Redondo Beach History

Updated October 18, 2026.

If you live in Redondo Beach or are looking at a home here, the pier, King Harbor and Veterans Park sit on the ground of a resort town that opened the Hotel Redondo in 1890 and became a city in 1892. This page tells that story in order and shows where to see what remains.

Where a city page, a historical marker and a historian disagree, the story below follows one source and names it. The list near the end gives every version.

How did Redondo Beach begin?

Before the town, there was a salt lake. The state’s landmark text for the Old Salt Lake, California Historical Landmark No. 373, says the Indians of the area obtained salt there and that Johnson and Allanson built salt works in the 1850s. The salt flats lay where the Edison Company is today, the City of Redondo Beach says.

The town came in 1887, when the Redondo Company bought 1,400 acres from the Dominguez heirs, according to the City’s museum timeline. John C. Ainsworth and Robert R. Thompson acquired the company in 1888. The City says the name comes from the area’s round shape and amphitheater topography. Voters adopted cityhood on April 18, 1892, by 177 to 10, and the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission lists 1892 as the year of incorporation.

When was Redondo a shipping port?

Early on, Redondo was a port, and the City calls it the first port of Los Angeles County. An iron pier went up at the foot of Emerald Street in 1888, and by 1892, Path of History marker No. 11 says, 86 vessels had called. The decline began in 1899 as San Pedro Harbor took shape. Steamers stopped calling in 1912, and by 1926 storms or demolition had taken the original wharves. The San Pedro side is on our harbor history page.

What was the Hotel Redondo?

The 225-room Hotel Redondo opened on May 1, 1890, on the ground that is now Veterans Park, with an 18-hole golf course and rooms each “touched by sunlight at some time of the day,” in the City’s words. The $250,000 hotel closed because of Prohibition, the City says, and was sold for scrap lumber in 1925 for $3,000. It was torn down that year, and Path of History marker No. 18 now stands in Veterans Park along the Esplanade.

What was Moonstone Beach?

Moonstone Beach ran from Diamond Street to the Hermosa Beach city line, with natural mounds of gemstones five to six feet deep and 40 to 50 feet wide, according to the City. The Hotel Redondo marker says strollers scooped up moonstones tumbled smooth by Pacific storms, and that marker in Veterans Park still tells the story.

What were the Red Cars, the Plunge and the Lightning Racer?

Henry Huntington bought the Redondo Company, which owned nearly all the land in town, in July 1905, historian Arthur C. Verge writes. His Pacific Electric Red Cars served Redondo from 1905 to 1940, according to the City’s museum page, and could carry a rider to downtown Los Angeles in under an hour; the line north is on our Manhattan Beach history page. His bathhouse, the Plunge, opened in 1909.

The City’s history page calls the Plunge the largest salt water plunge in the world. Path of History marker No. 5 gives it four stories, a main pool for more than 1,000 swimmers and a diving pool where George Freeth performed; his story is on our surfing history page. On one day in 1919 the Plunge drew 7,400 swimmers, PBS SoCal writer Nathan Masters reports. It closed on September 28, 1941 and was torn down in 1943.

The Lightning Racer, a rambling roller coaster with 6,000 feet of track, ran between Beryl and Coral Streets on El Paseo, according to marker No. 5. The marker says the storm-battered coaster was repaired and rebuilt many times before fire and storm damage finished it by the 1930s. The City’s Historical Museum keeps an oil painting of the beach before the coaster was destroyed.

How did the Monstad Pier outlast the wharves?

On November 30, 1925, the City agreed to let W.L. Monstad build a wharf on city tidelands, and the roughly 300-foot pier was running as a sportfishing terminal by 1926, according to the City’s Monstad Pier page. From 1936 to 1940, Los Angeles County says, bingo parlors and a casino ran openly, and 25-cent water taxis carried visitors to the gambling ship Rex offshore; Tony Cornero’s taxis left from the Monstad Pier. The Monstad Pier survived the storms of 1988 and a May 1988 fire that destroyed much of the Horseshoe Pier, the City opened a new concrete pier in 1995, and the old pier turns 100 in 2026.

How was King Harbor built?

Redondo’s first breakwater was built in 1939 for more than $500,000, the City says, but it gave limited protection and trapped sand to the north until the beach between Diamond and Beryl Streets was obliterated. A 1953 storm damaged the breakwater, city streets and private property, and work began on the marina in 1956. The harbor is named for U.S. Representative Cecil R. King, and marker No. 11 dates its formal dedication to November 19, 1966.

What is the Morrell House?

The Morrell House, a turn of the century home with Queen Anne and Craftsman detailing, first stood one house north of Diamond Street on North Catalina Avenue, according to the Redondo Beach Historical Society and the City. Facing demolition, the house was moved in 1989 to Heritage Court in Dominguez Park and became a local landmark in February 1991, and the Society says volunteers finished restoring it in December 2004. Our Redondo Beach page covers the city today.

Where can you see it today?

• Veterans Park: the Hotel Redondo site, with Path of History marker No. 18 along the Esplanade.
• Path of History marker No. 5, Beryl Street and North Harbor Drive: the Plunge and Lightning Racer marker, moved here on June 22, 2023.
• Path of History marker No. 11, North Harbor Drive: the story of the breakwater and King Harbor.
• Monstad Pier and Redondo Beach Pier, 100 to 500 Fisherman’s Wharf, per the Redondo Pier site: the Monstad Pier turns 100 in 2026.
• Old Salt Lake marker, California Historical Landmark No. 373: Harbor Drive and Yacht Club Way, per the state.
• Catalina Avenue and Avenue I: the south end of the Red Car tracks, per the Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society.
• Redondo Beach Historical Museum, 302 Flagler Lane, Heritage Court, Dominguez Park: the City’s museum in the 1904 Queen Anne House, open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the Lightning Racer painting.
• Morrell House Museum, 298 Flagler Lane: the Society lists weekend hours, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., free; the City lists it as closed for maintenance, so check the Society’s site first.

Where do the sources differ?

• The salt works: the state says Johnson and Allanson, 1850s; the City’s museum timeline says Manuel Dominguez sold the lake to Henry Allenson and William Johnson in 1854.
• The founding company: the museum timeline names the Redondo Company, 1887; marker No. 21 names the Redondo Beach Company; Los Angeles County says Thompson and Ainsworth bought 433 acres for $12,000 in 1889 as the Redondo Beach Improvement Company.
• The first wharf: the museum timeline and the Redondo Pier site say 1888; a photo caption on the Pier site shows a single wharf in 1889.
• Red Car years: the City’s museum page says 1905 to 1940; the Electric Railway Historical Association says electric service came in 1903 on the Los Angeles Pacific and Pacific Electric took over in 1911, closing the Redondo lines January 15 and May 12, 1940.
• The hotel’s baths: the City’s museum page says a bathroom on every floor; marker No. 18 says a bath on every floor and a fireplace in every room.
• The hotel’s scrap price: the City says $3,000; Los Angeles County says $300.
• The Plunge’s opening: marker No. 5, the Pier site, Verge and PBS SoCal say 1909; a City gallery photo is captioned 1908.
• “World’s largest”: the City’s museum page and marker No. 5 present it as period publicity; the City’s history page and Los Angeles County state it as fact.
• The Plunge’s size: marker No. 5 says four stories and a main pool for more than 1,000; Verge says three stories, three pools, up to 2,000 swimmers; Masters cites ads for 16,300-plus square feet of pool and 1,330 dressing rooms.
• The Monstad Pier’s date: the City says the November 30, 1925 agreement led to a pier running by 1926; a Pier site caption says 1925 to 1927.
• The Monstad Pier’s identity: the Pier site calls it Wharf 3; the City treats it as separate from Wharf No. 3.
• The first breakwater: the City says 1939; marker No. 11 says bonds passed in September 1938 for a 1,485-foot breakwater before World War II pushed it down the priority list.
• The year 1956: the City and Los Angeles County say marina work began; marker No. 11 says Congress authorized finishing the breakwater for $5 million, with Representative King’s backing.
• The Morrell House’s age: the Society and the City’s Morrell House page say turn of the century; the City’s museum index page says circa 1906.
• The restoration’s end: the Society says December 2004; the City says April 2006.
• Morrell House hours: the Society lists Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., free; the City lists it as closed for maintenance.
• The Old Salt Lake marker: the state says the southeast corner of Harbor Drive and Yacht Club Way; the Historical Marker Database says North Harbor Drive and Herondo Street.

Questions people ask about Redondo Beach history

What happened to the Hotel Redondo?

The 225-room Hotel Redondo opened on May 1, 1890, where Veterans Park is today. The City of Redondo Beach says it closed because of Prohibition and was sold for scrap lumber in 1925 for $3,000.

When did the Redondo Beach Plunge close?

Henry Huntington’s Plunge opened in 1909 and closed on September 28, 1941, according to PBS SoCal writer Nathan Masters. It was torn down in 1943.

Why is it called King Harbor?

King Harbor is named for U.S. Representative Cecil R. King. Marina work began in 1956, and Path of History marker No. 11 dates the harbor’s formal dedication to November 19, 1966.

We do our very best to supply facts drawn from official sources so that the information you find here is reliable and accurate. If we find conflicting information, we report on all of it. Sources were read October 18, 2026.

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