CNN US | Multimillion-dollar beach property taken from Black owners in Jim Crow era is cleared to be returned

(CNN) – A stretch of prime Southern California beachfront real estate can now be returned to the descendants of its rightful Black owners, nearly a century after the parcel was taken by the city of Manhattan Beach.

Known as Bruce’s Beach, the resort had offered Black families a place to enjoy the California life and was a labor of love for owners Charles and Willa Bruce. But harassment from White neighbors and the Ku Klux Klan tore away at their dreams. The final blow came in 1924 when the city took the property through eminent domain and paid the couple a fraction of what they asked for. The city wanted the land for a park.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that will enable the county to return the beachfront property to their descendants. The two lots are worth approximately $75 million in total, officials confirmed to CNN earlier this year. The houses directly next to the property have hefty price tags of around $7 million each.  —read more—