On the west side of Hawthorne Boulevard between the railroad and Broadway was the Combs Bakery. Next to it was Nelson's Dry Goods, which later moved to Broadway Circle, which was then called the Plaza.

Original maps of Hawthorne Land Company show the Plaza with its large planting of oleanders, trees, and other shrubs, to be the circle at the intersection of Broadway and Acacia. When the Plaza Theatre was built just one block south this section gradually became known as Plaza Square and the original Plaza is now known as Broadway Circle. A post office was established at Hawthorne Boulevard and Raymond (120th St).

Hawthorne's first theatre, the Rex, was built on the north side of Broadway, midway between Hawthorne Boulevard and the Plaza (See left photo) The dry goods store had a room on the second floor and the first civic meetings were held in this room.

The Ballona School, a wooden frame building, was built on Ballona Street (El Segundo Boulevard) with the entrance on Washington Street. Many years later a brick building was added facing Ballona but an earthquake damaged the building to such an extent that it was declared unsafe and was torn down and replaced by a building now known as the Washington School.
During reconstruction, many long-time residents remember that the students studied in tents until the new building was finished.

A private water company built two water towers at the northeast corner of El Segundo and Hawthorne Boulevards. The source of supply was artesian wells.

The first and only blacksmith shop, owned by the Vellarde family and located at Kenwood (119th St) and Birch. (right photo) The Slough which is now underground and crosses Prairie at 132nd St. is visible in the foreground with the wooden sidewalks used in that era. Some of our elder citizens still remember fishing in the slough.

The first electric service came to Hawthorne in 1910. A copy of the original agreement between Hawthorne citizens and the electric company is still available. There were fewer than 200 citizens using the electric service, but in the years from 1912 to 1922, the date of incorporation, poles and lines were extended by the company. At the time of incorporation, over 500 residents recall that even those homes having electricity, in many instances, continued to use their coal oil lamps to keep electricity bills to a minimum.