How Inglewood Became the Epicenter of Black Culture in LA

Salt Eaters Bookshop | Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist

“The roar of airplanes flying in and out of nearby LAX airport act as the daily soundtrack for residents of Inglewood, a city that spans just over nine square miles and is located in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. The city has undergone numerous transformations since 1781, when a group of settlers were ordered by the San Gabriel Mission to begin grazing their animals on the coast of Los Angeles to avoid infringing on Mission lands. That led them to the lush lands near Centinela Springs, which Native Americans had long been using as a source for local spring water. In 1834, Ygnacio Machado built the Centinela Adobe, and was granted 2,220 acres of ranch land across what’s now known as Westchester and Inglewood. Some of that land was acquired by Canadian developer Daniel Freeman in 1887, and it was in the decades that followed that the city began to embrace a new identity, with the founding of Inglewood Park Cemetery in 1905 and the Hollywood Park racetrack in 1938, plus a location of California’s first soft-serve ice cream chain, Fosters Freeze, in 1946.”

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