Author Archives: Sam Gnerre

William Jennings Bryan, one of the most well-known political figures of the early 20th Century, loved to go fishing in Hermosa Beach. Born in Illinois 1860, Bryan was regarded as the pre-eminent public orator of his era. He was a central figure in the Progressive Era, and ran as the Democratic Party’s candidate for PresidentContinue reading “William Jennings Bryan”

Wilson Park in Torrance. Feb. 2011 Daily Breeze photo.   Wilson Park is so central to the lives of many Torrance residents that it may be surprising to learn that the multipurpose facility has been in existence only since 1979.   The Crenshaw Boulevard park has a little bit of everything: a gymnasium, a treehouse,Continue reading “Wilson Park”

The city of Torrance doesn’t have a reputation as a hotbed of radical leftists, but it was the site of an early protest against the Vietnam War. The reason? Dow Chemical Company. The chemical giant opened its Torrance plant at 305 Crenshaw Boulevard in 1953. It mostly manufactured plastics products such as Styrofoam, but it wasContinue reading “Dow Chemical protest”

The Shamrock Skate Arena closed in 1985 after more than 30 years in business. Photo credit: Shamrock Skating Rink Facebook page and Mark Montgomery.   Located in Old Torrance at 1851 Mullin Avenue, the Shamrock Skate Arena delighted generations of  children and families as well as serving as a teen hangout for older kids duringContinue reading “Shamrock Skate Arena”

One of the largest and most advanced medical research institutes in Los Angeles County spent decades headquartered inside old army barracks. In 1943, the U.S. Army built the Los Angeles Port of Embarkation Hospital on unincorporated county land on Carson Street near Torrance, part of the processing facility for soldiers preparing to ship overseas duringContinue reading “LA BioMed”

He was born Anthony Stralla, but he preferred to be known as Tony Cornero, one of the most colorful figures ever to do business in the South Bay. We mean “in the South Bay” literally. Cornero, right, operated a fleet of gambling ships that moored off the Southern California coast in the 1930s that included theContinue reading “Tony Cornero”

A vintage postcard shows the Los Angeles Motordrome, built in Playa del Rey in 1910. The world’s first elevated wooden board track built for race cars took 16 days to build and cost $12,000. The Los Angeles Motordrome opened on April 8, 1910 near the present-day intersection of Culver and Jefferson boulevards in Playa delContinue reading “Los Angeles Motordrome”

The Hotel Metropole was an early landmark on the Avalon shoreline. Photo: Library of Congress, Detroit Photographic Co., 1901.   After he purchased Catalina Island in 1887 for $200,000, developer George Shatto immediately built the Hotel Metropole on the shoreline in Avalon that same year. When the foundation for the visually striking building was dug,Continue reading “Hotel Metropole”

Romayne Martin, right, speaks with her friend Thyra Bliss at Martin’s 100th birthday party in May 1989. Daily Breeze file photo. Every city just starting out should be fortunate enough to have citizens such as Romayne Martin. “She was like a walking treasure,” said Rancho de los Palos Verdes Historical Society president Mary Roderman upon Martin’sContinue reading “Romayne Martin”

Philanthropist Kenneth T. Norris Jr. is shown in a November 1980 photo, when he was the head of Norris Industries. Daily Breeze photo.   The Norris name is a familiar one around the South Bay and in the Los Angeles area. The Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts in Rolling Hills Estates, the USC NorrisContinue reading “Kenneth T. Norris Jr.”