Downey is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, 13 mi (21 km) southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program and Taco Bell. It is also the home of the oldest operating McDonald's restaurant in the world. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 114,355.
History
18th century to World War II
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel was initially founded on September 8, 1771, near settlements of the Tongva people. It was located in the Whittier Narrows on a bluff overlooking the Rio Hondo, near the modern intersection of San Gabriel Blvd and Lincoln Avenue. After five years, flooding forced the relocation of the mission to its present site in San Gabriel.
In 1784, Governor Pedro Fages granted to former soldier Manuel Nieto (1734–1804) the largest of the land concessions made in what was then Alta California, a province of New Spain. Its 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) stretched from the Santa Ana River on the east to the Old San Gabriel River (now the Rio Hondo and Los Angeles River) on the west, and from the mission highway (approximately Whittier Boulevard) on the north to the ocean on the south. Its acreage was slightly reduced later at the insistence of Mission San Gabriel on whose lands it infringed. The Spanish concessions, of which 25 were made in California, were unlike the later Mexican land grants in that title was not transferred but were similar to grazing permits with the title remaining with the Spanish crown.
The Rancho Los Nietos passed to Manuel Nieto's four children upon his death and remained intact until 1833 when his heirs petitioned Mexican Governor José Figueroa to partition the property. The northwestern portion of the original rancho, comprising the Downey-Norwalk area, was granted as Rancho Santa Gertrudes to Josefa Cota, the widow of Manuel Nieto's son, Antonio Nieto. At approximately 21,000 acres (8,500 hectares), Santa Gertrudes was itself a sizable rancho and contained the old Nietos homestead, which was a center of social life east of the pueblo of Los Angeles.
Dairy was a major industry in Downey. The Central Milk Agency marketed the milk for "seven hundred dairymen whose dairy herds range from thirty to two thousand head" with the value of the products marketed in excess of $1,000,000 per month.
Some of Downey's settlers came from Ireland. Downey was founded by and named for the former and youngest ever governor of California, John Gately Downey, who was born in Ireland. Although he was an Irish Democrat, he supported the Republican Lincoln in his efforts to keep the Union intact during the American Civil War. He pioneered the modern subdivision with land he acquired between the Rio Hondo and the San Gabriel River, in about 1865. Downey was convinced that oranges would flourish in Southern California, importing several varieties, which would result in oranges becoming one of the state's biggest cash crops.
Gallatin
Two small settlements were established along the Rio Hondo River - College Settlement and Gallatin, near where the modern Paramount Boulevard and Florence Avenue cross. In the late 1860s, the Gallatin residents built a small school known as the "Little Red Gallatin School House". By 1871, it was not large enough and a two-story school was built. Gallatin School moved in 1893 to its present site. Later, Alameda School and Downey School were built. By 1883, College Settlement, Gallatin and Downey joined and with the help of Governor Downey convinced the Southern Pacific Railroad to route through and stop in Downey. The new center of activity migrated to the depot area and this became the center of a new larger Downey, uniting the three previous settlements.
After World War II
Farmers in the area grew grain, corn, castor beans, and fruit, and by 1935 Downey was characterized as an "orange-grove town".
Downey was incorporated in 1956 and instituted a charter form of government in 1964. Suburban homes and factories replaced the farms after World War II.
Aerospace
Vultee Aircraft was Downey's largest employer during World War II producing 15% of all of America's military aircraft by 1941. The company was a pioneer in the use of women in manufacturing positions and was the first aircraft company to build airplanes on a powered assembly line. After World War 2, the plant was mostly idle from 1945 until 1948, when North American Aviation (later North American Rockwell, then Rockwell International which was then bought by the Boeing company) occupied the facility. In 1961, the facilities were transferred from the US Air Force ownership to NASA and became the birthplace of the systems for the Apollo Space Program as well as the Space Shuttle. For over 70 years, Downey's Rockwell NASA plant produced and tested many of the 20th century's greatest aviation, missile, and space endeavors.
The seventy-year history of airplane and space vehicle manufacturing in Downey came to an end when the Rockwell plant closed in 1999. The plant was demolished and replaced by the Columbia Memorial Space Center, Downey Landing shopping center, Promenade at Downey shopping center (the former movie studio site of Downey Studios), a Kaiser Permanente hospital, and a city recreation fields park.
Other landmarks
Near the center of the city lies what was in the 1960s one of the busiest intersections in California, the intersection of Lakewood Boulevard (State Route 19) and Firestone Boulevard (former State Route 42). Route 19 was a major thoroughfare between Pasadena and the port at Long Beach and Route 42 was along part of the old Spanish El Camino Real trail that connected the Pueblo de Los Angeles to San Diego.
In the 1960s, the town's Downey Records achieved some notoriety with recordings such as The Chantays' surfing instrumental "Pipeline"; nearly two decades later, Downey's local music scene led to the founding of The Blasters and Dark Angel.
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, the main public rehabilitation hospital for Los Angeles County, is located in Downey. Rancho Los Amigos is renowned worldwide for its innovative contributions to the care of spinal cord injuries and post-polio syndrome.
Downey was featured in the 2008 American action-comedy film Pineapple Express. Many of the buildings along Florence Avenue are seen in a driving sequence early in the film.
Downey is home to the world's oldest existing McDonald's Restaurant, the so-called Speedee McDonald's Store, which opened in 1953 at the southwest corner of Florence Avenue and Lakewood Boulevard. Damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the store reopened in 1996 along with a museum and gift shop.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau the city has a total area of 12.6 square miles (33 km2). 12.4 square miles (32 km2) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) of it is water.
The cities of South Gate and Bell Gardens are adjacent to the west and northwest, Pico Rivera lies to the northeast, Santa Fe Springs and Norwalk to the east, and Paramount and Bellflower are to the south.
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Downey has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated BSk on climate maps.
Demographics
Downey first appeared as a city in the 1960 U.S. census as part of the Downey-Norwalk census county division (pop. 272,729 in 1960).
2020
The 2020 United States census reported that Downey had a population of 114,355. The population density was 9,215.5 inhabitants per square mile (3,558.1/km2). The racial makeup of Downey was 23.4% White, 3.7% African American, 2.1% Native American, 6.7% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 40.0% from other races, and 23.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 75.1% of the population.
The census reported that 99.0% of the population lived in households, 0.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.5% were institutionalized.
There were 35,017 households, out of which 40.1% included children under the age of 18, 48.4% were married-couple households, 7.9% were cohabiting couple households, 27.2% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.4% had a male householder with no partner present. 16.7% of households were one person, and 6.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.23. There were 27,251 families (77.8% of all households).
The age distribution was 22.2% under the age of 18, 10.2% aged 18 to 24, 28.9% aged 25 to 44, 25.4% aged 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males.
There were 36,087 housing units at an average density of 2,908.1 units per square mile (1,122.8 units/km2), of which 35,017 (97.0%) were occupied. Of these, 50.0% were owner-occupied, and 50.0% were occupied by renters.
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $87,400, and the per capita income was $37,122. About 7.0% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010
The 2010 United States census reported that Downey had a population of 111,772. The population density was 8,893.3 inhabitants per square mile (3,433.7/km2). The racial makeup of Downey was 63,255 (56.6%) White, 19,784 (17.7%) Non-Hispanic White, 7,804 (7.0%) Asian (2.2% Korean, 2.2% Filipino, 0.6% Indian, 0.5% Chinese, 0.3% Vietnamese, 0.3% Japanese, 0.2% Thai, 0.1% Cambodian, 0.1% Pakistani), 4,329 (3.9%) African American, 820 (0.7%) Native American, 221 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 30,797 (27.6%) from other races, and 4,546 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 78,996 persons (70.7%); 54.0% of Downey residents are of Mexican ancestry, 3.9% Salvadoran, 2.0% Cuban, 2.0% Guatemalan, 1.1% Peruvian, and 1.0% Nicaraguan ancestry.
The Census reported that 111,089 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 122 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 561 (0.5%) were institutionalized.
There were 33,936 households, out of which 15,697 (46.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 17,405 (51.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6,289 (18.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,796 (8.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,357 (6.9%) POSSLQ, and 225 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 5,721 households (16.9%) were made up of individuals, and 2,211 (6.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.27. There were 26,490 families (78.1% of all households); the average family size was 3.68.
The population was spread out, with 29,972 people (26.8%) under the age of 18, 12,108 people (10.8%) aged 18 to 24, 33,056 people (29.6%) aged 25 to 44, 25,057 people (22.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 11,579 people (10.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.
There were 35,601 housing units at an average density of 2,832.7 units per square mile (1,093.7 units/km2), of which 17,135 (50.5%) were owner-occupied, and 16,801 (49.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.9%. 59,555 people (53.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 51,534 people (46.1%) lived in rental housing units. Approximately 30–40 homeless reside in the area.
According to the 2010 United States census, Downey had a median household income of $60,939, with 11.8% of the population living below the federal poverty line.
Mapping L.A.
According to Mapping L.A., Mexican and German were the most common ancestries in Downey in 2000. Mexico and Korea were the most common foreign places of birth.
Mexican Americans and Latinos
By 2020 Downey, which was previously heavily Anglo (non-Latino) White, became known as the "Mexican Beverly Hills" due to housing wealthy people of Mexican origin. The Hispanic population increased after the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Erick Galindo in The New York Times described Downey as "an aspirational suburb for Latinos in Los Angeles." In 2020 Blanca Pacheco became the mayor; she was the first woman of Latin American origins to hold that position.