Twelve years elapsed before Freeman used his option to buy the Sausal Redondo and secured a deed. On May 4, 1885 Sir Robert Burnett and Lady Burnett executed the final instrument that transferred title to Freeman. The recorded documents show the sale price of $140,000. (About 1882 he had purchased a small portion of the land for $22,242.)

No accurate records are available as to why Freeman waited so long to exercise his option but when he finally decided to make the purchase, his decision was undoubtedly resolved by the fact that a railroad route was being surveyed which would run right through the ranch to Redondo Beach. The city of Los Angeles had great need of lumber and other building commodities which were being brought to a wharf at Redondo. Civic-spirited men who had confidence in the future of Southern California believed that a railroad would be of great aid to commerce and industry. An excerpt from the 1940 issue of "The Quarterly Historical Society of Southern California," written by Glen S. Dumke, supplies the following information:

"The earliest interurban line of any importance was the Los Angeles-Redondo Railway. It was originally a narrow-gauge steam line running from Los Angeles to Redondo Beach by way of Sunnyside, Athens, and Gardena, starting from the corner of Jefferson and Grand. It maintained this status from 1889 to 1903 when it was electrified. Later, Henry Huntington bought a controlling interest after which the company used the tracks of the Los Angeles Railway to its terminal at Second and Spring Streets. Two additions to this railway became important parts of the large interurban systems, one was known as the Inglewood Extension; this ran from the terminal to join the Pacific Electric at Belvedere, passing through Inglewood, Hawthorne, and Lawndale. It was laid in 1902."

In 1887 several groups of investors from Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Monrovia encouraged by the narrow-gauge railroad which was then being built, organized several corporations and companies and purchased large amounts of acreage from Freeman for the purpose of laying out towns and cities, installing water and gas works, mains and reservoirs. The charters of many of these companies have been preserved for the record. One of them was the Hawthorne Land Company. This marked the beginning of the end of Sausal Redondo as a ranch.

The Founding Of Hawthorne

Hawthorne was founded by B.L. Harding and H.D. Lombard, who began the development of the city in 1905 by purchasing acreage from the land company and creating the Hawthorne Improvement Company. The name "Hawthorne" was chosen by the daughter of Harding, Mrs. Laurine Woolwine, who shared her birthday with author Nathaniel Hawthorne. The company planned an 80-acrea townsite; the first plot was recorded January 3, 1906, and the first land sale was made in July of that year. There were only three company dwellings at that time. The first settlers who began building in November of 1906 were Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Anderson. Their son Glenn is the present Congressman from the California 17th District, and a former Lt. Governor of California. The Hawthorne Improvement Company advertised Hawthorne as the town "between the City and the Sea", built and sold homes on small down and long time payments. Special appeals were made to those who wished to raise poultry and grow vegetables.