As Lomita emerged from the boom and bust of the 1920s and crept slowly into the 1930s, it soon acquired a new reputation as "Celery Capital of the World" (although some claim it could just as easily have acquired the title "Strawberry Capital of the World" as well). Truck farming of vegetables, fruits, and eggs became the prevailing occupation of Lomita residents in the 1930s.
In early 1935, a vaudevillian named Frank A. Gumm of Grand Rapids, Minnesota leased the Lomita Theater, which was located on Narbonne Avenue near 243rd Street, to present his singing and dancing daughters Mary Jane, Dorothy Virginia, and Judy, who would later change her name to Judy Garland.
Other than its involvement in World War II, Lomita remained relatively quiet during the early 1940s. That quiet was disturbed in January 1944, however, when Army Air Corps pilot Merl Ogden, returning from a test flight of his Lockheed P-38 Lightning to the Lomita Flight Strip, now known as Zamperini Field, Torrance Municipal Airport, discovered that he couldn't lower his landing gear. He subsequently ran out of fuel and crashed into Lomita's Victory Garden. He died instantly.
After World War II, Lomita's population exploded. As the 1950s progressed, adjacent cities, including the cities of Torrance and Rolling Hills, attempted to annex major portions of the original subdivision, Torrance succeeding.
By the early 1960s, only 1.87 square miles of the original 7 square mile subdivision remained. And Torrance wanted more.
On June 30, 1964, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, Lomita was incorporated as a city. In addition to halting annexation, incorporating was intended to curtail the development and construction of highrise apartments, a serious concern at the time. As one long time resident put it, "there was a definite feeling that this should be kept a small town and not just a subsidiary for a big city. Most of the people who came here have in mind family situations. If they come here, they don't want a lot of swingers in apartments."
The 70s and 80s passed without much incident. In 1989, 1993, and again in 1999, Lomita tried unsuccessfully to withdraw from the Los Angeles Unified School District, claiming it wanted more control and better management of its schools' curriculum and spending. In 1990, the City had better luck with the County of Los Angeles, seceded from the water district, and assumed complete control and operation of Water District 13.
Although it's shrunk from its original 7 square miles to a meager 1.87 square miles, Lomita has managed not only to survive, but to mature. Boundary disputes, land divisions, natural disasters, civil wars, world wars, and cold wars, oil booms, stock market busts, and even annexation to surrounding communities couldn't consume little Lomita.
From a simple ranch house and a few out-buildings on the Narbonne property, a sleepy narrow gauge electric railroad stop on Western Avenue, and a handful of dirt roads named after trees and fruits, Lomita has grown into a small city and, in spite of that growth, managed to maintain its rustic, small-town flavor.
Learn more about this city.
City of Lomita, CA official site
City of Lomita, CA Chamber of Commerce
City of Lomita, CA newspaper
County of Lomita, CA official site
State of California official site