Palisades del Rey, California

Palisades del Rey
Former settlement
Abandoned streets of Palisades del Rey visible to the left of Los Angeles International Airport
Palisades del Rey Location in California
Coordinates: 33°56′25″N 118°26′16″W / 33.94028°N 118.43778°W / 33.94028; -118.43778Coordinates: 33°56′25″N 118°26′16″W / 33.94028°N 118.43778°W / 33.94028; -118.43778
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles County
City	Los Angeles
Elevation[1]	135 ft (41 m)

Palisades del Rey (also, Palisades Del Rey) was a 1921 neighborhood land development by Dickinson & Gillespie Co. that later came to be called the Playa del Rey district of Los Angeles County, California.^[1] It lay at an elevation of 135 feet (41 m).^[1] All of the houses in this area were custom built, many as beach homes owned by Hollywood actors and producers, including Cecil B. Demille, Charles Bickford, and others.

A southern portion of Playa del Rey became known as Surfridge.^[2][3][4] It was south of the current remaining area of Playa del Rey and north of El Segundo and immediately west of the perimeter of Los Angeles International Airport. The area is bounded on the East by Los Angeles International Airport, on the north by Waterview and Napoleon streets, on the South by Imperial Highway, and on the West by Vista del Mar. The beach to the west of the area is Dockweiler State Beach.

The development

Surfridge was developed in the 1920s and 1930s as "an isolated playground for the wealthy."^[5] In 1925 the developer held a contest to name the neighborhood and awarded the $1,000 prize to an Angeleno who submitted "Surfridge."^[5] The Los Angeles Times wrote that Surfridge was chosen "due to its brevity, euphony, ease of pronunciation ... but above all because it tells the story of this new wonder city."^[5]

Salesmen pitched tents on the sand dunes and sold lots for $50 down and 36 monthly payments of $20.^[5] House exteriors could only be stucco, brick or stone; frame structures were prohibited.^[5] Development was slowed by the onset of the Great Depression, but in the early 1930s the wealthy began to buy lots to build large homes.^[5]

The airport

A small airfield 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 after 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 impossible 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. Home owners 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]

Today one can see only barbed-wire fences protecting vacant land and old streets where houses once sat. The area is now the protected habitat for the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly.

See also

• 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.

References

Municipalities and communities of Los Angeles County, California, United States County seat: Los Angeles Cities Agoura Hills Alhambra Arcadia Artesia Avalon Azusa Baldwin Park Bell Bell Gardens Bellflower Beverly Hills Bradbury Burbank Calabasas Carson Cerritos Claremont Commerce Compton Covina Cudahy Culver City Diamond Bar Downey Duarte El Monte El Segundo Gardena Glendale Glendora Hawaiian Gardens Hawthorne Hermosa Beach Hidden Hills Huntington Park Industry Inglewood Irwindale La Cañada Flintridge La Habra Heights La Mirada La Puente La Verne Lakewood Lancaster Lawndale Lomita Long Beach Los Angeles Lynwood Malibu Manhattan Beach Maywood Monrovia Montebello Monterey Park Norwalk Palmdale Palos Verdes Estates Paramount Pasadena Pico Rivera Pomona Rancho Palos Verdes Redondo Beach Rolling Hills Rolling Hills Estates Rosemead San Dimas San Fernando San Gabriel San Marino Santa Clarita Santa Fe Springs Santa Monica Sierra Madre Signal Hill South El Monte South Gate South Pasadena Temple City Torrance Vernon Walnut West Covina West Hollywood Westlake Village Whittier CDPs Acton Agua Dulce Alondra Park Altadena Avocado Heights Castaic Charter Oak Citrus Del Aire Desert View Highlands East Los Angeles East Pasadena East Rancho Dominguez East San Gabriel East Whittier Elizabeth Lake Florence-Graham Green Valley Hacienda Heights Hasley Canyon La Crescenta-Montrose Ladera Heights Lake Hughes Lake Los Angeles Lennox Leona Valley Littlerock Marina del Rey Mayflower Village North El Monte Quartz Hill Rose Hills Rowland Heights San Pasqual South Monrovia Island South San Gabriel South San Jose Hills South Whittier Stevenson Ranch Sun Village Topanga Val Verde Valinda View Park-Windsor Hills Vincent Walnut Park West Athens West Carson West Puente Valley West Rancho Dominguez West Whittier-Los Nietos Westmont Willowbrook Unincorporated communities Agoura Alla Alpine Alsace Altacanyada Andrade Corner Antelope Acres Antelope Center Athens Aurant Bassett Big Pines Boiling Point Castaic Junction City Terrace Cornell Del Sur Del Valle Firestone Park Florence Gorman Hillgrove Hi Vista Indian Springs Juniper Hills Kagel Canyon Kinneloa Mesa Largo Vista Llano Malibu Vista Monte Nido Neenach Ninetynine Oaks Pearblossom Rancho Dominguez Red Box Sandberg Seminole Hot Springs Three Points Two Harbors Universal City Valyermo Ghost towns Achois Acuragna Ahapchingas Alpine Alyeupkigna Awigna Azucsagna Bairdstown Bartolo Cahuenga Chandler Chokishgna Chowigna Clayton Cow Springs Cucamonga Desert Relief Eldoradoville Evergreen Falling Springs Fort Tejon Gaspur Guirardo Hahamongna Harasgna Holland Summit Hollands Holton Honmoyausha Houtgna Hyperion Isanthcogna Juyubit King's Station Kowanga Las Tunas Lyons Station Machado Malibu Mar Vista Maugna Mentryville Motordrome Mud Spring Nacaugna Oberg Okowvinjha Palisades Del Rey Pasinogna Petroleopolis Pimocagna Pubugna Quapa Savannah Saway-yanga Sibagna Sisitcanogna Soledad Sulphur Springs Sonagna Suangna Takuyumam Toviseanga Toybipet Tuyunga Virgenes Wahoo Walton Place Widow Smith's Station Wilsona