Belmont Heights is a district in the south-east portion of the city of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, bordering the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and the more commercial community of Belmont Shore. The district commemorates the old City of Belmont Heights, which was incorporated in 1908 and annexed to Long Beach in 1909. Belmont Heights' borders are Ocean Boulevard and Livingston Drive to the south, Redondo Avenue on the west, 7th Street to the North, and Nieto Avenue to the east. The area is mostly residential, but also has an active business district, the strip of Broadway east of Redondo Avenue.

History

The Belmont Heights Historic District includes homes between 7th Street on the north, 4th Street on the south, Newport Avenue on the west and Roswell Avenue on the east. A few properties located on 4th and 7th streets are included. The neighborhood was first subdivided and developed in the 1900s (decade). The oldest homes surviving today date from 1905. The predominant architectural style in the district is the

Craftsman bungalow In the United States, the National Register of Historic Places classifies its listings by various types of architecture. Listed properties often are given one or more of 40 standard architectural style classifications that appear in the National ...

. Out of 304 homes surveyed, 206 are "contributing" Craftsman bungalows, and 125 of these are pristine unaltered examples. Other architectural styles found in the area that are considered contributing are Victorian,

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and

Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

and Neo-Traditional. The period of architectural significance for the district is 1905–39. Construction peaked in 1922. Most homes are single-family, with some duplexes and a few apartment houses. Thirty-seven of the homes surveyed were ranked as "noncontributing", or 13 percent. The district commemorates the old City of Belmont Heights, which was incorporated in 1908 and annexed to Long Beach in 1909.

Interesting Facts

* Belmont Heights was incorporated as a city for one year before it annexed with Long Beach in 1909. Long Beach at the time was a dry town, so residents looking for alcohol would head over to the Heights for a drink at one of the taverns. * The Green Long Beach Festival was created after several activists shared ideas at the Viento y Agua Coffee Shop in Belmont Heights. * Feral Parrots A notable feature of Belmont Heights is its large population of

feral parrots A feral parrot is a parrot that has adapted to life in an ecosystem to which it is not native. The birds are often descended from pets that have escaped or been deliberately released. Many species of parrots are highly social, and like to gathe ...

. In between Redondo Avenue and Livingston Drive along Ocean Blvd, amongst the palm trees, this large population of birds can be seen and heard by people for many houses. Some consider these animals to be a nuisance due to their rather vocal and loud sounds. However, the residents of Belmont Heights have grown to accept them as part of their community.

Notable residents

* Clippers President

Andy Roeser Richard Andrew Roeser (born 1959 in Michigan) is the former president of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. He also served as the alternate governor of the Clippers, representing the team in league matters among the N ...

. He moved from the Valley in Tarzana to 104 Quincy in Belmont Shore and six years later moved to Belmont Heights. "I said to my wife, `This is where I want to live. It has everything I want - the ocean, the restaurants, the shops.'" He's a member of the Long Beach Yacht Club and the Belmont Athletic Club. He can also be seen kite-boarding near Claremont and Ocean. * Former Los Angeles Rams player

Marlin McKeever Marlin Thomas McKeever (January 1, 1940 – October 27, 2006) was an American football defensive end, Fullback (American football), fullback and Punter (American football), punter at the University of Southern California (USC) and a tight end an ...

. He was a two-time All-American at USC and 13-year pro. He died in 2006. * Author and screenwriter Obie Scott Wade. His production company, ObieCo Entertainment, Inc. is located in the historically significant Elizabethan Studio designed by noted architect Joseph H. Roberts.

Notable landmarks

Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier is a pier in Belmont Heights, Long Beach, California. Summary Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier is a popular site for fishing and strolling located at 35 39th Place. Sport Fishing can be accessed at the end of the pier ...

* Eliot Lane In 2003 residents on the street sought historic designation to protect the look of the 30 homes. The movement was started by homeowner Linda Becker Babiak whose family owned a "Spanish eclectic" home on Eliot Lane since 1925. The homes are still small - 600 to 900 square feet - and there are seven versions of the popular Spanish Revival or Craftsman Bungalow homes in the tract, all built in 1923 by Boland & Smith. For most of the street's life it was called "Eliot Court" because it was designed to be pedestrian and intimate in scale. * Brown's Court Apartments Located at 3615-3623 E. Colorado Street, it was built as a Spanish Bungalow Court in 1923. It was awarded a Long Beach Heritage Preservation Award in 2015. *

Long Beach Green Belt path The Long Beach Greenbelt is an open space habitat for California native plants and pathway in Belmont Heights, Long Beach, California. The abandoned railroad right of way was transformed by community activists after it was slated to become a blo ...

Local Schools

The following schools are part of the

Long Beach Unified School District The Long Beach Unified School District is a school district headquartered in Long Beach, California, United States. Established in 1885, Long Beach Unified School District now educates 81,000 students in 84 public schools in the cities of Lon ...

. *''Elementary Schools''
John C. Fremont Elementary School
4000 East 4th Street

5201 East Broadway

257 Coronado Avenue *''Middle Schools'' **

Jefferson Leadership Academies The Long Beach Unified School District is a school district headquartered in Long Beach, California, United States. Established in 1885, Long Beach Unified School District now educates 81,000 students in 84 public schools in the cities of Lon ...

, 750 Euclid Avenue
Will Rogers Middle School
365 Monrovia Avenue *''High School'' **

Woodrow Wilson Classical High School Woodrow Wilson High School (colloquially known as Long Beach Wilson) is an American public high school located in Long Beach, California. This two-block campus is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, across from the Recreation ...

, 4400 E. 10th Street

References