In 2009, I wrote a blog post about South Bay movie theaters of the past in which I spent a paragraph describing the Stadium Theater in Torrance. A second look convinced me that the theater’s history is worth retelling in a little more detail. The Stadium is often confused with the Torrance Theater, which wasContinue reading “The Stadium Theater in Torrance”
Author Archives: Sam Gnerre
Craig Breedlove and the Spirit of America
Craig Breedlove set land speed records during the 1960s in his “Spirit of America” racer, becoming the first man to break the 400, 500 and 600 mph barriers, living and working in the South Bay during that whole golden era. Breedlove was born in West Los Angeles on March 23, 1937. He went to VeniceContinue reading “Craig Breedlove and the Spirit of America”
Tornadoes in Hawthorne
The May 20, 2013 tornado that stuck Moore, Oklahoma tornado has brought tornadoes back to the forefront of public consciousness. The tornado was classified as an EF5, the highest level given on the Enhanced Fujita scale that measures tornado intensity. Its winds were clocked at 210 mph at one point. Though EF5 tornadoes are unusual,Continue reading “Tornadoes in Hawthorne”
The Concorde comes to LAX, but not for long
On an overcast day in 1974, the Concorde 2 supersonic transport (SST) airplane flew into LAX, the first time the SST had visited Southern California. Traveling at a top speed nearing 1,400 mph, the plane left Anchorage, Alaska at 1:16 p.m. on Oct. 23, 1974, slightly later than planned. Thousands of spectators lining viewing areasContinue reading “The Concorde comes to LAX, but not for long”
Gardena Records launches Paul Revere and the Raiders
A row of industrial buildings in a nondescript stretch of 154th street in Gardena masks a little-known byway in pop music history, even though the building that once housed John Guss’s Gardena Records is gone now. In the late 1950s, Guss owned a record-pressing plant that was located at 145 West 154th Street. (The addressContinue reading “Gardena Records launches Paul Revere and the Raiders”
Was Gertrude Evelyn Landon’s murder related to the ‘Black Dahlia’ case?
The Black Dahlia murder case has baffled investigators and fascinated the public for almost 70 years. The brutal murder of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, then 22, shocked postwar Los Angeles. Her mutilated and bisected body was found in a vacant lot at 39th and Norton streets in South Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 1947. TheContinue reading “Was Gertrude Evelyn Landon’s murder related to the ‘Black Dahlia’ case?”
The Chandler Palos Verdes Sand and Gravel Company
“I never thought it would amount to this much. No one else did, either.” So Linden Harold Chandler told Daily Breeze reporter Diana Chapman in a 1985 interview. “It” was Chandler’s giant gravel pit and quarry operation in Rolling Hills Estates.
Carrell Speedway in Gardena
Carrell Speedway in Gardena was part of a whole circuit of local automobile raceways scattered around in the Los Angeles area in the first half of the 20th century.
Wade Peebles and the 1963 Torrance corruption scandal
Wade Peebles got the appointment to become city manager of Torrance on Wednesday, July 5, 1961, on a 4-3 vote from the city council. He had been the city’s public works director since April 1959, and before that had been the city engineer and public works director for the city of Inglewood. A USC graduateContinue reading “Wade Peebles and the 1963 Torrance corruption scandal”
Fred Roessler, father of Palos Verdes Estates
Most people familiar with the Palos Verdes Peninsula have run across the Roessler name at one time or another. Roessler Memorial Pool, the seaside pool built in 1930 as the Palos Verdes Swim Club, was for many years the most visible structure to bear the name. Hans Frederick Bernard Roessler, or Fred, as he preferredContinue reading “Fred Roessler, father of Palos Verdes Estates”
