The Palos Verdes Community Archives is now just over a year old. In 2024, the Local History Center replaced its former platform with one that allows both discovery and contributions of photos and recollections. A “recollection” is a memory or even the names of people in a photo that is added to the item in the Community Archives. The community’s photographs, records, and recollections add to the richness of the Community Archives and serve to preserve the unique history of the community.
Monique Sugimoto, Archivist & Adult Services Librarian for the Palos Verdes Library District (PVLD), manages the Community Archives. In the last year, she notes that over 1,000 items have been added. These include photographs, exhibits, documents, publications, collection guides, letters, organizational histories and even “stories.” Stories pull
together information from various sources – not just the Community Archives – to create an information hub like a Wikipedia page. The Lighthouses story tells the story of the Peninsula’s three lighthouses and includes material from the Community Archives, the LA Maritime Museum, drawings from the National Archives, Point Fermin and the National Park Service, and even a video for K-5 students with a teacher’s guide.
Community contributions have ranged from a music playlist created by a former employee of the Rolling Hills Skating Center (now Calvary Chapel Palos Verdes) on Silver Spur, to the names of people at an event held at PV High School in 1964. One person even tagged her father in a group portrait of former Dicalite mine employees.
The Community Archives is free, and you do not need a library card. If you want to contribute to the website, you need to register as a “member” with your name and email. Membership is free. The site is completely managed by PVLD and user information is not shared. Information submitted is reviewed and moderated before posting to the Community Archives.
The Local History Center invites you to view the Community Archives, palosverdeshistory.org, or visit the Center at the Peninsula Center Library. A “community archives” is only truly a community archive if the community contributes whether it is an object or their own memories!
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Have an old photo in a drawer? A memory tied to a local landmark? A name you recognize in a vintage snapshot? Add your piece of history to: palosverdeshistory.org
Every contribution helps tell the story of this remarkable place.
