Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States,[10] situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 96,455.[11] It is known as the "Hub City" due to its geographic centrality in Los Angeles County.[10] Neighborhoods in Compton include Sunny Cove, Leland, Downtown Compton, and Richland Farms. The city is generally a working class city with some middle-class neighborhoods, and is home to a relatively young community, at an average 25 years of age, compared to the American median age of 35. Since the 1980s, the city of Compton has become well known in American popular culture due to hip hop groups and rappers originating from the community, including gangsta rap group N.W.A. and rapper Kendrick Lamar. The city of Compton as well as southern Los Angeles County in general is known for its black and Hispanic gangs, including the Bloods, the Crips and Sureños, which all originated in the Los Angeles area. Some episodes of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air took place in Compton because Will Smith's friend, Jazz, lived there.[18] Many rap artists' careers started in Compton, including YG, N.W.A. (Eazy-E, MC Ren, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube), DJ Quik, Nishant, Jeeves, The Game, Kendrick Lamar, and Compton's Most Wanted. In their lyrics, they rap about the streets and their lives in Compton and the areas nearby. Many well-known NBA players attended high school in the city as well. Arron Afflalo attended Centennial High School; DeMar DeRozan attended Compton High School; and Tayshaun Prince, Tyson Chandler, Brandon Jennings, Cedric Ceballos and the late Dennis Johnson attended Dominguez High. Actor/comedian Paul Rodriguez Sr. also attended Dominguez High.[19] Although Compton was formerly thought of as a primarily black community, this has greatly changed over the years and now Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the city. A possible reason for this misconception is, despite the shift in population, many African American professional athletes and rappers are originally from Compton. Also, African Americans continue to dominate local politics, holding most elected positions in the city. Although an inner suburb of Los Angeles, Compton has seen an increase of middle-class residents in the last few years, due to its affordable housing despite the portrayals of Compton in the media, which are typically exaggerated. With the influx of immigrants and the demographic shift in ethnic population, it was after the 2000 U.S. Census Latinos were recognized as the majority.[20] Compton has a growing Pacific Islander, Filipino, and Vietnamese In 1784, the Spanish Crown deeded a tract of over 75,000 acres (300 km2) to Juan Jose Dominguez in this area. The tract was named Rancho San Pedro. Dominguez's name was later applied to the Dominguez Hills community south of Compton. The tree that marked the original northern boundary of the rancho still stands at the corner of Poppy and Short streets.[citation needed] The rancho was sub-divided and parcels were sold within the Californios of Alta California until the lands were ceded after the Mexican-American war in 1848. American immigrants acquired most of the rancho lands after 1848.[clarification needed] In 1867, Griffith Dickenson Compton led a group of thirty pioneers to the area. These families had traveled by wagon train south from Stockton, California in search of ways to earn a living other than in the rapid exhaustion of gold fields. Originally named Gibsonville, after one of the tract owners, it was later called Comptonville. However, to avoid confusion with the Comptonville located in Yuba County, the name was shortened to Compton.[10] Compton's earliest settlers were faced with terrible hardships as they farmed the land in bleak weather to get by with just the barest subsistence. The weather continued to be harsh, rainy and cold, and fuel was difficult to find. To gather firewood it was necessary to travel to mountains close to Pasadena. The round trip took almost a week. Many in the Compton party wanted to relocate to a friendlier climate and settle down. But there were only two general stores within traveling distance, one in the pueblo of Los Angeles, the other in Wilmington, so they eventually made the decision to stay put.[10] By 1887, the settlers realized it was time to make improvements to the local government. A series of town meetings were held to discuss incorporation of their little town. Griffith D. Compton

• published: 09 Aug 2015
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