In 1784, the Spanish Crown deeded a tract of over 75,000 acres (304 km˛) 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.
In 1867, Griffith D. Compton (1820–1905) led a group of settlers to the area in search of the mild Californian climate. The city was incorporated on May 11, 1888 and was named for Griffith D. Compton in commemoration.
Compton grew quickly in the mid-1900s. In the late 1940s with the dismantling of segregation, middle class blacks began moving into the area, mostly on the west side. One reason for this was Compton's close proximity to Watts, California, where a significant number of blacks lived at the time. However, the eastern side of the city remained predominantly Anglo into the 1960s.
In the beginning, the emerging black population was largely ignored by the city's elected officials. At one time, the City Council even discussed dismantling the Compton Police Department in favor of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, in an attempt to exclude blacks from law enforcement jobs. This slowly began to change when in 1958, the first black ran for a City Council seat. However, it would be another three years before an African-American would be elected to the Council.
That man was Douglas Dollarhide, who in 1969, made history in Compton when he became California's first African-American mayor of a metropolitan city. Four years later, Doris A. Davis defeated Dollarhide's bid for re-election to become the first African-American female mayor of a metropolitan city in the United States. By the early 1970s, the city had one of the largest concentrations of blacks in the country with over ninety percent.
For many years, Compton was a much sought after neighborhood for the black middle class of Los Angeles. This past affluence is reflected in the area's appearance — Compton's streets are lined with relatively spacious and attractive single family homes.
However, several factors have contributed to Compton's decline. One of the most significant factors was a steady erosion of its tax base. First by whites who fled to the newly incorporated cities of Artesia, Bellflower, Paramount, and Santa Fe Springs in the late 1950s. These nearby communities offered relatively low crime, lower municipal taxes and significantly, effectively excluded blacks, despite integration. This move was even further precipitated after the Watts Riots in 1965.
Soon thereafter, middle class blacks also found other areas more attractive to them. Some were unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County such as Ladera Heights, View Park and Windsor Hills, but also cities such as Inglewood and, particularly, Carson. The latter was significant because it had successfully thwarted attempts at annexation by the neighboring city of Compton. It opted instead for incorporation in 1968 and is notable because its African-American population is actually more affluent than its white population. As a newer city, it also offered more favorable tax rates and lower crime.
As Compton's tax base deteriorated, it raised municipal taxes, which only worsened the problem. This resulted in creating a situation more favorable to lower income residents than higher income ones. Many of these new residents also benefited from the Section 8 rent-subsidy program. As a result, the need for public services increased dramatically, putting a further strain on the city's budget.
After Lionel Cade, an accountant assumed the mayor's office in 1977, one of the first orders of business was to conduct an audit of the city's finances. It was discovered that the city was $2 million in debt. The administration was able to eliminate the huge deficit in one year by making cuts in every department. It also aggressively sought federal funding to help pay for essential services, which was at least partially effective. However, with the passage of the property tax cutting initiative Proposition 13 by California voters, Compton was one of the city's hardest hit, since it had already eliminated most of the fat from its budget.
Crime, though present in lesser degrees beforehand, worsened significantly with the introduction of crack cocaine in the later part of the 20th Century. The neighborhood lost richer residents with the worsening safety problems, and, after the 1992 riots in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, many blacks left the region. Meanwhile, many Latino families moved into Compton.
Today, Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the city, although many people still tend to think of Compton as a primarily African American community. One possible reason for this is that despite the shift in population, as of 2005 blacks continue to dominate local politics, holding all elected positions in the city.
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