Inglewood, California

Pre-American era

The earliest residents of what is now Inglewood were Native Americans who used the natural springs in today's Edward Vincent Jr. Park (known for most of its history as Centinela Park). Local historian Gladys Waddingham wrote that these springs took the name Centinela from the hills that rose gradually around them and which allowed ranchers to watch over their herds "(thus the name centinelas or sentinels)".

Waddingham traced the written history of Inglewood back to the original settlers of Los Angeles in 1781, one of whom was the Spanish soldier Jose Manuel Orchado Machado, "a 23-year-old muleteer from Los Alamos in Sinaloa". These settlers, she wrote, were ordered by the officials of the San Gabriel Mission "to graze their animals on the ocean side of Los Angeles in order not to infringe on Mission lands." As a result, the settlers, or pobladores, drove some of their cattle to the "lush pasture lands near Centinela Springs," and the first construction there was done by one Ygnacio Avila, who received a permit in 1822 to build a "corral and hut for his herders."

Later Avila constructed a three-room adobe on a slight rise overlooking the creek that ran from Centinela Springs all the way to the ocean. According to the LAOkay web site, this adobe was built where the present baseball field is in the park. It no longer exists.

In 1834, Ygnacio Machado, one of the sons of Jose Machado, built the Centinela Adobe, which sits on a rise above the present 405 San Diego Freeway and is used as the headquarters of the Centinela Valley Historical Society. Two years later, Waddingham writes, Ygnacio was granted the 2,220-acre (9.0 km²) Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela even though this land had already been claimed by Avila.

Through the years

Inglewood Park Cemetery, a widely used cemetery for the entire region, was founded in 1905,. The city has been home to the Hollywood Park Racetrack from 1938 to 2013, one of the premier horse racing venues in the United States. Fosters Freeze, the first Soft Serve ice cream chain in California, was founded by George Foster in 1946 in Inglewood. Inglewood was named an All-America City by the National Civic League in 1989 and yet again recently in 2009 for its visible progress.

On January 12, 2016, Inglewood was selected to be the home of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League.

Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan activities in Inglewood during the 20th century were highlighted by the 1922 arrest and trial of 37 men, most of them masked, for a night-time raid on a suspected bootlegger and his family. The raid led to the shooting death of one of the culprits, an Inglewood police officer. A jury returned a "not guilty" verdict for all defendants who completed the trial. It was this scandal, according to the Los Angeles Times, that eventually led to the outlawing of the Klan in California. The Klan had a chapter in Inglewood as late as October 1931.

African-American influence

"No blacks had ever lived in Inglewood," Gladys Waddingham wrote, but by 1960, "they lived in great numbers along its eastern borders. This came to the great displeasure of the predominantly white residents already residing in Inglewood. In 1960, the census counted only 29 'Negroes' among Inglewood's 63,390 residents. Not a single black child attended the city's schools. Real estate agents refused to show homes to blacks. A rumored curfew kept blacks off the streets at night. Inglewood was a prime target because of its [previous] history of restrictions." "Fair housing and school busing were the main problems of 1964. The schools were not prepared to handle racial incidents, even though any that occurred were very minor. Adults held many heated community meetings, since the Blacks objected to busing as much as did the Whites." In 1969, an organization called "Morningside Neighbors" changed its name to "Inglewood Neighbors" "in the hope of promoting more integration."

On February 3, 1969, Harold P. Moret became Inglewood's first black police officer (who is of Louisiana Creole Ancestry). A full year later Jimmy Lee Worsham became the second. He was followed by Barbara Harris, the first black female officer, then Otis Hendricks, Melvin Lovelace and Eugene Lindsey. The 7th black officer in the history of the City of Inglewood was James T. Butts, Jr. He became Inglewood's first black Motorcycle Traffic Enforcement Officer, 1st Black Lieutenant, Captain and only black Deputy Chief in the history of the Department. Butts left Inglewood in September 1991 at the age of 38 to become the first person of color to command the Santa Monica Police Department as Chief of Police, and the youngest ever to do so. Twenty years later, on February 1, 2011 Butts returned to Inglewood by being elected as its fourth black mayor.

On July 22, 1970, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Max F. Deutz ordered Inglewood schools to desegregate in response to a suit filed by 19 parents. At least since 1965, said Deutz, the Inglewood school board had been aware of a growing influx of black families into its eastern areas but had done nothing about the polarization of its pupils into an eastern black area and a western white one. On August 31, he rejected an appeal by four parents who said the school board was not responsible for the segregation but that the blacks "selected their places of residence by voluntary choice."

The first black principal among the 18 Inglewood schools was Peter Butler at La Tijera Elementary, and in 1971, Waddingham wrote, "Stormy racial meetings in 1971" included a charge by "some real estate men in the overflowing Crozier Auditorium" that the Human Relations Commission was acting like "the Gestapo." In that year, Loyd Sterling Webb, president of Inglewood Neighbors, became the first black officeholder when voters elected him to the school board.

In 1972, Curtis Tucker Sr. was appointed as the first black City Council member. That year composer LeRoy Hurte, an African-American, took the baton of the Inglewood Symphony Orchestra and continued to work with it for 20 years. Edward Vincent became Inglewood's first black mayor in 1983. In that decade, whites left the city in increasing numbers, and Inglewood became the first city in California to declare the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. as a holiday.

Rise of Latino population

The 1990 census showed that Hispanics in Inglewood had increased by 134 percent since 1980, the largest jump in the South Bay. Economic factors apparently played a role in where new arrivals settled, said David Heer, a USC professor of sociology and associate director of the university's Population Research Laboratory. "Housing is generally less expensive here than elsewhere . . . and I would say that they receive a warmer welcome here," said Norm Cravens, assistant city manager in Inglewood, where the Anglo population dropped from nearly 21 percent in 1980 to 8.5 percent in 1990.

In the 2000 census, blacks made up 47 percent of the city's residents (53,060 people), and Hispanics made up 46 percent (51,829), but the Census Bureau estimated that in 2007 the percentage of blacks had declined to 41 percent (48,252) and that of Hispanics of any race were at 52.5 percent (61,847). The white population declined from 19 percent (21,505) to 17.7 percent (20,853).

But in that year, only one of the city's five City Council members was Latino, Jose Fernandez. There were no Latinos on the five-member Board of Education.

Location and area

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.1 square miles (24 km²). Downtown Inglewood is 4.15 miles (6.68 km) from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Landmarks

The Forum was built in 1967 and designed by architect Charles Luckman, who also designed Madison Square Garden. The Forum was intended to evoke the Roman Forum in Rome. For decades the Forum was one of LA's biggest-deal concert venues; Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin and the Jackson 5 were among the superstars to headline the arena. The Forum also achieved its greatest fame as the home of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. In 1999, both teams moved to the Staples Center and the Forum was sold to the Faithful Central Bible Church, which used it for Sunday services and rented it out once in a while for concerts or sporting events. In 2012, the Forum was purchased by The Madison Square Garden Company, owners of New York's Madison Square Garden, for $23.5 million; MSG announced plans to spend $50 million to refurbish and renovate the arena for use as a "world-class" concert venue. The "Fabulous" Forum presented by Chase re-opened on January 15, 2014 with the first of six historic performances by the Eagles. The reinvention of the Forum has created the largest indoor performance venue in the country designed with a focus on music and entertainment.

On February 24, 2015, the Inglewood City Council approved plans for the construction of a National Football League-capacity stadium and, later named Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park, with a 5–0 unanimous vote to combine the 60-acre plot of land with the larger Hollywood Park development and rezone the area to include Sports/Entertainment capabilities. This essentially cleared the way for developers to begin construction on the venue as planned in December 2015. On January 13, 2016, one day after the NFL approved of the Rams return to Los Angeles, construction began on the Inglewood site.

Climate

According under to the Köppen Climate Classification system (Csb on the coast, Csa on the inland) Inglewood has a Mediterranean climate.

Neighborhoods

Inglewood consists of nine neighborhoods which are indicated by symbols on street signs. The neighborhoods are the following areas: Morningside Park, Downtown Inglewood, Fairview Heights, Arbor Village, Centinela Heights, Sports Village, Century Heights, Inglewood Knolls, and Lockhaven.

Crenshaw-Imperial

The Crenshaw-Imperial district was a later annexation to Inglewood, California. It has its own branch public library and an important shopping center for the area. (Also see Inglewood Knolls)

Morningside Park

Morningside Park is a commercial district in the eastern part of the city. Though the city of Inglewood does not define the district's boundaries, it may be delineated by Hyde Park on the north, Manchester Square on the east, Century Boulevard on the south and Prairie Avenue on the west. The major streets that run through the area are Manchester and Crenshaw boulevards. It is six miles (10 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and about two miles (3 km) from the under construction Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers. The district is also the location of The Forum, where for 32 years the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and NHL's Los Angeles Kings played and The Village at Century shopping center. This neighborhood was once the site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack.

North Inglewood and Fairview Heights

North Inglewood is a neighborhood north of the former Santa Fe railroad tracks, where the Crenshaw/LAX Line will be. In 2009, it was reported to be the site of a "burgeoning arts scene" centered at East Hyde Park Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. Fairview Heights is a signed area north of Florence and east of La Brea.

Inglewood Knolls

Situated in the southeastern corner of the city, Inglewood Knolls is a subdivision of tract homes built in 1953–54. It is bordered by Crenshaw Blvd. on the west, 108th St. on the north, Spinning Ave. on the east, and Imperial Highway on the south. A shopping center on the northeastern quadrant of the intersection of Crenshaw and Imperial was also constructed in the mid 1950s, originally including a Food Giant grocery store, Thrifty Drug, J.J. Newberrys, and Lishon's Music Store, among others. Century Park Elementary School on Spinning Ave., although fully within Inglewood city limits, is actually part of the L.A. school district.

2010 census

The 2010 United States Census reported that Inglewood had a population of 109,673. The population density was 12,062.1 people per square mile (4,657.2/km²). The racial makeup of Inglewood was 55,449 (50.6%) Hispanics or Latinos (of any race). 48,165 (43.9%) African American, 25,563 (23.3%) White (2.9% Non-Hispanic White), 751 (0.7%) Native American, 1,484 (1.5%) Asian, 350 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 28,860 (26.3%) from other races, 4,502 (4.1%) from two or more races.The Census reported that 108,171 people (98.6% of the population) lived in households, 987 (0.9%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 515 (0.5%) were institutionalized.

There were 36,389 households, out of which 15,315 (42.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 13,095 (36.0%) were married couples living together, 8,987 (24.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,937 (8.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,318 (6.4%) unmarried partnerships, and 234 (0.6%) same-sex partnerships. 9,346 households (25.7%) were made up of individuals and 2,776 (7.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97. There were 25,019 families (68.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.59.

The age distribution was spread out with 29,293 people (26.7%) under the age of 18, 11,853 people (10.8%) aged 18 to 24, 31,650 people (28.9%) aged 25 to 44, 26,621 people (24.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 10,256 people (9.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.4 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.

There were 38,429 housing units at an average density of 4,226.5 per square mile (1,631.9/km²), of which 13,447 (37.0%) were owner-occupied, and 22,942 (63.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.5%. 43,040 people (39.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 65,131 people (59.4%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Inglewood had a median household income of $43,394, with 22.4% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2006 survey

Source for this section is the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2006. Numbers may be rounded to the nearest whole figure.

Inglewood's population of 129,900 in 2006 was relatively youthful, with a median age of 31, compared to 36 in the nation as a whole. Eleven percent of its residents were under 5 years of age, as against 7 percent in the rest of the country. Some 8 percent were 65 or older, versus 12 percent elsewhere.

It was a city of renters squeezing into a limited amount of space. Of Inglewood's 37,562 occupied housing units (houses and apartments), just 39 percent were owned by the people who lived in them (compared to 67 percent in the U.S. as whole). The other units were rented out. Only 5 percent of its housing units were vacant, much less than the 12 percent across the country. The number of people living in each unit was about 3.7 persons, versus 2.7 elsewhere. Family size was 3.9 people, compared to 3.2.

It was estimated that 18 percent of Inglewood families had incomes below the poverty level, about twice that of the country at large (9 percent).

About 17 percent of Inglewood's residents had earned a bachelor's degree or higher (versus 27 percent across the country).

Twenty-nine percent of the city's population were foreign-born, compared to 13 percent in the nation as a whole.

Mapping L.A.

In 2009, the Los Angeles Times's "Mapping L.A." project supplied these neighborhood statistics based on the 2000 census.

The population was 112,482, or 12,330 people per square mile, among the highest densities for the South Bay and among the highest densities for the county. The percentage of African Americans was high for the county, and the population was moderately diverse. Median household income was $46,574, low for both the South Bay and for the county. The median age was 29, young for the county; the percentage of residents aged 10 or under was among the county's highest. Three people, on the average, lived in each household – high for the South Bay but about average for the county. There was a higher percentage of families headed by single parents than elsewhere in the county. The percentage of veterans who served during 1975–89 and 1990–99 was among the county's highest.

(*) "The diversity index measures the probability that any two residents, chosen at random, would be of different ethnicities. If all residents are of the same ethnic group it's zero. If half are from one group and half from another it's .50."

Municipal government

The City of Inglewood has a council-city manager type of government. The mayor is an elected office and is the chief executive officer, but in all other regards is an equal member of the city council.

The current Mayor of Inglewood is James T. Butts Jr. who took office after unseating Daniel K. Tabor who completed the term of Roosevelt Dorn.

The Inglewood Police Department is the police department.

Federal representation

In the United States House of Representatives, Inglewood is split between California's 37th congressional district, represented by Democrat Karen Bass, and California's 43rd congressional district, represented by Democrat Maxine Waters.

State representation

In the California State Legislature, Inglewood is in the 35th Senate District, represented by Democrat Steven Bradford, and in the 62nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Autumn Burke.

Los Angeles County

Inglewood is part of Los Angeles County, for which the Government of Los Angeles County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law, and the Charter of the County of Los Angeles. The county government is primarily composed of the elected five-member Board of Supervisors, other elected offices including the Sheriff, District Attorney, and Assessor, and numerous county departments and entities under the supervision of the chief executive officer.

Regional

The city is a member of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments.

Politics

Inglewood has the highest percentage of registered Democrats of any city in California, with 75.6 percent of its 48,615 voters registered in May 2009 as Democrats. Seven percent were registered as Republicans, and 14.1 percent declined to state a preference.

In 2005, the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, a nonpartisan organization in Berkeley, ranked Inglewood as the sixth-most-liberal city in the United States, after Oakland, California, and just ahead of Newark, New Jersey. Researchers examined voting patterns of 237 American cities with populations over 100,000 and ranked them on liberal and conservative scales.

Federal offices

The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Inglewood. The Hillcrest Inglewood Post Office is its main one. It is located at 300 East Hillcrest Boulevard in Downtown Inglewood. and the Morningside Park Post Office at 3212 West 85th Street is the secondary office. The North Inglewood Post Office at 811 North La Brea Avenue, was converted to a Dollar Tree in 2013.

The county government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. Fire protection is provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department stations 18, 170, 171, and 173.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Curtis Tucker Health Center in Inglewood. The city was served by the Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital for more than five decades, from 1954 until its closure in 2007. Inglewood is still served by Centinela Hospital Medical Center.

Public libraries

The City of Inglewood operates a main library in the city Civic Center, in addition to a branch in the southeastern corner of the city, near the intersection of Crenshaw and Imperial and a branch in Morningside Park near the intersection of 85th Street and Crenshaw.

Public and private schools

Most of Inglewood is served by the Inglewood Unified School District. The district has two zoned high schools, Inglewood High School and Morningside High School, and an alternative high school, City Honors High School.

Some of it is zoned in the Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD operates one school in the Inglewood city limits, Century Park Elementary.

When the Inglewood Union High School District, now known as the Centinela Valley Union High School District, opened in 1905, the Inglewood School District, then only operating primary schools, was within the high school district. The Centinela Valley district received its current name on November 1, 1944. On July 1, 1954, the Inglewood elementary school district withdrew from the Centinela Valley district, becoming a unified school district.

Public charter schools include:

Private schools include:

See also

Schools history

In 1888, a school district was organized, trustees were elected and a building was chosen. The school opened on May 21 that year on the second floor of a livery stable on Grevillea Avenue between Regent Street and Orchard (today's Florence Avenue), with 17 boys and 16 girls. The first teacher was Minnie Walker, a graduate of Los Angeles State Normal School. The schoolroom, named Bucephalus Hall, after a horse belonging to town founder Daniel Freeman, was also used for community meetings.

Meanwhile, a permanent school building was erected on Grevillea Avenue a block to the south, between Regent and Queen. It remained Inglewood's only school until 1911. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1920.

The Centinela Valley Union High School District was organized in 1904 to bring secondary education to the town. Inglewood High opened in two rooms of the school building with 15 students taught by Nina Martin, principal, and Anna McClelland. Four years later, a new building rose on 9.5 acres (3.8 ha) of land, and the first graduation of one boy and four girls took place in 1908. Until 1912 there was a new principal every year at the grammar school, but on May 8 of that year George W. Crozier was named principal, and he held the post for 20 years. The school was renamed in his honor in 1932. In 1913, George M. Green was appointed principal of Inglewood Union High School; he retired from that position in 1939.

In 1914, voters approved bonds for high school improvement. Four more buildings and a power plant were erected, "joined by walks and arcades." The improvement included a "five-room model flat in the Home Economics Building." Nine acres of land were bought at Kelso Avenue and Damask (now Inglewood Avenue) for an experimental agricultural statement, thenceforth known as "The Farm." There were gardens, an orchard and an alfalfa field. In 1915 Inglewood High won a first-place Los Angeles County prize for its beautiful ivy-covered brick buildings. These buildings were destroyed in 1953 to make room for new ones.

In the mid-1920s, the high school district stretched all the way south to El Segundo, so two women teachers were asked to live in El Segundo and ride the school buses with the students every day to and from that city – for an extra dollar a day in pay. In 1923 girls adopted a school uniform, "a dark blue skirt with a white middy."

In 1925 a new fine arts building for the high school was erected on the southwest corner of Grevillea and Manchester, replacing the Truax Candy Kitchen, but it was severely damaged by the Long Beach earthquake of 1933. It was "later rebuilt with WPA help but lost its magnificent stairway and all its fireplaces." Temporary classrooms were built on Olive Street, "all too cold in winter and too hot most of the time."

The athletic field on the west side of the campus, later called Badenoch Field, was used for physical education and sporting events. In 1937, agricultural classes were ended at the Farm and Sentinel Field was dedicated there for sports activities. By 1938 there were more than 3,000 students and 141 teachers at the high school.

The "startling news" of 1948 was the dismissal "of the entire administrative staff at Inglewood High School, beginning with Principal James R. Haines." He was replaced by Forrest Murdoch of Everett, Washington, as superintendent and Fred Heisner as principal.

In 1952, another secondary school campus in Inglewood was opened in the east side neighborhood of Lockhaven as Morningside High School. Center Park School of Los Angeles became part of the Inglewood School District in 1961 when its area (Crenshaw-Imperial) was annexed to the city. In the 1970s, its name was changed to Worthington School to honor Frances and William Worthington.

Sports

Inglewood will once again become home to professional sports teams starting in 2020 when the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL move into the Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park. The stadium will host Super Bowl LVI in 2022. The Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA are looking to build an arena in Inglewood.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings played their home games at The Forum until the completion of the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

During the 2028 Summer Olympics, the opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park. The venue will also host Soccer games during the Olympics while the grounds outside the stadium will host archery. The Forum will host all the gymnastics events during the games.

Religion

In 2007, the area served by the Inglewood post office (including Lennox) had 98 churches, temples, mosques, chapels and other houses of worship, according to the AreaConnect.com website.

The first church service was held on April 22, 1888, in the Inglewood House hotel on Commercial Street (today's La Brea Avenue), popularly called Mrs. Belden's Boarding House, when Inglewood had only 300 residents and 112 registered voters. Later services were in Bucephalus Hall, but eventually the congregation moved to Hyde Park, which left Inglewood with no church. On January 19, 1890, Inglewood's first permanent church – Presbyterian – was established on Market Street. A bit later the [United] Brethren constructed a building on South Market Street.

In 1907, a group of Episcopalians began services in a private home, and a few years later the first Catholic services were held in Bank Hall. In 1910, the Presbyterians moved their two buildings, a sanctuary and a manse, to the corner of Grevillea and Nutwood "because the streetcars [on Market Street] were so noisy and threw so much dust and sand fleas in the windows."

In 1923, St. John Chrysostom Catholic Church was founded. The current church at the intersection of Centinela and Florence was built in 1959 and is the tallest point in the city. It is the largest congregation in the city, consisting of almost 10,000 registered families. Next door is St. John Chrysostom School, educating children since 1927 from Pre-K through 8th grade.

By 1940, the Methodists had built a structure at Manchester and La Brea, but in that year they moved to a new building at Kelso and Spruce.

Newspapers

The Morningside Park Chronicle, Inglewood News and Inglewood Today circulate in the city.

Sister cities

Inglewood is affiliated with the following sister cities

Born in Inglewood

Other residents

Filming locations

Inglewood has been in several motion picture movies and television shows such as: