Spotlight Hermosa Beach

hermosa Beach came about in 1907 when a 1500- acre tract of ten-mile ocean frontage of rancho Sausal redondo (originally part of the 1784 rancho San pedro Spanish land grant) was purchased at $35 per acre. according to history, real estate developers called the new development “hermosa”, although there is no known record of any one person coming up with the name. imagine that at that time there was no such thing as manhattan Beach, and nearby redondo Beach was primarily a bustling seaport. hermosa offered two miles of beautiful, sandy beach, but that was about all it had, and the sparse-looking sand dunes gave many early settlers the feeling of being “40 miles from nowhere.” the Santa fe railway was reportedly hermosa’s only link to civilization, which only added to the feeling of isolation.ten short years later, however, hermosa consisted of 900 residents, a modest downtown business section, one church, and two schools with a total enrollment of more than 100 students. hermosa was growing fast, thanks to the foresight of early developers.