Before El Segundo became a full-fledged city in 1917, it was part of "Rancho Sausal Redondo" (Ranch of the Round Clump of Willows), according to the city's Web site.
The nearly 25,000-acre rancho extended as far west of what is now Playa del Rey, as far east as Inglewood, and as far south as Redondo Beach. The land was planted in wheat and barley for cattle and sheep grazing.
In May 1911, Richard Hanna and four other men representing Standard Oil Co. visited an area near the seashore to analyze its potential as the company's next oil refinery. Hanna's wife, Virginia, dubbed this expanse "El Segundo", (Spanish for "the second one,") because the site was to be Standard Oil's second oil refinery in California (The Point Richmond refinery was already christened as "El Primero").
Standard Oil bought 840 acres of the land on June 11, and the refinery opened for business on November 27.
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