This picture of Long Beach Blvd. (then known as American Avenue) taken circa 1925 is a view looking southeast from an area north of Wardlow Road and South of Bixby Road. The Signal Hill Oil Field reached into the Los Cerritos Neighborhood. Many residents had wells in their backyards such as this photo of Reginald Campbell standing in his yard at 3841 Pacific Avenue in 1926.
Nearly every lot on Pine Avenue, Weston Place, Pacific Avenue and Chestnut Avenue south of Bixby Road, as well as lots in La Linda had an oil well on the lot. Between the fires and the noise, some residents chose to abandon the neighborhood. Others moved their homes. The Campbell family moved their home to 235 East Claiborne. Children could not walk to Los Cerritos school without an escort because of the oil fires. Initially the wells were productive but by 1927 the field began to decline and the oil flow collapsed. But by then, the neighborhood was devastated. The Los Cerritos Improvement Association under the leadership of its first president, Charles R. Rowlett worked to return the neighborhood to its former beauty. In 1951 a portion of Los Cerritos Park was renamed for Rowlett.
Thank you to Stephen Dudley for his photo of Long Beach Blvd. and Hyra and David Goldberg for their photo of 3841 Pacific.
My family home located on the corner of Bixby Road and Cedar Avenue, now 3808 Cedar Avenue, had an oil well on the property. At the time, 3808 was the home of Marguerite Vignes and Bertine J. Walp, and their two children, John and Joan.