Lynwood is one of those cities that tends to get overlooked as you speed by, whether you're riding the C Line or the 105.
But if you have primos here, if you have ever had your abuela drag you through the aisles of El Super on Atlantic Avenue, if you’ve ever ended a long night of chelas by pulling up to a late-night taco stand and grabbing a drink or a chocolate bar from someone who is selling them out of a box or a cooler in the parking lot—then you already know.
A small but mighty city, weighing in at just under 70,000 people, Lynwood is tucked in the heart of Southeast Los Angeles, sitting between Compton, South Gate, and Watts, cities that carry their own weight and pride as well. Yet Lynwood has always had something quietly its own.
It was founded by Francisco Salvador Lugo, a soldier who accompanied the first colonists that founded El Pueblo de Los Angeles in 1781. His seventh son, Antonio Maria Lugo, was a corporal for the Spanish military. After Antonio retired in 1810, he was granted 29,513 acres of land that he named Rancho San Antonio.
Today, that plot of land includes parts of Bell, Bell Gardens, Maywood, Vernon, Huntington Park, Walnut Park, Cudahy, South Gate, Montebello, Commerce, and Lynwood.