Palos Verdes

Palos Verdes is often used to refer to a group of coastal cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the Los Angeles/South Bay area of California.

Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, and Rolling Hills Estates are the larger cities in the area.

History

The peninsula was originally inhabited by Native Americans belonging to the Tongva (sometimes referred to as "Gabrielino") tribe, and first described in 1542 by Portuguese explorer Juan Cabrillo.

Schools

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District has one of the highest rated API scores in California ^[1] , and has one of the highest average SAT scores ^[2] and one of the highest percentage of students successfully completing the advanced placement exams ^[3] in the county.

Trivia

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean films were partly photographed on and off the coast of Palos Verdes Peninsula. A tent city for production was constructed in the Redondo Beach Marina. The Black Pearl and several production vessels were seen on the waters daily as were helicopters filming for overhead shots.

The name "Palos Verdes" is Spanish for green sticks.

Notable residents

• George Takei - actor, famous as Hikaru Sulu from Star Trek
• Chuck Norris - Walker, Texas Ranger, owns several properties in the region
• Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee - who sold U.S. secrets to the Soviets and were portrayed in the book and movie The Falcon and the Snowman
• Body Glove - co-founder Bob Meistrell, who invented the first "practical" wet suit^[4]
• John Tu Billionaire^[5]
• Pete Caroll - USC Head Football Coach
• Gary Wright - Musician
• Angelyne - Billboard model
• Michael Dudikoff - Actor
• Scott Shaw - Author, actor and filmmaker
• Sasha Vujacic and Elden Campbell - Former pro basketball players
• Deepak Chopra - Writer

References

1. "Palos Verdes Local Educational Agency Report". California Department of Education. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28.
2. "School Wise Press School Snapshot: Palos Verdes Peninsula High School". School Wise Press. Archived from the original on 2006-10-24.
3. "SAT, ACT and AP Test Results in California". California Department of Education. Archived from the original on 2008-08-03.
4. "CBS2". Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
5. "Article". Archived from the original on 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2008-07-26.

Other websites

• History of Palos Verdes Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
• Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce Archived 2008-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
• Welcome to Palos Verdes California Archived 2008-08-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Marymount College Archived 2005-06-06 at the Wayback Machine
• Palos Verdes Library District