Category Archives: Uncategorized

Final clarifier tanks at Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant in El Segundo. Daily Breeze file photo.   For most of the 19th century, wastewater from the city of Los Angeles flowed completely untreated through natural waterways to the sea. In 1892, the city bought 200 acres of oceanfront property just west of present-day El Segundo, nearContinue reading “Hyperion Treatment Plant”

Harry Phillips Sr. sits in a horse-drawn wagon on the Bixby Ranch in an area that later became the Palos Verdes Golf Course. Two horses are tied up behind the wagon, and a barn and other structure are visible in background of photo, ca. 1910. (Photo courtesy Palos Verdes Library Local History Collection.)   In 1882,Continue reading “Bixby Ranch”

The 1958 Toyopet Crown, shown above in a photo from Toyota’s 50th anniversary celebration of its U.S. Torrance headquarters, was the company’s first attempt to break in to the American market. (Photo by Robert Casillas) In 1957, a new car was introduced to the American market: The Toyopet Crown. Its manufacturer, the Toyota Motor CompanyContinue reading “Toyota in Torrance”

The original Torrance Memorial Hospital was located at 1425 Engracia Avenue in downtown Torrance. (Photo courtesy USC Regional History Collection.) Torrance’s founder, Jared Sydney Torrance, recognized early on his new city’s need for a first-class hospital. He founded the Torrance Hospital Association in 1920, but he died on March 29, 1921, three years before theContinue reading “Torrance’s first hospital”

This artist’s rendition of the original Holly’s appears on the cover of the coffee shop’s 1958 menu.   Holly’s coffee shop opened at Hawthorne Boulevard and 137th Street in Hawthorne in 1956. It was one of many such structures designed by the Santa Monica architectural firm of Armet Davis Newlove in a modern style thatContinue reading “Holly’s/Hawthorne Grill”

A full week of rainstorms has raised our season rain total up to 7.60 inches, bringing us more than halfway to Torrance’s annual average of 12.55 inches. (The city of Los Angeles has an annual average of 15.05 inches.) Debris litters a parking lot at King Harbor in Redondo Beach as a result of storm-drivenContinue reading “Wettest rainy seasons”

According to the Daily Breeze, when the Redondo Beach Public Library building was dedicated in Veterans Park on July 2, 1930, “It was with a gasp of astonishment that representative citizens of Redondo Beach had their first view of the structure.” Designed by architect Lovel Bearse Pemberton, the new library came into being when theContinue reading “Redondo Beach library”

An undated file photo with a northeast-facing view of the Miraleste High School campus, which is now used as Miraleste Intermediate School for grades 6-8.   They were once the Falcons, the Padres, the Marauders and the Titans, and they are no more. Those are the nicknames for South Bay high schools that have closed overContinue reading “Closed high schools”

Daily Breeze reporter Sandy Mazza’s recent articles about the debate over smells emanating from the aromatic garlic plants that the city of Lawndale has planted on the Hawthorne Boulevard median also mentioned a previous solution for that particular stretch of roadway: AstroTurf. These early 1970 photos show the Hawthorne Boulevard median strip in Lawndale beforeContinue reading “AstroTurf comes to Lawndale”

What’s unusual about Vermont Dairy, the business shown above? It’s one of the few drive-in dairies left in the South Bay. In the pre-7/11 days, drive-in dairies served as the original convenience store. One never had to leave the car in order to pick up a quart of milk, soda or snacks. They operated muchContinue reading “Drive-In Dairies”