William Garnett, Plaster and Roofing, Lakewood, California, 1950. © Estate of William A. Garnett.
Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
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I grew up in Lakewood, that famous instant suburb where, at the peak of its development, cement trucks were lined up for a mile, a new house was completed every eight minutes, and 17,500 houses were built in less than three years1.
Where 30,000 people showed up to tour the model homes on the first day of sales and where, at one point, the developer sold 107 houses in a single hour2.
Where homebuyers did not choose which street they lived on. After signing their sales contract, buyers in New Lakewood “accepted the house they were assigned3.”
Everybody has a hometown, and everybody’s hometown has a history. Mine epitomizes the development of Southern California in the twentieth century.