FROM WILLOW GROVE TO LIQUID GOLD
The area now called El Segundo was also part of the 1822 Spanish land grant that created the giant Rancho Sausal Redondo, a name when roughly translated means Ranch of the Round Clump of Willows. It was home to wheat and barley fields that provided grazing grounds for cattle and sheep.
In May 1911, the Standard Oil Company sent five men (Richard Hanna, J.E. Howell, John Black, Henry Foster and William Rheem) to survey the expanse, a trip that instantly shaped the destiny of the humble tree patch. It was the perfect site for their next refinery: It was adjacent to the seashore for tanker access, undeveloped land was cheaper, and it was close enough to populated areas to find employees. They bought 840 acres in June and opened five and a half months later. The new industry was also responsible for the future city’s name. Hanna’s wife, Virginia, christened it El Segundo as it was Standard’s second refinery in the state and the Bay Area’s Port Richmond facility was already nicknamed El Primero (Spanish for the first one). The name stuck when the city was incorporated in 1917 although sometime later locals coined an unofficial motto “El Segundo a nada” or “second to none.”
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INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
El Segundo remained a one-business town until the 1920s when Mine’s Field, a landing strip used by early barnstormers on the North end of town, was chosen as the future site of the LA airport. When LAX opened in 1930, the city instantly became a hub of aerospace activity and Douglas Aircraft, Hughes Aircraft, Northrop Grumman and North American Aviation (Rockwell) set up shop there during the ‘40s and ‘50s. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon would follow. Many would eventually transition into the defense sector and in 1960, with the creation of The Aerospace Corporation and the LA Air Force Base, El Segundo earned the esteemed title of Aerospace Capital of the World. More than 50% of the satellites and vehicles in space have been designed and/or constructed there. Southern California Edison’s electrical generating station opened in the mid-1950s. El Segundo still has a reputation as a great place for business. It is home to 12 Fortune 500 companies and Mattel, DirecTV, International Rectifier, Computer Sciences Corporation and Globe Shoes are headquartered there. In 2006, it won an Eddy for being the most business-friendly city in LA County. The daytime population is estimated to be 70,000 although the post-6 p.m. drop-off has allowed El Segundo to maintain a small-town vibe.
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