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Changing Face of Southern California

Ruins of City Hall, Compton Calif.

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Ruins of City Hall, Compton Calif.

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Identifier	clloy_081
Title	Ruins of City Hall, Compton Calif.
Creator	Unknown
Date Created	1933
Subject (Topic)	Earthquakes--California--Compton; Earthquake damage--California--Compton; City halls--California--Compton
Subject (Name)	City Hall (Compton, Calif.)
Subject (Place)	Compton (Calif.)
Type	image
Form/Genre	Postcards
Physical Description	1 postcard : b&w ; 9 x 14 cm.
Institution	Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University
Country of Creation	US
Copyright Status	public domain
Copyright Statement	https://library.lmu.edu/policies&procedures/librarycopyrightpolicy/
Language	eng
Description	Exterior view of Compton City Hall after the 1933 earthquake; large portions of wall have fallen away, a portion of the roof has collapsed, and piles of rubble surround the building. A man in uniform stands in front of the building, looking away.
Historical Background	Compton was originally part of the Rancho San Pedro, a 1784 Spanish land grant. Founded as a Methodist colony in 1867 and named for G.D. Compton, a pioneer settler, it developed as a farming village. At 5:54pm on March 10, 1933, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Newport-Inglewood fault zone. Severe property damage occurred at Compton, Long Beach, and other areas, causing serious damage to weak masonry structures on land fill or deep water-soaked alluvium or sand. Property damage was estimated at $40 million, and 115 people were killed. At Compton, almost every building in a three-block radius on unconsolidated material and land fill was destroyed. Damage to school buildings, which were among the structures most commonly and severely damaged by this earthquake, led to the State Legislature passing the Field Act, which regulates building-construction practices in California.
Additional Notes	Real photo postcard.
Source	Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection