‘FINALLY REBUILDING’

Bruce’s Beach Family to Sell Land Back to Los Angeles County for $20M

The beachfront property was taken from a Black family a century ago and returned to their heirs in 2022.

Land taken from a Black couple through eminent domain in the 1920s and returned to their heirs last year is set to be sold back to Los Angeles County for $20 million, officials said Tuesday. The beachfront property in the city of Manhattan Beach was originally purchased by Willa and Charles Bruce in 1912, who turned it into a resort for African Americans known as Bruce’s Beach. The resort faced opposition from its white neighbors and the land was ultimately seized under eminent domain in 1924. After city officials voted to return the property to the Bruce family last year, their decision to sell was announced on Tuesday. “This fight has always been about what is best for the Bruce family, and they feel what is best for them is selling this property back to the county for nearly $20M and finally rebuilding the generational wealth they were denied for nearly a century,” chair of the county board of supervisors Janice Hahn said in a statement.