(Mar 14, 2023)
Michael Friedman is a docent at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, and a retired attorney and long-time Palos Verdes resident. The Interpretive Center is located on the cliffs adjacent to the Point Vicente Lighthouse in RPV. It features exhibits on the natural and cultural history of the Peninsula, and on the Pacific gray whale whose annual migration can be observed from the Center. The Palos Verdes Peninsula is an elevated area on the southwest corner of Los Angeles County. It was one of the Channel Islands in prehistoric times before the Los Angeles basin emerged from the Pacific Ocean. It was occupied for thousands of years by the Tongva-Gabrieliño Native Americans.
Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo made the first European contact in 1542, and it became part of “New Spain”. Franciscan priests led by Father Junípero Serra established 21 missions between 1769 and 1833 to “spread Christianity” among the local Native Americans. Missions were situated about 30 miles apart, one day’s journey on horseback, along the coastal El Camino Real (Royal Highway). Native Americans were settled around these missions with military assistance to perform construction, to raise crops and livestock to support the missions, and to learn Spanish and Christianity (a sometimes-brutal cultural conversion). Abuse, malnourishment, infectious diseases and overwork were common, and children were taken away from their parents to suppress Indigenous culture.
Spain was unable to maintain its colonies due to conflict with France, and Mexico achieved independence in 1821. In 1833, Mexico emancipated native people from the missions, and granted land to settlers, soldiers and some indigenous people. Some of these settlements eventually grew into cities that retained the mission names. In 1846, José Sepulveda and José Loreto received a Mexican land grant named Rancho de los Palos Verdes (“Green Sticks Ranch”), which was used for a cattle ranch, and also briefly as a whaling station on its southern coastline in the mid-19th century.
US rule came in 1846, followed by the Gold Rush. Ownership of the Peninsula passed to Jotham Bixby, who leased the land to Japanese farmers. Wall Street banker Frank Vanderlip purchased 25 mi² of the Peninsula in 1913, impressed by its beautiful scenery. He planned an Italian-style development to be designed by the Olmsted Brothers. Although delayed by World War I and then the Great Depression, eventual improvements included many sewers, water mains, roads, landscaping, parks, and a golf course. 1/4 of the land area was devoted to permanent undeveloped space. Palos Verdes was opened for public inspection in 1923, and the city of Palos Verdes Estates was established in 1939. Rolling Hills Estates and Rolling Hills were established in 1957, and Rancho Palos Verdes was established with most of the remaining Peninsula land in 1973.