1. Peplos
  2. Places
  3. Los Angeles

Bruce's Beach

A Black family's beach resort, a park as the excuse, and a county that ended up paying them rent.

Collection: Los Angeles · USA · Open in OpenStreetMap

Bruce's Beach park and shore from above
Bruce's Beach park and shore from above · Nils Huenerfuerst, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.

Open this place in PeplosInstall on iPhoneJoin the Android test

Already installed? The first button opens this exact place. After installing, return here and tap it.

Open this link on your phone to go to this place in the app.

How to install the early version through TestFlight
  1. Get TestFlight. Tap the button, then go to the App Store from Apple’s page. TestFlight is Apple’s free app for early versions.
  2. Come back here and tap the button again. In TestFlight, accept the invitation and install Peplos.

After installing Peplos, return to this page and tap “Open this place in Peplos”.

How the story begins

Manhattan Beach took Willa Bruce's land for a park, and then left it empty for about thirty years. She had bought her first lot on this shore in 1912. She was a Black woman. She and her husband, Charles, built a lodge with a cafe and a dance hall, a resort for Black visitors. A neighboring landowner put up barriers and "No Trespassing" signs, so visitors had to walk an extra half mile to reach the sand.

The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.

Visiting

Bruce's Beach park, on Manhattan Avenue two blocks up from the Strand, Manhattan Beach. Public park and public beach. It is far from the other Los Angeles stops, south of the airport.

Sources

This text was written by AI from open sources. Found a mistake? Write to us. Support

Nearby