Place:Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles, California, United States

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Manhattan Beach is an affluent beachfront city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. Manhattan Beach is a hotspot for beach volleyball and surfing. Every August, the city hosts the Manhattan Beach Open Volleyball tournament and the International Surf Festival. It is one of the three Beach Cities in the South Bay. In the past 15 years, it has become home to professional athletes such as Lisa Leslie, Maria Sharapova, Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal, Lamar Odom, Mike Richards, Blake Griffin and Landon Donovan.

Because it is within commuting distance to Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach is favorite residence of professional athletes and executives in the entertainment industry. Property in Manhattan Beach, especially near the waterfront, is exceptionally expensive. In comparison, a half acre of land in Bel Air is valued at $20 million, while a half acre of land on the Strand in Manhattan Beach is valued at $35 million. Homes with an ocean view often exceed $5 million in cost.

Manhattan Beach has one local high school, Mira Costa High School.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

In 1863, a Scottish immigrant, Sir Robert Burnett, purchased Rancho Sausal Redondo and Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela from Avila's heirs for $33,000. Ten years later in 1873, Burnett leased the ranch to a Canadian, Daniel Freeman (not the American Daniel Freeman, who was the first to file a claim under the Homestead Act of 1862). Burnett returned to Scotland. Freeman moved his wife and three children onto the ranch and started growing various crops. On May 4, 1885 Freeman bought the ranch from Burnett for $140,000.

George H. Peck owned a lot of the land that became part of the north section of Manhattan Beach. A coin flip decided the town's name. Around 1902, the beach suburb was named "Manhattan" after developer Stewart Merrill's home town, Manhattan, New York. "Beach" was appended to the city's name in 1927 at the behest of the postmaster.

Much of Manhattan Beach was once sand dunes. During the 1920s and 1930s some of that sand was shipped to Waikiki, Hawaii to convert their reef and rock beach into a sandy beach. Some of the sand was also used to build the Los Angeles Coliseum and portions of Pacific Coast Highway.

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