Manhattan Beach was also part of the Rancho Sausal Redondo. Land grants were often sold to the highest bidder. This Rancho was purchased by Antonio Ygnacio Avila in 1822 who in turn sold the 22,500 acres to a Scotsman, Sir Robert Burnett. After a few years Burnett decided to return to Scotland and leased the land to Daniel Freeman, who eventually purchased it. Unfortunately Freeman fell on hard times and was forced to sell. Near the Rancho was a salt flat harvested for centuries by the local natives. In 1781 the Pueblo of Los Angeles cleared a dirt road to to connect th flats and Los Angeles. This little one-lane dirt road is now the major thoroughfare, Aviation Boulevard and the flat is occupied by Souther California Edison Company. The flat can still be seen today. With the development of the Redondo Beach harbor and its attraction to visitors along came developers. Two of the larger developers, Gregor Peck (not the actor) and John Merrill, who owned several acres, called their acreage by different name. Mr. Merrill referred to his land as Manhattan after his native Manhattan Island in New York and Mr. Peck referred to his land as Shore Acres after a Santa Fe Railroad junction sign. These two soon decided that only one name could be used to refer to the area. Legend has it that Mr. Peck pulled a half dollar coin from his pocket, tossed it the air and Manhattan won! Manhattan Beach was sold as a summer resort with most of the land sold to "Inlanders" who built small Beach Cottages. They had no indoor plumbing or electricity. Few of the residents stayed year round but came on week-ends or stayed for the summer months. On December 7, 1912 the city was incorporated with an approximate 600 permanent residents.
One of the first structures to be built was a pier which was destroyed by a storm in 1913. A new pier was completed in 1920 with the Round House being added in 1922 and exist today. The appearance of the pier has changed over the years due to age, storms and various repairs. In 1995 it was declared a historical landmark by the state and is the oldest cement pier on the West Coast.
Manhattan Beach was built on sand. It is known to have walkways disappear and small structures not on firm foundation slide during its early development. This was not the only problem facing the city. It's beach was not flat but had sand dunes as high as 70 feet. In the late 1920's developers from Hawaii contracted with the Kuhn Brothers Construction Company to supply sand to Waikiki Beach! The supply lasted about ten years. Now that's a lot of sand! The beach is still not flat but the only place to see what the beach originally looked like is in Sand Dune Park. Today Manhattan beach is a community of homes on tree-lined streets with full time residents. Manhattan Beach maintains its own schools, which are rated as some of the finest in the state. The downtown area located near the beach is a shopper's delight. You can truly shop tail you drop at the Manhattan Mall but if that is not enough for you there are more shops and boutiques along Sepulveda Boulevard. It is said that you can find anything form the outrageous to the classic in this shopping paradise. If dining is more to your liking once again you will have no problem. Well, maybe one you will have to chose which fine dining establishment to enjoy. At the beach there is swimming, volleyball and of course great surfing. For an old time summer Sunday afternoon stroll in the park with concert included be sure to visit Polliwog Park.
