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Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Wilmington traces roots back to 1865
The current Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Wilmington opened in 1931. (Feb. 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre) On a quiet, well-kept stretch of Opp Street in Wilmington sits a true marvel: Saints...
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Boy Scouts beach camp near Cabrillo Beach has been a fixture since 1946
The Spielberg Center complex lies at the center of the Cabrillo Beach Youth Watersports Center. (Feb. 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre) Sandwiched between Cabrillo Beach and the Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro...
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Manhattan Beach is on its fourth city hall
The third Manhattan Beach City Hall was completed in 1916. (Undated Daily Breeze file photo, circa 1960s) At the time of its incorporation on Dec. 7, 1912, the city of Manhattan Beach had about 600...
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The South Bay aerospace industry launched the fastest airplane ever built
The X-15 at Edwards AFB, the post-1961 version with the “hot cone” and additonal fuel tanks. Undated photo. (Credit: NASA) The roots of the American space program can be traced back to 1944, when...
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Quonset huts once a familiar sight in South Bay and Harbor Area
Panoramic view of the city of quonset huts in San Pedro on February 6, 1946. A project to relieve the postwar housing shortage, the huts housed 280 Navy families. (Credit: Los Angeles Public Library)...
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New-look Torrance Bowlero opened as Bowl-O-Drome in 1957
Torrance Bowlero, the remodeled Bowl-O-Drome, opened in 2017. (March 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre) Bowling alleys underwent a major technological change in the 1950s. Before that, now-gone venues such as...
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LMU’s roots run deep in the history of education in Los Angeles
The recognizable LMU letters beneath Xavier Hall on the hillside above Playa Vista. (Daily Breeze file photo) The roots of what we know familiarly as LMU — Loyola Marymount University in Westchester —...
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Western Museum of Flight in Torrance grew out of an aircraft restoration project
Interior of the Western Museum of Flight at the Torrance Municipal Airport. (March 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre) A salvage operation by Northrop employees to restore a World War II plane eventually led to...
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Haggerty’s is a popular South Bay surfing spot. But who was Haggerty?
The Neighborhood Church in Palos Verdes Estates formerly was the beach home of J.J. Haggarty. (April 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre) For decades, surfers have caught waves at Haggerty’s, a popular break at...
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How bookstores became an endangered species in the South Bay and Harbor Area
Williams Bookstore in San Pedro opened for business in 1909. It closed in 2013, after 104 years of operation. (Jan. 2009 Daily Breeze file photo) Not that many years ago, the South Bay and Harbor Area...
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Lomita’s Kuska Museum housed more than 17 tons of historical artifacts
Nellie and Joseph Kuska in front of the Kuska Museum in Lomita in 1972. (Daily Breeze staff file photo) Before Joseph and Nellie Kuska moved from Kansas to their house at 24201 Walnut St. in Lomita in...
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Fig leaf or not, the Neptune Fountain has been a Malaga Cove icon since 1930
The Neptune statue and fountain serves as the centerpiece for Malaga Cove Plaza in Palos Verdes Estates. (April 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre) Neptune, the Greek god of the sea, has endured many trials...
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Why Wilmington once had its own city hall
Undated exterior photo of the Wilmington City Hall shows its distinctive columns and dome. (Credit: Los Angeles Public LIbrary Photo Collection) We know Wilmington’s recent history as its own unique...
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San Pedro’s Cabrillo Beach Bathhouse blossoms again after hard times
Overall view of Cabrillo Beach shows the Boathouse, left, and the newly completed Bathhouse, right. Photo dated Sept. 14, 1932. Breakwater and outer beach are at right, with inner beach at left near...
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How Redondo Beach’s once-modest veterans memorial grew into something more
Memorial Day observance at Veteran’s Park, Redondo Beach. May 27, 2013. (Daily Breeze staff file photo) Redondo Beach can trace its veterans memorial back to a monument erected in 1932. In September of...
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The big bang that opened up the Palos Verdes Peninsula
The explosion clearing the way for the Douglas cut drew thousands of spectators to the Bluff Cove area in 1923. (Credit: Palos Verdes Public Library Digital Archives) Thousands of motorists and...
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The history of Gardena High and its unusual art collection
The original Gardena High School building in 1909. (Courtesy of the Gardena City Clerk’s Office) The first high school classes in the Gardena area were conducted in 1904 in a building owned by W. E....
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Building tennis champions at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates
Jack Kramer arrives at Orly Field in Paris on Sept. 8, 1958. (AP Photo) The late tennis journalist and broadcaster Bud Collins once called Jack Kramer “the most important man in the history of tennis.”...
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Cities find Fourth of July fireworks decisions can have explosive ramifications
Spectators enjoy the Redondo Beach fireworks show on July 4, 2016. (Photo by Gil Castro for The Beach Reporter) Things were different in 1939 than they are now, sure, but the Torrance Herald’s...
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Mayflower Ballroom patrons could have danced all night during club’s heyday
The Mayflower Ballroom on Hindry Ave. in Inglewood. Undated photo. (Credit: Rusty Frank website) Ballrooms featuring live bands boomed during the 1930s and 1940s, their dancefloors filled with people...
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