LAX: Getting Around : Back to the Future: A Brief History of LAX

During the first part of the 19th Century the land now occupied by LAX was part of a large Mexican land grant that stretched along the coast from what is now Playa del Rey to Redondo Beach and extended inland to Inglewood.

For many years the area was used as farmland but by the 1920s, a small section of the property--near modern-day Aviation Boulevard and Imperial Highway--started being used by pioneer aviators as a makeshift landing strip.

In 1927, a group of local citizens, including Inglewood municipal judge Frank D. Parent and real estate promoter Harry Culver began to push for the establishment of a major airport in the area. And so in July, 1927, real estate agent William W. Mines arranged for the leasing of 640 acres in the area for an airport. The site became known as Mines Field.

Initially, there were two 100- by 100-foot hangers and a 2,000-foot oiled strip runway. But by 1946, there were a few terminal buildings (gone today) and several hangars near Century and Aviation boulevards.

It wasn’t until 1946 that commercial airline traffic--including the five major airlines serving Los Angeles: Western, United, American, Pan American and TWA--began moving from Burbank Airport, the dominant facility, to Los Angeles Airport.

In 1957, ground was broken to the west for new terminals--the basis of the airport as it is today. In June, 1961, the new airport facility was dedicated by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.