by Garth Meyer
The sixth and seventh Redondo Beach “Path of History” signs commemorating the design of Vincent Park, its surrounding streets, and Hotel Redonodo’s grand staircase to the beach, were placed Dec. 2.
The installations started as a Leadership Redondo class project (2002).
The sign at Vincent Park tells of how the small, oval recreation spot and the adjacent lamp-shaped streets’ layout were influenced by the national Chautauqua festivals, an educational movement held in the pre-radio, pre-television era, beginning in upstate New York.
“They were similar to TedX today,” said Ron Maroko, a member of the Redondo Beach Historical Commission.
A “Lamp of Learning” was the Chautauqua symbol.
The Ainsworth Court Staircase, next to today’s Veterans Park, was once part of a 30-foot wide stairway from the 1890 Hotel Redondo to the beach, and wharf no. 2.
A thin section of the steps remain.
In 1887, Redondo Beach streets designer William Hammond Hall created Vincent Park and the “Lamp of Learning” neighborhood pattern, extending from Pacific Coast Highway to Prospect Avenue. Redondo Union High School makes up the lamp’s upper, northeast section. Hall also designed Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
“The lamp was an integral part of the overall street design of Redondo Beach,” said Maggi Healy, a member of the 2002 Leadership Redondo class. She is also a former assistant city manager.
“The streets were meant to form a sort of amphitheater to the ocean.”
The “Path of History” series began with four signs in 2004-05, then another in 2009, when the program became a city capital improvements project. It went dormant until the last two years.
“The pandemic encouraged us to put more of our history outdoors,” said Maroko.
Funding comes from private individuals and organizations.
“We anticipate about 35 more signs,” Maroko said. “This is the start of raising funds.”
The next markers are slated to honor the former Aviation High School and the old city hall.
Local Chautauqua
Redondo Beach was once the Chautauqua West Coast hub, though short-lived.
A 4,000-seat, polygonal, domed Chautauqua assembly hall was built in 1890 at the site of today’s Redondo Union High auditorium.
The 15-acre Chautauqua plot lasted only from 1890-92 — the year Redondo Beach was incorporated as a city. Chautauqua leaders had recently moved from a former headquarters in Long Beach, in a feud between the two factions.
After the Redondo assembly hall was abandoned, it was used as a granary and storage by farmers, before it became part of the original Redondo Union High School.
Vincent Park, the oldest in town, was named after John Heyl Vincent, founder of the Chautauqua movement.
The Ainsworth Court Staircase is named after John C. Ainsworth, one of the founders of Redondo Beach.
“How important preservation is – to give a context to why things are the way they are,” Healy said. “This feels like an important project.”
The Chautauqua Institution is still in operation on Chautauqua Lake, New York. ER
