History
Early inhabitants and european discovery
The first known inhabitants of present day Manhattan Beach were the Engnovangas rancheria indians. The indians survived off of corbina fish they hunted in the shallows, along with other species of surf fish. The Engnovangas often made the 3 mile trek south to the salt flats in present day Redondo Beach, CA to harvest the mineral. The old Salt Flat is now occupied by Southern California Edison, roughly located on Herondo Street and North Harbor Drive. The salty estuary was said to be only 150 yards from the ocean and the rough size of 120,000 square yards.
In 1781, when El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles was established, a small, one-lane dirt road was cleared to connect the Salt Flat and Los Angeles. Aviation Boulevard now runs almost directly on top of the old Salt Flat road. Three years later, in 1784, the Spanish government established "ranchos", or land parcels, all along the South Bay. The land grants did not convey titles to the land; rather they simply gave permission to migrant farmers to use the land as they wished. In 1822, the newly-established Mexican government sold the land to the highest bidder. Some of the Ranchos purchased by farmers were: Aguaje de la Centinela, La Ballona, La Tijera, and Sausal Redondo, which translates into "round clump of willows." (Note that many streets in the South Bay region are named after these ranchos.) In 1822, Rancho Sausal Redondo (present day Manhattan Beach) was purchased by Antonio Ygnacio Avila, who mainly used the 22,500 acres for sheep grazing. Real estate brokers Manhattan Beach