Within the boundaries of Rancho San Pedro was Nigger Slough, Rattlesnake
Island and the Salt Flats, and its own name was none too beautiful. But
the Rancho San Pedro overcame all such handicaps and developed into a
favorite child in the family of the Spanish Ranchos.
This rancho, containing 43,119 acres, was one of the tremendously big
Spanish grants made by a Spanish King, who believed the limit of
population which Southern California could ever care for was represented
in the ten Missions, four Pueblos (San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara
and San Luis Obispo) and the comparatively few Ranchos.
The grant was made to Juan Jose Dominguez of an illustrious family quite
different from the average Spanish family living in California in its
early days. The Dominguez heirs have each in succession adapted
themselves to every change and kept a large part of their rancho intact
to the present day. But much of the land was so strategically located on
the sea, around the harbor and on main lines of boulevards and railroads
between Los Angeles and San Pedro, that it was inevitable that intensive
development should take place on these parts.
On December 22, 1854, the Dominguez heirs sold 2,400 acres at the harbor
to Phineas Banning, B. D. Wilson, John G. Downey and associates for
$20,000, or nearly $10.00 an acre, and on this and adjoining land
Banning founded the town of Wilmington, originally called New San Pedro.
During the Civil War Phineas Banning and B. D. Wilson in a burst of
patriotic enthusiasm donated a large parcel of land in their new town to
the United States government for Drum Barracks, and as such it served a
useful and vital purpose, not only as a supply station and barracks,
but, as well, to hold down anti-Union sentiment. It was easy to donate
the land but it took eight years and a special act of Congress for
Banning and Wilson to get the land back after the close of the War.
Nine miles north of Wilmington but within the same rancho was platted
Comptonville, now Compton, originally planned as a temperance colony.
Ten miles westerly and also in the same rancho, Redondo Reach, platted
in 1889, became a famous pleasure resort. Between these far distant
points have been laid out the towns of Gardena, Moneta, and Torrance. In
addition to these there are now many hundreds of small farms, and
probably the world’s largest aggregation of oil tank farms, two or three
airports, an excellent and productive oil field, and there is plenty of
land left in the rancho.
Such is the story of a gift from a King—a Rancho of success.
[Illustration: _Patio of the Dominguez Home—Rancho San Pedro_]