California land taken from Black couple returned to heirs

By JOHN ANTCZAK
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has returned ownership of prime California beachfront property to descendants of a Black couple who built a resort for African Americans but were stripped of the land in the 1920s. The board unanimously approved a motion to complete the transfer of parcels in an area once known as Bruce’s Beach in the city of Manhattan Beach that are now the site of the county’s lifeguard training headquarters and its parking lot. The land was purchased in 1912 by Willa and Charles Bruce, who ran a resort for Black people until the city took the land through eminent domain. The county eventually ended up with the property.