Editing Compton, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Manuel Domínguez of California.jpg|thumb|left|Don [[Manuel Dominguez|Manuel Domínguez]], a signer of the [[Californian Constitution]] and owner of [[Rancho San Pedro]] (also known as Rancho Domínguez), which included all of modern-day Compton]]
[[File:American Retreat after the Siege of Los Angeles.jpg|thumb|left|[[Battle of Dominguez Rancho]], 1846]]
[[File:Compton-1914.jpg|thumb|right|Main Street of Compton, 1914]]

The [[Tongva]] inhabited the Los Angeles Basin.<ref> {{Cite web |title=Gabrielino/Tongva Nation of the Greater Los Angeles Basin – NAHC Digital Atlas |url=https://nahc.ca.gov/cp/tribal-atlas-pages/gabrielino-tongva-nation/ |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=nahc.ca.gov}}</ref>

The [[Spanish Empire]] had expanded into this area when the Viceroy of [[New Spain]] commissioned [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] to explore the Pacific Ocean in 1542–1543. In 1767, the area became part of the [[The Californias|Province of the Californias]] ({{langx|es|Provincia de las Californias}}), and the area was explored by the [[Portolá expedition]] in 1769–1770. In 1784, the [[Charles III of Spain|Spanish Crown]] deeded [[Rancho San Pedro]], a tract of over {{convert|75,000|acre|km2}}, to soldier Juan José Domínguez. Domínguez's descendants partitioned the land amongst family members, sold parcels to newly arriving settlers, and relinquished some when validating their legal claim with the [[Mexico|Mexican]] government at {{convert|48000|acre|km2|}} in 1828, and with the United States government through a patent validating {{convert|43119|acre|km2|}} in 1858. The Domínguez family name is still applied throughout the area, including the [[Dominguez Rancho Adobe]] historical landmark, in the [[Unincorporated area|unincorporated community]] of [[Rancho Dominguez, California|Rancho Dominguez]], located between the cities of Compton, [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] and [[Carson, California|Carson]]. The tree that marked the original northern boundary of the rancho still stands at the corner of Poppy and Short streets.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eagle Tree |url=http://www.comptoncity.org/visitors/eagletree.asp |website=www.comptoncity.org |publisher=City of Compton |access-date=July 22, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=July 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727181011/http://www.comptoncity.org/visitors/eagletree.asp |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=City of Compton – Eagle Tree |url=http://www.comptoncity.org/visitors/eagletree.asp |access-date=April 14, 2021 |website=www.comptoncity.org |archive-date=July 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727181011/http://www.comptoncity.org/visitors/eagletree.asp |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1867, Griffith Dickenson Compton led a group of 30 pioneers to the area. These families had traveled by wagon train south from [[Stockton, California]], in search of ways to earn a living other than the rapid exhaustion of gold fields. Originally named Gibsonville, after one of the tract owners, it was later called Comptonville. However, to avoid confusion with the [[Camptonville, California|Camptonville]] located in [[Yuba County, California|Yuba County]], the name was shortened to Compton.<ref name="city"/> Compton's earliest settlers were faced with terrible hardships as they farmed the land in bleak weather to get by with just the barest subsistence. The weather continued to be harsh, rainy and cold, and fuel was difficult to find. To gather firewood it was necessary to travel to mountains close to [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]]. The round trip took almost a week. Many in the Compton party wanted to relocate to a friendlier climate and settle down, but as there were two general stores within traveling distance—one in the pueblo of [[Los Angeles]], the other in [[Wilmington, Los Angeles, California|Wilmington]]—they eventually decided to stay put.<ref name="city"/>

By 1887, the settlers realized it was time to make improvements to the local government. A series of town meetings were held to discuss incorporation of their little town. Griffith D. Compton donated his land to incorporate and create the city of Compton in 1889, but he did stipulate that a certain acreage be zoned solely for agriculture and named Richland Farms.<ref name="Comp">{{cite web |url=http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/richland-farms/the-past/ |title=1 The Past &#124; Departures |publisher=KCET |date=July 23, 2010 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915160002/http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/richland-farms/the-past/ |archive-date=September 15, 2010 }}</ref> In January 1888, a petition supporting the incorporation of Compton was forwarded to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, who in turn forwarded the petition to the State Legislature. On May 11, 1888, the city of Compton was [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] with a population of 5000 people. The first City Council meeting was held on May 14, 1888.<ref name="city"/>

In 1890, a series of votes were held by the residents of Compton, with the aim of shedding significant portions of the city. By the end of the year, Compton was down to only eighty acres of land, with five remaining voters residing within that territory. Due to the limited number of people able to fill positions within the city government, Compton effectively ceased to exist as a functioning city. By 1906, lawyers Emmett Wilson and E.T. Sherer filed suits to nullify the 1890 elections, which in turn restored Compton to a size of 600 acres.<ref>{{cite web |title=4 Oct 1906, 16 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com |url=http://latimes.newspapers.com/image/380205031/ |access-date=October 15, 2021 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en |archive-date=October 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015201838/http://latimes.newspapers.com/image/380205031/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Compton was reborn, with elections held to fill open positions.<ref>{{cite web |title=23 Oct 1906, 24 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com |url=http://latimes.newspapers.com/image/380216587/?terms=%22City%20of%20Compton%22&match=1 |access-date=October 15, 2021 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en |archive-date=October 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015201825/http://latimes.newspapers.com/image/380216587/?terms=%22City%20of%20Compton%22&match=1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The ample residential lots of Richland Farms gave residents enough space to raise a family, and food to feed them, along with building a barn, and caring for livestock. The farms attracted the black families who had begun migrating from the rural South in the 1950s, and there they found their 'home away from home'. Compton could not support large-scale agricultural business, but it did give the residents the opportunity to work the land for their families.<ref name="Comp" />

The 1920s saw the opening of the Compton Airport. Compton Junior College was founded and city officials moved to a new City Hall on Alameda Street.<ref name="city"/> On March 10, 1933, [[1933 Long Beach earthquake|a destructive earthquake]] caused many casualties: schools were destroyed and there was major damage to the central business district.<ref name="city"/> While it would eventually be home to a large black population, in 1930 there was only one black resident.<ref>{{cite book |last=Horne |first=Gerald |title=Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising and the 1960s |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=1997 |location=New York, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/firethistimewatt00horn/page/27 27] |isbn=978-0-306-80792-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/firethistimewatt00horn/page/27}}</ref>

From the 1920s through the early 1940s, the Compton area was home to a sizable Japanese American population, a large proportion of whom were farmers. Shortly after President Roosevelt issued [[Executive Order 9066]] in February 1942, Compton residents of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from their homes and interned for the duration of World War II. Most were initially detained at the Santa Anita Assembly Center; they were later transferred to and incarcerated at Manzanar and other internment centers, called "Relocation Centers."<ref>{{cite book |last=Seigel |first=Shizue |title=In Good Conscience: Supporting Japanese Americans During the Internment |url=https://archive.org/details/ingoodconscience00seig |url-access=registration |publisher=AACP, Inc. |year=2006 |location=San Mateo, California |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ingoodconscience00seig/page/93 93–99] |isbn=978-0-934609-18-0}}</ref>

In the 1950s, middle-class black families began moving into the area, mostly on the west side. Compton grew quickly throughout the decade. This is partially due to its proximity to [[Watts, Los Angeles, California|Watts]], where there was an established black population. The eastern side of the city was predominantly white until the 1970s. Despite being located in the middle of a major metropolitan area, thanks to the legacy of Griffith D. Compton, there still remains one small pocket of agriculture from its earliest years.<ref name="Comp"/>

During the 1950s and 1960s, after the Supreme Court declared all racially exclusive housing covenants (title deeds) unconstitutional in the case ''[[Shelley v. Kraemer]]'', the first black families moved to the area.<ref name="black">{{cite web |url=http://www.comptoncity.org/index.php/About-Compton/history-of-the-city.htm |title=History of the City &#124; About Compton |publisher=Comptoncity.org |date=March 10, 1933 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710154944/http://www.comptoncity.org/index.php/About-Compton/history-of-the-city.htm |archive-date=July 10, 2010 }}</ref> Compton's growing black population was still largely ignored and neglected by the city's elected officials. [[Centennial High School (Compton, California)|Centennial High School]] was finally built to accommodate a burgeoning student population.<ref name="black"/> A black man first ran for City Council in 1958, and the first black councilman was elected in 1961.<ref name="black"/>
[[File:Compton-1920.jpg|thumb|right|Aerial view of Compton, 1920]]

In 1969, [[Douglas Dollarhide]] became the mayor, the first black man elected mayor of any metropolitan city in California.<ref name="black"/> Two African Americans and one Mexican-American were also elected to the local school board.<ref name="black"/> Four years later, in 1973, [[Doris A. Davis]] defeated Dollarhide's bid for re-election to become the first female black mayor of a metropolitan American city. By the early 1970s, the city had one of the largest concentrations of African Americans in the country, at over sixty five percent.<ref>{{cite web |last=Feder-Haugabook |first=Ayala |date=August 20, 2017 |title=Compton, California (1867– ) • |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/compton-california-1867/ |access-date=April 14, 2021 |language=en-US |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423205630/https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/compton-california-1867/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, [[Aja Brown]], age 31, became the city's youngest mayor to date; she was re-elected in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oreskes |first=Benjamin |date=June 7, 2017 |title=Compton Mayor Aja Brown wins second term |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-compton-mayor-20170606-story.html |access-date=January 6, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

For many years, Compton was a much sought-after suburb for the black middle class of Los Angeles. This past affluence is reflected in the area's appearance: Compton's streets are lined with relatively spacious and attractive single family houses.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chang |first1=Ailsa |author-link=Ailsa Chang |last2=Intagliata |first2=Christopher |last3=Mehta |first3=Jonaki |date=May 5, 2021 |title=How A Predatory Real Estate Practice Changed The Face Of Compton |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/05/05/993993572/how-a-predatory-real-estate-practice-changed-the-face-of-compton |url-status=live |access-date=May 6, 2021 |website=NPR News |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505232321/https://www.npr.org/2021/05/05/993993572/how-a-predatory-real-estate-practice-changed-the-face-of-compton |archive-date=May 5, 2021}}</ref> However, several factors have contributed to Compton's gradual decline. One of the most significant factors was a steady erosion of its tax base, something that was already sparse due to limited commercial properties. In later years, there were middle-class [[white flight|whites who fled]] to the newly incorporated cities of [[Artesia, California|Artesia]], [[Bellflower, California|Bellflower]], [[Cerritos, California|Cerritos]], [[Paramount, California|Paramount]] and [[Norwalk, California|Norwalk]] in the late 1950s. These nearby cities remained largely white early on, despite [[Racial integration|integration]].<ref>Scott, Allen John and Edward Soja (1996). ''The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century'' Berkeley: University of California Press. 10.</ref> This white middle class flight accelerated following the [[Watts Riots|1965 Watts Riots]] and the [[1992 Los Angeles riots]].<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=McWhorter |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/08/12/DI2005081201348.html |title=Outlook: The Negative Impact of the Watts Riots |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 15, 2005 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629031414/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/08/12/DI2005081201348.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

By the late 1960s, middle-class and upper-middle-class African Americans found other areas to be more attractive to them. Some were unincorporated areas of [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]] such as [[Ladera Heights, California|Ladera Heights]], [[View Park-Windsor Hills, California|View Park]] and [[View Park-Windsor Hills, California|Windsor Hills]], and others were cities such as [[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]] and [[Carson, California|Carson]]. Carson was particularly significant, because it had successfully thwarted attempts at [[annexation]] by neighboring Compton. The city opted instead for incorporation in 1968; notably, its black population was actually more affluent than its white population. As a newer city, it also offered more favorable tax rates and lower crime.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ci.carson.ca.us/content/department/about_carson/growing_pains.asp |title=Growing Pains of a Young City – City of Carson, CA |publisher=City of Carson |access-date=August 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716131444/http://ci.carson.ca.us/content/department/about_carson/growing_pains.asp |archive-date=July 16, 2010 }}</ref>