History of Compton (Los Angeles, Riverside, Pasadena: low income, apartment, crime)

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by pkatsuda

I lived in Compton till 1956 and I don't remember any black people there. We had a hispanic family on our block, N. Rose Ave. but it was very white in those days. However my family moved north to Ventura County when I was in 2nd grade so my world consisted of just a few blocks between Rosecrans, Santa Fe and I think Alameda. I have great memories of Compton. We used to ride our bikes to the plunge, downtown Compton and to a park over on Santa Fe.....it was a wonderful world....

geeze our girls sports program went to a play day in Compton in 1955, there were lots of blacks there. I wonder what part we visited or you lived in??? I think, maybe cause you were so young you don't really remember..

Nita

[lautlad]

"My Blue Heaven" and "Holy Land" are GREAT books! I also recommend "L.A. City Limits: African American Los Angeles from the Great Depression to the Present" and "The Great Black Way: L.A. in the 1940s" for very interesting and informative history of African-Americans in LA. "LA City Limits" has some very good info about Compton's history in addition to info on the history of other African-American neighborhoods in LA. "The Great Black Way" focuses quite a bit on Central Avenue and also on Little Tokyo which at one point was a predominantly African-American neighborhood during the time of WWII/internment camps.

[IloveOC]

Pattyditz: Can your mom look up your old home on the live maps - birdseye view is pretty good. I don't know when they were actually done, but I enjoy looking up area's where I used to live, now that I am no longer there.

http://maps.live.com

Also, I lived in Paramount in Jan 1966 when my daughter was born. She was premature and had a problem with her blood, so was transferred to the Childrens Hospital, which I believe was in Hollwood at that time. I had to drive there every few days to see her and it was very scary because that was during all the problems in Watts.

When I returned to California on vacation in 1972, my grandma was living in Inglewood which I would guess was probably 90% black then. She would have a fit when I took my two little girls out at night to go visit friends. She said it just was not safe - altho, she was very sheltered and never had to experience the real world outside the safety of her home.

Then in 1996 I made another trip out there and wanted to go take pictures of their old homestead at 3700 102nd Street. My dad, who then lived in Arizona, begged me not to go into that area to take pictures. I finally agreed - but still wish I had gone by there anyway. On my drive from Culver City to Lakewood to take pictures of their home there, I saw that most of the area in between was pretty run down, and I didn't want to stick around, other than to pass through getting to Lakewood. But it was daylight, so I wasn't as concerned. It is sad to see how some of the old neighborhoods are now "the hood". But time has taken its toll on where I live now in Minneapolis too - so I guess that happens.

[Green Irish Eyes]

Google maps has a "street view" feature which has fairly recent photographs for many addresses in the city. Another cool site is Historic Aerials, which lets you type in an address and view satellite photos taken in different years. It's a fascinating record of how neighborhoods change over time.

[sudie24]

Originally Posted by pkatsuda

I was born in LA and lived in Compton from 1947 to 1956 when my dad took a job in Ventura County and moved the family north.

I went to Mayo School from K thru 2nd grade and my memories of Compton & going to school there are wonderful. We lived on North Rose Avenue near Rosecrans and went the the Brethern Church. I remember roller skating at an open-air skating rink across the vacant lot from our neighborhood. There was a an old building in that lot that was refered to as "The Rock Crusher" which we were never allowed to go near. As very small kids we were allowed to play and roam the neighborhood and even cross busy streets when out bike riding. We rode our bikes to the "Plunge" at Wilson Park where we learned to swim. As 1st & 2nd graders we were also allowed to ride our bikes along the RR tracks to downtown Compton. We bought 5 cent cones at Tastee Freeze on Rosecrans and shopped at the dime store next door. From the beginning of Kindergarten we walked the 8-10 blocks to and from school each day.

The homes in our neighborhood were mostly craftsman style and several had really neat guest houses in the back. Our neighbors were very white working class. I believe that we had only one hispanic family on our street (The Hernandez Family) and I don't even remember there being any African American kids in the whole school. Keep in mind that I was very young at the time and my world was not very big.

I can remember the "Milk Man" delivering products to the little cubby by our kitchen door and if we asked politely he would sometimes give us kids crushed ice out of the back of his truck. Of course there was the Good Humor ice-cream man and Jimmy who delivered bread and wonderful donuts for the Helms Bakery.

Though at this very young age I had no idea what racial tension was, I can remember very racist remarks that my dad made about non-whites. Considering he was from a small town in Colo., rarely got into the car without a beer & whiskey, smoked like a chimney and threw burning butts out the car window along with all kinds of trash I guess it was not all that unusual.

I remember really neat school carnivals at Mayo and Monty Montana brought several black and white Pinto horses to the school and did a show on the playground......those were the days....... I remember being very sad when we moved away...........

I love the references to "old Compton". I lived there during the 40's. My father was born there also. All of my relatives lived there. I went to Rosecrans School & had teachers who had taught my mother. We lived in a beautiful little house on W. School St. designed & built by my parents. I loved that house so much. Compton was a wonderful place where I felt safe & was surrounded by my relatives on both sides. My father worked downtown & many merchants were also family friends. The only black person I knew was my uncles maid and she was more of a family member to us all. I never heard any negative comments about black people. We left around 1950 - my very young mother had died from a long illness and my father could no longer live with the memories. I grieved not only losing my mother but also losing our home & wonderful little city of Compton. It has stayed with me all these years. I've lived many wonderful places but will always miss the Compton of my childhood.

[sudie24]

Do you, or anyone else, remember Mrs. Zabel's Dancing School? Also, I'm trying to find any information I can about the Las Campanas Hospital and particularly the little cottages that were the sanitorium behind the hospital.

[cexcilort]

WOW as i sit here with my mother and just going thru the sights and then decided to look for the history of the town that she was raise in,The City of Compton, looking back she remembers the great years of growing up there,on Acacia and Rosecrans.as a child with her mother and father. the year she was born 1936,all of here life growing up there.she has seen the ups and downs of the city and the changes that came upon,as she went thru school at our lady of victory,and graduated in the 50"s.How it all change,all hipanics lived on the other side of Rosecrans,my mother had open up her business there on thecorner of acacia and wynona,tortilleria la victoria, and her phone number was (new mark at that time) i remember the the taxie stand there, the red car station,History lives within my memories.I was a home owner there as well when i purchase my own home,and raise all of my 12 children there,now all grown up and gonne there own ways. Compton has a lot too offer and give as well,like every where there is good and bad.

[cexcilort]

i remember when i usto take a family friend there,at las campanas hospital,there was a doctor by the name of Dr.Gorge Camillo at the time he was doing his internship at that hospital,i remember the cottages in the back of the hospital as well,.after the slow change in town they tore down the old hospital and build new apartments there at the corner of wilmington and compton blvd.

[michelelj]

I am origanally from Compton. My Grandfather was actually murdered during the riots and the when the blacks took over the city. I have some info, if anyone is interested.
Thanks

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by nmnita

geeze our girls sports program went to a play day in Compton in 1955, there were lots of blacks there. I wonder what part we visited or you lived in??? I think, maybe cause you were so young you don't really remember..

Nita

At that point, the red lining and block busting was probably happening closer to Watts, meanwhile, the areas closer to Long Beach, and the ones further West, were probably still mostly white.