K Smith's video: A Drive Through El Segundo El Segundo Beach California

El Segundo, California is magnificent even though it has gnarly looking smokestacks on it's beach. The El Segundo and Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva (or Gabrieleños) and Chumash Native American tribes hundreds of years ago. The area was once a part of Rancho Sausal Redondo ("Round Willow Patch Ranch"). Rancho Sausal Redondo extended from Playa Del Rey in the North to Redondo Beach in the South. Originally a Mexican land grant owned by Antonio Ygnacio Avila, the rancho was later purchased by a Scottish baronet named Sir Robert Burnett. After his return to Scotland, the property was purchased by then current manager of the rancho, Daniel Freeman. Daniel Freeman sold portions of the rancho to multiple owners. George H. Peck (1856–1940) owned the 840 acres (3.4 km2) of land the Chevron Refinery now sits on. Peck also developed land in neighboring El Porto where a street still stands to his name. The city earned its name ("the second" in Spanish) as it was the site of the second Standard Oil refinery on the West Coast (the first was at Richmond in Northern California), when Standard Oil of California purchased the 840 acres (3.4 km2) of farm land in 1911. The company was renamed Chevron in 1984, and the El Segundo refinery will soon enter its second century of operation.[8] The city was incorporated in 1917. SBD Dauntless dive bombers being built in the Douglas Aircraft Factory, El Segundo.[9] The Douglas Aircraft Company plant in El Segundo was one of the major aircraft manufacturing facilities in California during World War II. It was one of the major producers of SBD Dauntless dive bombers, which achieved fame in the Battle of Midway. The facility, now operated by Northrop Grumman, is still an aircraft plant. In 2006, El Segundo won an Eddy award for being the most business-friendly city in L.A. County.[12][13] El Segundo is in transition from being a predominantly blue-collar 'company town' to being a 'corporate' town where the tax base relies on a non-resident working population. Pollution and toxic waste cleanup remain issues as El Segundo converts industrial sites to shopping malls and sports facilities. The north and south boundaries of the town are the LAX airport and Manhattan Beach, with the Pacific Ocean as the western boundary. Aircraft noise from LAX is a major issue for residents on the north side of El Segundo. Residents are currently active in tree-planting along Imperial Highway. El Segundo has many aviation-related and petroleum-related industries and operations. The name was adopted in 1911 when Chevron built its second refinery, El Segundo, which is Spanish for "The Second".[14] In 1928 William Mines, an immigrant from Canada, leased land for a flying field.[15] In 1930 Los Angeles Municipal Airport, later Los Angeles International Airport, opened north of El Segundo; its presence led to the concentration of aerospace and aviation-related firms in the El Segundo area.[14] Headquarters of Mattel Many large aerospace companies have facilities in El Segundo, including Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Wyle Laboratories and The Aerospace Corporation. The last two are headquartered there. It is also home to the Los Angeles Air Force Base and the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), which is responsible for space-related acquisition for the military. In addition to the Chevron oil refinery, El Segundo is located next to the Hyperion sewage treatment plant[16] and the El Segundo power plant. The El Segundo power plant is operated by the American energy company NRG. In an effort to combine sustainable and environmentally-friendly techniques with fossil power generation, NRG will create a new combined cycle power island, providing power for 240,000 households. The new power plant, slated to go online in 2013, will use two generators: a Siemens gas turbine[17] and an additional steam turbine. Natural gas will drive the gas turbine, while the hot exhaust gases will generate steam for the steam turbine. The efficiency of the power plant will be increased up to 58%. A huge environmental advantage of this type of power plant is that in combustion, natural gas generates relatively little carbon dioxide compared to other fossil fuels. The current Boeing factory was originally built by Nash Motors in 1946 and opened in 1948. In 1955, Hughes Aircraft Company purchased the 500,000 sq-ft building; it was converted to build missiles and also served as a test facility.[18] Toy manufacturer Mattel,[19] satellite TV provider DirecTV,[20] medical company DaVita, IT services firm Computer Sciences Corporation, power semiconductor company International Rectifier, grocery chain Fresh and Easy, direct technology marketing company PCM, Inc. is headquartered there, as well as sporting goods retailer Big 5 Sporting Goods. Database company Teradata has an R & D facility in El Segundo.