Community Corner
These Stairs Once Led to a Swanky Spot
Hotel Redondo, located where Veterans Park stands today, cost a pretty penny to build in 1890.
Welcome to the Hotel Redondo. When it opened in May 1890 in time for the summer season, rumor said it had cost $150,000 to build. By July 4, thousands of vacationers arrived via steamships, railway and private coaches to enjoy the hotel and grounds. Folks fished and played on the beach. In August, Hotel Redondo hosted its first tennis tournament.
By the early 1900s, millionaire Henry Huntington added Redondo Beach to his Pacific Electric rail line. Huntington hired surfer George Freeth—"The Man Who Could Walk on Water"—to promote Redondo Beach by giving surfing demonstrations twice daily in front of the hotel.
Until it was demolished in 1925, Hotel Redondo sat where Veterans Park is today. If you've ever walked down the shallow, crumbling stairs a block south of the pier, you've set foot on this piece of history. Those stairs are all that's left.
