Home » California » Manhattan Beach

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Manhattan Beach

California

Basic Information

Type of Place
Suburb
Metro Area
Los Angeles/San Diego
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930 1891 4
1940 6398 14
1950
1960 33934 3
1970
1980
1990
2000 33852 30124 208 2043 70 1756 415
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Private Bad Behavior

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

In the 1920s, Ku Klux Klan pressure led local
agencies to condemn black-owned properties and
restrict blacks from living on or using the beach. By
the end of the decade, virtually of the African
American residents of Manhattan Beach had left.

In 2003, the city council debated adding a plaque
discussing the eviction of black families in Manhattan
Beach. Part of the final wording chosen by the council
states “formerly the site of Bruce’s Beach, a resort for
African American Angelenos. This two block
neighborhood also housed several minority families
and was condemned through eminent domain
proceedings commenced in 1924. Those tragic
circumstances reflected the views of a different time.”