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A Look Back at the Pacific Electric Railway
The railway system was once a major part of the Beach Cities—here is how it left its mark on the area.
Conductors standing next to a Pacific Electric car (archive photo)
Redondo Beach Historical Museum
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Photos
In Hermosa Beach's history, a major railway system once ran through the city, and signs of the transit system now remain.
The Los Angeles Pacific Co., which had five trolley stops in Manhattan Beach along the Strand and present bike path, merged with the Pacific Electric Railway in 1910 to connect Los Angeles to the Beach Cities.
At the time, a freight office and passenger station was built on the northeast corner of Pier and Hermosa avenues, according to the Hermosa Beach Historical Society.
In the 1920s, a railroad depot was built at Ardmore and Pier avenues and then was torn down in the 1960s. The "red car" line that ran through the Beach Cities was discontinued in 1940, according to information posted on the Redondo Beach city website. The last car made its final trip to Long Beach in 1961.
What happened to the railways in the Beach Cities?
Hermosa Beach Historical Society archives show that former Hermosa Beach Councilman and Mayor Jack Belasco planted trees along railway paths, developing what later became known as the greenbelt, a small community nature trail that extends through Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach.
In the Hermosa Beach Historical Museum, old photographs show images of a local electrical switching station that propelled the cars along Hermosa Avenue, which still remains a bustling part of downtown Hermosa.
As for Redondo Beach, a city councilwoman solved one of the city's "most vexing problems" in 1942—ugly, abandoned right-of-ways left by the defunct Pacific Electric Railway—with flowers, the Los Angeles Times reported on Jan. 4 of the same year.
In a post published Wednesday on his Daily Mirror blog, Larry Harnisch reproduces an article titled "Woman Solves Problem of Redondo Landscaping."
"One of the community's most vexing problems has been solved by a woman," the article says. "When the Pacific Electric abandoned its right of way the removal of the rails left broad stretches of unsightly, broken ground centering some of the city's most scenic boulevards.
"City Councilmen wrestled with paving and landscaping cost estimates found them prohibitive and tossed the problem squarely into the lap of their only woman member, Mrs. Bernice Venable, City Councilwoman from the First Ward."
Venable suggested planting community flower gardens along the right of ways, and the Times reported that 20 civic organizations were involved in the beautification.
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