At the beginning of the century the area south of Los Angeles was a portion of the Rancho San Pedro originally given to Juan Jose Dominguez in recognition of his long service to the King of Spain.

There was nothing much here beyond barely fields,wild plants and open ranch country. Jared Sidney Torrance, a lumberman, realty operator, and banker from New York, saw the possibilities of commerce and development in all these empty fields. The Dominguez Estate company sold him a parcel of 2800 acres for $980,000. The Union Tool Company purchased 25 acres. Then the Pacific Electric Company moved its general repair shops to the area. The Llewellen Iron Works built a new plant. By 1912 workmen were busy digging foundations, laying pipe lines, putting up homes. In May 1921 the new City of Torrance was incorporated.

A small group of Catholics began to meet around the Eucharist in various places: the library on Cabrillo, a movie theater on El Prado, two homes on Gramercy Street. Some of the names of these first members are familiar: Mr. and Mrs. John Carson, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gould, Mr. and Mrs. Barney Gannon, Mrs. Joe Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Smith, Mrs. George Probert. The priests who served them came from St. Michael’s in Los Angeles: Msgr. Raphael Fuhr, Fr. James Morris. In 1918 Torrance became a mission of St. James, Redondo Beach. Msgr. Nicholas Conneally and after him Fr. James Deenihan were the priests who cared for the Catholics here.

The little community that would later become Nativity Parish began to take shape and form. In 1921 the first church was built on a site given by Mrs. J.S.Torrance on what is now the parking lot. Fr. Deenihan celebrated the first Mass.