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DHistory
History · Lawndale

Lawndale’s post office opened in 1906

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #600 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Lawndale was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1960.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: FASTILY · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Lawndale began

When was Lawndale founded?

1906

The Lawndale post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1959.

First census: 21,740 in 19602020 census: 31,807120 years

How historic is Lawndale?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lawndale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1959.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lawndale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawndale is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #600 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lawndale’s overall grade.
Founding era1906, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19406.4% of homes (±1.7) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 29%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lawndale’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1959.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Lawndale’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lawndale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18968 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1981. Watch Lawndale change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lawndale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lawndale’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lawndale on the map, 1896 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lawndale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lawndale on the 1896 USGS mapLawndale on the 1924 USGS mapLawndale on the 1934 USGS mapLawndale on the 1944 USGS mapLawndale on the 1950 USGS mapLawndale on the 1964 USGS mapLawndale on the 1972 USGS mapLawndale on the 1981 USGS map1896Redondo sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lawndale.

The story

How Lawndale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lawndale.

Read it all →

From the 1780s onward, the area that is now Lawndale was part of the Rancho Sausal Redondo, a land grant given by the Spanish colonial government that includes much of what is now the South Bayshore region. In 1905, Charles B. Hopper first subdivided the area and named it after the Chicago neighborhood of the same name. Lots sold slowly and different promotions were tried, such as promoting Lawndale as a chicken raising area. The first railway to run through Lawndale was the Inglewood Division of the Redondo Railway which would later become part of the Pacific Electric "Red Car" system. It ran down the middle of Railway Avenue (now Hawthorne Boulevard) until 1933. In 1927, the Santa Fe railroad arrived. After World War II, the immense demand for housing from returning veterans and California newcomers resulted in Lawndale's formation as a bedroom community. On December 28, 1959, it was …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lawndale, 1896 to 1930

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Lawndale post office opens
  5. 1930Born hereHal Mitchell is born here
By decade

Lawndale, decade by decade

Today2 recent
US Navy 110726-N-LA828-161 Gayle Anderson, a reporter with KTLA Channel 5 News, interviews Aviation Maintenance Adminis…2011US Navy 110726-N-LA828-161 Gayle Anderson, a reporter…CAMap-doton-Lawndale2006CAMap-doton-Lawndale
People over time

Lawndale, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,0001960198020002020Peak: 32,769

Between 21,740 and 32,769 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lawndale’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Lawndale’s post office has been open since 1906.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Monaco

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hawthorne1 historic placeC−Torrance6 historic placesCRedondo Beach5 historic placesB−Alondra ParkIts storyD

Questions about Lawndale’s history

What year was Lawndale founded?

The Lawndale post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1959.

How does Lawndale rank for history?

Lawndale is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #600 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Lawndale?

6% of Lawndale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1967.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.