Editing Cudahy, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Michael Cudahy (1841–1910) 02.jpg|thumb|left|[[Michael Cudahy (industrialist)|Michael Cudahy]], the city's namesake]]
Cudahy is named for its founder, [[Meat packing industry|meat-packing]] baron [[Michael Cudahy (industrialist)|Michael Cudahy]],<ref name="Status1">{{Cite news|last=Quinones|first=Sam|date=January 2, 2007|title=Novices threaten Cudahy's status quo.|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-02-me-cudahy2-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=October 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810221753/https://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/02/local/me-cudahy2|archive-date=August 10, 2011}}</ref> who purchased the original {{convert|2777|acre|abbr=off|lk=on}} of [[Rancho San Antonio (Lugo)|Rancho San Antonio]] in 1908 to resell as {{convert|1|acre|ft2 m2 ha|adj=on}} lots.<ref>{{Cite web|title=City Overview {{!}} Cudahy, CA|url=https://www.cityofcudahy.com/274/City-Overview|access-date=August 31, 2021|website=www.cityofcudahy.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Studer|first=Robert Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u8QPYIIyI40C&q=%22Michael+Cudahy%22+AND+%22acre%22|title=The Historical Volume and Reference Works, Los Angeles County|date=1962|publisher=Historical Publishers|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMliAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Michael+Cudahy%22+AND+%22resell%22+AND+%221908%22|title=Low Rider|date=2006|publisher=Park Avenue Design|language=en}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=August 2021}}<!-- Two of these sources are obscure books that I found seemingly relevant snippets of on the Google Books search view, but I couldn't find relevant quotes; please look for copies. ~Duckmather --> These "Cudahy lots" were notable for their size—in most cases, {{convert|50|to|100|ft|m|0}} in width and {{convert|600|to|800|ft|m|0}} in depth, at least equivalent to a [[city block]] in most American towns. Such parcels, often referred to as "railroad lots", were intended to allow the new town's residents to keep a large [[vegetable garden]], a grove of [[fruit tree]]s (usually citrus), and a [[chicken coop]] or [[Stable|horse stable]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMliAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Cudahy+lots%22|title=Low Rider|date=2006|publisher=Park Avenue Design|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Cudahy, California|url=https://www.businessviewmagazine.com/brochures/feb-2017/Cudahy/2-3/|access-date=August 31, 2021|website=www.businessviewmagazine.com}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2021|reason=The first ("Low Rider") is an obscure book of questionable quality; the second seems to be a probable self-published source.}} This arrangement, popular in the towns along the lower [[Los Angeles River|Los Angeles]] and [[San Gabriel River (California)|San Gabriel]] rivers, proved particularly attractive to the Southerners and Midwesterners who were leaving their struggling farms in droves in the 1910s and 1920s to start new lives in [[Southern California]].<ref name=":0" />{{Better source needed|date=August 2021|reason=It seems like this might be self-published source (as the WordPress logo appears as a preview image).}}

As late as the 1950s, some Cudahy residents were still riding into the city's downtown areas on horseback. After [[World War II]] the city was a [[White American]] blue collar town with steel and automobile plants in the area.<ref name="Status1"/>

By the late 1970s, the factories closed down and the [[Non-Hispanic whites|white]] residents of Cudahy left for jobs and housing in the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys. Stucco apartment complexes were built on former tracts of land. The population density increased; in 2007 the city was the second-densest in California, after [[Maywood, California|Maywood]].<ref name="Status2">Quinones, Sam. "Novices threaten Cudahy's status quo." ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. January 2, 2007. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-02-me-cudahy2-story.html 2]. Retrieved on October 26, 2009.</ref>

The city was subjected to a major political corruption incident when the former mayor and the one-time city manager were indicted on bribery and extortion charges for supporting the opening of a medical [[marijuana dispensary]]. As a result of these charges, on July 12, 2012, ex-mayor David Silva, councilman Osvaldo Conde, and former City Manager Angel Perales, 43, each pleaded guilty to one count of bribery and extortion; according to plea agreements they each face up to 30 years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/cc24f789fd644d10a6b59cda7d9d8dc2/CA--Pot-Shop-Bribes|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204111227/http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/cc24f789fd644d10a6b59cda7d9d8dc2/CA--Pot-Shop-Bribes|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 4, 2013|work=TheRepublic|title=CA Pot Shop Bribes}}</ref>

On January 14, 2020, [[Delta Air Lines Flight 89]] dumped jet fuel onto Cudahy, while making an emergency landing at [[Los Angeles International Airport]]. Park Avenue Elementary School suffered the brunt of this dumping.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-14/plane-dumps-fuel-on-students-on-school-playground-en-route-to-lax-officials-say|title=Elementary school kids doused as jet dumps fuel before emergency landing|date=January 14, 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=January 27, 2020}}</ref> This incident sparked outrage because of the city's previous history of environmental damage, including the construction of the same school on top of an old dump site that contained contaminated soil with toxic sludge, and [[Exide lead contamination|pollution from the Exide battery plant]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-15/jet-fuel-dump-on-cudahy-school-children-sparks-outrage-anger|title=Jet fuel dumped on schools, children sparks questions and outrage|date=January 15, 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=January 27, 2020}}</ref> The mayor, Elizabeth Alcantar, pushed for better compensation from Delta for the impact on residents and the city.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-11/this-young-latina-activist-was-appointed-mayor-of-cudahy-at-26-then-the-delta-fuel-drop-happened|title=This 26-year-old became a small-town California mayor. Then a jet dumped fuel on her snakebit city|last=Reyes-Velarde|first=Alejandra|date=February 11, 2020|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref>