California Heights

The California Heights neighborhood of Long Beach is home to the city’s largest historic district. It is home to tree-lined streets lined with homes dating from the 1920s and 1930s. This neighborhood is a must-see for those who love Spanish and Colonial Spanish Revival style homes as there are some great examples. There are also California Bungalows, English Tudor and other architectural styles represented here. The California Heights neighborhood has been featured as one of Sunset Magazine’s “Best of the West” neighborhoods and has an active neighborhood association. For more information, please see the official neighborhood association website at calheights.org.Until the early 1920s, California Heights was part of the Bixby Ranch (now Los Cerritos Rancho) and was used primarily as grazing land. It was the discovery of oil on Signal Hill and the ensuing land boom in 1921 that caused the Jotham Bixby Company to subdivide and sell off lots in the California Heights tract. The period homes of California Heights are fine examples of craftsmanship from the late 1920′s and early 30′s, and will include California Bungalow, English. Schools in this area include Longfellow Elementary School and Hughes Middle School. (For high school, Long Beach Polytechnic High School is the area school.