An important link between Torrance past and present finally gets the recognition it deserves.

If only bridges could talk . . .

Since 1912, when Torrance was founded by Pasadena businessman Jared Sidney Torrance, the city has gone from a sleepy town of oil derricks and family farms to a major commercial and industrial center.

And through it all, standing strong and majestic over Torrance Boulevard near 212th Street, has been the Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge.

When it was built in 1912, the cement and steel structure carried the Pacific Electric Railroad line over a two-lane road way that would later become one of the city’s busiest traffic arteries.

This week city officials announced that the ivy-covered bridge has been named to the National Register of Historic Places. The listing gives the bridge a certain cachet, earns it a plaque and protects it from being demolished if any project threatening it is federally financed.

The Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge was designed by architect Irving Gill, who also designed the Woman’s Club in La Jolla, the Bishop School for Girls and the Museum of Man in Balboa Park. The bridge served the downtown Torrance depot and made it possible for workmen in Torrance factories to travel by rail to and from their homes in Gardena, Redondo Beach and even Los Angeles.

“The workers built the town, laid the streets and the street lights,” said Grace Elgin, the coordinator for the Torrance Historic Society Museum. “It’s definitely a part of the history of Torrance.”

--Hugo Martin

You know the Northrop Corp. It’s the giant defense contractor that gave the world the Stealth bomber, that half-billion dollar flying wing that is supposed to be invisible to enemy radar.

The folks at Northrop are proud of the Stealth and all the other cutting-edge technology they have produced during the last 50 years.

Northrop people see themselves as pioneers.

But until last week, the spot where all the pioneering began was almost as invisible as the Stealth--covered over by a parking lot for the giant Hawthorne Plaza shopping center.

Northrop and the city of Hawthorne corrected that on Thursday with the dedication of a plaque at the spot where the aerospace giant was born.

Hawthorne Mayor Betty Ainsworth led the ceremony under a eucalyptus tree in the parking lot, adjacent to Hawthorne Boulevard. The mayor unveiled a historical marker that reads, in part: “At this site on August 10, 1939, John K. Northrop and six engineering associates set up the first Northrop corporate office at Hotel Hawthorne. From this small beginning the company grew to be a leader in the aerospace industry.”

Ainsworth also had a gift for Northrop President Kent Kresa. “I present you a key to the city,” Ainsworth said, “which is really a key to our hearts.”

More than 100 Northrop executives and city employees applauded heartily.

A few old-timers in the crowd remember firsthand the significance of the spot.

Company founder Jack Northrop had left Douglas Aircraft in 1938 to form his own firm that he said would concentrate on research and development, rather than production.

The fledgling “Northrop Group” took up quarters in the hotel, long since replaced with a parking lot, while awaiting completion of the company’s first plant on a nearby 72-acre property.

At the dedication, there were pictures of the old hotel, a nondescript two-story building on a quiet street. Survivors of those early days remember that the hotel was “a former local ‘house of pleasure’ painted a shameless yellow,” according to a company history.

At Thursday’s ceremony, retired engineer Fran Gibian, 78, recalled the early days.

“The spirit was always great with Jack Northrop around,” Gibian said. “Sometimes he would come to speak to us at lunch and everyone would be there, even the guys who usually went out (to lunch) or just grabbed a candy bar.

“Or he would walk into the shop, just to talk to everyone. He was a very good man.”

Gibian fondly recalled his identification badge number--36.

Northrop now counts 11,000 employees in Hawthorne and 44,600 worldwide.