Walteria is a neighborhood in south Torrance in southern California, United States. It is bounded by Hawthorne Boulevard on the east, Pacific Coast Highway on the south, Lomita Boulevard to the north, and Calle Mayor to the west. The local zip code is 90505.
The area that came to be known as Walteria was once part of Rancho Palos Verdes. According to Historic Spots in California , a location just southeast of Walteria was likely the location of the José Dolores Sepúlveda Adobe, built in approximately 1818: "The exact site is unknown, but the general area is indicated by old pepper trees at the mouth of the canyon into which Madison Street runs." [1]
On July 21, 1874, a man named Ben S. Weston bought 3,000 acres (1,200 ha; 4.7 sq mi) acres of the old rancho for $5,250. [2] [3] Weston's land included what is now Torrance Airport and was "bordered by what is now Madison on the west, Sepulveda Boulevard to the north, the Lomita line on the east, and the Palos Verdes foothills to the south." [2] According to a 1968 history of the settlement:
The yearly round-up of cattle ended in the corrals at Pacific Coast Highway and Crenshaw Boulevard. The few youngsters who attended school on the Weston ranch did their figures to the sounds of cattle lowing in the corrals during branding season. Ben Weston's house, which was built in 1847 is still used as a residence in Walteria.
Walteria is named after Captain A. Richard Walters of Atkinson, Illinois. [4] Walters moved to the California farming area in the 1880s and built a stagecoach stop on the Redondo–Wilmington road connecting the salt works in Redondo Beach with the harbor in San Pedro. [5] In 1888, real estate developers advertised Walteria as a subdivision of Meadow Park that offered "pure air and delightful scenery" to potential buyers. [6] The name was apparently because "developers recognized the pleasing quality of the Spanish language. They named their subdivision either a truly Moorish Alhambra, a Spanish-sounding Moneta, or simply gave it a Spanish ending as in Walteria." [7] According to a 1949 history of Rancho Palos Verdes, "On the northern side of the ranch, abortive cities of grand scale [were] plotted, including the subdivision named Walteria on the property of [N. A.] Narbonne and Weston. Attractive as the plans appeared, the construction of these works was not consummated before the collapse of the boom, so the ranch lands remained planted in grain and devoted to grazing of sheep, except for a few scattered sales in the different tracts, and the growing San Pedro town. Walteria is little more than a name on today's map." [3] One 1890 account described Walteria as one of 60 paper towns laid out in the Greater Los Angeles era in 1887–88 but not substantially built: "The plowshare has passed over their ruins, and barley grows in their deserted streets." [8]
Oil was discovered on the Kettler ranch in 1924 and there were ultimately 48 wells on the site. [2] Walteria was formally annexed to the city of Torrance, California on March 12, 1928. [9] In 1929 the Walteria post office became a branch of the Torrance office, perhaps in part because the Walteria postmaster had been convicted of embezzling $1,200 in funds from the post office department. [10] The Walteria branch of the Torrance library system first opened in 1937. [11] The first location of the Walteria library was an old army barracks. [2] During World War II, a citizens committee worked to supply the library with books in honor of the 111 people from Walteria serving the armed forces. [2] The library moved around and operated at a number of locations until it moved into a dedicated building in 1962. [11]
Residents are zoned to Walteria Elementary School, Richardson Middle School, and South High School. The first Walteria School building was heavily damaged by a 1941 earthquake. [12] There were five sets of twins enrolled at Walteria Elementary in 1949. [13]
There was a substantial Japanese-American community in Walteria before World War II. [12] According to a post-war history, "Japanese families had farmed on surrounding acreage for years. Their children went to school apart from the Anglo children at the 'Japanese School.' Eventually, the Japanese families took over most of the farm lands in Walteria, and thrived until World War II. Under Governor Earl Warren's administration during the Second World War, the Japanese were removed from their land. Mexican nationals were brought in to farm the land, however agriculture in the area began to decline at this time. Very few of the Japanese families returned to Walteria following the war." [2]
Some Walteria "farms and businesses" were displaced by the Pacific Coast Highway. [12]
Attractions of Walteria in the mid-20th century included the Begonia Farm, the Bird Farm, strawberry farms, and "the Smith Brothers Indian Village" restaurant. [2]
The Palos Verdes Begonia Farm operated from 1941 to 1997. After the property was sold, the land was later developed in the Begonia Village neighborhood. [14] A pocket park in Torrance named Newton Triangle was originally called Begonia Park, as it was donated to the city by the Bauman family that owned the Begonia Farm. [15] The triangle was planted with California native species in 2006. [15]
For a time the Begonia Farm shared a lot and a mutually beneficial association with the Smith Brothers Fish Shanty restaurant. [14] The Fish Shanty was founded in 1948, and demolished in 1963, to be replaced by the Indian Village. [16] The Indian Village restaurant sold "firewater" and denominated their menu prices in "wampum" and called its meeting areas "pow-wow rooms". [16] The restaurant closed in the 1970s and the property later became a church. [16]
The Palos Verdes Bird Farm opened in Walteria in 1952 at a site on Pacific Coast Highway between Crenshaw and Hawthorne Boulevards. [17] In addition to buying and selling exotic birds, it provided took in wayward pets and injured wild birds. [18] In 1964 it suffered a fire that killed almost 1,000 birds, including a greater sulphur-crested cockatoo named Tommy who had worked in film and television. [17] One writer described visiting it as a child, "The Palos Verdes Bird Farm was my father's favorite pet store—it had the largest collection of birds in the city. Rows of aviaries lined the aisles; hundreds of painted finches swarmed from branch to branch as visitors passed by. Quail, partridge and imported poultry paced on sandy cage bottoms, and canaries, parakeets and myna birds sang, whistled and chattered from behind chrome-wire cages. It was a vacation abroad, disguised as a trip to a retail store." [19] The shop closed in 1989 when the owners retired. [20]
The Dicalite diatomaceous earth mine located in a Walteria ravine employed many Mexican-American men from neighboring communities from the 1920s through 1940s. [21]
The notable La Primera preschool in Walteria was founded by psychologist and author Fitzhugh Dodson in 1963. [2]
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz shot a scene of The Long, Long Trailer in Walteria in 1953. [22]
The South Bay is a region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in the southwest corner of Los Angeles County. The name stems from its geographic location stretching along the southern shore of Santa Monica Bay. The South Bay contains sixteen cities plus portions of the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated portions of the county. The area is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the south and west and generally by the City of Los Angeles on the north and east.
Rancho Palos Verdes is a coastal city located in south Los Angeles County, California. Incorporated on September 7, 1973, the city has a population of 42,287 as reported in the 2020 United States Census. Rancho Palos Verdes sits atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, neighboring three other cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, namely Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, and Rolling Hills Estates. It is known for its extensive hiking trails, school district, and high property values.
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Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwest Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. A small section of the city, 1.5 miles (2.4 km), abuts the Pacific Ocean. Torrance has a moderate year-round climate with average rainfall of 12 inches (300 mm) per year. Torrance was incorporated in 1921, and at the 2020 census had a population of 147,067 residents. Torrance has a beachfront and has 30 parks located around the city. It is also the birthplace of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO).
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The Palos Verdes Peninsula is a peninsula and sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the South Bay region, the peninsula contains a group of cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates, as well as the unincorporated community of Westfield/Academy Hill. The South Bay city of Torrance borders the peninsula on the north, the Pacific Ocean is on the west and south, and the Port of Los Angeles is east. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is 65,008.
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Torrance Unified School District (TUSD) is a school district in Los Angeles County, California, with its headquarters in Torrance.
Rancho de los Palos Verdes was a 31,629-acre (128.00 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to José Loreto and Juan Capistrano Sepulveda. The name means "ranch of the green trees". The grant encompassed the present-day cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, as well as portions of San Pedro and Torrance.
Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants and the first to win a patent from the United States. The Spanish Crown granted the 75,000 acres (300 km2) of land to soldier Juan José Domínguez in 1784, with his descendants validating their legal claim with the Mexican government at 48,000 acres (190 km2) in 1828, and later maintaining their legal claim through a United States patent validating 43,119 acres (174.50 km2) in 1858. The original Spanish land grant included what today consists of the Pacific coast cities of Los Angeles harbor, San Pedro, the Palos Verdes peninsula, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Manhattan Beach, and east to the Los Angeles River, including the cities of Lomita, Gardena, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson, Compton, and western portions of Long Beach and Paramount.
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The Los Angeles City School District was a school district that served Los Angeles, California, and some adjoining areas between 1870 and 1961.
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There are 9 routes assigned to the "N" zone of the California Route Marker Program, which designates county routes in California. The "N" zone includes county highways lying in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Jose Dolores Sepulveda Adobe is an adobe home built in 1818. It is located at the Rancho de los Palos Verdes in Torrance, California. The Jose Dolores Sepulveda Adobe was designated a California Historic Landmark on Jan. 03, 1944. The Jose Dolores Sepulveda Adobe was built by José Dolores Sepúlveda de Redondo, his son was Mayor of Los Angeles from 1837 to 1848. José Dolores Sepúlveda's father was José Loreto Sepúlveda (1764–1808). The location is now a private residence in Torrance. The original Adobe is gone, but the current homeowner renovated the house to reflect the Rancho history. Rancho de los Palos Verdes means "range of green trees". The Rancho is now the present-day cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, as well as portions of San Pedro and Torrance.
The C Line Extension is a project by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to extend the C Line from its terminus in Redondo Beach to Torrance. It is expected to open for service between 2030 and 2033. The project was known as the South Bay Metro Light Rail Extension in planning.
South Bay Union High School District, also known as the Redondo Union High School District, was a school district in Los Angeles County, California. It served residents of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach. It also served Torrance in the 1947-1948 school year.
The Sepúlveda family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important positions, including Alcalde de Los Ángeles, California State Assemblymen, and Los Angeles County Supervisor.
The Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey was an interurban railway route of the Pacific Electric. It operated between the Hill Street Terminal and Cliffton, south of Redondo Beach, through the company's Western Division.
