Surfridge, a wealthy Spanish-style neighborhood in Los Angeles that is now a prohibited area

In 1921, construction began on a housing development known as Palisades del Rey in Los Angeles County, California.

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This upper-class neighborhood was located on the Pacific Ocean, next to Playa del Rey. The southern part of the neighborhood was named Surfridge in 1925. In the 1920s and 1930s, this area saw the rise of hundreds of Spanish-style mansions inhabited by film industry celebrities, including the famous filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. The neighborhood had beautiful ocean views, and there was no reason to believe that it would all disappear in a few decades.

In 1928, an airfield, Mines Field, was built near Surfridge. It was a time when air shows had become very popular, and for the residents of that wealthy neighborhood, the airfield was just another luxury, but it soon became a nightmare. In 1930, Mines Field became the Los Angeles Municipal Airport. During World War II, it was a military base, and in 1949, it was renamed Los Angeles International Airport. It became busier and busier, first with noisy propeller planes and then with even louder jet planes. It was unbearable.

Finally, in the 1960s, the city of Los Angeles began expropriating the homes in Surfridge. The homes were eventually demolished, and the neighborhood was surrounded by fences and barbed wire, becoming an airport security zone. Today, Surfridge is a ghost town where only the old streets and no houses are visible. Access is prohibited and can lead to arrest. This Wednesday, Sidetrack Adventures released an interesting video showing what this once high-society neighborhood looks like today:

You can see some screenshots from this video here. A street in the old Surfridge neighborhood, with no houses but a paved street and power lines.

A century ago, this place was filled with mansions, from which you could enjoy these beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean. Now, none of them remain.

The last street in Surfridge that was open until about two decades ago. It was closed to vehicular traffic after the attacks of September 11, 2001, for security reasons.

Vista del Mar Avenue borders the old Surfridge neighborhood and Playa del Rey. Streetlights from the now-defunct development still remain.

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Main image: Sidetrack Adventures