CLAUDINE BURNETT BOOKS

Palos Verdes: From Rancho to Homes

By Claudine Burnett

Published: October 8th, 2024

Landslides on the Palos Verdes peninsula have long been a problem. Many today remember the homes destroyed along Portuguese Bend in the 1950s, the closing of Marineland, and the recent landslides which resulted in moving the iconic Wayfarer’s Chapel. But what was it like in earlier days? A little known report from 1889 and a tragic death from a landslide in 1921 reveals answers.

Cotton crop, 1915. Cal. State Library

Major settlement and housing development on the peninsula didn’t begin until the 1920s. Centuries ago, it was the homeland of the Tongva-Gabrielino people before becoming became part of a huge Spanish land grant in 1784. Called the Rancho San Pedro, a portion was carved out in 1846 and named Rancho Palos de los Verdes. Over the years it passed through many owners, including J. (Jotham) Bixby & Company in 1875, who used the land for grazing livestock (Los Angeles Daily Star 8/7/1875). However, things began to change with the railroad rate wars of the 1880s. As more and more people flocked to Southern California it was time to consider subdividing portions of Rancho de los Palos Verdes.

In 1889, Long Beach civil engineer, Charles T. Healey, described the Rancho de los Palos Verdes to Howard Mills, who was thinking of developing the land. (Long Beach Journal 11/1/1889). Healey mentioned that Los Palos Verdes meant green trees, which in earlier days were willows growing at the northeast corner of the Rancho.

The report was honest. The Bixby Tract was almost entirely grassland, a little cactus, some wild sage and other small native shrubs. Healey estimated there was between 5000 and 6000 acres of arable land, of which 1200 acres were “first class valley land of the most productive character.” The acreage was only a few hundred yards from the municipal boundaries of Wilmington, and included a 270-acre shallow lake, fed by a number of fresh water springs. Healey believed that if drained it would add additional good farmable land. This fertile area had already been subdivided into 5 and 10 acre lots, surrounded by orchards, vineyards, and farms devoted to growing wheat. The hill portion was full of native grasses, such as burr clover, and was only used for grazing.  Six hundred forty acres had already been subdivided into one-mile square lots.

There was a small harbor called Portuguese Bend and Port Carolina on the coast. In the past it had been used as a whaling station. Nothing had ever been done to improve the harbor. It was merely an indentation in the coast, protected on the west by a high rocky point, and to some extent, on the south, by Catalina Island. Large kelp beds could be found at the entrance to the harbor. Close to shore the depth of the water was 14 to 16 feet, and was remarkably smooth. Healey noted that a breakwater and a pier would, at moderate expense, make a fine landing spot, though the water was smooth enough ten months out of the year to allow easy landing even without a pier. Healy reported it could be made into a very desirable resort. It was only a few miles from San Pedro, a sail of an hour; there were no rough seas to produce seasickness and it had wild picturesque scenery.

Despite Healey’s description, the downturn in the economy following the end of the 1880s railroad price wars, prevented further development of the Palos Verdes peninsula. Things changed in 1913 when J. Bixby and Company sold their holdings to Frank A. Vanderlip, a New York financier, and a group of investors, sight unseen.

1920s. Cal. State Library

Vanderlip made his huge Rancho de los Palos Verdes a personal Riviera. He imported Italian architecture and furniture. He built stables and rambling greenhouses, and his gardeners planted trees, shrubs and extensive flower gardens. He made part of his rancho into one of the most fabulous bird sanctuaries in the world. It had so many birds that he had several full-time aviculturists and a complete bird hospital. Later his aviary was given to William Wrigley, becoming the famed Catalina Bird Farm (Southland 12/11/1949).

By 1921, Vanderlip had lost interest in overseeing the development of the peninsula. Perhaps the death of Phillip Genett had alerted him to the problem of too much water and the danger of landslides.

On March 14, 1921, Genett, a Belgian fisherman, was killed in a landslide on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The body of the man, who was known as the “Hermit of Portuguese Bend,” was discovered in a house on the beach below White Point.  Gennett had been dead for a number of hours, following the caving in of a great portion of the bluff.

1937 – WPA photo

During the fierce storm, the land above gave way. Genett was caught in the landslide and hurdled to the beach below. The 68-year-old survived, crawling into an uninhabited house to escape the storm, but soon died. His body was found lying in a comer of the room, his face and hands terribly cut by the glass of the broken window by which he had gained entrance to the home.

Water which had banked up in one of the ravines of the Palos Verdes hills was said to have been responsible for the fatal accident. It was thought the temporary dam which provided water to farmers, and prevented the stream from flowing to the sea, collapsed in the terrific volume of water which was thrown against it. (San Pedro News 3/15/1921)

Later that year, Vanderlip enticed Edward Gardner Lewis to take over the project with an option to buy the property for $5 million ($85.1 million in 2023). When Lewis could not come up with all the capital needed, the land reverted to Vanderlip. Lewis was hired to continue promotion and lots began selling in June 1923. The landslide issue conveniently forgotten.

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