SALT AND POWER

By Kathy McLeod
      Today, Redondo's biggest draw for residents and tourists is its beautiful harbor with sweeping ocean and mountain vistas. But there was a time when our city had another draw for its early inhabitants and visitors - one of history’s largest economic commodities, salt. In the 1700s, our city was home and a trade center for early Native Americans of the Gabrielino/Tongva tribe - the Chowignas. As was customary amongst Native Americans, lessons in survival were drawn largely upon nature. In this case, following the blazen trails of buffalo, deer, and sheep herds searching for mineral-rich salt licks, led the Chowigna from their distant arid, desert villages to the glorious ocean shores of what is now called Redondo Beach. Here, they discovered a large salt lake 200 yards wide and 600 yards long, being fed by underground bubbling springs which were further being fed by an underwater canyon.
      Tens of thousands of these salt lakes were formed across the world millions of years ago, when the seas slowly receded and evaporated, leaving behind rock and mineral deposits such as limestone, clay and rock salt. Although references to salt dates as far back as 4800 years ago and its uses throughout history too many to mention, early Native Americans used salt mainly for food preservation, wound-healing, making clay pottery and even warding off evil spirits. The Chowignas’ village of Onoova-Nga or "place of salt" was located in close proximity to the lake – an ideal "manufacturing" location. Processing methods included using crude shovels to dig up salt from the bottom of the lake. A second method was pouring water from the salt beds into huge earthen bowls, then allowing the water to evaporate by the sun resulting in first-grade salt residue. Over time, the economic role of salt increased so dramatically that long battles were fought during the Civil War to capture the many salt lake regions across the country. The demand for salt became so large and supplies so scare that salt was more precious than gold.
      In 1854, the U.S. Government granted the village site to Rancho San Pedro and ownership to Manuel Dominguez. The Chowignas were relocated to surrounding missions. Dominguez later sold the 215-acre site to two Los Angeles merchants, Henry Allanson and William Johnson, who developed the former "salt lake village" into the first American business in the area, the Pacific Salt Works.
      The Pacific Salt Works defined the local economic future of Redondo Beach and the Chowignas" earlier processing methods were quickly replaced by wood-fired boilers which hastened the evaporation process. In less than eight years, the company went bankrupt due to a rise in shipping costs and arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad which provided easy transportation and delivery by outside salt competitors.
      During the late 1880s through the post-war era, the site became home to numerous electric power stations and sub-stations. In 1948 the building you see today housed the Southern California Edison power plant providing elecricity to thousands of new famlilies that moved into the area. The plant was purchased in 1998 by the AES Corporation. Today, one-third of the building remains in operation. The site of the salt lake is a California State Historical Landmark (No. 373). But for now and until the fate of the site is determined, whatever remains of the old salt lake and the Chowinga Village will remain hidden underneath this imposing, concrete plant.
      Now, in 2009, the site is perhaps one of the most controversial in the South Bay. A proposal in the 80s for a "Redondo Fun Park" was considered but dropped due to the potentially negative impact on the delicate eco-system. This past decade, discussions have continued over its future including its role in desalinization, development of a modernized residential "village" and even a large park.