Mines Field in 1930, looking very unthreatening. Surfridge had been laid out just nine years before, in 1921.
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Mines Field in 1939, bigger, but not by much. This is the approximate view we had (from a somewhat lower vantage point of course) from Sepulveda and (what is now) Howard Hughes PKWY in the 1950's of the LA basin as we came off of high ground and headed downhill north of Hermosa Beach where we lived. The splendid view across to City Hall (upper center), standing tall downtown, never failed to thrill me.
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1951 Master Plan for LAX sealing Surfridges fate.This drawing shows that the runways had already been extended a short distance to the west (Sepulveda Blvd was rerouted to jog around this extension). After the 1953 building of the Sepulveda Tunnel, Sepulveda Blvd was straightened out again and routed through the tunnel under the runways.
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