Conservation, Recreation, Education And Transportation Expo Greenway
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CREATE EXPO GREENWAY
History of
the EXPOSITION RIGHT OF WAY (and Environs)
Exposition Right of Way
In 1875, the Los Angeles and
Independence Railway gained and used the Right of Way to connect Los Angeles
with Santa Monica. In the Expo Greenway
area, the Right of Way crossed pastoral Rancho La Ballona, south of Rancho
Rincon de los Bueyes.
Maps from 1875
(Rancho Rincon de los Bueyes) and 1896
(United States Geological Survey) show a stream-fed pond near where Bradbury
and Rountree Roads now intersect Northvale Road.
The Los Angeles Public
Library Photo Database contains (among several more) the photograph to the left
dated March 15, 1939 showing “A view of pastures, railroad tracks, and utility
poles looking south from the NW corner of La Lomita Ranch in Palms on a partly
cloudy day.” (Visit Expo Greenway Gallery
for more pictures and information.)
The latter area is modern
day Westwood Gardens, between Overland Avenue and Westwood Boulevard.
Palms Park
In May 1958, the Los Angeles
Times reported negotiations
between Los Angeles’ Board of Library Commissioners and owners of the “Rainey
property” at 2950 Overland Avenue for the new Palms Library. That same month, the City’s Recreation and
Parks Commission determined to create a park either
on the Rainey property or at Overland and Rose Avenues to the south. (Garnet
and Marjorie
“Marge” Rainey were regulars in Los Angeles’ society pages for
decades.) Mayor
Poulson preferred the Rainey property, siding with Westwood Gardens Civic
Association over the Palms Citizens Advisory Committee. In September 1958, Mrs. Rainey sought
rezoning to build 144 apartments on the property, and, in October 1958, the
City Council approved condemning
the land for park purposes. By December
1958, the parties agreed that the Recreation and Parks Department would buy
the 4.7 acre Rainey property for $302,500 (about $2.3 million in 2011
dollars), with the Los Angeles Times reporting that
residents had “been after such a facility for the Palms-Rancho Park communities
since 1947-48, when the Rancho Park Golf Course was being designed and
constructed.”
In 1959, the City named
the park "Palms Park," instead
of Palms Pioneer Park, which was the name preferred by the Palms Chamber of
Commerce. Also in 1960, the City funded converting
the Rainey house into a clubhouse.
The City demolished
the remaining Rainey property structures to erect a new recreation center. (A negative declaration was
published on March 1, 1979 to “replace
the existing outdated structure.”)
The
first sanctioned BMX bicycle racing in the United States,
if not the world, ran
around a track at Palms Park on July 10, 1969. (A Facebook
page is dedicated to that history.) Wikipedia’s BMX
racing page reported (as of November 10, 2011):
On
July 10, 1969, a group of boys riding their Schwinn Stingray bicycles
in Palms Park in West Los Angeles wanted to race. A park attendant, Ronald Mackler, who was a teenager with motorcycle motocross (MX)
experience helped them organize. Palms Park became to BMX as Elysian Fields is to
American baseball, for at that moment Bicycle Motocross racing was born. By
1973, entrance fees of US$4.50 (which included a US$1.00 insurance fee for the
year) for a 10-week season of Thursday-night racing was charged, and the top
three racers in the season were given trophies. Then a new season of 10 weeks
would start the following Thursday.
The
track operated well into the 1980s largely unchanged, including the lack of a
modern starting gate.
Palms Rancho Park Library
Palms needed a larger
library, and a voter-passed $6.4
million bond issue in 1957 provided funding for it. Because the Rainey property northeast of
Overland Avenue and National Boulevard was “the most central site in proximity to
the community, and at the same time … of equal distance from existing branches
at Mar Vista, West Los Angeles and Robertson,” in 1958 the
Board of Library Commissioners favored the Rainey property for a library. Like Palms Park, the Palms community wanted
the facility closer to their core, but to no avail. In October 1959, the City determined to acquire
more land and relocate the Palms Library adjacent to Palms Park. By the next October, plans called for relocating
the planned library 
from the park’s southwest
corner to the northwest corner because of the coming (c. 1965) Santa Monica
Freeway. Two Octobers later, ground was
broken for the Palms-Rancho Park library.
Pictured are Linda Wallace (age 3) in front of Library Commission
President Albert A. Le Vine; Councilwoman Rosalind Wyman; Ralph Grogdon and Bill Rust of the Westwood Gardens Civic
Association; Bill Highes of the Palms Chamber of
Commerce; and Eloise Gillham, of the Rancho Park
Chamber of Commerce. The 6400 square
foot library was dedicated on August 12, 1964. A couple of generations later, on November
25, 2002, its two-story 10,500 square foot replacement opened on the same
site. The upstairs meeting room was
named for literary legend and longtime patron Ray Bradbury, pictured speaking
at the library in 1972 and again when he was honored in 2009 in his eponymous
room.
(See
Friends of the Palms-Rancho Park
Library’s site for more about the library and its history at its
prior site, which is now Woodbine Park.)
Palms Depot
The grassroots organization Save Our Station saved the Palms Depot, one of The Palms’
earliest structures. The depot now serves
as the visitor center and store for the Heritage Square Museum. Read Ralph Melching’s articles in Timepoints
and Wheel Clicks (telling of the
move), and David Cameron’s article in Wheel Clicks (setting the original
construction date).
Palms – Stories by the original Palms
Historian, David I. Worsfold
My 50 Years in Palms (1914-1964 – in nine short parts)
Palms - Earliest Years
Palms - Its Founding
Palms - Its Subdividers
For the authoritative history of The Palms, get George Garrigues’ Los Angeles's the Palms Neighborhood
(Arcadia Publishing, 2009)
Marshall P. Riddick
Youth CENTER
Built
as a recreation center or “canteen” for a National Guard anti-aircraft gun battalion
stationed in Los Angeles to protect the coast, the Marshall P. Riddick Youth
Center now provides a meeting place for children in the Overland Avenue
Elementary School community.
Washington State National
Guardsmen arrived at Camp Haan in Riverside, California, weeks before the attack
on Pearl Harbor
"The regiment … arrived at
Camp Haan on 22 November 1941 where it was assigned to
the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade (AA). *
* * In May of 1942, the Commanding
General, Western Defense Command, was directed to reorganize elements of the
205th into a semi-mobile regiment and bring the regiment up to a full strength
of three battalions. …. In the meantime the 205th was ordered to Los
Angeles on temporary duty. On January
15, 1943, this was made the regiment’s permanent station. [¶]
On 10 September 1943,… 1st Battalion, 205th was
redesignated the 770th Anti-Aircraft Gun Battalion …. On 10 February 1944, the
770th Gun Battalion was inactivated at Los Angeles….” (Official History of the 205th Coast
Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft) 1941-1945, Washington National Guard
(Military Department, State of Washington, July 1983).)
The Guardsmen erected the recreation building
from “scrap material” on Overland Hill (aka Lowe’s Hill) south of where the
Santa Monica Freeway is now located
“One
hundred soldiers In Battery D stationed at Cheviot Hills owe their new
recreation hall on Overland Ave. to their own ingenuity and skill, coupled with
the generosity of the neighborhood. They
have erected the main portion of a recreation building from scrap material,
using huge crates in which airplane wings are shipped, old telephone poles and
railroad ties.” (Los Angeles Times,
January 9, 1944, p. B2, “Soldiers Use Scrap to Build Own Center, Neighbors of
Cheviot Hills Station Pitch In to Help and Staff Canteen”) “During
the seventh year of the Garden Club, 1943-1944, our course was largely charted
by the war’s necessities. [¶] …. We
continued helping at the Overland Canteen until it was phased out at end of the
year.” (Cheviot
Hills Garden Club History (Thompson, Pat, c. 1996) p. “1943-1944.”)
The Army donated the building to the Overland
Avenue School community, which moved it to its current location
“This
will be your authority to remove that certain building (no. 8), described as a
Recreation Building, located on property leased by the United States of
America, at Overland and Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. [¶] It
is understood that subject building was erected by members of the 770th A.A.A. Gun Battalion from materials donated to said
Battalion, and as evidenced by letter dated 8 February 1944, signed by Thomas
P. Iullucci, Captain of said Battalion and custodian
of said building, the building was donated to Crescent Bay Council of Boy
Scouts. [¶] It is requested that the building be removed
from present location on or before 20 September 1944.” (August 23, 1944, letter
from Army Corp of Engineers to Crescent Bay Council, Boy Scouts of America.) With broad community support, including the
Overland School principal (Mrs. Edna Van Dyke), Overland parents, Boy and Girl
Scout troops, LA City Councilman Harold
Harby, Heyler Realty,
and Anawalt Lumber, the building was moved and fitted
out. Heyler
Realty brokered a discounted price from the neighborhood’s developer for the
vacant land. Parents held newspaper
drives, rag drives, etc. to raise $5,000 to pay for the empty lot and costs of
moving the building. The Cheviot Hills
Garden Club helped, too. “The
year 1944-45 brought increased responsibility to war projects…. [¶] ... $150 to the Riddick Youth
Center. This building was moved from its
location on the Overland hill where it was an Army observation post to be near
Overland School. Fathers in our area
helped with manual labor in the project.”
(Cheviot Hills Garden Club History (Thompson, Pat, c.
1996) p. “1944-1945.”)
The Overland Avenue School community organized
to own, maintain, and operate the center for the benefit of area children
“Marshall P. Riddick
Youth Center ... and all of its business and activities are to be operated and
conducted in the promotion of its charitable objectives and exclusively for the
purpose of owning, maintaining and operating the building and premises known as
the Marshall P. Riddick Youth Center, located at 2634 Overland Avenue, Los
Angeles, California, for the general benefit of school-age children attending
the Overland Avenue Elementary School and those children residing within the
Overland Avenue School District ….”
(Amended and Restated Bylaws of Marshall P. Riddick Youth Center, a
California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation.)
Marshall P. Riddick Youth Center Named for
Fallen Son Marshall Pruit Riddick
The
youth center was named for Marshall Pruit Riddick, an
Overland Elementary School graduate killed
in the line of duty in November 1943 while training as a World War II
aviator. Marshall P. Riddick was an
Eagle Scout and his family was active in the community, including the American
Legion (his
father had been commander of the Cheviot Hills post) and Overland Avenue
School PTA. The building remains a
tribute to Marshall and to others who gave their lives in service.
See the Riddick Center website and scrapbook.
Maps tell a story
(Click maps or links – large
files)
1875 Rancho Rincon de Los Bueyes Map showing Arnaz
subdivisions – Cheviot Hills will be at the far left, under
“Rincon.”
1880 Rancho Rincon de Los Bueyes Map showing Francisco Higuera
Tract – Cheviot Hills will be below and to the left of “Hill Land.”
1896 United States
Geological Survey (USGS) Map – Click
the map. Cheviot Hills will be in the
middle, under “Rincon.”
1910 Palms “Sanborn” Maps
Page 1 – Page 2 – Page
3
1931 Map of Westwood Hills
and Holmby Hills
1934 USGS (full)
Map (very large file)
1939 Ballona Valley Map
1939
WPA Land Use Map
1943-1946 Cheviot Hills
area “Sanborn” Maps
Northwest (AI) – West (AJ) – North
(AG) – Central (AF)–
East (AH) – South (AK) – Street Index – Key
1946 Culver City charter city
campaign map
Cheviot Hills
West Los Angeles’ “Cheviot Hills” neighborhood is
a fusion of several residential tracts that were developed beginning in the
early-1920s.
West Los Angeles’ Cheviot Hills neighborhood is a fusion of several
residential tracts that were developed beginning in the
early-1920s. First came Country Club Highlands (1923), Cheviot Hills
(1924), and Monte-Mar Vista (1926). These three tracts retained
their separate identities until at least the late 1930s. In 1939 a
fourth tract was added to the south: Cheviot Knolls. The
California Country Club Estates tract was built beginning in about
1952, followed by the final nearly two-dozen homes on the east in around 1968.
Cheviot Hills
Begun around 1924, the Cheviot Hills tract’s developers, Frans
Nelson & Sons, advertised that it was named for its “natural rolling knolls
that are so similar to the Cheviot Hills which separate England
and Scotland.” (Cheviot Hills streets such as Troon, Dunleer, and Wigtown carry Scotch names.) Promoted for its
proximity to several country clubs and movie studios, and for its “convenience
to Los Angeles and the beach,” lots in the “finest residential
district between Los Angeles and the sea” originally sold from $1780,
with homes from $10,500.
1938
Cheviot Hills’ Progress
Monte-Mar Vista
Opened for sale in 1926, Monte-Mar Vista (Mountain Sea View) was advertised as
the “Central
Jewel in a Tiffany Setting.” Subdivided
by W.R. McConnell, Fred W. Forrester, and John P. Hayes as well as by Ole
Hanson, the Frank Meline Company took over
development in 1928. Frank Meline was Alphonzo Bell’s first sales agent in Bel-Air
and also subdivided Pacific Palisades’ California Riviera. Monte-Mar
Vista homes were advertised for their proximity to Pico Boulevard, “which
is close at hand, yet far enough to allow freedom from the noise and confusion.” With
“concrete winding boulevards” and “not a pole in sight – utilities are
underground,” homes on streets such as McConnell and Forrester were “priced for
quick sale at $3900 and up.” Ole Hanson (a friend of Frans Nelson’s and another Monte-Mar Vista developer) is
better known for founding San Clemente in 1925.
May
17, 1925 Country Clubs surround Monte Mar Vista area
Country Club Highlands
“Country Club Highlands on Pico Boulevard” was developed by general
contractor Hall Johnson Co., which trumpeted “homes as low as $750, $112.50
down, 5 years to pay balance!” An early advertisement urged,
“Population is rapidly pushing towards Country Club Highlands, pushing on and on! Los Angeles’ population is rapidly
growing solid to the beaches – and property values are rising in
proportion.”
Cheviot Knolls
Cheviot Knolls’ 120
homesites came
to the south side of the neighborhood in 1939. A view
lot was advertised at $1125 in 1940, and a “California
ranch-style home – two
bedrooms and den – 1 1/2 baths – tile kitchen – large walled-in rear porch” was
priced at $7250. Cheviot Knolls was developed by Walter H. Leimert,
better known for his eponymous development to the south and east, Leimert Park.
California Country Club Estates
The next tract added to the area was the California
Country Club Estates, which replaced its namesake – the California Country Club
– in 1952. Considered part of “Cheviot Hills” by some, others exclude it
especially because it has its own homeowners association, California Country Club Homes
Association. According to a contemporaneous Los
Angeles Times article, Sanford
Adler’s 410 home California Country Club Estates development – valued at
$15,000,000 – was sold out by 1955.
Hillcrest View Estates
The Hillcrest View Estates development was squeezed between California Country Club Estates to the south and the Chaminade Catholic High School grounds to the north. On June 5, 1955, the Los Angeles Times reported that developer Sanford D. Adler had completed three models on Medill Place and Anchor Avenue and had twenty homes (priced from $34,000 to $50,000) under construction “in Cheviot Hills, on Club Drive at Medill Place, adjoining the Hillcrest Country Club.” Around the same time, the paper carried ads for the development.
Cheviot Hills Park
The citizens’ campaign to
establish Cheviot Hills Park spanned decades.
ACE
ASELTINE PARK? On
September 15, 1936, American Legion post commander C. D. "Ace" Aseltine launched a drive to establish a recreation park on
the site of the bankrupt Rancho Country Club, formerly the property of Los
Angeles' famed Ambassador Hotel. Realizing the potential of the 125 acre tract
(bounded by Pico Boulevard on the North, Monte Mar drive on the south, Motor
Avenue on the east, and Patricia Avenue on the west) Cheviot Hills Post #501 of
the American Legion sought to provide the community with a unique recreational
resource. The idea seemed natural to WWI
Navy veteran and gas company engineer Ace Aseltine. At the time, the country club site was leased
from the federal government (which had taken it over to satisfy tax liens), but
the lease was about to expire. So the
Legionnaires "pointed out that . . . Los
Angeles [had] not one single large park west of Western Avenue, [and that] in
view of this fact, Western Los Angeles was entitled to such a place for
recreational purposes."
The plan garnered support
from the mayor, city councilmen, a County Supervisor, Congressman John F. Dockweiler, Hamilton High School faculty, Emerson and
Overland schools' PTAs, and numerous other civic organizations, as well as the
other American Legion posts. The
campaign took their long commitment. It
wasn't until about November 1942 that the city began to lease the Rancho
Country Club. And it wasn't until about
1944 or 1945 that plans began progressing to transfer the Country Club property
from the federal government to the city in exchange for Reeves Field at San
Pedro.
After years of effort, the private Rancho Country Club became the public Rancho Park Golf Course, again hosting the Rancho Park Golf Club, and the balance of the land was converted into Cheviot Hills Recreation Center, a 40 acre park with a community building, an indoor gym, 5 ball diamonds, basketball courts, children's play areas, a football field, an outdoor gym, a picnic area, a soccer field, 14 tennis courts, a swimming pool, an archery range, and a band shell. Los Angeles' flagship golf course now includes the nations' busiest 18-hole golf course, a 9-hole executive par three golf course, a double decked driving range, several putting greens, and a clubhouse with a restaurant.
May 26, 1920
Ambassador Hotels Corporation buys 187 Acres
(now Rancho Park Golf Course and Cheviot Hills Park)
Cheviot Hills Post
#501 of the American Legion
1934-1937 – Cheviot Hills
American Legion Post #501.
Compiled by Bernard Geissler, Post Historian
(large files)
1934 ●part
1 ●part
2
1935 ●part
1 ●part
2 ●part
3
1936 ●part
1 ●part
2 ●part
3
1937 ●part 1
1942-1943 – Cheviot Hills
American Legion Post #501 Auxiliary. Dedicated to Mrs. Bernard Geissler
(Cecille) (large files)
●Cover
and Index
1942 ●July ●August ●September ●October ●November ●December
1943 ●January ●February ●March ●April ●May ●June ●Inside
Publicity ●Appendix
Beverly Hills
Country Club
The Beverly Hills Country Club was built
by Cheviot Hills subdivider Frans
Nelson & Sons. Its
tennis courts first opened on August 16, 1926.
It has operated under these names:
Palomar Tennis Club (August 16, 1925-1932)
Pacific
Coast Tennis Club (1932-1933)
Palomar-Pacific Club (1933)
Palomar Tennis Club (1934)
Colony Club (1934)
Bath and Tennis Club (1934-1935)
West Side Tennis Club (1937-1954)
California Racquet Club (1955-1962)
Standard Club (1962-1971)
Cheviot Hills Club (1972)
Westside Racquet Club (1973-1985)
Beverly Hills Country Club (1986-present)
Articles
1932 West Los Angeles article
1939 ”Romance of a Rancho” – the Arnaz Ranch
Aerial
Photos
1923
– Cheviot Hills (looking north toward Beverly Hills; Beverly Hills
Speedway in upper center)
1923
(November 5) – Cheviot Hills
1924
– Palms (Hughes Estate)
1925
(May 18) – Cheviot Hills
1925
(October 7) – Palms (Hughes Estate)
1927 (May 9) – Country Club
Highlands, Cheviot Hills & Monte Mar Vista subdivisions under construction
(looking east, Pico Boulevard along left)
1931 (October 29) Cheviot Hills
looking south
1931
(October 29) Cheviot Hills looking east
1937
(August 19) Cheviot Hills (Haddington & Dunleer Drives cross in upper right)
1937
(December 21) Overland Avenue along bottom & Pico Boulevard along left
c. 1941 (May 11) – Rancho
Park/Cheviot Hills (Overland Avenue School in upper center)
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