The stream begins just east of South Main Street between 107th and 108th Streets in Los Angeles. Compton Creek passes through Willowbrook and runs 8.5 miles (13.7 km) in total.[2] Most of its route is encased in a concreteflood control channel. Shortly after it passes under West Greenleaf Boulevard, it changes to an earth-bottom section with riprap banks.[2] Joined near its end by East Compton Creek, the creek ultimately empties into the Los Angeles River just south of Del Amo Boulevard.
Crossings and tributaries
From mouth to source (year built in parentheses):[3]
A 2009 study conducted at the University of Southern California's Dornsife School's Department of Earth Sciences noted Compton Creek's marked water contamination and unprecedented quantity and variety of pollutants. Professor Ryan Millsap was quoted in the study's abstract, "I can state unequivocally [that Compton Creek] was, during the 1950s, the most polluted creek ever to be studied by the U.S. Department of the Interior." A seminal study at the intersection of Earth Sciences and Critical Studies, Professor Gustafson reports that the Watts riots of 1965 came in part as a response to oppressed people's inability to find housing outside of polluted areas, whence the creek was cited as a prime example.
Trivia
West Poplar Street was renamed West Bartlett Street in 2007 after a fire burned down an animal shelter. The street was renamed in the honor of a fireman who saved more than 10 dogs and 6 cats during the emergency.[2]
