City History

The original legal title to the land on which Bellflower now stands dates back to 1784 with one of the first Spanish land grants in California. Several Spanish soldiers petitioned Pedro Fages, the Governor of California and a former commander in the Spanish military, for land on which to graze their herds of livestock. The largest of these grants went to soldier Manuel Nieto, who received all the land between the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. In 1832, after the Spanish were ousted in the Mexican Revolution, the new Mexican Governor, Jose Figueroa, divided the land into five smaller ranchos to be distributed among Nietos heirs. Bellflower developed on a piece of land bordered by three of the ranchos: Santa Gertrudes, Los Coyotes, and Los Cerritos. During this time, vast amounts of cattle sustained the economy and beef was cheaper than salt.

For the next few decades, the land ownership changed possession several times. In the 1840s, the Golden Age of the Ranchos in California came to an end. A series of natural disasters ended the cattle boom and the rancho way of life. Residents in the nearby towns of Downey, Norwalk, Hynes-Clearwater (Paramount) and Artesia, used the Bellflower area as a favorite hunting and fishing spot, thanks to an abundance of wild game, ducks and geese, and carp and perch.

In 1869, the area known as Somerset Ranch, roughly from Alondra Boulevard to Artesia Boulevard, and from Lakewood Boulevard to Cornuta Avenue, was comprised of 4,000 acres of what would later become Bellflower. A few scattered parcels had been sold and the open fields were used for grazing dairy cows.

Open fields were great for cattle, settlers soon found that the land could all be washed away. The entire area was subject to annual flooding when the tramp river (San Gabriel) would swell from winter rains or spring thaws and travel down the middle of what is now Bellflower Boulevard. A dense growth of willow, bamboo, and underbrush, wild grape, blackberry, and rose bushes earned the vicinity along the river the name of The Willows and The Wilderness.Early residents recall sometimes rowing from island to island in Bellflower during the rainy season.

In spite of the rivers unpredictability, a settlement of isolated farms, called the New River Colony, began to develop along both sides of the river. In 1882, the Downey Courier reports a large population living there. Whereas the river may have been a deterrent to settlement, it came to be one of the areas best assets. Those who were willing to paddle their way out from time to time were repaid by the richness of the soil built over the years by the rivers trespasses. Long before the Bellflower area was settled, it had become known for its open space and good yield of garden crops.

River feuds developed when crews from one side built dams to protect their own fields, which sent water over to the other side. As more settlers moved in, more efforts were made to control the river. In 1906, the New San Gabriel Improvement Association was incorporated for river management. When a bridge was flooded in 1914 and again in 1916, Bellflower residents built pontoon bridges at Rosecrans as a temporary measure. A device was built to haul Bellflower students across the river on a cable to school at Excelsior High School. Finally, in 1917 the County Flood Control District was formed. Under its authority, levees were built which kept the river from flooding.

After its incorporation in 1902, the Pacific Electric Railway organized by Henry Huntington began spreading out from Los Angels in all directions. In a short time its Big Red Cars had become visible symbols of the most elaborate and efficient interurban transportation system in the world. A decision to run a line from Los Angeles to Santa Ana was made early. There was some delay, however, in actually starting construction.

Pacific Electric would not proceed without clear title to the right-of-way. This demand raised a disagreement among the areas settlers, some contending that it was too great an expense for so few as they would have to buy the right of way, while others held that it must be secured at any cost, for a town would be sure to follow.The controversy was settled by Jotham Bixby who, in 1904, deeded the right of way to the Pacific Electric Company through the Somerset Ranch. The line with stops scheduled for the Somerset Ranch was officially opened on November 6, 1905. Overnight, the residents of the area were connected with Los Angeles and its jobs and markets. Pacific Electric, together with the expansion of sugar beet farming, made property in the vicinity more valuable and attracted the interest of investors. Due to the new transportation, the appeal of Somerset and Bellflower Acres was that people could work in the city and farm on the side, or eventually turn to farming exclusively. One of the first to see this potential was a Los Angeles real estate man named Emil Firth. In 1904, Firth undertook to subdivide and sell a parcel of land, which he named Somerset Acres.Firth laid out streets and divided the tract into one acre farm lots, selling for $350 to $400, which he promoted aggressively, extolling the abundance of water, the fertility of the soil, and the proximity of Los Angeles 40 minutes away on the Pacific Electric line.

In 1906, another Los Angeles Real Estate man, Frank E. Woodruff, came across the Somerset Ranch and formed a syndicate to purchase outright over 1,000 acres of Somerset Ranch to operate as a farm. When the property did not return the profit they expected, the syndicate also decided to subdivide the ranch into one-acre farms. Woodruff maintained his interest in Bellflower until he died in 1939.

Woodruff also sold town-size lots 25 feet wide by 131 feet deep, on the north side of Flower Street west of Somerset Avenue (Bellflower Boulevard). Each parcel sold for $70. For the first time, people other than farmers were invited to settle in Somerset.

In 1909, a petition was granted to form the Somerset School District. A one-room schoolhouse was quickly built on the riverbank. Thirteen children of all grades attended the ?Firth School? that first year. A proposal to build a bigger and better school on higher ground touched off a heated controversy between the early settlers along with river and the newcomers in the subdivisions, both of whom wanted the coveted schoolhouse in their own area. The High Grounders, who were the newcomers, won at the town meeting, and in 1910 a four-room modern school building was built north of the railroad tracks on Somerset Avenue (Bellflower Boulevard).

The school was the main draw for families to settle in Bellflower. Before its construction, children had to go to neighboring towns for schooling, a serious drawback to the area. The school was Bellflower?s first public building and embodied the latest ideas in school construction. It cost over $9,000, a substantial sum in those days, and an indication of the priorities of the 100-person community. It was a town showplace. But as adequate as Somerset School seemed in 1910, a population increase necessitated the construction of a large addition in 1914. The Somerset School, later renamed the Bellflower School, and then the Washington School, was alma mater to hundreds of Bellflower children before being demolished in 1951. The school board was the only legally constituted elected body in Bellflower until 1957.

Though the community bore the name Firth for short time, in 1909, residents of the area petitioned for a post office under the name of Somerset. The Postal authorities granted the post office but rejected the name. There already was a Somerset, Colorado, and they wished to prevent confusion. The need to come up with an alternative name led to controversy, this time between residents of the rival subdivisions. There are several accounts as to how this conflict was resolved. One version is that the issue was decided at a town meeting, another implies that the name Bellflower was unknowingly forwarded to Washington by some leading citizens without the approval of the townspeople, and a third has it that several names were put into a hat and Bellflower was the name drawn. The most common explanation links the name with the orchard of Bellefleur apples grown by pioneer settler William Gregory in the north part of town (meaning literally beautiful flower in French rather than bell flower).

Not many goods were kept at the communitys first general store, instead, orders were phoned in to the Hynes store in Artesia to be delivered. A familiar local spectacle was the deliveryman driving his horse and buggy down the Pacific Electric tracks to the loading platform. The store became a center for the community. Otto Warnke, the stores manager, served also as postmaster and ticket agent for the Pacific Electric for a number of years. The store had benches and counters where people could sit and talk. Wanke maintained a bulletin board where community notices could be posted.

With a general store, a school, a post office, affordable lots, and ready access to Los Angeles, the population of Bellflower rose rapidly, increasing from an estimated 100 in 1908 to 1200 in 1912, and so did the complement of shops on Somerset Avenue to service the area. Each new opening signified to the townspeople not merely a new commercial venture but a civic event, a sign of the towns progress.

In the first issue of the local Somerset Optimist dated 1912, the newspaper article explains how only two years after it all started, Bellflower business shows a surprising growth:

The Pacific Electric has a large brick power house here. We have one of the largest and best schools on the line, two stores, one lumberyard, one real estate office, a restaurant, a barber shop, plumbers shop, a good blacksmith shop and an excellent meat market, and a bakery nearing completion The town and surrounding farms are supplied with excellent free water, piped all over the country from the artesian well, and we are about to get a large new depot, as 500 cars of beets will be shipped from Somerset this season.

Somerset Avenue became the place where Bellflower celebrated its own arrival in 1910 in classic early-American style by staging a Fourth of July parade and picnic, complete with oration and fireworks. The townspeople kept the tradition for years, adding new features to the event as they went along.

There were many communal projects that used volunteer labor. For example, the tennis courts at Washington School were built by a group of young people. House-raisings involving relatives, neighbors or the whole community were common. In typical frontier fashion, the first building to go up was often a barn (later a garage) in which the family might live a few months or a year until there was time or money to build a house.

One communal project produced Bellflowers first landmark. Most of the settlers of Somerset met on the Guernsey Ranch to slaughter and cure a years supply of meat. Near Artesia and Somerset settlers built a structure 30 feet high on which to hoist the meat. They added on top of this a 20-foot flagpole, which became a kind of instant telegraph. It served a dual purpose, to observe national holidays, and to let neighbors for miles around know they were needed for some worthy cause. Worthy causes ranged from calling people for a house-raising to notifying them of some important news or impending event. This pioneer flag was located not far from the present day Kiwanis freeway flag.

Bellflower operated under county government for 45 years. After the spurt of development that took place in the 1910s, the population of Bellflower hit a plateau, achieving only 1500 in the 1920 census. During the twenties, however, new sources of prosperity, together with agricultural expansion, caused the population to more than quadruple, reaching 6,710 by 1930. More population created new businesses, new schools, and new churches. Fraternal service and occupational organizations blossomed all over, vitalizing, sophisticating, and somewhat stratifying the social life of the community.

In 1910, Harry and Mattie Urquhart established Bellflowers first poultry ranch on Rose Avenue, followed the same year by Harry J. Rockwell, who became a noted breeder of Leghorn chickens and a leader in the industry. For the next decade, larger ranches, concentrated in the south party of town, began to appear. By 1926, the Chamber of Commerce was identifying Bellflower as The home of 200,000 laying hens.

A small rabbit industry also developed in Bellflower. Growers started raising rabbits for their fur, then discovered a market for the meat, especially during the depression. Fancy fame birds and chinchillas were raised on a small scale.

Despite troubles across America during the Great Depression in the 1930s, Los Angeles County became the leading dairy county in California. The industry in the southeast area developed a distinctive method. As available land dwindled, dairy farmers increasingly fed their cattle on hay and grain shipped in from elsewhere instead of grazing them extensively. This practice made it possible to run 60 or 70 cows on five or six acres. Together with the use of well-bred cows, this procedure also caused the butterfat content of Los Angeles County milk to soar spectacularly above the national average (400 pounds per cow annually compared with 180 pounds on the national average). It also caused hay and feedlots to spring up: Bellflower had 17 such stores in the mid-1930s.

Most of the dairies established were concentrated in the southern part of Bellflower. Some, especially Dutch dairymen, put together large parcels of land consisting of several dairies. Even the large operations almost all remained family-owned enterprises. Bellflower financial institutions played a role in attracting dairy farmers to Bellflower. Under the leadership of L.P. Peck and J.E. Gregory, First National of Bellflower and Bellflower Building and Loan adopted policies conducive to boosting the dairy industry. The Citizens National Bank, another local bank organized in 1944 by Peter Van Horsen, Oscar McCracken, Reoh Lowe, and others, carried on this policy.

Another crucial factor was the migration into the region of experienced dairymen predominantly Hollanders, but also Portuguese, Swiss, Belgian, and American. There was a reciprocal effect: the expansion of the dairy industry attracted veteran dairymen whose know-how in turn built up the industry.

Alongside these major agricultural industries that became a principal source of the towns wealth, Bellflowers rural atmosphere with its good soil and cheap water also provided a setting for truck gardeners, fruit growers, and nursery operators, both commercial and amateur. An open-air market in Long Beach furnished another outlet for fruit growers to sell garden surplus locally. Larger growers sold to Long Beach or Los Angeles markets directly.

In 1912, Martin and Guadalupe MacDonald established a two-acre truck farm on Cedar Street. Having by chance taken some dahlias for a friend to the Long Beach Open Air Market, Guadalupe MacDonald found they attracted customers. So great was the demand that the MacDonalds switched to dahlia-raising exclusively. Eventually the MacDonald, Epler, Eieirman, and Ziegler dahlia gardens, along with those of private individuals with a field to spare, made Bellflower the exclusive supplier of dahlias to the Los Angeles flower market. The dahlia has been adopted as the official city flower, and the Bellflower Dahlia Society perpetuates the tradition of dahlia growing on an amateur basis.

One of the interesting aspects of Bellflowers long agricultural phase was its cultural impact. When city and country met at Bellflower, it was the country rather than the city side that introduced a cosmopolitan dimension. Over the years, opportunities in agriculture drew Hispanic, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch and other immigrant families into the region, which enhanced the communitys cultural vitality. Many of these groups established special institutions to keep their traditions and sometimes their language alive, places to meet for social exchange and support in an unfamiliar environment.

It is a misnomer to call the Hispanic workers of Bellflowers early years, immigrants. Californios and their descendants were on the ground when the American settlers came. After the break-up of the ranchos, some vaqueros, or cowhands, remained in the area. Californio descendants turn up in the American historical record as a pool of occasional labor. They helped to dig out willow trees at New River Colony for a set price per cord and they helped lay the Pacific Electric line. Later many worked as members of the line crew. In the twenties, a community of Hispanic railroad workers lived with their families in small wooden houses along Flora Vista Street near the tracks. During the twenties and thirties, the original Californio community was augmented with immigrants from Mexico recruited for farm work. These groups together supplied much of the outside hired labor on family-owned dairy and poultry ranches, as well as on truck and sugar beet farms elsewhere in the area. Following a settlement pattern that dates from the rancho period, when vaqueros and their families lived apart in small villages on the ranch, Hispanic workers often lived in Spanish-speaking enclaves in nearby communities such as Carmenita.

Japanese immigrants, considered knowledgeable farm workers, were recruited early in the century to work in Los Angeles County on sugar beet and other intensive farming operations. When significant numbers of Japanese laborers managed to purchase property and farm it efficiently, a reaction set in. The notorious Alien Land Law, in effect prohibiting Japanese from owning land in California, forced tenant farming on Japanese farmers for a number of years. Japanese tenant farmers were located on Robert Sacketts ranch during the time of his involvement with the gas company. The Japanese were noted for their skill at nursery and truck farming, and those with an entrepreneurial flair often graduated to selling produce, both wholesale and retail, instead of raising it. Susie Yamamoto and Tome Kitahada also had hog ranches along the river in the southern section of Bellflower.

A Japanese community Center was founded at Norwalk to maintain Japanese traditions, provide instruction in Japanese language, and furnish a meeting place. During the war several evacuated families stored their goods at the center, and after the war a number of families actually lived at the Center until they could reestablish their homes. The Center was greatly expanded after the war through donations from the Japanese community ranging from $1 - $20,000. The Okimoto family of Bellflower was among those actively engaged in this project.

In the 1940s, Bellflowers population surged from 11,000 to 44,000. New housing was built in spite of labor and material shortages. Households doubled up and homeowners felt obliged to rent out their extra rooms. The public schools bulged, then shifted to half-day sessions and still bulged. Teachers were hard to find. Seven new schools were built during the 1940s: Frank E. Woodruff, May Thompson, Horace Mann, Woodrow Wilson, Will Rogers, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson. The Bellflower Art Association and the Community Concert Association were among many new civic associations organized during the war years. Bellflower had long felt the need for a city park, and wartime population pressure made the need more acute. In 1941, the Defense Recreation Committee was formed to establish a permanent county park. The land for Bellflower Park was purchased in 1942 and operated by the County until 1959, when ownership was transferred to the City of Bellflower.

In 1946, the park was renamed the John S. Simms Park, in honor of one of Bellflowers pioneer physicians and civic leaders. In 1946, a 53-acre Bellflower Airport between Alondra and the river was established for small private planes, in the expectation that airplanes would soon be used frequently for ordinary transportation. The privately owned airport was the last of its kind in Los Angeles County. Protests by residents succeeded in getting it closed down.

The postwar waves of population further expanded and defined the area. The northern section built up with exclusive homes, and the old Woodruff-sized lots, narrow and deep, made good spaces on which to squeeze apartment buildings. More renters moved into Bellflower. The business district on Bellflower Boulevard spread beyond Artesia Boulevard. Other streets also developed commercial centers. In the 1950s, Clark Street emerged as a major shopping street.

Institutions emerged to accommodate the extraordinary growth. Four new schools were added between 1950 and 1954: Bellflower High School, Ernie Pyle, Stephen Foster, and Betsy Ross. Construction of the high school was crucial because it made it possible to form the Bellflower Unified School District in 1956.

Later that year, the Bellflower Chamber of Commerce spearheaded a drive for incorporation. It began with a huge birthday party for the whole region to celebrate Bellflowers first half-century. Thousands came to the free barbecue and the street dance on Flower Street. An Old-Timers? get-together was hosted at the First Federal Savings and Loan building, which has since become an annual event. The celebration, coordinated by Mary E. Lewis for the Chamber of Commerce, was financed by the merchants and professional people of the town. The group managed to break even after expenses and contributions were counted.

A measure to incorporate Bellflower was endorsed by most of the civic organizations in town and supported by the local newspaper. Community interest therefore shifted increasingly to the City Council election to be held in conjunction with the incorporation measure. Some 32 candidates filed. In August of 1957, the measure was passed by a large majority, and the following residents were elected to Bellflowers first City Council: T. Mayne Thompson, Dr. Clifton M. Brakensiek, Vincent Dalsimer, George W. Armstrong, and Oscar McCracken. At the time of its incorporation, Bellflower was a 51-year old community, fully matured in all areas but that of city government. The certificate of City was granted on September 3, 1957 as Californias 348th city.

When Bellflower incorporated, a new range of opportunities for civic development opened up. Adapting the Lakewood Plan, Bellflower contracted with the County for police, jail, prosecution, library and fire protection services, forming with other newly incorporated cities in the area the League of California Contract Cities.

At the time of incorporation, Bellflower was the principal shopping center for an estimated surrounding population of 100,000. This may have helped Bellflower through a time when many small retail outlets were failing. From the mid to late 1960s, the impact of regional shopping centers and large discount stores eliminated the business centers of many small cities. In spite of opening two major regional shopping centers in the vicinity, stores in downtown Bellflower were unaffected. Customers preferred the personal service of the Bellflower stores and remained loyal shoppers.

During the 1970s, several Southeast Los Angeles cities were reaping the benefits of bringing regional auto and shopping malls to their communities. Bellflower, however, opted to court the smaller Mom and Pop stores that had sustained it for decades. For more than 100 years, Bellflower remained a Dutch enclave best known for dairy products and agriculture. This suited the residents of Bellflower just fine. Bellflower basked in the small town glow while other cities experienced growing pains from increased traffic congestion and construction delays associated with expansion.

However, as retail shopping centers caught on, Bellflowers choice to focus on smaller businesses left the community with no formal redevelopment plans and, worse still, no federal redevelopment funding. As a result, the Citys revenue streams dwindled, and in the early 1990s, the City sat on the verge on bankruptcy. Through fiscal conservatism and the establishment of a redevelopment strategy, the City today continues to make strides to play catch up with surrounding communities by attracting new businesses to town, improving business facades and upgrading infrastructure such as roads, medians, sidewalks, and public facilities.

From its development as a sparse and isolated settlement of farms at the turn of the century, today Bellflower has become a city of 77,500 residents with an innovative approach to enhancing services and generating revenues to support the growing community.

The City of Bellflower has a long tradition of implementing programs that uphold the mission of the City, which is “to protect and enrich the quality of life, to make Bellflower an excellent place to live, work, and play.” The City places a high value on programs that attract new businesses, provide recreation activities and community services, preserve the environment, and protect the safety of Bellflower residents.

Recently, the City has placed a high priority on economic development. The City continues to meet the growing economic needs of the community by attracting new businesses and facilitating the expansion of existing businesses through its programs. For one, the City Council has adopted a self-certification program which allows licensed design professionals to voluntarily self-certify building plans in order to expedite the issuance of building permits. By eliminating this hurdle, a large portion of the downtime associated with obtaining the permits necessary to begin construction can be eliminated.
In addition, the economic development restaurant attraction and retention program operates with the purpose of attracting new restaurants, as well as retaining and supporting existing restaurants in their efforts to expand or relocate. Through this program, the City of Bellflower absorbs all City fees associated with the processing of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the purpose of on-site sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages.

As a result of these programs, since 2011, we have seen more than $60 million dollars of direct investment into our community. This includes the construction of an Auto Zone, Grifol’s Biomet USA, and the Kaiser Permanente Offices, as well as the construction of unique restaurants like the Golden Corral and Fronk’s. Furthermore, in order to help support business growth, the City has launched the Yelp Promotions Program to assist businesses with their social media presence by providing businesses free access to social media tools and resources. As a result, businesses can connect with customers, as well as improve their business model. Thus, the City of Bellflower has taken the lead in serving its local merchants by creating an economically vibrant atmosphere in which our local businesses are able to thrive and grow.

The City continues to promote health and fitness by offering recreation activities to residents of all ages in the community. In recent years, the City has added, expanded and refurbished more than 25 acres of park and open space across all areas of the City. The City also offers recreations programs to youth and teens, including after school programs, youth sports and directed classes. There are also adult sports leagues that provide adults the opportunity to participate in softball and basketball teams.

In addition to the City’s static park space, we also offer residents the opportunity to bring play to their neighborhoods by scheduling the Bellflower Recreation In Motion (B.R.I.M.), a mobile recreation unit made up of three recreation leaders that bring recreational equipment, games, and activities directly to our neighborhoods. Furthermore, the City continues to foster human development by providing recreation programs and activities to those that are developmentally disabled or autistic through programs that include the SHARE Program, Recreation Therapy, and Special Olympics Training. As a result of such programs and services, the City of Bellflower has been recognized as a 2015 Playful City USA Community.

In addition to recreation activities, the City provides community services to meets the needs of the elderly population. The Senior Nutrition Congregate Lunch program offers low cost, nutritious meals at Simms Park to persons 55 years of age and over. Also, the Meals-on Wheels program delivers low-cost meals daily, Monday through Friday, to the home of disabled residents and the homebound elderly in the City of Bellflower. The City also offers low cost public transportation to residents that are 55 years and older or are physically disabled through the Dial-A-Ride program. In addition, through on-going community partnerships, the City’s Volunteer Center coordinates a variety of programs and events that provide important services to the community, including the Spring Basket Program, Holiday Food Basket Program, Trick or Treat, Easter Egg Hunt, and Children’s Holiday Party, as well as backpack and school supplies drives.

In rebounding from the great recession, the City Council has also brought back many of our special community events, including StreetFests and Food Trucks & Flicks during the summer. StreetFest is a bi-weekly concert event, which offers live music along with games, arts & crafts, activities, and outdoor dining for the entire family. Food Trucks and Flicks offers residents a movie under the stars experience, with food, games and of course hit movies. These programs help to foster a sense of community and bring patrons to our Downtown businesses.

The City of Bellflower is committed to protecting the safety and welfare of the community. The City’s Community Policing Plan is implemented in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and members of the community. Crime prevention programs like Neighborhood Watch, NextDoor, and Nixle serve as the cornerstone of the Bellflower’s Community Policing Plan, which aims to play an active role in preventing crime. The Neighborhood Watch program attempts to enlist the active participation of citizens in cooperation with law enforcement to observe and report crime activity in the community. While Nexdoor serves as a platform that builds a stronger and safer neighborhood by allowing neighbors to communicate online regarding anything that affects the community through a private social network. Similarly, Nixle keeps residents better informed about public safety through text message and email alerts.

Furthermore, through the Strategy Against Gang Environment (SAGE), a program established by the Deputy District Attorney’s office, was established to provide alternative methods to combat gang activity by focusing on environmental conditions that promote and encourage gang activity. SAGE helps landlords and tenants work together to improve living conditions, evict tenants engaged in criminal activities, and attract better tenants. In addition, the City implements the Gang Suppression Program which involves a specially assigned Probation Officer that monitors the terms and conditions of probation on assigned and non-assigned court adult and juvenile probationers. The Probation Officer develops and maintains a strong presence in the community by working closely with community groups, local law enforcement, the Public Safety Team, and other service providers. In an effort to promote and solidify law enforcement-citizen partnerships, the City holds an annual National Night Out campaign. This campaign serves as a platform designed to enhance the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement, as well as provide residents an opportunity to discuss their concerns about public safety. Public Safety programs continue to be an upmost priority to the City, and these initiatives help to enhance public safety and foster community trust.

The City is dedicated to protecting and preserving our environment by continuing to provide local businesses and residents’ access to environmental services. Through programs like CalMax, Household Hazardous Waste Disposal, Komputers 4 R Kids, and Home Depot CFL Bulb Recycling, the City provides environmental services, including solid waste collection and recycling, storm water pollution prevention, used oil recycling, sanitary sewer overflow and street sweeping.

The City of Bellflower continues to take progressive and proactive steps to implement programs that enhance the quality of life of residents by creating a better place to live, work, and play. If you have any questions regarding any of these programs, or if we can serve you in any other way, please contact City Hall at (562) 804-1424.