Editing Bell, California (section)

===Early history===
The area comprising the present-day City of Bell has a Native American history dating back thousands of years. The Gabrieliño Indians migrated to the place now called Bell in 500 B.C. Spaniards have been living in this area of California since the mid-18th century. Among the early Spanish settlers was one of California's first families, the [[Lugo (surname)|Lugo]]s.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

While stationed at [[Mission San Antonio de Padua]] near [[Salinas, California|Salinas]], California, Francisco Lugo's first California son, Antonio María Lugo was born in 1775,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://www.bell.k12.ca.us/decades/history/timeline.htm |title=Timeline |publisher=Bell.k12.ca.us |access-date=July 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822150646/http://www.bell.k12.ca.us/decades/history/timeline.htm |archive-date=August 22, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> who would become Don Antonio María Lugo, Spanish aristocrat and soldier, who settled on 30,000 acres of land that encompasses the present-day City of Bell. In 1810, the king of Spain formally granted the land to Lugo as a reward for his military service<ref name="autogenerated1"/> and the acreage became known as [[Rancho San Antonio (Lugo)|Rancho San Antonio]].

The grant was confirmed by the Mexican governor in 1838. By 1865, the Lugo family's fortune had dwindled and most of the Rancho was sold for less than a dollar per acre. The Lugo family did manage to retain its home, built about 1810, which is the now oldest house in Los Angeles County. The original adobe house was on Gage Avenue.<ref name="cityofbell.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.cityofbell.org|title=City of Bell |website=cityofbell.org}}</ref>

Between 1870 and 1890, settlers arrived to the area and among those was the city's founder. In 1876, the pioneer residents for whom the city is named, [[James George Bell]] and his wife Susan Abia Hollenbeck Bell, and their two children, Maude Elizabeth and Alphonzo Sr. moved from [[Los Angeles]] where they lived for a short period with Susan's brother, [[John Edward Hollenbeck|John Hollenbeck]], in their Victorian style home – the Bell House, now a historic landmark located at 4401 East Gage Avenue.<ref name="cityofbell.org"/> On April 6, 2000, the Bell House was dedicated as a California State Historical Resource.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

[[Image:Bell House.jpg|thumb|left|James George Bell House]]
They acquired about 360 acres (145.7&nbsp;ha) of land and in the next decade, helped in its development as a small farming and cattle raising community. The Bell Family lived at the [[John Edward Hollenbeck|Hollenbeck]]'s "Town House" on 4th and Breed Street until they moved into the "ranch" Bell House in 1876. The Bell House was an early [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] style farm house. In 1898, the town's name was changed from Rancho San Antonio to Bell, in honor of its pioneer founders.<ref name="cityofbell.org"/>

Between 1920 and 1935, an explosive growth in population occurred in the Bell area. Old and new residents built new businesses, established schools, and founded community organizations, such as the Bell [[Chamber of Commerce]] and the Woman's Club. An area-wide sanitation district was formed in 1923 to provide sewer facilities.

In 1924, George O. Wheeler founded the ''Industrial Post'', the local newspaper. By the early 1960s, the ''Bell Industrial Post'' had become the ''Bell-[[Maywood, California|Maywood]]-[[Cudahy, California|Cudahy]] Industrial Post''. It was later renamed the ''Community News'', and became part of the Los Cerritos Community Newspaper Group. In 1998 it was sold again. The ''Community News'' disappeared not long after{{why|date=April 2020}},<ref>{{cite news|last1=Francke|first1=Terry|title=Why the Bell Scandal Happened and What Can Be Done|url=http://voiceofoc.org/2010/07/why-the-bell-scandal-happened-and-what-can-be-done/|access-date=January 22, 2017|publisher=Voice of OC|date=July 28, 2010}}</ref> facilitating a chain of corrupt practiced that ultimately led to criminal convictions for city administrator [[Robert Rizzo]], who had been hired around 1998, and six other Bell city officials.<ref> {{Cite web |title=10 YEARS AFTER THE BELL SCANDAL ARE WE MORE ETHICAL? |url=https://www.calcities.org/docs/default-source/annual-conference---session-materials/ten-years-after-the-bell-scandal-are-we-more-ethical.pdf?sfvrsn=21ab7d85_3 |website=www.calcities.org}}</ref>

In 1925, the Alcazar Theater to show "talking pictures", was opened. It has since been demolished.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinematour.com/theatres/us/CA/2.html |title=Cinemas Around the World - United States - California |publisher=CinemaTour |access-date=July 26, 2010}}</ref>

In 1925, [[Bell High School (Bell, California)|Bell High School]] was opened.<ref name="search.lausd.k12.ca.us">{{cite web |url=http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8536 |title=LAUSD School Profile |publisher=Search.lausd.k12.ca.us |date=September 16, 2009 |access-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-date=May 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527173829/http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8536 |url-status=dead }}</ref>