Old Salt Lake

Site of the salt lagoon that gave Redondo its earliest commerce

Address Carnelian Street and N Catalina Avenue, Redondo Beach, CA

A small fenced grassy plot just up from King Harbor marks the site of what was, for two centuries, the most economically important feature on this part of the coast. The Old Salt Lake was a shallow tidal lagoon where seawater evaporated naturally, leaving behind sea salt that the Tongva-Gabrieleño collected for trade, and that the early Spanish and Mexican settlers later harvested commercially.

The lake was drained in the 1880s as the railroad arrived and the area was platted into building lots. A small marker explains the history; otherwise there is nothing to see beyond a patch of grass. Worth a five-minute stop only if you are walking or cycling between King Harbor and Hermosa Beach along the Esplanade route. The interpretive sign references the Tongva and early commercial history that is otherwise invisible in modern Redondo.

things to do sight historic
A story
The Old Salt Lake — also known as Lake Salinas — supplied salt to indigenous tribes for centuries and then to the early Mexican ranchos around Los Angeles in the early 19th century. Salt from this lagoon was so valuable as a trade good that wars were fought between native groups for control of it. The lake itself was drained in the late 1800s as the area was developed; the site is now a small interpretive park beside what is otherwise a residential intersection.

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