Hawthorne

Images of America: California

by Walt Dixon, Jerry Roberts

A semi-rural alternative to bustling Los Angeles early in the 20th century, Hawthorne grew through the World War I years, welcoming oil wells and eventually airplane factories. The city became home to the chart-topping Beach Boys, athlete Jim Thorpe, and the greatest glamour blondes of their times, Marilyn Monroe and Mattel's Barbie. Bisected by Hawthorne Boulevard, the main north-south thoroughfare through the South Bay region, Hawthorne's notable events ran the gamut, from the annual Kiwanis Parade--second in California prestige only to Pasadena's Tournament of Roses
Parade--to a furious 1971 police gun-battle with the desperate Charles Manson gang. Today, the city is a support community to Los Angeles International Airport and the aerospace industry.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2005

Reviews

[Licha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love these books. It's like looking through someone's old photograph albums and stepping through some time machine. Maybe that's the allure of these books for me. It's the next best thing to time travelling. The history of this city is told through old photographs, going back to how the city was born, it's famous people (for this poarticular city, the most famous people to have come from here were The Beach Boys. Marilyn Monroe also lived there for about seven years when she was young.) The only thing I feel the book lacks is more current pictures of the city. It would be nice to see how much the city has evolved throughout the years.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good roundup of the Hawthorne of yore.