SAN PEDRO
~~>“HARBOR AREA”
S.P = The Port of L.A.
S.P. flies the flag colors of Black & Gold and the SUR 13 Blue flag.
The Black & Gold comes from the High School football team, the Pirates.
Amongst the lids that S.P. has sported are the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Seattle Mariners, and others like the University of Southern California "SC" lid used by the RSP Santa Cruz Street Locos clique.
The hand signs is a double-handed Big “S” and several others depending on the particular varrio or clique.
The main Varrio is Rancho San Pedro, A.k.a. The Ranch!
The name taken from the Rancho San Pedro housing projects built in the early 1940’s located within the borders of . .
(E) Santa Cruz Street,
(N) Mesa Street,
(S) Harbor Blvd. and
(W) 3rd. Street,
. . centered around Rancho Park on Centre Street & 2nd. Street.
The Rancho San Pedro housing projects together with the Verdes Del Oriente apartments are also home to the Dodge City Crips.
The name Dodge is a mis-translated English equivalent for Rancho that was adopted by the Cuzzins who formed their own gang at the projects in the early to mid 1970’s.
The actual turf claimed by Rancho San Pedro incorporates basically all of San Pedro, south of Cabrillo Street all the way down to the Harbor waterfront..
Rancho San Pedro’s cliques are the following (incomplete list)
NITEOWLS
SANTOS
LOCOS
8TH STREET LOCOS
3RD STREET LOCOS
MIDGETS
16TH STREET LOCOS NUTTY BLOCK
14TH STREET LOCOS
SANTA CRUZ STREET LOCOS
12TH STREET TROUBLES
2ND STREET PROJECTS
The RSP hang outs were many and spread out, never in the same place most of the time. Peck Park, Leland Park, Rancho Park, 2nd Street & Centre, Royal Palms, Point Fermin, Averill Park (The Hole), Cabrillo Beach, Summerland/Rena Park, 12th & Palos Verdes, 16th & Centre or Mesa, 3rd & Cabrillo, Oliver & Center, all of them depending on what was happening out in the streets.
Rancho San Pedro semi-gets along with most other SP Varrios like Varrio Leland Park from the neighborhood north of the Harbor Freeway surrounding the park that carries the same name.
Leland Park old borders are more-or-less the following. .
(S) Gaffey Street
(N) Leland Street
(W) Sepulveda Street
(E) Miraflores Avenue
Their initials are;
LP, LxP, LPSP, LPH, and LPB
Their cliques are:Hoods, Boys and Locos
Leland Park is presumably a break-off from RSP. That area was commonly referred to as the Leland Park Neighborhood, hence the name taken by the Leland Park “HOODS” clique.
RSP also has a love-hate relationship with the olden Park Western Loma Varrio that originated on the hillside ravine off of Western Avenue and Park Western Drive. The PWL original residents lived on the San Pedro hillside facing the Harbor northeast of Leland Park over by Channel Street. These residents were later relocated into the new housing development Channel Heights complex built in 1942, with most of the lower-income residents being pushed into the Housing Projects section called “Western Courts.”
The “Western Courts Projects” were located in the ravine area tucked-in just below Western Avenue and could be accessed through Park Western Drive. The name Park Western Loma was taken off the intersection of (if I remember correctly) Park Western Drive & Park Loma Drive streets that met up right in the middle of the neighborhood.
This neighborhood existed all the way up to 1980 when it was torn down and its residents scattered through-out the Harbor Area. Today, Capitol Drive runs right up the inclined hillside area, and new condominiums line the streets, but in olden times, the Chicano/Mexican community was nitty-gritty looking. There were horse ranches, dirt streets, spooky looking streets and homes, plus the old housing projects in the typical L.A. flats fashion. The streets were real dark and there were also plenty of pristine brush and greenery. The view over the L.A. Harbor below was magnificent, and the many steep dirt paths down the hill many times provided the PWL Homies an escape route from the juras. The place at the end of its days looked like a neighborhood straight out of the 40’s, a lil’ TJ you might say - at least, because the west side of the neighborhood west of Park Western Drive around Peck Park, that part of the neighborhood was very nice looking. Nevertheless, their Varrio was real tight-knit and a happy hood. Folks were friendly and everyone knew each other. La Raza from PWL was made up of both Chicanos & Mexicanos. Peck Park, many times heard referred to by the locals as Park Western was where the Homeboys and their familias would gather up on holidays & occasions. Carne asada, BBQ’s, lowriders, futbol, beisbol, quinceañeras, weddings, or simple weekend kickback, that was their park and that’s were other Raza from San Pedro could come up and get along with each other in peace.
Then came urban redevelopment; city government for many years prior had been working on tearing down the hood. They just could not accept this old Mexican enclave to continue to exist right dead smack in the middle of one of the wealthiest white communities in all of L.A. County. Park Western Loma existed tucked-in between Miraleste, Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, and the upper middle-class of San Pedro (up the hill as the locals say). No other Varrio bordered PWL. Their closest neighbors were all down hill in Leland Park and Rancho San Pedro. And so, with force of politics and law, the Barrio residents filled with empty promises -- just like the old Chavez Ravine Barrio in Elysian Park -- was destroyed, so too PWL was razed. Its residents scattered through out the Harbor Area. First the projects were torn down, then soon after all the homes, and in their place were erected rows of condo’s and townhouses; well-planned with lit and paved streets. Nothing remained to remind the passer-by of the Barrio that once was; not even the trees nor the natural greens remained. La Raza was not given any chance to move back into the newly built homes; instead, they had to struggle to find a new home for their families. Many moved to other far away places, some to near-by towns like Carson and Longo; anywhere where their economic situation permitted them. Fortunally there were plenty of Homeboys that were able to keep their clan in San Pedro, and these Homies moved down the hill into the main Chicano/Mexican Barrio which back then (1980), was mainly south of Pacific Avenue and predominantly belonged to Rancho San Pedro. There existed in these grounds plenty of other Raza not affiliated with RSP, and with more Raza flowing in on the regular, it made for some interesting times to say the least. Many of these old and newer un-affiliated Raza were constantly met with rejection and hostility by The Ranch, and so too the PWL Homies were faced with instant beef with RSP.
The PWL vatos of them times consisted mainly of the 2 clikas of Malditos & Locos, but within the following year or so, their youngsters created the Chicos clika, the first generation formed outside their original grounds and these Chicos were real Stoners, bien locotes and with a real defiant attitude. Soon thereafter, they began to get it on with the RSP Midgets; then it escalated between the PWL Malditos/Locos and RSP 3RD ST/Locos cliques. Fortunally most of the conflict did not involve fierros, puros putazos y fileros, and that’s because back in them tiempos, an un-written rule of no cuetes between S.P. Raza was observed by most. Even though things would heat up between some, nevertheless there were always others from both sides who worked hard to cool things off; beef would die down somewhat or pleitos with out-of-town varrios would unite S.P. raza against their common enemies like Wilmas or Harbor City.
All the S.P. Varrios and raza Locos never have actually bonded together to fight as one, they all just simply do their own dirt. Some harder than others, some caught up and forced into action, others acting on opportunity, but with many remaining true to the cause.
During those early 1980’s many PWL vatos (not all) began to kick it together with the SPLS (San Pedro Locos) and in particular with some of those who had started up the “Barrio San Pedro” V’BSP’R who were holding up a whole two street section of the RSP projects where Beacon Street and Third Street met, just two blocks south of the DCC Mob & RSP Locos on Second Street & Centre.
BSP consisted of a motley crew of Cholos, Stoners, Bikers & Paisas. All those who either were rejected by The Ranch or by those who refused to join RSP for whatever personal reasons. BSP was kick-started by a combination of people’s, but the main protagonists came from an olden S.P. Car Club called Los “UNITEDS” which was formed in 1973 by several old-school familias of brothers and primos from S.P.. . These older vatos never much cared about gang-banging and shit, and they were mostly about fixing up their ranflas, getting stoned on yesca and partying in the true spirit of San Pipas. Since these older vatos were also “futbolistas y guanteros”, nobody really fucked with them, but the changing times kept creeping up on them and soon, more and more raza was found revolving around them; their carnalitos came of age and then came some vatos who were mas locos whom at the same time did not carry the same weight or respect like the older vatos.
Before you knew it, the newer Raza and these youngsters from the Uniteds started up their own gang in response to pressure from The Ranch. These vatos had a decent attitude towards anyone who was cool people and it did not really matter to which San Pedro crowd they belonged to or what clika they claimed. Many of the San Pedro Locos and Park Western Loma Homeboys soon gravitated towards this motley crew and even more than a few vatos from RSP joined their ranks.
BSP ranks grew by the day with many gente closing ranks with them. The vast majority of non-BSP simply chose to get along with them. The BSP vatos got along well with the LP Boys and no beef ever sparked off between them, and when PWL moved down the hill, these vatos from BSP & PWL were an instant brotherhood. Both these groups had the same problems, and both these groups seemed to carry the same attitude towards “La Vida Loca” and the local street politics, so while the Rancheros and the Crips on Second Street were handling their business, the BSP, PWL & SPLS handled theirs down the street.
Not all PWL vatos were that firme with BSP, but those that were soon started up plaqueando under one roll-call with BSP and they began striking up like one big clika as “BSPWL” 3RD STREET. Their block down the street was always jammin’ and it rivaled that on 2ND ST held by the DCC Mob & RSP.
BSPWL down on 3 RD & Beacon was always happening; the block would be packed all the time and the crowd got so huge that the 2ND Streeters, mainly the Cuzzins eventually came to the conclusion that it was best to co-exist than to be rumbelling with each other. The Cuzzins would score their yesca from the Mexicans and the Mexicans would score their juice from the Cuzzins.
Then the rock begings to make a real impact and the raza Bikers from S.P. kicked-it up a notch with the acido y los Paisas go heavy pushing that black tar and ice. The vatos from Santa Cruz re-introduced La Carga and bam! Now everyone was on a trip, tempers flared up, hot summer nights adding to the numbers out in the streets, short fuses and uneasy minds, the whole damn Harbor Area seemed to explode into warfare all at once. San Pedro, WS Wilmas, ES Wilmas, Carson, TxFlats, Barrio Pobre, KeyStone, Victoria Park, Gardena, everyone was out gunning for someone, still the partying continued every week while bodies kept dropping.
Enter Raza activists like End Barrio Warfare, Barrios Unite and local Veteranos whom start mediating and setting up juntas between the battling camps. They sponsored gatherings at pre-arranged parks and meetings on neutral grounds began to take place. Enemy Varrios meeting up to play beisbol, futbol con refin y birrias began to take place. The Homeboys are encouraged to bring their familias and many do so. The madness amongst some calms down some, but not all vatos attend, nevertheless firme gente is plentyfull while others carry on . . and in San Pedro? History continues on the making.
The DCC Mob & Rancheros semi-alliance breaks down and the whole shit on Second Street takes a turn for the worse. BSPWL reach their fullest, seems like they grew so quickly, adding so many to their confederation that their differences and loyalties between them went unnoticed. No real unification ever occurred and they whole scene breaks down. PWL never really goes on the recruiting, while more of their vatos keep moving out, out of town and out of state.
BSP breaks down, the clikas they had incorporated like the original Santa Cruz Locos (Guayabos) and the 11TH Locos turn towards RSP. The youngsters from Santa Cruz go on to become the RSP Santa Cruz Sreet Locos in the later 1980’s, and the 11TH Street locos merge with RSP 12TH Street; amongst those are some from S.C. ST. . . RSP’s Midgets mostly disappear, and their small short-timers 14 Sreeters clika also disappear. . Leland Park also stops recruiting and somewhat disappears, but being that their hood remains, they continue on, small but still around.. RSP then begins to loosen up on it’s recruiting policy, and more and more raza begins to claim RSP. Before you know it, everyone and their cousin is claiming Rancho.
The years go by and everyone who claimed BSP or PWL get’s torcido, OD’s, commits suicide, gets smoked or turns hypo, the rest calls it quits and fade away in the general scene. Even the big ass RSP 3RD ST clika with it’s dominance over the grounds by the YMCA dies down big time, having suffered many casualties to the same reasons; and their customary out in the open show of numbers and faces jumps in with the low-profile new times. This is where I leave it at . . . more S.P. drama would be nice to learn up on, but maybe it is best to leave the most current news from the hood out; maybe for another time in the future, on account that the entrance by Young Crowd, Calle Oliver, PJS Locos and the rest of the internal problems between some RSP clikas, still somewhat touch on delicate homegrounds issues, besides that “I’m out of the loop”!!! Which is another way of saying "I don't know what the fuck"!!!
This was part of the scene in San Pedro during the later 1970's and early 1980's.
To be continued . . .
The PoolHalls - on Pacific Avenue between 1st Street & Santa Cruz
The Car Wash - at Pacific Avenue & Sepulveda
Peck Park (PWL Park) - off of Western Avenue & Summerland
Leland Park (LPSP)- off of Summerland overlooking Gaffey Street & the 110 Freeway
Cabrillo Beach – off of Pacific Avenue, down 36th street
Royal Palms – down the cliff off of Paseo Del Mar
Point Fermin Park (The Lighthouse) – Gaffey & Paseo Del Mar
Sunken City – down the “cliffside” of Point Fermin Park
Angels Gate (The Lookout) – at the end of Gaffey & overlooking the town and the Pacific Ocean
Daniels Field – home of the PIRATES between 12th & 13th streets on Cabrillo Avenue
Parke De La Ocho / 8th Street Playground (Wino Park) on Mesa and 8 th Street
The Projects (RSP) – (N) Mesa Street, (E) Santa Cruz Street, (S) Harbor Blvd. (W) Third Street
Rancho Park (DCC) - at 2nd Street & Centre Street
Tobberman’s – at Santa Cruz & Grand Avenue
Averill Park (Stoner Park) aka The Hole – at 13th Street & Averill Park Drive
Friendship Park (The Top) – overlooking all of San Pedro & the Harbor off of 9th Street on Friendship Park Drive
Harbor Park – on Beacon Street between 7th Street & 13th Street overlooking Harbor village (Port’s-O-Call Village)
Spiro’s Burgers – on Pacific Avenue and 3rd Street
PWL Projects - (torned down) - off Western Avenue down the cliff off Park Western Drive. (Now fully redeveloped with Capitol Drive running through it)
These were the main gathering places and crusing spots to congregate at, but by no means the "individual clikas hangouts" - Each clika had its own spots, but those mentioned above were the spots that all could come together and party hardy. Pacific Avenue was the crusin' Avenue for all and there were several dance halls to kick it as well, such as the Dancing Waters, The Aquarium and the Army Hall.
VIVA SAN PEDRO!