Author Archives: Sam Gnerre

This undated postcard shows the Don Hotel in Wilmington in the late 1940s.   When the Don Hotel held its gala opening in Wilmington on July 2, 1929, it was described as the largest and most modern hotel in the harbor district. Its name came from Los Angeles investor Don Hundredmark, the hotel’s owner. TheContinue reading “The Don Hotel”

Western Avenue stretches from the southern tip of Griffith Park in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles all the way down to Paseo del Mar at Royal Palms County Beach in San Pedro. The 28-mile thoroughfare is one of the longest streets in Los Angeles County. (Some say Sepulveda Boulevard is the longest atContinue reading “Extending Western Avenue”

Isidore B. Dockweiler, left (photo: Library of Congress), was born into a prominent Catholic family at a home near First and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 28, 1867. He excelled in academics, becoming the first person to earn a bachelor’s degree from St. Vincent’s College, an early precursor of Loyola Marymount University. Dockweiler worked asContinue reading “Isidore B. Dockweiler”

Palos Verdes Surfing Club founder John “Doc” Ball catches a wave at Bluff Cove in this undated file photo from the 1940s.     Fenton Scholes and Richard Meine, both 93 years old, are the only two members remaining of a group that used to meet for lunch every Tuesday at Hennessey’s Tavern in RedondoContinue reading “Palos Verdes Surfing Club”

Entrance to the office at the Harbor Hills Housing Project in Lomita. August 2011 Daily Breeze photo.   The Harbor Hills Housing Project in Lomita began with a $60,000 grant from the federal government under the direction of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The grant money was used to prepare plans for the $1,000,000 low-income facility.Continue reading “Harbor Hills Housing Project”

Crowds mill around the Redondo Beach Pavilion in this undated file photo from the early 1900s. The saltwater Plunge, built in 1909, can be seen at rear left. When Henry Huntington began to develop a recreation sone along El Paseo Avenue next to the ocean in Redondo Beach designed to attract riders on his Pacific Electric Red Cars toContinue reading “The Redondo Barn”

When Joseph H. Johnson, owner of a small general store in Lawndale at 4104 W. Compton Boulevard (renamed Marine Avenue in 1988) , had a crew out on Dec. 29, 1952 to install a sewer line into his building, he warned the workers to be careful about the underground gas line beneath where they wereContinue reading “Lawndale gas explosion”

Incorporated on Dec. 6, 1928, North American Aviation’s formation followed the founding of the Boeing Company in 1916 and Douglas Aircraft in 1921. For its first few years, North American operated as a holding company, owning parts of many other aviation firms, including Douglas and General Aviation Manufacturing Corp. in Dundalk, Maryland. In 1934, federal antitrustContinue reading “North American Aviation”

The Carib Star before the explosion. Avalon can be seen in the distance. Photo: Jeannine L. Pedersen and the Catalina Island Museum.   Introduced in 1974, the 147-foot, $2.5 million passenger ship the Carib Star was part of the same passenger fleet as the S.S. Catalina. Owned by M.G.R.S., the same investor group that owned the Great WhiteContinue reading “Carib Star bombing”

Daniel Freeman, left, was born on a farm in Ontario, Canada in 1837. After a brief career as a teacher, he decided to go to law school, passing the bar in 1864. He married Catherine Grace Christie and would go on to have three children with her. His wife’s tuberculosis required that the family movedContinue reading “Daniel Freeman Mansion”