Compton is a city located in Southern Los Angeles County, California, USA, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city was incorporated in 1888. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 93,493. Although officially a suburb of Los Angeles, Compton is often labeled as an "inner-city" community primarily due to poverty, the elevated crime rate found in the city, and its location in South Los Angeles.

Despite the city's mark on African-American culture, Compton has a multiracial and multi-ethnic population. The city boasts an equestrian club, an astronomy program for teenagers, and the Major League Baseball Academy.

In 1784, the Spanish Crown deeded a tract of over 75,000 acres (304 km²) 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. The oak tree that marked the original northern boundry of the rancho still stands at the corner of Poppy and Short streets. The rancho was sub-divided and parcels were sold within the Californios of Alta California until the lands were ceded after the Mexican-American war in 1848. American immigrants acquired most of the rancho lands after 1848.

In 1867, Griffith D. Compton (1820–1905) led a group of American 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 African-Americans began moving into the area, mostly on the west side. One reason for this was Compton's proximity to Watts, California, where a significant number of African-Americans lived at the time. However, the eastern side of the city remained predominantly white into the 1960s. Despite being located in the middle of a major metropolitan area, there remains at least one small pocket of agriculture remaining from its early years.

In 2006, the Morgan Quitno Corporation rated Compton as the most dangerous city in the United States with a population of 75,000 to 99,999, and fourth most dangerous overall. The city is notorious for gang violence, primarily caused by the Bloods and the Crips. Compton's violent reputation was popularized in the late 1980s by the rise to prominence of local gangsta rap groups Compton's Most Wanted and N.W.A., who released the famous album Straight Outta Compton in 1988. The most recent rapper from Compton to popularize the city's gang culture is The Game, with his albums The Documentary (2005) and Doctor's Advocate (2006).

Compton has a homicide rate about eight times higher than the national average, most of which are gang killings. Economic conditions and Compton's location as the center of the South Los Angeles "ghettos" make crime prevention more difficult. Although crime has not been as severe as it was in the 1980s and early 1990s, during the crack epidemic.[citation needed], Compton remains one of the most notorious cities in the U.S.A..

Compton had 72 murders in 2005, which is a per capita rate significantly higher than the national average for small cities. Recently in an effort to combat this gun violence the Compton citizens were given the option to hand over their guns to the police, and receive a $100 check for various goods. During 2006, Compton has deployed twice as many sheriff deputies and the murder rate has decreased from 22 in four months, to just five.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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