Angelo Louis Pappas was born on May 15, 1926, in Fall River, Massachusetts, and grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia. After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he moved to Los Angeles, where he planned to to fulfill his ambition to own and operate restaurants. The Greek entrepreneur would end up owningContinue reading “The Parasol restaurant delighted Torrance diners from the outside in”
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Why Irving and Exy Johnson deserved to have tall ships named after them
The twin brigantines the Irving Johnson and the Exy Johnson are the pride of the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, founded by James Gladson in 1992. (See chart at bottom of post for types of sailing ships.) Together with the Swift of Ipswich, the old-school wooden sailing ships serve the Institute’s non-profit TopSail Youth Program, whichContinue reading “Why Irving and Exy Johnson deserved to have tall ships named after them”
Dog parks: Where they started, and how they spread
The modern history of publicly sanctioned dog parks begins in Berkeley, Calif., on a plot of land set aside in the late 1960s for a BART underground subway line. In the aftermath of the People’s Park protests in 1969, in which students and residents claimed unused University of California, Berkeley land as a “people’s park,”Continue reading “Dog parks: Where they started, and how they spread”
Malaga Cove Library, opened in 1930, still going strong in Palos Verdes Estates
The story of Malaga Cove Library and the Palos Verdes Peninsula’s library system starts soon after the area’s first development began. The Palos Verdes Project, a carefully planned development on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, began to pick up steam after Frank Vanderlip stepped in early in 1923, reorganizing the Project, bringing in new managers andContinue reading “Malaga Cove Library, opened in 1930, still going strong in Palos Verdes Estates”
“Coroner’s Corner” and “Murder Mile”: Dangerous Torrance-area roads in the 1950s
Commercial and residential development and population took large leaps in the years following World War II in the South Bay. More people and more businesses meant more cars on the roads, and the additional influx began to expose the often underdeveloped condition of the area’s roadway infrastructure. The pages of local newspapers started to reflectContinue reading ““Coroner’s Corner” and “Murder Mile”: Dangerous Torrance-area roads in the 1950s”
Knoll Hill: One-time home for goats becomes subject of contentious battles
San Pedro’s Knoll Hill, a 24-acre property encircled by curving Front Street on the north and east, Pacific Avenue on the west, and railroad tracks to the south, once was a barren hillock occupied only by grazing goats. The animals gave the area its earlier name, Goat Hill. In 1897, the Pauluzzi family built aContinue reading “Knoll Hill: One-time home for goats becomes subject of contentious battles”
Burton W. Chace earned his reputation as the “Father of the Marina”
Burton W. Chace, the “Father of the Marina,” was born in Stanton, Nebraska, on July 6, 1900. He spent his childhood there, and after graduating from the University of Nebraska, he began his business career working in the field of municipal bonds. A trip west with a college buddy in 1923 sold him on California,Continue reading “Burton W. Chace earned his reputation as the “Father of the Marina””
It only existed for 30 years, but the Hotel Redondo was a hotel for the ages
The formation of the Redondo Railway Company and the Redondo Hotel Company in 1889 changed everything for the nascent town of Redondo Beach. Sea captains J.C. Ainsworth and R.R. Thompson and their Redondo Beach Investment Company were behind the development. The two men began by forging land deals with three of the Dominguez sisters, ownersContinue reading “It only existed for 30 years, but the Hotel Redondo was a hotel for the ages”
Hawthorne and PCH: Biography of a Torrance corner lot
It’s hard to imagine now, but when Clark Markets president Mark Schulman posed with fellow execs and local dignitaries at a groundbreaking ceremony on the northeast corner of Hawthorne Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway in Torrance in early June 1954, he was standing in an empty lot. The new Clark Market went up quickly followingContinue reading “Hawthorne and PCH: Biography of a Torrance corner lot”
Western author Zane Grey left his mark on Catalina
Zane Grey, one of the most successful and prolific chroniclers of the West in literary history, was born Pearl Zane Gray, in Zanesville, Ohio, on Jan. 31, 1872. (He later dropped the “Pearl” part in favor of just plain Zane, and the family later changed its name from “Gray” to “Grey.”) As a boy, heContinue reading “Western author Zane Grey left his mark on Catalina”
