by Mark McDermott. Willa and her husband, Charles, expanded their two blocks by purchasing three additional lots – setting the foundation for the first Black beach resort in Southern California. Yes, sis. Bruce family, an old Scottish family of Norman French descent, to which two kings of Scotland belonged. They were the rare wealthy Black couple in the largely white town and set up a dance hall and cafe that attracted Black patrons. For years, Bruce… Bruce’s Beach was a safe haven in a world of segregation. The couple created a beach space along the coast for black families to congregate at on the weekend. As a result, many began calling the area Bruce’s Beach. Other Black families began buying property nearby too. They established a resort and named it for Mrs. Bruce. An often visibly moved Manhattan Beach City Council took in a full, unvarnished history of Bruce’s Beach Tuesday night, the story of how Willa and Charles Bruce built a seaside dream and real life respite for fellow African Americans in the second and third decades of the last century and then had everything taken from them because of the color of their skin. With the development of the … Willa and Charles Bruce, the entrepreneurs who created Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach in 1912, are perhaps the most interesting and tragic. Willa, who was sometimes known as … A few years later, Willa and Charles Bruce bought a section of the town and named it Bruce's beach. Willa and Charles Bruce bought a property from Henry Willard in 1912 for $1,225. We did that. They added on three lots and established the Bruce's Beach resort. Willa and Charles Bruce—the namesake of Bruce’s Beach, purchased two lots of land near the Strand between 26th and 27th street. Willa and Charles Bruce bought a property in the strand area for $1,225 that was set aside from Henry Willard in 1912, and added on three lots. Willa and Charles Bruce bought beachfront property in Manhattan Beach and started a small business in 1912. Photo from the Shades of LA Collection at Los Angeles Public Library. The beach was forcibly closed in 1927 and the Bruce family became a casualty of the racism that plagued African Americans at the time. In 1912, Charles and Willa Bruce bought land, between 26th and 27th streets, that they would soon turn into a resort for Black people. Ancestors of Prince William of England. Woman at Bruce's Beach in Manhattan Beach, 1926. Learn more about the Bruce family in this article. The name is traditionally derived from Bruis or Brix, the site of a former Norman castle between Cherbourg and Valognes in France. Bruce’s Beach, Manhattan Beach. 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