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- What can you tell me about the history of Lakewood?
- How did Lakewood get its name?
- What is the Lakewood Plan?
- Who was Angelo M. Iacoboni?
- What is the Lakewood Pan American Festival and how did it get started?
- Who was George Nye Jr.?
- What can you tell me about the Indians who lived in this area?
- What role did agriculture play in the development of the Lakewood area?
- What role did industry play in the development of the Lakewood area?
1. What can you tell me about the history of Lakewood?
Lakewood was a massive housing development consisting of 17,500 single-family
homes built in the early 1950s ten miles southeast of Los Angeles. When
built it was the largest-ever private land development in the United States,
conceived of and built by the Lakewood Park Company's creative triumvirate of
Louis Boyar, who had been planning his "dream city" since the late 1930s;
Mark Taper, the master builder who coupled mass-production construction with
quality housing materials; and Ben Weingart, the brains behind the prototype
Lakewood Center shopping complex that anchored Lakewood's tax base. The
timing for the development of Lakewood was perfect, as a real estate boom in
the Los Angeles region dovetailed with the G.I. Bill of Rights, which provided
returning World War II veterans with low-interest mortgage loans insured by
the government and requiring little, if any, money down.
Housing in Los Angeles County had been so scarce for these veterans and their
new brides and young families that when the Lakewood Park Company opened its
sales office on April 2, 1950, more than 10,000 people arrived to sign up for
houses before they had even been built. The two- and three-bedroom homes,
all built to Veterans Administration specifications, catered to young families.
They were also built in an assembly-line fashion that minimized wasted time
and materials: excavators dug a foundation in fifteen minutes; individual
specialized teams built floors, walls, and roofs; and developers kept the
landscaping simple if spartan, planting a single tree in front of each house.
Originally, the area was inhabited by Gabrielino Indians, hunter-gatherers
who were the first to greet Spanish explorers, starting with the 1769 arrival
of Gaspar de Portola. In 1784, the area became a cattle ranch land grant for
Manuel Nieto, whose claim was split into six great ranchos, including the
Rancho Los Alamitos, located at what today is the center of Lakewood. Over
the next century Rancho Los Alamitos changed hands several times. In 1881,
developers purchased the rancho and the following year changed its name to
the Bixby Investment Company, though they leased the property for sheep
grazing. Around 1900, Montana Senator William Clark of Montana and his
brother bought 8,139 acres of what had been Rancho Los Alamitos for about
$400,000. They called their holdings the Montana Land Company and grew sugar
beets.
The genesis of today's development occurred in 1930 after Clark descendent
and now-landowner Clark Joaquin Bonner bestowed the name Lakewood on an
upscale country club he was building around Bouton Lake (formed from artesian
well drilling in 1895). Though the Lakewood Country Club opened in 1933, the
Depression-era economy prevented financial success and forced Bonner to
prepare the alternate development plan of Lakewood Village, a modest
middle-class development. Various neighborhoods emerged between then and
the late 1940s, including the Mayfair section and Lakewood Gardens, but
Bonner died in 1947 before he could set in motion his plans to build thousands
of new homes. Just two years later, the trio of Weingart, Boyar, and Taper
formed the Lakewood Park Company and bought Bonner's remaining 3,500 acres
from his widow for $8 million. They publicized their plans to build
"Lakewood, Tomorrow's City Today," and started construction the following year.
In 1951, the city of Long Beach-which had long had its eye on Lakewood to
expand its own territory-publicized a report recommending that Lakewood be
annexed to Long Beach. This and other efforts by Long Beach to annex
Lakewood's property prompted the Lakewood Taxpayers' Association and other
motivated groups to lobby to incorporate the community as a city. In May
1953, a group of civic-minded citizens filed "Articles of Incorporation of
the Lakewood Civic Council Inc." with the Secretary of State, and following
a year of legal and financial battles, residents voted on March 9, 1954, to
incorporate as a city. With its seven square miles, 105 miles of paved and
lighted streets, assessed worth of $34.5 million, and more than 70,000
residents, Lakewood-the state's 16th-largest city-also became the largest
community in the United States ever to incorporate. As part of Lakewood's
new municipal status as a city, which became official on April 16, it operated
in accordance with the Lakewood Plan, an agreement between the city and Los
Angeles County in which the county would provide Lakewood with the same
services it provided to unincorporated areas in the county. Lakewood
therefore tapped into existing county services such as road maintenance,
health department, building inspection, sewer, library, and fire district.
It contracted with the sheriff's department for police protection.
The enthusiasm residents brought to civic pride was evident on the night of
the first city council meeting on April 16, 1954, when councilors met from
8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. reviewing and discussing ordinances and issues that had
been brewing during the community's early unincorporated years. The new
experiment was not easy to carry out-the first five City Council members
were political novices in charge of the largest community in the United States
to incorporate at once, and started with scant municipal funding and the
enormous task of finding schooling for the community's thousands of school-aged
children-but officials have proven since 1954 that the experiment was a
success. More information about the history of Lakewood can be found in the
following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Todd, John S. A History of Lakewood, 1949-1954. Lakewood, CA: Lakewood City Hall, Public Information Office, 1984.
- Waldie, D. J. Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996.
- Nadeau, Remi A. Los Angeles: From Mission to Modern City. Longmans, 1960.
Images:
- Newly completed Lakewood civic center, c. 1960
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
- Lakewood fire station, c. 1950s
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
- Lakewood sheriff station, c. 1950s
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
- May Company building in Lakewood, mid-1960s
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
- Apartment building under construction in Lakewood, late 1950s
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
- Groundbreaking ceremony for Lakewood (Angelo M. Iacoboni) Library, c. 1970
[County of Los Angeles Public Library]
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2. How did Lakewood get its name?
The city of Lakewood took its name from the Lakewood Country Club conceived of
in 1930 by developer Clark Joaquin Bonner, who inherited the Montana Land
Company from William and Ross Clark. Bonner named the country club by melding
the image of Bouton Lake-a body of water formed from artesian well drilling
in 1895-with the trees surrounding the lake. When the Lakewood Country Club
opened in 1933, during the Depression, it was a financial failure, so Bonner
started a modest development called Lakewood Village. The development grew
slowly and Bonner died in 1947 before he could play out his plan to build
thousands of houses. It was only after the Lakewood Park Company was formed
in 1949 by Louis Boyar and two associates that Bonner's remaining
property-along with the country club-would be developed as a major planned
community dubbed the "City New as Tomorrow." More information about Lakewood's
name can be found in the following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Todd, John S. A History of Lakewood, 1949-1954. Lakewood, CA: Lakewood City Hall, Public Information Office, 1984.
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3. What is the Lakewood Plan?
The Lakewood Plan was the "instruction manual" for incorporation that a group
of residents devised during the early 1950s in response to a series of
annexation battles with southern neighbor Long Beach. The plan laid out a
county contract form of government by explaining the agreement that the city
of Lakewood had with the County of Los Angeles; as such, it became a template
for other municipalities considering incorporating or wanting to find ways to
solve complicated municipal problems and to use government services
efficiently. As Lakewood was growing from a small sleepy village in 1950 to
a 17,500-house planned development by 1953, Long Beach undertook a series of
fights-some successful-to annex Lakewood. In response, Lakewood citizens
formed the Lakewood Committee for Incorporation, seeking to incorporate about
seven square miles of property, including some 70,000 residents, 105 miles of
paved and lighted streets, and the Lakewood Center shopping center. As part
of the campaign the committee crafted the Lakewood Plan, which specified which
municipal duties would be handled by the community and the county,
respectively. According to this county contract form of government, the
Lakewood City Council would pass laws, set policy, make a budget, and do
community planning. However, it would also tap into existing county services
by contracting for street construction and repair, animal pound regulation,
health laws, building inspections, tax collection, library and school services,
and fire and police protection. The Lakewood Plan was an exceptional document
because it spelled out clearly the dual system of Lakewood's municipal
management, showing how Los Angeles County handled most services while the
city kept control of local affairs. The contract system of government was
an experiment that was carefully watched and later emulated by other
communities. More information about the Lakewood Plan can be found in the
following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Bopf, William Lee. An Analysis of the Lakewood Plan's Influence on the Cities that Incorporated in Los Angeles County since April, 1954. M.A. thesis. Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1965.
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4. Who was Angelo M. Iacoboni?
Angelo M. Iacoboni, the first mayor of Lakewood, was chosen to lead the first
City Council after the community voted to incorporate as a city in 1954. In
the early 1950s, Iacoboni, a local attorney, joined an alliance of residents
who were opposed to having Lakewood annexed by Long Beach and who promoted
incorporation. At one point during the fight, Iacoboni served as trial lawyer
for pro-incorporation residents as he presented evidence in court. Pictures
of Angelo M. Iacoboni are in the library lobby and a bust is in the library
foyer. More information about Angelo M. Iacoboni can be found in the
following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Todd, John S. A History of Lakewood, 1949-1954. Lakewood, CA: Lakewood City Hall, Public Information Office, 1984.
Images:
- Angelo M. Iacoboni holding the plan for the new civic center, c. 1960
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
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5. What is the Lakewood Pan American Festival and how did it get started?
In 1947, residents Jess Solter and former Bolivian Consul Walter Montano
began the Lakewood Pan American Festival as a way to improve and strengthen
relations among Pan American countries. At their request, the Lakewood Lions
Club adopted the idea as a community project, that would include a flag
exchange, the naming of a park for the event, and an annual parade. Held each
April, the week-long festival became the country's biggest program for
promoting good relations among Pan American countries and included a banquet
and ball in addition to the sports festival and other activities. It grew to
become a non-profit organization called the Lakewood Pan American Festival,
Inc., and aspects of the festival can be seen in Lakewood with the naming of
three parks after Latin American heroes Simon Bolivar, Jose San Martin, and
Jose del Valle. More information about the Lakewood Pan American Festival
can be found in the following sources:
Website Links:
Images:
- Float in Lakewood Pan American Festival parade, c. 1970
[County of Los Angeles Public Library]
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6. Who was George Nye Jr.?
George Nye Jr. was one of Lakewood's first five city councilors following the
community's incorporation in April 1954, and was an early Lakewood mayor. A
major advocate of the incorporation movement, he was also an artist and teacher
who designed the seal for the newly incorporated city. The seal showed Douglas
MacArthur School, St. Pancratius Church, a young boy playing ball, and his own
home, all superimposed on the original boundaries of Lakewood. The city seal
was at the time the only square one in the United States. More information
about George Nye Jr. can be found in the following sources:
Website Links:
Images:
- George Nye, Jr., mayor of Lakewood, 1971. He had a County library in Lakewood named after him.
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
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7. What can you tell me about the Indians who lived in this area?
Native Americans who lived in the Los Angeles area spoke a language distinct
from their neighbors to the North and South of them. They have come to be
known as Gabrielino, because many of those who survived European diseases and
the disruption of their normal trade patterns and culture went to the Mission
San Gabriel in Los Angeles, some voluntarily, others only when confronted by
force.
When the Europeans arrived, they discovered many Indian villages between the
Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel mountains. The Gabrielino lived in domed,
circular structures with thatched exteriors. Both men and women wore their
hair long and used a vegetable charcoal dye and thorns of flint slivers to
tattoo their bodies. They required very few clothes, though women usually
donned deerskin or bark aprons, and all might wear animal skin capes in cold
or wet weather. Those who lived near the coast ate fish and other seafood,
in addition to acorns, seeds, roots, and small game animals. Passing through
during the mid 1700s as part of Spaniard Gaspar de Portola's famous expedition
from San Diego to Monterey, Padre Juan Crespi observed that the Indians in the
area were very friendly. Nevertheless, during the late 1700s and early 1800s,
after dominating the Los Angeles area for hundreds of years, those Gabrielino
who did not flee were gradually moved to Spanish missions. Many became
laborers for local landowners. Most eventually adopted a more European
lifestyle.
In the Lakewood area, Gabrielinos established small villages while continuing
to migrate to take advantage of seasonal resources. They lived by hunting and
fishing rather than by agriculture, though once European settlers arrived in
the late 1700s they were soon put to work on Rancho San Pedro and the San
Gabriel Mission and helped bolster the economic success of the mission. In
what is now Lakewood, the Indians lived on the plains, which were mostly
semi-arid but during heavy rainy seasons got so much rain that the rivers
overflowed their banks, creating marshy areas. By the nineteenth century their
numbers decreased rapidly due to diseases such as smallpox for which they had
no immunity. More information about the Indians in the Lakewood area can be
found in the following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Handbook of North American Indians,
edited by William C. Stuyvesant/Volume 8: California, edited by Robert
F. Heizer. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
- McCawley, William. The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles. Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press; Novato, CA: Ballena Press, 1996.
- Gillingham, Robert
Cameron. The Rancho San Pedro: The Story of a Famous Rancho in Los
Angeles County and of Its Owners, the Dominguez Family. 1961; Museum
Reproductions, 1983.
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8. What role did agriculture play in the development of the Lakewood area?
Lakewood was first populated by Gabrielino Indians who were hunters and
gatherers but did not become involved in agricultural pursuits. That changed
after Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola arrived in 1769, followed shortly
after by missionaries and ranchers who put the Gabrielinos to work on ranch
and mission projects. In the 1780s, Manuel R. Nieto received a land grant to
graze cattle. His descendants later divided the Nieto claim into six great
ranchos, including the Rancho Los Alamitos, which means "little cottonwoods"
and which is the site of Lakewood Center today. The property went through a
succession of owners in the 1800s and around 1880 was renamed the Bixby
Investment Company, though the land retained its ranching purpose through
the 19th century. In 1904 the Montana Land Company bought a large parcel
of the property, which it leased out for farming and grazing purposes. The
site's ranching heritage was eclipsed by development starting in 1930, with
the building of the Lakewood Country Club and small housing developments, and
in 1950 with the building of the 17,500-house Lakewood development. More
information about the agricultural history of Lakewood can be found in the
following sources:
Website Links:
Images:
- Sheep shearing on Rancho Los Alamitos, 1870
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
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9. What role did industry play in the development of the Lakewood area?
Lakewood has been mostly a bedroom community to nearby industries that include
Douglas Aircraft, North American Aviation, Long Beach Naval Shipyards, and
Aerojet General, as well as other regional manufacturing plants. It has
attracted some companies who do research and development, including the Purex
Corporation, which is located in Lakewood Center. More information about
industry can be found in:
|
Website Links:
Images:
- Purex building, 1964
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
- Purex building in Lakewood, 1960s
[Courtesy of the City of Lakewood]
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Agoura Hills |
Antelope Valley |
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Catalina Island |
Claremont |
East Los Angeles
Gardena |
Lakewood |
La Puente Valley |
Pico Rivera |
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