The mission of the Westchester/Playa Historical Society is to gather, study and preserve the history of the communities of Westchester, Playa del Rey and Playa Vista. It is a nonprofit public benefit corporation organized exclusively for public and charitable purposes. The home of the Westchester/Playa Historical Society is at its Discovery Center, located at 6203 W. 87th St. in Westchester 90045. There, you will find catalogued artifacts, that have been digitized for research purposes. The Discovery Center is open on Sunday mornings 9:30 until noon and by appointment or for special events. A wonderful mural captures the history of the region, as far back as 8000 B.C. Special rotating exhibits also enhance the Discovery Center. A fun fact shared by the docents is that, standing in the Discovery Center and traveling back to the future, we are reminded that the generations of people of our geographic footprint have saluted the flags of three countries … first Spain, then Mexico and finally the United States of America. Prior to that our indigenous ancestors thrived in a productive trading economy.
Westchester/Playa Historical Society works tirelessly to serve its mission. Currently, it is working on an upcoming Salute To Our Schools exhibit, which will open in two parts, commencing in October and expanding into the New Year. Detailed narratives, describing the historical significance of the many images captured in the Discovery Center mural, will be ready for our visitors in October. In 2024, there are plans to resurrect the guided historical walking tours and bus tours, which had been fully “sold out”, when we were shut down due to the pandemic. We also await the grand opening of the breezeway project, as visitors will be able to walk from Sepulveda Boulevard west to the retail parking area within the most northern block of the Westchester retail district, where WPHS has collaborated in the display of a dozen historical images of the local community. Our holiday candle workshops are coming up soon, and during the holiday season this year, we will be offering ready-made candles, in honor of the 1950’s tradition of the Westchester Candle yard displays which was brought back to life last year by the historical society.
We thank our many donors, who help us sustain the mission of the Westchester/Playa Historical Society. The community’s continued support is welcome, through our website https://wphistoricalsociety.org/accepts. We also accept in-kind historical artifacts from our community members.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society’s Discovery Center, located in the Westchester Triangle at 6207 W. 87th St., recently honored its community veterans with an exhibit that was open to the public on Sunday, May 28th during Memorial Day Weekend, as well as Sunday, July 2 and Sunday, July 9, book-ending the 4th of July holiday. On display at the Discovery Center were photos of veterans, men and women, introduced by the quote “ Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of every fallen soldier who protected it.”
The exhibits were sponsored by Richard Moon & Associates, Certified Public Accountants. The historical society gratefully acknowledges Richard Moon for his support in sponsoring the exhibit and, also, for his service as a Veteran, also acknowledging board members Marcelo Cruz and Michael Heffernan for assembling the exhibit. The Westchester/Playa Historical Society invites the submission of the names of veterans, for future exhibits, who reside in the Westchester/Playa community, or have resided in the past, and/or to be recognized posthumously. To be included in future exhibits, the Historical Society requests the veteran’s name, branch of service, dates of service and photo.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society is a nonprofit, whose primary and specific purpose is to gather, study and preserve the history of the communities of Westchester, Playa del Rey and Playa Vista. The historical society is grateful to all donors https://wphistoricalsociety.org/support/ and further acknowledges the generosity of: the Founders Circle, comprised of the Drollinger Family Charitable Foundation, the William H. Hannon Foundation, the Westchester Rotary Foundation, the Playa Venice Sunrise Rotary Foundation, and the Cozette Chattin Vergari Family, as well as its Diamond Donors Amy Nelson Frelinger, Los Angeles World Airports, Richard Moon and Cozette Vergari and its Emerald Donors David Russell, Patty Crockett, Maria Davis, Lisa Schwab, John and Gail Grover, and Technologent.
The Board of Directors, Cozette Vergari, Marcelo Cruz, Art Wexler, Mike Heffernan, David Russell, Sophia Scorziello and Grant Frances, facilitate docents at the Discover Center on Sundays between 9:30 a.m. and noon, by appointment and/or scheduled special events. The Discovery Center from time to time hosts historical documentaries for public viewing, as well as records individual’s stories for its archives as oral histories. The historical society has digitized all artifacts in its possession and welcomes those who wish to research the history of the Westchester/Playa community through the Discovery Center. It is happy to accept in-kind donations of historical significance and does so on an ongoing basis.
Westchester is home to many interesting locations with historical significance. There’s Hangar One, LAX’s oldest building, built in 1929 when it was still Mines Field. Then there are the area’s historic theaters, which are now offices–the Paradise Building and Loyola. But did you know that hidden right on the eastern edge of town is the oldest residence in the area that now comprises the communities of Westchester, Playa del Rey and Playa Vista, as well as the cities of Inglewood, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Manhattan Beach, Lawndale and Hermosa Beach?
Built nearly 200 years ago, the Centinela Adobe is one of only 43 surviving adobes in Los Angeles County. The adobe had a rich and impressive line of owners for more than 100 years before being rescued from demolition in the initial housing development in Westchester during the early 1940s.
In 1822, Spanish rule of the area ceded to Mexico, following the Mexican War of Independence. Mexican soldier Antonio Ygnacio Avila petitioned and was granted a Mexican land grant for Rancho Sausal Redondo, 44,000 acres in Alta California, then a part of Mexico. In the late 1820s Ygnacio Machado, who under Spanish rule had been a New Spain “leather jacket soldier,” began cultivating a portion of the rancho.
Circa 1829, Machado received permission to build an adobe house on the land. He was also granted a small portion of Rancho Sausal Redondo. His 2,220 acre land grant became known as Rancho Aquaje de la Centinela.
Machado’s adobe, built in 1834, was located in the 44,000 acre region and became known as La Casa de la Centinela. Ygnacio Machado owned Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela only briefly, trading it in 1844 for a keg of whiskey and a small home in the Pueblo de Los Angeles. The trade was with Bruno Avila, giving Bruno and his brother Antonio adjacent ranchos and the property back to the Avila family.
The Spanish Colonial style adobe house was built just 16 years before California became a state in 1850 and will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2034. The smaller Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela changed hands several times in the 1850s. Eventually it was sold to Scotsman Robert Burnett, who purchased the rancho for $3,000 in 1860. A portion of the larger Rancho Sausal Redondo, which had stayed in the Avila family, was also acquired by Burnett. By 1872, Burnett owned a 25,000-acre ranch that encompassed all of the land along the coast from what is now Playa del Rey to Redondo Beach and inland from Baldwin Hills to Lawndale and northwestern portions of Torrance.
In 1873, Burnett returned to Scotland, leasing the ranch to Daniel Freeman, a recent arrival from Canada. Freeman paid $7,500 per year in rent and also had an option to purchase the ranch for $150,000. Freeman raised sheep and planted more than 10,000 trees, including 7,000 orange and 2,000 almond trees on the ranch. When a drought led to the death of 22,000 of his sheep, Freeman turned to growing barley, and eventually was producing a million barrels a year. In 1885, Freeman exercised the option to buy the ranch for $140,000 in gold. Freeman amassed a fortune farming barley, olives, lemons, limes, and almonds on the ranch and named his expansive land holding Inglewood, after his birthplace in Ontario. In 1887, Freeman sold off 11,000 acres in small parcels as a settlement that became the City of Inglewood. In 1888, Freeman built and moved to a large mansion there, and in 1889, he built the land sales office that now sits on the grounds of the Centinela Adobe. Eventually, all 25,000 acres of the ranch were subdivided, and the only remaining portion of the ranch that remains today is the one-acre site on which the Centinela Adobe is situated in Westchester on Midfield Ave. In the late 1940s, the adobe was threatened with demolition when the remaining land was subdivided to make room for new affordable homes being built to house WWII defense industry employees. Preservation-minded women in the City of Inglewood raised money to purchase the property in 1950 and deeded it to the City of Inglewood, which still maintains the adobe through the Parks and Recreation Department. The Centinela Adobe Complex has been described as the historical centerpiece of the area known as Centinela Valley– the lands extending from Baldwin Hills to Palos Verdes. The grounds also include a heritage and research center which opened in 1980. The research center includes Freeman’s library, safe and furniture, as well as articles and photos about the history of the area.
Today, the adobe is managed by the Historical Society of Centinela Valley, which gives tours on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. If you’ve never visited, it’s definitely worth a trip to check out the history and what life was like in the late 19th century.
Learn more local history at wphistoricalsociety.org and stop by the Westchester/Playa Historical Society’s Discovery Center (6207 W. 87th Street in Westchester) this month on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Cozette is a lifelong resident of Westchester and is the President of the Westchester/Playa Historical Society. Together with a group of dedicated volunteers, the organization is working on creating new programming and events to celebrate the history of the area and engage the community in preserving it for future generations.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society invites you to a night of great dining, in support of its mission “To Gather, Study and Preserve The History Of Our Local Communities.” We will dine together at the local historical site of Tony Ps in Marina del Rey, from March 26 through March 30, when Tony P’s will generously donate 20% back to the Westchester/Playa Historical Society.
You must present a coupon to the server, which can be found on the Westchester/Playa Historical Society website https://wphistoricalsociety.org/. You may dine in or take out.
We thank you for your support in helping Westchester/Playa Historical Society serve the community through its Discovery Center, located at 6207 W. 87th Street in Westchester, 90045. The Discovery Center is open Sunday mornings or by appointment. Come by and see us or contact us at wphistorical@gmail.com.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society is proud to celebrate the past, present and future partnership between the arts and the history of our flourishing community of neighborhoods. As we step into the New Year, let’s remind ourselves of what is right at our fingertips.
At the corner of Manchester and Sepulveda, you see the statute, “Horse and Man” sculpted by highly acclaimed Millard Sheets, a native California artist who grew up near Los Angeles. In 1953 Sheets founded the Millard Sheets Designs Company. Sheets love of horses can be directly traced back to his childhood years spent living at his grandfather’s horse ranch. Sheets returned to the theme of horses in his art design. He was commissioned by United States Savings Bank in 1957 to sculpt the Horse and Man for their new bank in Westchester.
Located in the Westchester district of Los Angeles, the Loyola Theatre opened on October 3, 1946, by Fox West Coast Theatres. Before the theatre’s conversion to a medical office building, the front of the Loyola Theatre featured a beautiful swan neck tower rising nearly 60 feet above the theatre’s marquee at the southeast corner of Manchester and Sepulveda. The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board declared the theater a cultural and historic monument on June 2, 1982.
Millirons, now Kohl’s, opened March 1949. The $3 million dollar store embodied a host of unique design features created by Gruen Associates. Architectural historians consider it a prototype for the modern self-contained department store. Gruen cited the economic advantages of a low sprawling building, with parking and other retail on top of the building. Elevation of the main façade screened the parked cars from street view.
The iconic Theme Building at LAX is considered an architectural example of the Space Age design style. Influenced by “Populuxe” architecture, it is an example of the Mid-century (1950s) modern design movement later to become known as “Googie.” The Airport Theme Building Exterior and Interior was designated as a historic-cultural monument in 1993 by the city of Los Angeles. The image of a “flying saucer that has landed on its four legs” was designed by James Langenheim, subsequently brought to life by a team of architects and engineers headed by Willian Pereira, Charles Luckman, Paul Williams and Welton Becket.
The Westchester Municipal Building, built circa 1960, was designed by architect James Homer Garrott. It retains the essential character defining features of Mid-Century Modernism from the period of significance. It was developed during the Post WWII period as part of an overall City planning program to expand government services.
Moving from three dimensional historical pieces of art, more recently our communities have been complimented with murals, depicting important elements of the Westchester/Playa community.
“Welcome To Westchester” is a 10,000 square foot diptych mural that was created in 2017 between Sepulveda and Sepulveda Westway Westchester Parkway, as a collaborative civic artwork facilitated by Artist/ Professor David Russell. He and his Otis College of Art and Design students from the Creative Action Program and Drollinger Properties worked together to develop the design representative of the local community and its history.
The “You Are Beautiful” mural was a long-time dream of Karen Dial to pay tribute to her two preceding generations of Drollinger family, as well as other founds of Westchester. The mural, vibrating from just south of CVS/Ralphs shopping complex, was created and painted by Aly Kourouma, a.k.a. Timbuctu State. He is an artist and fashion designer, with cultural preservation at the heart of his work. “You Are Beautiful” is also an empowering message to the neighborhood, and a gift of art for those who might not be exposed to it otherwise.
“Noodle World” is a seven-part mural series that was created in 2018/ 19 as a collaborative civic artwork. The project was facilitated by Artist/ Professor David Russell, his Otis College of Art and Design students from the Creative Action Program, Drollinger Properties and the current building tenants. You will find it tucked away in a short alley on the east side of Sepulveda, between Manchester and LaTijera.
“the kids’ lot” is actually the entrance to a new community garden, located on the eastside of the southern most end of the Sepulveda commercial district, between Sepulveda and Sepulveda Eastway. The community garden was inspired by the ownership of the Tomat restaurant to inspire the community to embrace the “farm to table” food concept, upon which Tomat will build its cuisine. To open soon near The Book Jewel in the Westchester Triangle. An Otis student branded and produced an exterior mural under the mentorship of Artist / Professor David Russell from the Creative Action Program and Drollinger Properties collaboration.
Westport Heights Elementary School, again through a partnership with Otis College of Art And Design, proudly shares two murals, created within the past four years, one at the front entrance and the other located within the interior of the campus. The project engaged 4th graders and represents the identity of their school, including the recent celebration of the school’s 75th Anniversary.
Near the corner of Falmouth and Mancheter, you will find the “Playa del Rey” mural, designed and painted by Hunter Culberson and David Russell in 2019. The mural depicts a message of welcome, while celebrating and honoring marine and fresh water life.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society successfully provided five Holiday Candle Making workshops, completing the final workshop on November 19th, resurrecting a seventy-year-old community tradition, which started in the 1950s and drew busloads of “tourists” to see the holiday wonderland of giant candles.
The current participating community “pioneers,” skillfully led by WPHS Board Member Grant Francis, will launch their own giant candles this holiday season. Once the holiday decorating season is in full swing, you will be able to see the holiday candles at the following locations:
6716 West 87th Street 90045
6433 W. 82nd Street 90045
6610 W. 81st Street 90045
7526 Kentwood Avenue 90045
7536 Ogelsby Avenue 90045
5912 W. 78th Street 90045
8001 Denrock Avenue 90045
7800 Stewart Avenue 90045
6963 W. 85th Place 90045
8031 Nardian Way 90045
8035 Nardian Way 90045
7738 W. 80th Street PDR 90293
If you missed the opportunity to participate in this fall’s workshops, there will be a Holiday Candle Raffle for one lucky winner. The drawing will be held December 5th at the WPHS Board meeting. For more information, contact cozetterotary5280@gmail.com. The winner will receive, in time for display this season, a fully assembled candle and lighting kit, painted blue or red as the winner chooses.
Westchester/Playa Historical Society will offer these workshops again in 2023. There is already a waiting list of 16 future candlemakers for 2023. Stay tuned for those opportunities. For more information, contact cozetterotary5280@gmail.com.
WPHS and the Westchester Mental Health Guild will be collaborating for the WMHG 3rd Annual Holiday Lights Tour & Contest. The Holiday Lights Tour & Contest raises funds in support of the efforts of Airport Marina Counseling Service in its two-fold mission to provide affordable, community-based mental health services and in its training of mental health therapists. If you would like more information or wish to support the WMHG 3rd Annual Holiday Lights Tour & Contest. WMHG website www.Westchestermhg.org.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society Discovery Center, located at 6207 W. 87th Street, is open Sunday mornings or, otherwise, by appointment. The Discovery Center is currently closed for renovation and will reopen in January 2023. We offer small group tours and are available for special events.
I wish to acknowledge and thank the Westchester/Playa Historical Society Board Members and Donors who make our existence possible. We are so thankful to our donors and have acknowledged each of them on our website. Please visit https://wphistoricalsociety.org/support. Your donation is tax deductible.
It’s all about candles and community! The Westchester/Playa Historical Society has been providing Holiday Candle Making workshops, starting in September. The final workshop is November 19th. WPHS Board Member and community leader, Grant Francis, has been conducting the workshops, receiving rave reviews from the participants. Those participating have had the choice of constructing a red or blue candle to display in their front yard.
The goal, due to requests from community members, is to honor and resurrect the Holiday Candle tradition, which, according to legend, was started in the 1950s by two men who lived on Chase Avenue and initially were inspired by the idea of a young paper delivery boy. They created candles for their neighbors that stood six feet tall and, early on, Chase Avenue became known as Candle Lane, drawing bus loads of “tourists” to see the holiday wonderland of giant candles. Over the years, the candles spread far and wide throughout the community. It was the pride of the community during the holidays.
If you missed the opportunity to participate in this fall’s workshops, there will be a Holiday Candle Raffle for one lucky winner. The drawing will be held December 5th at the WPHS Board meeting. For more information, contact cozetterotary5280@gmail.com. The winner will receive, in time for display this season, the candle and lighting kit, fully assembled, and painted red or blue upon the winner’s choice. WPHS will offer these workshops again in 2023. Stayed tuned for those opportunities.
In mutual support, WPHS and the Westchester Mental Health Guild will be collaborating for the WMHG 3rd Annual Holiday Lights Tour & Contest. The Holiday Candles will be added to the Holiday Lights Tour. The Holiday Lights Tour & Contest raises funds in support of the efforts of Airport Marina Counseling Service in its two-fold mission to provide affordable, community-based mental health services and in its training of mental health therapists.
If you would like more information or wish to support the WMHG 3rd Annual Holiday Lights Tour & Contest, contact Judy Dews at 310.993.5810 or judyndan@sbcglobal.net . Your donation is tax deductible.
The WPHS Discovery Center, located at 6207 W. 87th Street, is open Sunday mornings, or otherwise by appointment, through November 20th. Come in and enjoy the current Maps Exhibit. Thereafter, through the end of the year, the Discovery Center will be closed for renovation and will reopen in January 2023. We offer small group tours and are available for special events.
I wish to acknowledge and thank the Westchester/Playa Historical Society Board Members and Donors who make our existence possible. We are so thankful to our donors and have acknowledged each of them on our website. Please visit https://wphistoricalsociety.org/support. Your donation is tax deductible.
Hurry time travelers, we are boarding our time travel machine for a ride back to the 1960s, where more and more expansion and transformation of the Westchester Playa del Rey communities is happening. There are two extensive projects happening that will immensely change the complexion of our small sleepy neighborhoods of Westchester and Playa del Rey. To some degree it parallels the metamorphosis going on in the U.S. in general. That will be another visit to come.
Our first stop is on the southern most edge of Westchester and Playa del Rey, where we witness the ongoing expansion of the Los Angeles International Airport, taking many homes through eminent domain. We see that families’ homes are to be purchased by the airport at a designated value. We also hear families being given another option of actually relocating their house, by transporting it over streets to some other empty plot of land they can find in the region of Los Angeles. Most families, not happily in all cases, are choosing to sell. Some are moving their structure to some other location. A couple of families are refusing to leave.
On the positive side, we are observing the final construction of the iconic Theme Building, which is being dedicated on June 25, 1961 by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive white building resembles a flying saucer that has landed on its four legs. The initial design was created by James Langenheim, of Pereira & Luckman, subsequently taken to fruition by a team of architects and engineers headed by William Pereira and Charles Luckman, that also included Paul Williams and Welton Becket.
We are learning, as we are traveling into the beginning of the Space Age, the building will later be considered an example of how aeronautics and pop culture, design and architecture were coming together in Los Angeles in the 1960s. We now know the Los Angeles City Council designated the Theme Building an historic-cultural monument in 1993.
Buckle up, our time machine is now taking us to the northern edge of the Westchester and Playa del Rey communities, as we look down over our other 1960s expansion project, which is also changing the complexion of our quiet little community. Where there were once oil wells and the southernmost remnants of the original Venice Canals, built in 1905, construction of what we now know as Marina del Rey is in full swing.
We are learning that nearly 50 years of discussion at the county, state and federal levels, regarding the development of this geographic footprint for use as a harbor, went on until, in 1953, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors authorized a $2 million loan to fund construction of the marina. Since the loan only covered about half the cost, the U.S. Congress passed and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 780, making construction possible. Groundbreaking began shortly thereafter.
With construction almost complete, we are witnessing the marina in danger from 1962 through 1963 due to winter storms. The storms are causing millions of dollars in damage to both the marina and the few small boats already anchored there. As a result, we see a plan unfolding to build a jetty at the mouth of the marina. We are able to observe the meeting at which the L.A. County Board of Supervisors are approving another $2.1 million to build the jetty. On April 10, 1965, Marina del Rey was formally dedicated. We also see the first restaurant being constructed, then Charley Brown’s, which we now know as Tony P’s.
Stay tuned for our next time travel adventure…
Due to the many positive responses to our articles on the history of the Giant Holiday Candles, the Holiday Candle Making Workshops are already “sold out.” If you are still interested in making your own red or blue giant holiday candle to display in your front yard, please contact us at info.wphistorical@gmail.com. We will place you on a waiting list. We do plan to offer this again next year.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society Discovery Center, located in the Westchester Triangle at 6207 W. 87th St., is open to the public on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. VISIT OUR CURRENT EXHIBIT “MAPS: Telling the story of a city, a community and its people.”
All aboard! For those time-travel machine passengers, we are once again jumping back on board our time-travel-machine. We continue our adventures into the past, and, as a reminder, we board each time from amidst today’s Westchester/Playa geographic footprint. Though standing still, our time machine has magically taken us from 65,000 B.C. forward.
Our last adventure took us through the 1940s, where we witnessed women pole-vaulting into what had been a predominately male workforce, due to the impact of WW II. We saw a huge explosion in the development of housing, primarily within the Westchester community, to support those working in the massive local arena of defense and aerospace industries. We also witnessed the first commercial buildings constructed along Sepulveda Boulevard, to support these same families with necessities, as well as the construction of three movie theatres, bringing entertainment to those supporting the war effort.
Our time-travel machine is now propelling us forward into the 1950s, where we are witnessing another explosion. Where there are families, there are kids. We see kids everywhere! These are the kids later to be known as the baby boomers. And what did these baby boomers need? Schools.
By now, we see the Westchester/Playa community has become identified and broken into several neighborhoods, with five new public elementary schools being built or already completed to accommodate the baby boomers. At the eastern edge is Osage Elementary, then moving westwardly across La Tijera toward Sepulveda, we see the newly constructed Westport Heights Elementary. Once crossing west over Sepulveda, we pass by two elementary schools running along the Emerson Avenue corridor, Kentwood Elementary and Cowan Avenue Elementary. Then, traveling further west, we are seeing the completed Loyola Village Elementary.
Visitation Catholic School has opened in 1947. We are seeing Westchester Lutheran School opening in 1950, followed by St. Jerome’s School in 1952 and St. Anastasia Catholic School in 1953.
To accommodate the older students, wishing to attend public school, we witness the newly opened campus of what is now Orville Wright Middle School, splitting its day between the high school students, 10th through 12th grade attending classes in the morning hours, followed by the 7th through 9th graders taking their classes in the afternoon. The high school students are attending Westchester High School, while the 7th through 9th graders are attending Westchester Junior High School. We learn from our time travel machine that prior to this campus opening, high students in the area wishing to attend public school, went to Dorsey High School.
Aviation continues to be a major driver in the Westchester/Playa community. The Los Angeles Municipal Airport has just become rechristened Los Angeles International Airport, and we are witnessing plans for major expansion to the west.
Expansion of the commercial properties in the Westchester area is also happening. We see the development of what today is known as the Triangle, which is now recognized by the City of Los Angeles as an historic commercial district.
As we look down from the bluffs of Westchester and Playa del Rey, over and beyond the growth and development of the Howard Hughes holdings and airfield just below, we see the beginnings of the development of Marina del Rey.
We also see that pioneer Ella Drollinger has successfully built and leased her commercial buildings to three tenants, Thrifty Drug Store, department store Quigley’s and grocery store Jim Dandy, starting at the southeast corner of the intersection of Sepulveda and La Tijera Boulevards, now Citibank, and moving directly south through what was Bed Bath and Beyond.
It is truly exciting to see the quickly expanding development and collaboration in the growth throughout the Westchester/Playa footprint during the 1950s. Stayed tuned for next month’s travels through the 1960’s.
Due to the many positive responses to our articles on the history of the Giant Holiday Candles, the historical society will be taking reservations for Candle Making Workshops happening the month of October. If you are interested in making your own red or blue giant holiday candle to display in your front yard, please contact us at info.wphistorical@gmail.com.
This month is the one-year anniversary of the grand opening of the Discovery Center. I wish to acknowledge and thank the Westchester/Playa Historical Society Board Members and Donors who have made this first year possible. We are so thankful to our donors and have acknowledged each of them on our website. Please visit https://wphistoricalsociety.org/support.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society Discovery Center, located in the Westchester Triangle at 6207 W. 87th St., is open to the public on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. VISIT OUR CURRENT EXHIBIT “MAPS: Telling the story of a city, a community and its people.”
Driving down Sepulveda
Westchester’s first grocery store Jim Dandy Quigley’s Department Store – Circa 1951
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society will honor veterans in its upcoming exhibit, Commemorating Our Hometown Veterans, commencing Sunday, May 29th and running through Sunday, June 26th . The exhibit is being showcased at the Westchester/Playa Historical Society Discovery Center, located at 6207 W. 87th Street in Westchester, and is generously sponsored by Richard Moon & Associates, Accounting and Financial Services firm.
The Exhibit will showcase veterans who have, at some time, resided within the Westchester/Playa neighborhoods. It commemorates the dedication, sacrifice and bravery of those serving within the many branches of the military, to preserve, protect and defend our country’s rights and freedoms, while the society expresses its gratitude for giving our community a safe environment, in which we can freely, proudly and respectfully pursue our dreams.
Commemorating Our Hometown Veterans will be open to the public on Sundays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or otherwise by appointment. The following veterans have been submitted by family members and will be featured in the display: Richard Allen, Henrietta Barbour, Norman Bisho, Richard Brubaker, William Baker Chattin, John Craigie, William Corrin, Richard Crovella, Robert Dalton, Alfonse Dragotto, Howard Drollinger, Robert Gebhardt, Donald Glaza, Joseph Herrera, Lloyd Hild, Paul Hood, Bill Jong, Marco Leal, Alvin Lyon, Bob McGindley, Vincent Migliazzo, Walter Mikos, Richard Moon, Charles Pavlich, Angelo Picciolo, Pat Michael Rotolo, William Schultz, Sam J. Toia, Claude Trudelle, Joseph Vezzetti, and Eugene White. Also showcased will be Robert Chebi, John Clark, Curt Curtiss, Ronald Fink, Jose Garcia, Eileen Hamor, Glenn Hamor, William Hatton, William G. Hembacher, John Holmes, William Langford, Donald Leahy, John Lillard, Richard Magyar, Robert McCall, Jack W. McLaughlin, Theodore McLean, Fred Moore, James Plowden, Robert Razzeto, Robbi Robinson.
The Discovery Center will be closed for renovation from July 3rd through September 4th, and will reopen with its Fall exhibit on September 11th. During its closure, due to the many positive responses to our article on the history of the Giant Holiday Candles, the historical society will be taking reservations for Candle Making Workshops during the month of October. The workshops will be led by Board Member and lifetime resident of Westchester, Grant Frances, who has personally carried on the holiday candle tradition for many decades. If you are interested in making your own red or blue giant holiday candle to display in your front yard, please contact us at info.wphistorical@gmail.com.
We are nearing the one-year anniversary of the grand opening of the Discovery Center. I wish to acknowledge the Westchester/Playa Historical Society Board Members and Donors who have made this first year possible. Many thanks to our board members, Marcelo Cruz, Art Wexler, Mike Heffernan, David Russell and Grant Francis, who work tirelessly, donating their time and talent to our mission of gathering, studying and preserving the history of the communities of Westchester, Playa del Rey and Playa Vista. And, to our donors and contributors, we are so thankful and have acknowledged each of them on our website. Please visit https://wphistoricalsociety.org/support.
For our regular passengers in our time-travel machine, which has taken us all the way back to 65,000 B.C. and forward from there up to the 1930s in our last travels exploring our Westchester/Playa geographic footprint, we are jumping back on board. Our time-travel machine is stopping in 1942, where we see women who have been pole vaulted into what had been a predominately male workforce, due to the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. These women are stepping up to fill the jobs that have been left behind by the men who have enlisted in our military to defend and protect our country.
We are traveling back to capture what was happening on December 7, 1941 in our local community. The machine has mistakenly stopped on December 6, 1941. We see Fred Marlow and Fritz Burns supervising the final pouring of foundations for homes they are building near the intersection of La Tijera Boulevard and Manchester Avenue. We are told by Marlow and Burns, these homes are being constructed as affordable housing and will only be sold to those working in the defense industry, rapidly being hired by Northrop, Douglas and Hughes Aircraft Companies, among others, in anticipation of being pulled into the European Theatre of World War II. This day of December 6, 1941, has become identified as the birth of Westchester, ironically just one day before the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. We see other developers join in the massive explosion of homes being built throughout the 1940s.
We can see that La Tijera Boulevard is a main thoroughfare from mid Los Angeles for visitors traveling into our area. One such visitor, Ella Drollinger, widow and mother of two sons, can be seen driving into the area to explore the budding neighborhood, around Mines Field, just a dirt air landing strip surrounded by bean fields. Just twenty years after women received the right to vote, real estate developer Drollinger, when not the usual vocation for a woman, is deciding whether to take a chance on the community. She decides in favor. Purchasing the real property, she decides to fund the construction of the first commercial buildings in Westchester. As we move forward in time, we witness from the southeast corner of La Tijera and Sepulbeda Boulevards, the completion of what is to house the first three stores serving these new homeowners, Thrifty Drug Store, Quigley Department Store and Jim Dandy Supermarket.
We next stop on October 3, 1946 for the Grand Opening of the Loyola Theatre, as a part of the Fox West Coast Theatre chain. We witness the floodlight focusing on the beautiful swan neck tower, stunningly rising nearly 60 feet above the theatre’s glorious marquee. We now know that in 1982, the theatre was declared a cultural and historic monument and the façade remains an iconic symbol of the history of the local film industry. We travel forward to January 12, 1949, where we attend another grand opening of the La Tijera Theatre on the southeast side of the intersection of LaTijera Boulevard and Centinela Avenue. We are amond a crowd of 1530 people seated in the auditorium, as beautiful and ornate as the interior of the Loyola Theatre.
Traveling forward just a couple of months to a daytime grand opening of the, then, $3 million dollar department store Milliron’s, designed by Gruen Associates and located at the northwest corner of La Tijera and Sepulveda Boulevards. We know today, t is considered by architectural historians as a prototype for the modern self-contained retail malls. Gruen tells us of the economic advantages of a low sprawling building with parking, an auditorium, a restaurant and retail shops located atop the building. The façade of the building, we note, carefully hides the parked cars atop the building. We also note thee display windows at ground level are angled for the benefit of traffic traveling along Sepulveda.
Our next view from our time-travel machine, looking down from the Westchester bluffs in, is witnessing the construction of the hanger in 1943, where Howard Hughes, who has been contracted by the military to build the Hughes H-4 Hercules, a prototype strategic airlift flying boat to transport troops over the Atlantic during WW II, will build this aircraft. Moving forward a couple of years, we hear the aircraft is commonly and controversially referred to as the Spruce Goose, which one of our time travelers on board who is working on the project points out that this nickname is being used by critics. The war has ended before the H-4 Hercules is completed. It is being built entirely from laminated spruce and birch, the largest flying boat ever to be built, with the largest wingspan of any aircraft ever flown. We move ahead to 1947, to Long Beach, where the aircraft has traveled from Jefferson Boulevard across the main thoroughfares of Los Angeles. Hughes is surprising his critics and flies the plane over the Long Beach harbor approximately one hour, at 70 feet above the water. It will be learned later that, in fact, the H-4 Hercules could have accomplished what it had been designed to do, based on a study conducted by Glyndwr University in 2013-14.
Right about this same time, in 1947, we see the formation of the Westchester Woman’s Club, with a mission to fundraise to support community improvement. They have formed almost a decade after the birth of the Woman’s Club of Playa del Rey in 1938.
The Woman’s Club of Playa del Rey, currently sponsoring the “Celebrating Women” Exhibit at the Westchester/Playa Historical Society Discovery Center, generously serves the Playa del Rey, Silicon Beach, and surrounding communities by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service and philanthropy. Their determination, conviction and drive to follow the ideal that “sometimes all it takes to change the world is a little support” continues to make an impact on our local region to this day.
The ”Celebrating Women” Exhibit, located at the Westchester/Playa Historical Society Discovery Center, located at 6207 W. 87th Street in Westchester, features three renown local artists, JoAnn Cowans, Gail Grover and Mary Leighton Thomson, who have captured the history our local community in their exquisite works of art. Additionally, the exhibit highlights the contributions of Rowena Ake, Mary Ellen Cassman, Mary Lou Crocket, Ella Drollinger, Ruth Landsford , and Shirley Pfeil during the first half of our 101 years. Recognition will also be given to our contemporary pioneers Christina Davis, Stephanie Davis, Karen Dial, Lisa Schwab, Val Velasco, and Maxine Waters . The exhibit runs through May 15th.
Our next Exhibit, “Commemorating Veterans,” sponsored by Richard Moon & Associates opens May 29th. We will be honoring veterans who have resided in our community and have served our country in the military. Please submit your veteran’s name, photo, years of service and branch of service to info@wphistoricalsociety.org no later than May 1st. Also, please visit our website at www.wphistoricalsociety.org
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society Discovery Center, located in the Westchester Triangle at 6207 W. 87th St., will launch its next exhibit in honor of our local veterans. “Commemorating Veterans” will open on Sunday, May 29th , and run through Sunday, June 26th. The exhibit is open to the public on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or otherwise by appointment, and is sponsored by Richard Moon & Associates, Certified Public Accountants. The historical society gratefully acknowledges Richard Moon for his support in sponsoring the exhibit and, also, for his service as a Veteran.
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society invites the submission of the names of veterans who reside in the Westchester/Playa community, or have resided in the past, and/or to be recognized posthumously. To be included in the upcoming exhibit, the veteran’s name, branch of service, dates of service and photo, should be submitted no later than May 14th to info.wphistorical@gmail.com,
The “Celebrating Women” exhibit, currently open at the Discovery Center, and sponsored by the Woman’s Club of Playa del Rey, runs through May 15th. The exhibit features three renown local artists, JoAnn Cowans, Gail Grover and Mary Leighton Thomson, who have captured the history our local community in their exquisite works of art. Additionally, the exhibit highlights the contributions of Rowena Ake, Mary Ellen Cassman, Mary Lou Crocket, Ella Drollinger, Ruth Landsford , and Shirley Pfeil during the first half of our 101 years. Recognition will also be given to our contemporary pioneers Christina Davis, Stephanie Davis, Karen Dial, Lisa Schwab, Val Velasco, and Maxine Waters .
During the remainder of the “Celebrating Women” exhibit, the Discovery Center will be presenting the musical video “Put A Woman In Charge” at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon, each Sunday. Join the fun and come by the Discovery Center. Also, please visit our website at www.wphistoricalsociety.org.
6207 W 87th St - Westchester, CA 90045 