Palisades del Rey, California
Palisades del Rey
Surfridge | |
---|---|
Former settlement | |
Coordinates: 33°56′25″N 118°26′16″W / 33.94028°N 118.43778°W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
County | Los Angeles County |
City | Los Angeles |
Elevation | 135 ft (41 m) |
Palisades del Rey (
A southern portion of Playa del Rey became known as Surfridge.
Development
Surfridge was developed in the 1920s and 1930s as "an isolated playground for the wealthy."
Salesmen pitched tents on the sand dunes and sold lots for $50 down and 36 monthly payments of $20.
Airport
Mines Field, a small airport at that time, opened to the east of Surfridge in 1928. It became a popular location for residents to see air shows.[5]
The growing number of commercial flights into Los Angeles following World War II meant a higher number of planes flying low over Surfridge. Many residents learned to co-exist with the noise from propeller planes, but jet engines were difficult to ignore.[5]
"If you lived in Surfridge prior to the late 1950s, you had to raise your voice a bit when having a conversation. After the jets came, you had to literally stop talking when they took off," said Duke Dukesherer, a business executive who has written about Surfridge's history.[5]
In the 1960s and 1970s, the area was condemned and acquired by the City of Los Angeles in a series of eminent domain purchases to facilitate airport expansion and to address concerns about noise from jet airplanes. Homeowners were forced to sell their property to the city. Several homeowners sued the city and remained in their houses for several years after the majority of houses were vacated. Eventually all the houses were either moved or demolished.[6]
Nature preserve
The neighborhood is now enclosed by
The only part of the neighbourhood still accessible to the public is Vista Del Mar Park, a small park with a playground and picnic area on Vista Del Mar Boulevard that is maintained by the City of Los Angeles.[9]
External links
- Video: Surfridge and Palisades Del Rey - What Remains
- The remains of a Hollywood playground wiped off the map
- Surfridge: A Los Angeles Ghost Town
- Surfridge Ghosttown Photos, videos, information and links.
- Paradise Lost: The Rise & Fall of Surfridge (Southbay Magazine article)
References
- ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Palisades del Rey, California
- ^ "Ghostown del Rey" Archived 2010-02-12 at the Wayback Machine at Elsegundo.net
- ^ Waffling article at JWAirFair.com
- ^ Proposed Surfridge Memorial Archived 2009-04-26 at archive.today at TheGeister.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Anton, Max. (2013, March 2). LAX ghost town a home to memories and rare butterflies. The Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Los Angeles Ghost Town: At the Hands of LAX" Archived 2013-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sahagun, Louis (February 17, 2019). "This LAX-adjacent ghost town is now 'priceless coastal real estate' for rare owls". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Lentz, Joan Easton (2019-12-12). "Opinion: Birds are vanishing from North America. There's a way to bring them back". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ "LA Parks: Vista Del Mar Park