When Palos Verdes Peninsula landowner Frank Vanderlip and his associates drew up the detailed master plan for their Palos Verdes Project in 1923, it consisted of four distinct areas to be developed: Malaga Cove, Lunada Bay, Valmonte and Miraleste. The first three were connected areas on the west side of the Palos Verdes Hills. MiralesteContinue reading “Miraleste has been part of the Palos Verdes Peninsula for more than a century”
Tag Archives: history
The Carson Civic Center complex helped put a new South Bay city on the map
The struggle to incorporate the area that would make up the city of Carson began in the late 1950s and continued on for nearly the entirety of the 1960s. The topics of the debate ran the gamut from the important and the complex – which neighborhoods and chunks of land to include, to the mostContinue reading “The Carson Civic Center complex helped put a new South Bay city on the map”
Civil War tensions led to the creation of Wilmington’s Drum Barracks
The Drum Barracks in Wilmington was the first U.S. military base to be built in Los Angeles County. It takes its name not from the percussion instrument, but from Lt. Col. Richard Coulter Drum, the Adjutant General then based in San Francisco who commanded California’s militia forces. Drum played a key role in the creationContinue reading “Civil War tensions led to the creation of Wilmington’s Drum Barracks”
Sonny Bono left Inglewood High early to pursue an often-chaotic life in show business
Sonny Bono’s tumultuous life began in Detroit, Mich. on Feb. 16, 1935. His father, Santo Bono, had emigrated to the U.S. from Montelepre, Sicily. His mother, Jean, was a second-generation Italian forced by her parents to marry at fourteen. Salvatore Phillip Bono was the couple’s third child, and first boy. The family had settled inContinue reading “Sonny Bono left Inglewood High early to pursue an often-chaotic life in show business”
The Del Aire area remains unincorporated despite decades of annexation attempts
Attempts to annex the unincorporated Del Aire area, located roughly between the cities of Hawthorne and El Segundo, began soon after houses started going up in the region in the late 1930s. First, some geography. The Del Aire area as currently constituted consists of two roughly rectangular segments whose combined area totals just over oneContinue reading “The Del Aire area remains unincorporated despite decades of annexation attempts”
Why Assemblyman Vincent Thomas deserved having a bridge in his name
When Vincent Thomas was 16, he used his boxing skills – he earned $2.50 per fight – to help support his family. His parents, Visko and Vinca Tomas (shortened from Tomasevich) arrived from Croatia in eastern Europe in 1903. They were living in Biloxi, Mississippi, when Vincent, one of eight children, was born on AprilContinue reading “Why Assemblyman Vincent Thomas deserved having a bridge in his name”
Astronaut and San Pedro High grad Dr. Anna Fisher became the first mother to fly in space
Anna Lee Fisher decided that she wanted to be an astronaut on May 5, 1961. On that day, Alan Shepard became the first American to reach space during a 15-minute flight that took him 116 miles above the Earth before his capsule returned him to a landing in the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly two decades beforeContinue reading “Astronaut and San Pedro High grad Dr. Anna Fisher became the first mother to fly in space”
Larry Walters takes off from San Pedro for his unbelievable 1982 flight
Larry Walters told the San Pedro News Pilot that he got the idea for his July 2, 1982 flight after seeing some military weather balloons for sale in an Army-Navy surplus store when he was 13. He no doubt wasn’t the first person to imagine tying balloons to a lawn chair and taking to theContinue reading “Larry Walters takes off from San Pedro for his unbelievable 1982 flight”
Pioneer centenarian Phoebe Sykes came to Torrance before it was Torrance
Phoebe Sykes knew Torrance when it was mostly just an idea in founder Jared Sydney Torrance’s mind. The Torrance she knew then was mostly dusty fields, broken up by occasional encampments of workers on construction projects in the nascent city. Sykes was born Phoebe Hartley in Huddersfield, England, on Oct. 25, 1868. She married jeweler AlbertContinue reading “Pioneer centenarian Phoebe Sykes came to Torrance before it was Torrance”
Panama Canal celebrations at the Port of LA were muted by the outbreak of World War I
The successful completion of the Panama Canal on April 1, 1914 stands as one of the most significant moments in the development of the West Coast shipping industry, and, in particular, the development of the newly minted Port of Los Angeles, founded just seven years earlier. The idea of linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceansContinue reading “Panama Canal celebrations at the Port of LA were muted by the outbreak of World War I”
