In 1827, Don Dolores Sepulveda
received an original land grant to Rancho de los Palos Verdes that supported
several thousand heads of cattle and flourishing hacienda. Rancho Palos Verdes
literally means “Ranch of Green Sticks” but some say it takes its name from
Canada de Palos Verdes, or “Canyon of green trees” and RPV was originally
inhabited by the Gabbrielino-Tongva Tribe. [1]
Then, for
a brief period of time in the early 1900’s, the Peninsula enjoyed prosperity as
a cattle ranch and rich farming area. During this time, 2,000 head of cattle
roamed the open areas.
Japanese
families farmed the moist southern slopes with fields of beans, peas and
tomatoes, while the manager of the cattle ranch farmed the dryer northern
slopes with barley for hay and grain.2
In 1913, the found father of the Peninsula,
Frank Vanderlip, bought the 16,000-acre Palos Verdes Peninsula and embarked on
a grand vision to develop the “Palos Verdes Project” into the most fashionable
and exclusive residential colony in the nation. The first homes in Rancho Palos
Verdes appeared in the region in 1924, two years before the historic Point
Vicente Lighthouse was built in RPV. 3
2 "Rancho Palos Verdes - The Birth of a City." PalosVerdes.com. City of RPV,
n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
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