Redondo Beach Pier

  Click to take of tour of Redondo Beach

If Manhattan Beach is the sharp Sophisticate  and Hermosa Beach is the Adorable younger sister then Redondo Beach is surely the Gorgeous older sister of the beach cities.  

While the wind still blew over the empty dunes that would someday become Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach .. Redondo was the West Coast Resort town at he turn of the century. 

Redondo Beach got its start because it has a deep seabed close to the shoreline.  In the late 1880's Los Angeles needed a port to handle shipping. Redondo Beach seemed an ideal spot.  By 1888 the city had  a  wharf and the Santa Fe was running a  line from downtown Los Angeles to Redondo numerous times a day.  By 1903 the city would boast 3 wharves and  was a major port...   although it would soon lose out to San Pedro.

In 1890 a grand resort  The Hotel Redondo had been built where Veterans Park now stands.  The hotel had 225 luxurious rooms with an 18 hole golf course, tennis courts and gorgeous landscaped grounds.  If you couldn't afford to stay in the hotel there was a Tent City nearby  where you could rent a tent with electric lights for $3.00 by the week or $10.00 by the month.  There was also the world's largest salt water plunge close to where the Seaside Lagoon is today. There was even a beach that was piled high with Moonstones between Diamond Street and Herondo in Hermosa.

Entrepreneur Henry Huntington  realized what an attraction Redondo was and established the Red Car Service that ran from downtown through Beverly Hills and along the coast through Manhattan and Hermosa to the boardwalk in Redondo.  Huntington decided that Redondo needed another draw and in 1907 or so he hired George Freeth. George was a tall good looking Hawaiian -Irish lad who knew how to surf.  Huntington billed him as the "man who could walk on water" and soon thousands came to Redondo to see George hit the shoreline on his 8 foot redwood surfboard.  George quickly became not only the first surfer but the Father of California surfing.

In 1892 the residents  decided it was time to become a city and with a vote of 177-10 the deed was done. As the city continued to grow  the pier as a port  became less and less important.  By the late 1920's storms had destroyed two of the wharves and in 1926 Wharf #3 was demolished.. along with the grand Hotel Redondo.  The fabulous resort had been done in by the Volstead Act or prohibition as it was popularly know as by the local folk.

During the Depression years until 1940 Redondo was home to the Gambling Ships complete with bad guys, mob guys, alcohol and gorgeous girls.. This was the stuff of movies. With the advent of World War II the gamblers were gone and the city settled down.  The  Monstad Pier was enlarged and soon restaurants and shops were built over the water.  Although storms and fires have destroyed portions of the pier over the years today it still remains a vital part of Redondo Beach.

Redondo is the largest of the Beach Cities and over the years has been divided between North Redondo and South Redondo with 190th street as the informal boundary. The demographics  from the 2000 census  say the city is 6.3 square miles, with the population fairly evenly divided between renters and home owners.  I believe that number has changed in the last few years with a higher number of homeowners.  The median income was $69,173.  In 1900 the population was 885 in 2005 the population was estimated at 62,000 with slightly more males then females.  The city has definitely grown some over the years.  

 Over the years a number of single family homes have been torn down and replaced by townhome style condos in both North and South Redondo.  There are only a few neighborhoods in the city that remain as strictly single family areas.  The TRW tract in North Redondo is one and  the upper avenues in South Redondo is the other. There are parts of the  streets east of PCH and south of Torrance Blvd that are also single family neighborhoods. An interesting note is that the Lady Streets (Gertruda, Irena, Juanita, Lucia, Maria, Guadalupe, Francisca) were supposedly named after the daughters of the owner of Rancho Redondo.  I don't know if it's true ...but it should be as it makes a great story.

North Redondo continues to be a bit more affordable then South Redondo.  You can still find a small 2 bedroom condo in North Redondo under $625,000 but they are getting scarce.  In South Redondo you can find a one bedroom condo along The Esplanade or in The Village under $500,000.  New single family homes in North Redondo are topping $1,300,000 and well over the $1,900,000 number in South Redondo east of PCH.  West of PCH home prices are in the mid $2,000,000 mark or more.

 Redondo Beach is home to The Civic Light Opera of The South Bay.  The CLOSB has come a long way since it first began and has won a number of Ovation Awards for best show right under the nose of the Dorothy Chandler and Pantages theatres. The Ovation Awards are LA's version of the Tony's on Broadway.  The City has a Lobster Festival each May where some of the best chefs in town cook up pots of lobster and corn for thousands.  There is  the annual Super Bowl 10K on Super Bowl Sunday that brings out the best runners in town. The Redondo Beach Pier is  a great place to visit.  There are fresh fish markets where you can take fish home or have it cooked to order.  There are  some wonderful restaurants you Don't want to miss.. Both Old Tony's ... with the best view in town and Tony's Fish Market are ideal if you want to literally sit on the water.  Kincaids is very upscale on the north end of the pier. In the middle is the El Torito Grill and a new Irish Pub Kilkenny's.

 Redondo has its own Unified School District.  Most of the schools are California Distinguished Schools.  There are two Imtermediate schools and one High School.

In the late 1960's the City of Redondo made a tragic mistake and agreed to tear down the original downtown area and turn the area over to developers.  Fortunately Riviera Village is still a gem in South Redondo but losing an historic place like the original town was a terrible thing for the city to let happen.  Today a citizens group is using that as one of the reasons to take major zoning decisions away from the City Council and have them put to the residents in the form  of a general election.  Over the years the city has not evidenced a great deal of support for the history of Redondo and many of its buildings of historic value have been demolished.   The Redondo Beach Historical Society has a yearly tour of some of the homes that have survived.  There are not many left and this is a way to see some of the beautiful homes that are part of Redond's heritage.