Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is part of a seventeen-city subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area commonly known as the South Bay. As of the 2020 US census, Hawthorne had a population of 88,083. Rancho Sausal Redondo covered the area that now includes Playa Del Rey, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Lawndale, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Hawthorne, and Redondo Beach.
Hawthorne was founded in 1905 as the "Hawthorne Improvement Company" by real estate developers B.L. Harding and H.D. Lombard. Harding's daughter shared her birthday—July 4, American Independence Day—with New England author Nathaniel Hawthorne, and a decision was made to name the small village after him.
Hawthorne was once a "whites only" settlement, commonly called a sundown town. During the 1930s, signs warned African-Americans to be out of Hawthorne by sundown.
Geography
To the north of Hawthorne is the unincorporated community of Lennox and the city of Inglewood. To the east is the unincorporated community of Athens and the city of Gardena. To the south is the unincorporated community of El Camino Village, and the cities of Lawndale and Redondo Beach. Manhattan Beach is at the southwest corner of Hawthorne. To the west is the city of El Segundo, and the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westchester is to the northwest of Hawthorne. Hawthorne surrounds the unincorporated community of Del Aire on three sides. It also shares a small border on the northeast along Imperial Highway with the unincorporated community of Westmont.
The Century Freeway (Glenn Anderson Freeway, I-105) runs along the northern boundary of Hawthorne, with the C Line light rail line running down the center of the Century Freeway. The San Diego Freeway (I-405) runs along the western boundary of Hawthorne. Major east–west streets in Hawthorne include Rosecrans Avenue, El Segundo Boulevard, and Imperial Highway. Major north–south streets include Aviation Boulevard, Inglewood Avenue, Hawthorne Boulevard, Prairie Avenue, Crenshaw Boulevard, and Van Ness Avenue.
Hawthorne is five miles (8 km) from the Los Angeles International Airport.
Hawthorne comprises ZIP codes 90250 and 90251. It is in the 310 area code, except for a small portion of northeastern Hawthorne, which is located in the 323 area code.
Climate
Hawthorne, like the rest of the Los Angeles basin, has a Mediterranean climate:
- On average, the warmest month is August.
- The highest recorded temperature was in 1961.
- On average, the coolest month is January.
- The lowest recorded temperature was in 1963.
- Most rainfall occurs during winter and spring.
Hawthorne has a Mediterranean climate or dry-summer subtropical (Köppen climate classification Csb on the coast, Csa inland), enjoying plenty of sunshine throughout the year, with an average of 263 sunshine days and only 35 days with measurable precipitation annually.
Demographics
Hawthorne first appeared as a city in the 1930 U.S. Census.
!Pop 1990
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!
!% 1980
!% 1990
!% 2000
!% 2010
!
|-
|White alone (NH)
|32,497
|21,891
|10,397
|8,642
|style='background: #ffffe6; |9,147
|57.57%
|30.66%
|13.00%
|10.25%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |10.38%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|7,249
|19,383
|27,208
|22,579
|style='background: #ffffe6; |20,763
|12.84%
|27.15%
|32.35%
|26.79%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |23.57%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|357
|245
|199
|172
|style='background: #ffffe6; |128
|0.63%
|0.34%
|0.24%
|0.20%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
| rowspan="2" |4,347
| rowspan="2" |7,346
|5,567
|5,492
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6,552
| rowspan="2" |7.70%
| rowspan="2" |10.29%
|6.62%
|6.52%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.44%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|685
|919
|style='background: #ffffe6; |683
|0.81%
|1.09%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.78%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|224
|265
|256
|397
|style='background: #ffffe6;|773
|0.40%
|0.37%
|0.30%
|0.47%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.88%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|x
|x
|2,033
|1,520
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,727
|x
|x
|2.42%
|1.80%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.10%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|11,773
|22,219
|37,227
|44,572
|style='background: #ffffe6; |47,310
|20.86%
|31.12%
|44.26%
|52.88%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |53.71%
|-
|Total
|56,447
|71,349
|84,112
|84,293
|style='background: #ffffe6; |88,083
|100.00%
|100.00%
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}