre near the corner of Sepulveda and Manchester boulevards. The stars in the house included June Haver, Celeste Holm, Vera-Ellen, Vivian Blaine, George Montgomery and other players from that night’s openingContinue reading “Westchester’s Loyola Theatre”

The push for Los Angeles to designate an official city airport started in 1926, when the Chamber of Commerce began to promote the idea. The city took heed and began considering potential sites, hiring a meteorologist to analyze thirteen possible airfield locations. These included sites in the San Fernando Valley, Glendale, Santa Monica and Alhambra.Continue reading “The dedication of Los Angeles Municipal Airport”

George Lincoln Rockwell originally called his political action group the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists when he founded it in Arlington, Va. in 1959. In 1960, he streamlined the name to the American Nazi Party. His movement began to gain some traction after he became a popular attraction as a controversial paid speakerContinue reading “The American Nazi Party’s attempts to establish itself in the South Bay”

When the city of Lawndale incorporated on Dec. 28, 1959, it didn’t have a real city hall to call its own. City hall consisted of a storefront at 17606 Hawthorne Boulevard. The city was renting the building in the commercial district for $150 a month. The location was right between the the Properties Investment Corp./AxelContinue reading “Lawndale builds its city hall”

The city of Torrance will continue its consecutive string of Rose Parade entries stretching back to 1958 when its AYSO-themed “Everyone Plays” float rolls down the parade route on Jan. 1, 2014. It will be the city’s 60th entry overall. 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Torrance’s first Rose Parade float in 1914. Thomas D.Continue reading “Torrance’s Space-Age 1958 Rose Parade float”

The Torrance Drive-In Theatre had its own little corner of West Torrance all to itself when it opened amidst the oil wells at 5501 West Torrance Boulevard on Wednesday, June 29, 1955. Other area landmarks had yet to dot the nearby landscape. Bishop Montgomery High School wouldn’t open until 1957, and the Daily Breeze buildingContinue reading “The Torrance Drive-In Theatre”

A group of yachtsmen, some from the Los Angeles Athletic Club and some from other boating clubs began banding together in 1921 to form the California Yacht Club. Only a week after its official forming in February 1922, the group already had enough members and sufficient funding to undertake the building of a permanent clubhouse.Continue reading “The California Yacht Club in Wilmington”

Del Amo Boulevard once was described as Southern California’s “longest non-contiguous street.” A glance at the 1957 Thomas Bros. Street Atlas for Los Angeles County, Pages 67-70, reveals that the throroughfare indeed was once much less thorough than it is today. It’s as if urban planners along its length all agreed that the street wasContinue reading “Piecing together Del Amo Boulevard”

The redevelopment of the Redondo Beach waterfront in the 1960s had a profound effect on the entire city. Whole city blocks disappeared in the transformation that included the development of King Harbor and adjacent properties. The first major project to be developed on the land surrounding King Harbor was the Portofino Inn. Ground was brokenContinue reading “Mary Davis and the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach”