 The city is on the Pacific Ocean coast, to the south of El Segundo, and to the north of Hermosa Beach. To the east are the cities of Lawndale and Redondo Beach. It is one of the three Beach Cities in the South Bay.
[edit] Early inhabitants, Spanish discovery and settlement
The first known inhabitants of present day Manhattan Beach were the Engnovangas rancheria Indians. The Indians survived off of corbina fish they harvested in the shallows, along with other species of surf fish. Manhattan Beach was founded by Alexa Harrison, Casey Rumble, and Daniel Barrows in the late 1400's.
The Engnovangas often made the 3-mile (5 km) trek south to the salt flats in present day Redondo Beach, CA to harvest the mineral. The old Salt Flat is now occupied by Southern California Edison, roughly located on Herondo Street and North Harbor Drive. The salty estuary was said to be only 150 yards (140 m) from the ocean and approximately 120,000 square yards in area.
In 1781, when El Pueblo de Nuestra Se? la Reina de Los Angeles was established, a small, one-lane dirt road was cleared to connect the Salt Flat and Los Angeles. Aviation Boulevard now runs almost directly on top of the old Salt Flat road. Three years later, in 1784, the Spanish government established "ranchos," or land parcels, all along the South Bay. The land grants did not convey titles to the land; rather they simply gave permission to migrant farmers to use the land as they wished.[citation needed]
In 1784, a Spanish land grant for Rancho San Pedro was issued to Juan Jose Dominguez, signed by King Carlos III of the Spanish Empire. Rancho Sausal Redondo was a part of the original Rancho San Pedro. (see note # 7 in reference).
In 1822, the newly-established Mexican government sold the land to the highest bidder. Some of the Ranchos purchased by farmers were: Aguaje de la Centinela, La Ballona, La Tijera, and Sausal Redondo, which translates into "round clump of willows." (Note that many streets in the South Bay region are named after these ranchos.) In 1822, Rancho Sausal Redondo (present day Manhattan Beach) was purchased by Antonio Ygnacio Avila, who mainly used the 22,500 acres (91 km?) for sheep grazing.
Most of the original Californio land owners could not validate these properties with the US government after the Mexican-American war due to the cost of surveys, filing forms and legal fees, therefor, many lost ownership to wealthy Americans.
[edit] Early development
 In 1863, a Scottish immigrant, Sir Robert Burnett, purchased Rancho Sausal Redondo and Rancho Aguaje De Centinela from Avila's heirs for $33,000. Ten years later in 1873, Burnett leased the ranch to a Canadian, Daniel Freeman, and returned to Scotland. Freeman moved his wife and three children onto the ranch and started growing various crops. On May 4, 1885 Freeman bought the ranch from Burnett for $140,000.
George H. Peck owned a lot of the land that became part of the north section of Manhattan Beach.
LOCAL LINKS |
