Romance of the ranchos

Hard as it is to visualize, the urban sprawl that spills seaward from Compton to Long Beach and Redondo Beach used to be a giant, grassy Spanish rancho that is nearly as old as Los Angeles. Rancho San Pedro covered 75,000 acres and belonged to soldier Juan Jose Dominguez, then his family. So why am I muttering about this? In a room at Cal State Dominguez Hills, boxes and boxes of historical records from the Dominguez family have turned up. Most date from after 1882, when the rancho was split among six sisters and now-familiar place names like Del Amo came on the scene. Today's Breeze has a story on the trove and what may be in it.