Historic Tales from Palos Verdes and the South Bay

by Bruce Megowan, Maureen Megowan

Overview

Palos Verdes and the South Bay's dramatic beauty is mirrored by a dramatic history. Feuding over claims to the Rancho San Pedro continued for seventy-three years. The Vanderlip family's forty-year development of the Palos Verdes Peninsula resulted in one of California's wealthiest and most well-kept enclaves of coastal cities. Marineland of the Pacific on the Peninsula's end was one of the West Coast's more popular tourism draws before its controversial closing. But that's only the beginning. In this exciting compilation of articles, authors Bruce and Maureen Megowan reveal some of the intriguing secrets and little-known facts nestled within the hills, valleys and nearby cities of this beautiful area. Discover some of the fascinating stories about the development of the South Bay and Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625851444
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	07/01/2014
Series:	American Chronicles
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Bruce has been in the commercial and residential real estate business since 1972. He is a 1972 University of Southern California graduate with a BS in accounting and spent nine years as a CPA with Touche Ross & Co. serving real estate clients. He earned an MBA in real estate finance, also from USC, and became a licensed real estate broker. For the next twenty years, Bruce served as a senior executive for several large real estate development companies and pension fund realty advisors. A Realtor since 2003, former fashion designer Maureen Megowan has a BS in clothing and textiles from California State University, Chico, as well as a degree from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. Megowan is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Acknowledgements 9

Part I Palos Verdes History Tales

Palos Verdes's Early American Indian Inhabitants 11

Bixby Ranch 13

Palos Verdes Estates History 14

Palos Verdes's Early Road Development 43

Palos Verdes Secrets 46

Palos Verdes Colleges 49

UCLA and CSUDH Almost Came to Palos Verdes 51

Portuguese Bend 53

Palos Verdes Landfill 73

The Development of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes 74

The Peninsula Center 76

The Point Vicente Lighthouse 77

Ocean Trails/Trump National Golf Club 79

Formation of the Cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula 81

The City of Rolling Hills 83

History of the Palos Verdes School System 84

Palos Verdes in the 1940s 86

Historv of Marineland of the Pacific 88

Why Did Marineland Close? 89

Wallace Ranch 90

Chandler Quarry and the Chandler Ranch Project 91

Part II South Bay History Tales

Early European Exploration of the South Bay 93

Rancho San Pedro 94

Raneho Sausal Redondo, Rancho Ajuaje de la Centinela and Rancho Centinela 103

Manhattan and Hermosa Beach History 104

San Pedro History 111

History of El Segundo 123

History of Torrance 124

Hollywood Riviera 126

Redondo Beach History 127

Other South Bay History Tales 138

Bibliography 149

About the Authors 155