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Historic Changes of Torrance California
Historic People and Ecosystem of Torrance
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving
components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a
system.
When the Palos Verdes Peninsula was geologically uplifted, it blocked the flow of the
Los Angeles River. The natural drainage to the sea was halted and created a large inland
depression area as the river proceeded to shift to the east to its existing course.
Historians say that during the early 1800s when the Gabrielino Indians, also known as the
Tongva, inhabited the South Bay area (particularly Torrance), it was part of the extensive
marshlands north of the San Pedro and Long Beach area. The local Tongva called the marsh a
"cienega," a wet marshy area at the foot of a mountain, canyon, or edge of a grassland where
groundwater bubbles to the surface. American Indians used to rely on the marsh for food
(fish, birds, shrimp, and freshwater clams), water, and transportation.
Older Californians today reminisce about their youth and being able to canoe from the
city of Wilmington to the sand dune area in Redondo Beach through the systems of wetlands.
The land that is now the Madrona Marsh Preserve is situated in an area that was once
inhabited by the Gabrielino/Tongva. While there is no direct evidence that there was a village
on this site, it was most likely visited by men hunting for game and women gathering plant
material.
A Changing City
In December 1911, Torrance and his Dominguez Land Company -- named after the
Dominguez family that had controlled the surrounding land since the late eighteenth century - purchased two tracts east of Redondo Beach totaling nearly 2,800 acres for the planned
settlement. Soon, the Pacific Electric Railway and Southern Pacific Railroad agreed to extend
their lines to the new town, and a promise from the Union Tool Company to relocate there at a
new, $500,000 plant guaranteed the town's conception. The company broke ground on the
town on February 6, 1912.
Initially, the city was to be named Dominguez rather than Torrance. But the Dominguez
name was already attached to a Pacific Electric station that served the Dominguez family's
home. When the family learned that they would have to relinquish the name of their station to
avoid confusion, they insisted instead on a different name for the town. In March 1912, the
Dominguez Land Company agreed to change the name to Torrance in honor of the town's
founder.
On October 28, 1912, the company declared Torrance officially open, selling more than
a quarter million dollars' worth of land in its first day. A newspaper advertisement promised
that "it will easily be a progessive city of probably 20,000 people IN NOT MORE THAN FIVE
YEARS" [emphasis in original].
Despite the company's enthusiasm, the fledgling town took several years to realize even
the basic elements of Olmsted's plan. Most streets remained imaginary except on maps, civic
amenities like hospitals and libraries were missing, and a small cement building housed the
town's only school. To combat the dust storms that plagued the nearly empty town, the
Dominguez Land Company planted barley on its many vacant parcels.
A recession in 1913 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914 stymied the town's growth;
while the Union Tool Company's new plant opened on schedule, other industrial concerns were
slow to arrive.
So were residents. Three years after its founding, only 350 people called Torrance
home. But prosperity eventually came to Torrance. By the time it incorporated as a city on
May 12, 1921, its population had increased to 1,800, and the discovery of a vast oil field
underneath the city in late 1921 brought further prosperity -- as well as a veritable forest of
oil derricks -- to Torrance.
Torrance California
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
Population
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
1920
1920
1,649
1930
7,271
1930
1940
9,950
1940
1950
1950
22,241
1960
1960
100,991
1970
1970
134,968
1980
1990
1980
129,881
2000 (4)
1990
133,107
2010
2000 (4)
137,946
2010
145,438
Loss of Biodiversity
Degraded habitat contains significantly reduced
(from historic levels) plant and wildlife diversity. Highly
degraded areas may contain monocultures of species
which can lead to widespread extinction. The Preserve
includes areas of degraded habitat. Causes of this
degradation are prior ranching, oil recovery, introduced
plant and animal species (invasive exotics), enriched
(polluted) urban runoff entering the wetlands, and refuse
dumping. A considerable portion of the Preserve is
dominated by introduced plant species. Introduced plant
species (exotics) generally support fewer and
1912 view of an empty field in Torrance.
different (e.g. exotic) animal species than native
Courtesy of the California Historical
Society Collection, USC Libraries.
plants. Exotics are often aggressive invaders, expanding their numbers until they take over a
site, dominating the vegetative community, and excluding existing native plant species. Exotic
species can shade-out and choke-out native species, such as wildflowers, that are beneficial to
present wildlife. Also, no natural predators/herbivores that were historically residents are at
hand to keep these plant species in check.
Thus the control and removal of invasive exotic plants and the establishment of native
plants promotes both the integrity of existing native plant communities and supports a more
diverse native wildlife assemblage. Removal of exotic plants also aids in the decline of exotic
insects that often are detrimental to the health of already-established native plant species.
Introduced animal species (exotics) can severely affect native plant and wildlife populations.
They can directly kill native species, out-compete natives for nesting sites, or alter habitats
so that native species are at a disadvantage and consequently suffer population declines. For
example, introduced bullfrogs have been implicated in the severe decline of several species of
native frogs in California and specifically our Pacific Tree frogs at Madrona Marsh Preserve.
Other introduced wildlife such as European Starlings and Red Foxes tend to out-compete
native species, often causing disruption in natural behavior. At times, these disruptions have
caused extirpations (local extinction) on the Preserve. In the recent past, populations of Red
Fox on the Preserve have eaten nearly all of the native lizards and toads. Over the past
several years, because of stepped-up intervention, very few harmful species have been
observed on the Preserve.
Torrance at 100: the South Bay City's Origins as a Model Industrial Town
by Nathan Masters
October 12, 2012 10:46 AM
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As this ca. 1920s postcard shows, oil derricks and houses co-existed in Torrance. Courtesy of the South Bay
History Collection, Cal State Dominguez Hills Archives.
Circa 1919 postcard of the Hendrie Rubber Company and Glass Factory in Torrance. Courtesy of the South Bay
History Collection, Cal State Dominguez Hills Archives.
1918 postcard of the Llewellyn Iron Works in Torrance. Courtesy of the South Bay History Collection, Cal State
Dominguez Hills Archives.
Circa 1920s postcard of Sartori Street in Torrance. Courtesy of the South Bay History Collection, Cal State
Dominguez Hills Archives.
Circa 1920s postcard of Torrance's downtown business district. Courtesy of the South Bay History Collection,
Cal State Dominguez Hills Archives.
1925 aerial view of Torrance. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Circa 1920s postcard of oil wells along Carson Street in Torrance. Courtesy of the South Bay History Collection,
Cal State Dominguez Hills Archives.
The Pacific Electric Railway's decision to locate its shops in Torrance helped make possible the town's founding.
Circa 1924 aerial photo courtesy of the Metro Transportation Library and Archive.