LA County Supervisors direct officials to work on returning Bruce’s Beach land to descendants
April 20, 2021
Los Angeles County will officially work to give the portion of Bruce’s Beach it controls to the descendants of the original owners.
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously during a Tuesday, April 20, meeting to create a plan to transfer two parcels of coastal property in Manhattan Beach to the Bruce family, whose ancestors once owned a seaside resort for African Americans there but had the land taken away via eminent domain — costing them an opportunity to build generational wealth.
The County CEO’s Office, County Counsel and executive director of racial equality, in consultation with the county fire chief, have 60 days to report back to the board with a plan for how to deed the property to the Bruce family. That plan, which the supervisors would have to OK, will include a timeline, options for addressing property tax issues after the transfer and ways the county could either lease the property from the Bruce family or relocate the lifeguard facility there.
Supervisors Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell co-authored the motion for the county to return Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce. That African American couple bought the two parcels of land in the early 20th century on what’s now The Strand, in Manhattan Beach, and ran a flourishing resort for Black people. They bought up more land over the years, expanding the resort, at a time when Black people had limited options for accessing the coast.
But Manhattan Beach leadership condemned the land, as well as that of other Black property owners, in 1924 and took it over through eminent domain after being pressured by community members who wanted to rid the city of Black people who migrated west to claim their slice of the California dream.