Motordrome, California

Motordrome is an archaic placename in Los Angeles County, California.[1] It designates a rail spur that existed in the 1910s[2] on the Redondo Beach via Del Rey Line, named for the Los Angeles Motordrome race track and airfield.[3]

Playa del Rey Motordrome location on USGS Map CA Venice 1934
Motordrome precise location based on Army Corps of Engineers aerial photo from 1950s
Motordrome on an Auto Club map, 1914

Even though the racetrack was destroyed in a fire in 1913, and the rails were removed by 1918,[2] the place name persisted on USGS survey maps until at least the 1930s.[4]

The Barnes Circus train partially derailed at Motordrome in 1914, injuring four.[5]

Motordrome station lay at an elevation of 7 feet (2 m).[1]

The coordinates for Motordrome preserved in the GNIS (33°58′07″N 118°26′21″W) place it near the present-day intersections of Jefferson Boulevard and Culver Boulevard, in what is now the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.

Opening races of Los Angeles Motordrome pictured in Bystander magazine (1910)
Motordrome on 1913 Pacific Electric route map

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Motordrome, California
  2. Crosse, John (2011-03-12). "Southern California Architectural History: Playa del Rey: Speed Capital of the World, The Los(t) Angeles Motordrome, 1910-1913". Southern California Architectural History. Archived from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  3. KINNEY, JEREMY R. “Sports Car Paradise: Racing in Los Angeles.” LA Sports: Play, Games, and Community in the City of Angels, edited by Wayne Wilson and David K. Wiggins, University of Arkansas Press, 2018, pp. 93–108. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/j.ctt1x76cvb.10. Accessed 25 Sep. 2022.
  4. "Venice (Los Angeles County) 1930 1:24,000 (3.2MB)". Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - California Topographic Maps. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  5. "Los Angeles Herald 28 November 1914 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-25.


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