Paramount, California, United States

🇺🇸 Paramount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Paramount is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area and is bordered by Compton and Lynwood to the west, South Gate and Downey to the north, Bellflower to the east and south, and Long Beach to the south.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, Paramount has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12 km²), of which 4.7 square miles (12 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (2.28%) is water.

History The city today known as Paramount was originally identified in 1781 by Mexican settlers of New Spain. It was organized under two old Spanish Ranchos; on the west, Rancho San Pedro, and on the east, Rancho Los Nietos (now portions of the cities of Santa Fe Springs and Whittier). These ranchos were established under the Spanish Empire and granted by King Carlos III in 1784. In 1834, Rancho Los Nietos was partitioned into five smaller ranchos including Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos, which both encompassed parts of Paramount.

After the Mexican–American War California was ceded to the United States. The then-unincorporated community of Paramount was created in 1948 when the United States Postmaster General ordered the merger of the post offices of Hynes and Clearwater (Pitt 1997:381). The name was taken from Paramount Boulevard, the main north-to-south surface street extending through the city. The city officially incorporated January 30, 1957 following a successful "Save Paramount for Paramount" campaign to fight annexation by Long Beach, Bellflower, and South Gate.

While the Paramount economy was based largely on the hay and dairy industries, the high cost of land led to their local demise. The last Paramount dairy closed in 1977.

Public services The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department operates the Lakewood Station in Lakewood, serving Paramount. The department operates the Paramount Substation within Paramount.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the South Health Center in Watts, Los Angeles, serving Paramount.

The United States Postal Service Paramount Beach Post Office is located at 7200 Somerset Boulevard.

State and federal representation In the California State Legislature, Paramount is in the 33rd Senate District, and in the 62nd Assembly District.

In the United States House of Representatives, Paramount is in California's 40th congressional district.

Culture Paramount has a large community of Mexicans originally from the state of Sinaloa reflected in the many restaurants selling Mexican food "estilo sinaloense" meaning "Sinaloan style". The city has been described as a "second Sinaloa".

Transport The Century Freeway (Interstate 105) passes east–west through the northern portion of Paramount, the Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710) follows north–south along the city's western border, and the Artesia Freeway (State Route 91) runs east–west less than a one-half-mile from the southern Paramount city limits.

Paramount is served by bus service from Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Long Beach Transit. The city also operates Easy Rider Shuttle, a fixed-route local bus.

Education The schools located within Paramount are Paramount High School-senior and west campus, Alondra, Lincoln, Wirtz, Jefferson, Mokler, Zamboni, Los Cerritos, Gaines, Jackson, Hollydale, Tanner, Roosevelt, and Paramount Park. Schools that are run by the Paramount Unified School District, but are located in Lakewood include Buena Vista Continuation High School and Lakewood School. Collins school is also run by PUSD but is located in Long Beach.

Our Lady of the Rosary Private Catholic School is one of several private schools located in Paramount.

Libraries The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Paramount Library.

Sites and attractions The Paramount Hay Tree is a California State Historical Landmark. It is a still standing mature camphor tree remembered for its importance to the hay trading marketplace of the towns of Hynes and Clearwater, which later incorporated as Paramount. The hay traders met under the tree each working day to discuss the price of hay. Their numbers were quoted by the New York mercantile markets as the global hay standard.

Paramount is also home of the Zamboni Company. Frank Joseph Zamboni Jr. is the inventor of the ice resurfacing machine. Zamboni & Co. began and is still headquartered in Paramount. Zamboni manufactures and sells the machines worldwide. Since 1939 the Zamboni family has also operated Iceland, an ice skating rink with improvements patented by Frank Zamboni.

The city also gives its name to a packaging firm called Paramount Global, which was founded here in 1976.