Manhattan Beach
County: Los Angeles Elevation:
120 feet
Manhattan Beach is located in Los Angeles County, just
3 miles south of Los Angeles International Airport and 19 miles southwest
of Los Angeles on the southerly end of Santa Monica Bay. It is one
of the three beach communities of the Los Angeles South Bay (Manhattan,
Hermosa and Redondo Beach).
A scenic 928-foot-long Manhattan
Beach Pier is one of over 100
piers in California and is located at the end of Manhattan Beach
Boulevard. It offers
free pier fishing all year. Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium at the
end of the pier is free to the public. It includes a huge Shark Tank, Touch
Tank with tide pool animals common to Southern California, tanks with lobsters,
baby sharks and brightly colored, non-native fish and invertebrates.
Open to the public Saturdays & Sundays 10 a.m. to sunset, Monday through
Friday 3 p.m. to sunset and group and education tours offered. Call: (310)
379-8117.
Enjoy a 9-hole public golf course, surfing and
beach
volleyball, and Sunday afternoon concerts in Polliwog Park during the
summer months. The city is host to the Old Hometown
Fair, Holiday Fireworks Festival, International
Surf Festival, running and bike races, volleyball and
tennis tournaments and many other events.
For those born to shop, this is the place. Manhattan Beach
has it all: the unique, the unusual, the outrageous and the classic.
A shopper's delight with an array of shops, boutiques and major department
stores.
The newest television and film production facility in
Southern California, Manhattan Beach Studios, is the first studio built
from the ground up in California in 60 years. The 550,000 square foot project
consists of fourteen art deco sound stages, office
space, and related facilities. The first phase is complete
and is being leased by 20th Century Fox, with the TV show "The Practice."
A brief history of Manhattan Beach- In its earliest
days, Manhattan Beach was part of the ten-mile ocean frontage of
Rancho Sausal Redondo, which means "Round Clump of Willows." At one time
the area was called "Shore Acres" by George Peck, who owned a section of
the north end of town.
In 1901, Stewart Merrill bought the south portion and
called his section Manhattan after his old home, New York City. Peck and
Merrill, unable to agree on a city name, flipped a coin and Manhattan won.
The first downtown building was built by Merrill around
1901, a small frame building later used for
city offices. The official date of incorporation was December 2, 1912 and
endorsed findings were filed December 7, 1912. Planks were laid in
the sand on Manhattan Avenue for vehicles and along the Strand and side
streets for pedestrians.
Two wooden piers were build in 1901, one at Center Street
and one at Marine Avenue. The Center Street pier supported a wave motor
to generate power for the Strand lighting system. Purportedly, part of
the wave motor lies buried in the sands at the shore end of the present
pier. The next pier was built on the same site
and extended about 922 feet into the ocean. Engineer A.L.
Harris developed the concept of the circular end for less exposure and
damage to the pilings by the waves. The pier was completed and dedicated
on July 5, 1920.
After World War II a large influx of people came as a
result of the desirability of the area for year-round living. Servicemen
visiting during the war returned to live here. The development of
the defense industry brought many people to the South Bay to reside and
work. Much of the land east of Sepulveda was developed to house the influx
of people.
City Area: 3.88 square miles
2.1 miles of beach front, 40 acres of recreational beach area in total
49.1%, or 1224 acres, of Manhattan Beach's city wide land area is residential
Average annual rainfall of 12.07 inches
Average temperature ranges from 70º F in summer to 55º F in winter
Where to stay: Manhattan
Beach hotels number a modest sum of less than 10 at the time of this
writing.
Shade Hotel is the luxury boutique hotel a short distance to the beach.
Manhattan Beach Marriott offers comfort that the chain is recognized
for and also is one of the top hotels. People like it because it
reflects the stylish life that LA and Manhattan Beach are known for.
El Segundo < Manhattan Beach >
Hermosa Beach
