El Porto is a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

community that is part of northernmost Manhattan Beach, a city in the South Bay area of

Greater Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. The boundary of El Porto is 45th Street on the north side, which is the border with El Segundo, and its

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

oil refinery, to 38th Street, which was the old border with Manhattan; the east-west boundary is Crest Drive, next to the fence of El Segundo's oil refinery, to El Porto State Beach and the

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

. The

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

section of El Porto is along Highland Avenue, which is its only main thoroughfare. North of 45th Street, Highland becomes Vista Del Mar Boulevard, which runs along the

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

Playa del Rey Playa del Rey (Spanish for "Beach of the King") is a seaside neighborhood on the westside of Los Angeles in the Santa Monica Bay region of Los Angeles County, California. It has a ZIP Code of 90293 and area codes of 310 and 424. As of 2018, ...

. Residents of El Porto are currently zoned to Grandview Elementary School by the

Manhattan Beach Unified School District The Manhattan Beach Unified School District is responsible for public education in the city of Manhattan Beach, California. It oversees one preschool, five elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. MBUSD serves the city of ...

. Fire and Police Services are generally provided by the downtown police and fire facility.

History

El Porto was subdivided in 1911 on land owned by developer George H. Peck. There were 83 business lots, 225 residential lots, on sandy soil partly covered with large trees, and ocean view sand lots. Included were concrete

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...

s and curbs, oiled

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

s and

artesian water An artesian well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of impermeable roc ...

that was piped in the streets. The 30-by-90 foot lots, laid out by Peck, were each between a street and an

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

. At first, no names were given to the streets. Numbers were later assigned to the east-west streets and names to the alleys. The alley between 39th and 40th Streets, for instance, is named El Porto Street. Although it is thought to mean "The Port" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, the name is actually a misspelling and translates "The I Carry." The Spanish word for port should have actually been spelled p-u-e-r-t-o. However, "porto" is the Portuguese word for "port," but its article is "O" instead of "El," which leads one to believe the origin of the name El Porto could have come from both Spanish and Portuguese influences. For over six decades, El Porto was a

county island A county island is a small or large portion of an unincorporated area that is within the jurisdiction of a county, usually surrounded by adjacent areas that are incorporated into a municipality. On maps, these geopolitical anomalies will form ja ...

that was part of the El Segundo Unified School District. In November 1980, the unincorporated town of El Porto, consisting of approximately and a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of about 1,185 people, was annexed from the

County of Los Angeles Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

by Manhattan Beach.

External links

Manhattan Beach, CA
{{coord, 33.903274, -118.419039, type:adm3rd_globe:earth_region:US-CA, display=title Neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, California Populated places established in 1911 Manhattan Beach, California

History

See also

External links