Surfridge
The Forgotten Dunes Estates of the South Bay
Development
Palisades del Rey was a neighborhood land development by Dickinson & Gillespie Co. - founded in 1921, the surviving remnants are known today as Playa del Rey. All of the houses in this area were custom built, many as beach homes owned by Hollywood actors and producers, including Cecil B. DeMille, Charles Bickford, and others.
In 1925 the developer held a contest to name the southern-most neighborhood, near what is now Dockweiler State Beach, and awarded the $1,000 prize to an Angeleno who submitted "Surfridge." The Los Angeles Times wrote that Surfridge was chosen "due to its brevity, euphony, ease of pronunciation ... but above all because it tells the story of this new wonder city."
Los Angeles International
A small airstrip opened to the east of Surfridge in 1928, and saw increased traffic during and after World War II. Propeller plane traffic noise was manageable, but jet travel soon proved inhospitable to the neighborhoods below.
In the 1960s and 70s, the City of Los Angeles condemned the area under a series of eminent domain claims. Access to the neighborhood today is restricted and the entire development was bulldozed and fenced off.
Conservation
Fences protect the vacant land and old streets are visible along which houses once stood. The area is now the protected habitat for the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly. In 2019 a number of the rare Burrowing Owl were sighted nesting in the preserve.
