What did South Los Angeles look like before 1965? (Downey, South Gate: fit in, houses)

[Charles]

Here it is in 1952

http://www.historicaerials.com/aeria...1872&year=1952

Originally Posted by Lmass9925

Does anyone have an aerial photo of Compton 1946. The address on my mother's birth certificate says 315 E. Pine Ave. Compton. I would love to see the location back then. It is currently a salvage yard.
Thanks!
Laura

[West of Encino]

South LA was predominantly white up until the mid-20th Century. Blacks were confined along Central Avenue and parts of Watts. There were racist white gangs at the time and who wanted to keep their neighborhoods white. Black gangs suddenly formed against this rebellion. After 1948, white flight in the area begun and black gangs turned on each other till the Watts Riot. By then, the whole area was black.

South LA has some of the wealthiest neighborhoods at the time like West Adams. The westside was a symbol of success and the eastside was a symbol of poverty (probably still is like that).

Central Avenue was kicking during that time, especially during the Second World War.

Did I get everything?

[Archie_Bunker]

"Those were the days. You knew who you were then.
Girls were girls and men were men.
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.
Didn't need no welfare state, everybody pulled his weight.
Our old Lasalle ran great, those were the days."

[Archie_Bunker]

Originally Posted by West of Encino

South LA was predominantly white up until the mid-20th Century. Blacks were confined along Central Avenue and parts of Watts. There were racist white gangs at the time and who wanted to keep their neighborhoods white. Black gangs suddenly formed against this rebellion. After 1948, white flight in the area begun and black gangs turned on each other till the Watts Riot. By then, the whole area was black.

South LA has some of the wealthiest neighborhoods at the time like West Adams. The westside was a symbol of success and the eastside was a symbol of poverty (probably still is like that).

Did I get everything?

There many geogrpahies and neighbohroods within the term "south la"....with West Adams being on the northern fringe of "south la".

West Adams was THE rich white neighborhood from about 1880 to 1910 when areas like Beverly Hills and West LA began to draw people. But the area was a weathly BLACK area for a long time (as you pointed out).

Big time black celebrities like Ray Charles, Joe Louis, and Little Richard had homes in West Adams in the 1940's & 1950's (after whites had mostly moved on).

But once the Supreme Court (in 1948) lifted the restrictive covenants on property ownership many of the wealthy blacks starting leaving the area too.

West Adams, Los Angeles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[BayAreaHillbilly]

An 80s classic:

Straight outta Compton, crazy m____ named Ice Cube
From the gang called N____ With Attitudes
When I'm called off, I got a sawed off
Squeeze the trigger, and bodies are hauled off
You too, boy, if ya f___ with me
The police are gonna hafta come and get me
Off yo a___, that's how I'm goin out
For the punk m____ that's showin out
N___ start to mumble, they wanna rumble
Mix em and cook em in a pot like gumbo
Goin off on a m______ like that
with a gat that's pointed at yo a___
So give it up smooth
Ain't no tellin when I'm down for a jack move
Here's a murder rap to keep yo dancin
with a crime record like Charles Manson
AK-47 is the tool
Don't make me act the m_____ fool
Me you can go toe to toe, no maybe
I'm knockin n_____ out tha box, daily
yo weekly, monthly and yearly
until them dumb m_____ see clearly
that I'm down with the capital C-P-T
Boy you can't f____ with me
So when I'm in your neighborhood, you better duck
Coz Ice Cube is crazy as f____
As I leave, believe I'm stompin
but when I come back, boy, I'm comin straight outta Compton

Chorus:

[City of Compton, City of Compton]

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by West of Encino

South LA was predominantly white up until the mid-20th Century. Blacks were confined along Central Avenue and parts of Watts. There were racist white gangs at the time and who wanted to keep their neighborhoods white. Black gangs suddenly formed against this rebellion. After 1948, white flight in the area begun and black gangs turned on each other till the Watts Riot. By then, the whole area was black.

South LA has some of the wealthiest neighborhoods at the time like West Adams. The westside was a symbol of success and the eastside was a symbol of poverty (probably still is like that).

Central Avenue was kicking during that time, especially during the Second World War.

Did I get everything?

Today, isn't South LA majority Latino?

[West of Encino]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Today, isn't South LA majority Latino?

Since the 1990s, sadly.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by West of Encino

Since the 1990s, sadly.

A direct result of the riots combined with immigration issues and the overdevelopment of the Antelope Valley and IE as cheap outer suburbs.

West Adams during the real estate bubble years saw some young artsy type blacks, including many gays, move in - some might've been returning to the neighborhood their parents and grandparents left (similar to Harlem gentrififcation in NYC which started as black gentrification). If you look at the Wiki article on West Adams it mentions something about the nickname "the black Silver Lake". Don't know if the gentrification survived the end of the bubble.

[Jay100]

Great thread!

[alto100]

Originally Posted by dreamerman

South Los Angeles, formerly South Central Los Angeles, is known for it's modern self such as gang violence and crime.

But what did South LA look like in the pre-1960s? Can anyone explain?

South Central was a middle class neighborhood with many different nationalities. Watts was heavy Italian American. Even before WWII it was bustling. Central Ave. was known for the best Jazz and night spots on the West Coast. After the war the many defense plants that grew up there switched over to peace time manufacturing and continued to grow. The problems came later with City corruption and white flight and basic benign neglect.