USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs : also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I > Part 72
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
Los Angeles, and was carried into effect February 12, 1846. Palomares was dissatisfied with the subdivision. Gallardo's decision was set aside by the superior court and a new partition ordered. The interest of Ricardo Vejar, one of the original grantees, April 30, 1874, was sold for $29,000 to H. Tishler and J. Schlesinger, by whom it was conveyed to Louis Phillips, who sold a portion of his interest to Tonner, Burdick and Palomares, as stated above.
Tonner and his associates sold their purchase shortly after they made it to the Los Angeles Immigration and Land Co-operative Association. This association was incorporated, December 10. 1874, with a capital stock of $250,000, divided into 2,500 shares, at the par value of $100 per share. Its board of directors consisted of the following: Thomas A. Garey, president ; C. E. White, vice-president; L. M. Holt, secretary ; Milton Thomas, manager ; R. M. Town, assistant manager ; and H. G. Crow, treasurer. The prin- cipal object of the association was the subdivision of large land holdings and the placing of these on the market in small tracts for settlement. The company surveyed and subdivided 2,500 acres of its purchase. The town of Pomona was laid off in the center; 640 acres adjoining the town site were subdivided into five-acre lots and the re- mainder of the 2,500 into forty-acre tracts. In November, 1875, the town had a hotel, a drug and provision store, a dry goods store, a grocery and meat market and eight or ten dwelling houses. On the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of February, 1876, a great auction sale of land and town lots was held on the town site. The first day's sale realized $19,000, which was a big thing in those days. The farm land brought an average of $64 per acre. A number of artesian wells had been sunk and a reservoir holding two and a half million gallons of water constructed. The Southern Pacific Railroad, which in conformity with the require- ments of the subsidy granted by the county in
437
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
1873 had been built eastward to Spadra, was ex- tended to Pomona, and the town and settlement seemed to be on the high road to prosperity. But disaster struck it; first was the dry season of 1876-77 and next a fire on the night of July 30, 1877, that swept away nearly all of the town. These checked the growth of the town and settle- ment. In 1880 the population was only 130. About 1881 it began to grow again. In 1882-83 Mills and Wicks developed a new artesian belt. From that time the town has grown steadily. December 31, 1887, it was incorporated as a city of the fifth class. During the boom of 1887 and 1888 its growth was rapid and land values were inflated, but the reaction did not seriously affect it. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe's main line, completed in 1887, runs about two miles north of Pomona's business center. A motor road connects this road with the city of Pomona. A town called North Pomona was laid off at the Pomona station on the Santa Fe. The pioneer newspaper of Pomona, The Pomona Times, ap- peared October 7, 1882. The population of the city in 1890 was 3,634; in 1900, 5,526.
The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Rail- road was completed to Pomona early in 1902. This gave it three competing roads to Los Angeles and greatly stimulated its growth.
The year 1904 was a record breaking year for improvements in the City of Pomona. A high school building, built in accordance with most improved modern school architecture, was con- pleted at a cost of $55,000. Primary and grammar grade buildings costing $30,000 were erected. West Second Street Park was laid out and $15,000 expended on it. A large reservoir was con- structed on the summit of the highest hill in Ganesha Park. A mission style armory building for Company D, National Guards, costing $8,000 was built. During the year 1905 the Pomona Valley Hospital, an up-to-date and well-equipped institution, was opened. The California Produce Company built a large orange packing house. Main street was paved at a cost of $7,000. Carne- gie gave the city a donation of $20,000, with which was constructed a beautiful library building.
The Pomona library was founded in 1887. A membership fee was charged at first, but in 1902 it was made a free public library. There are six salaried employes. The total number of volumes in the library in October, 1906, was 12,068. The library is well patronized, there being over four
thousand registered card holders. A marble statue of Pomona graces the library.
The year 1906 was one of general pros- perity. The citrus fruit crop was more profitable than any previous year. The amount realized from its sale exceeded $2,000,000. Building was active. The Pomona Valley Ice Company has expended $100,000 in an ice-making plant. A large amount has been expended in dwellings and business blocks.
Pomona has for years been one of the recog- nized centers of the citrus industry. In addition to the products of 15,000 acres of citrus fruits shipped, her canneries put up 2.000,000 cans of deciduous fruits and vegetables. These gave employment to hundreds of men and women.
Its public library is one of the best conducted in the county. Because of the rapid growth of the city and the popularity of the library under the able management of Miss Sarah M. Jacobus the Carnegie library built in 1902 became too small and in 1912 Mr. Carnegie was induced to give an additional $10,000 to enlarge it. The library contained in 1915 27,000 volumes and had an income of $11,000 derived from taxation.
Pomona has four banks carrying deposits of $2,000,000. The city has an excellent system of public schools, employing ninety teachers in the elementary grades and thirty-five in the high school. Its population in 1910 was 10,207, in 1900 5,526 and in 1890 3,654.
CLAREMONT
Claremont, the beautiful, as it was named by its enthusiastic founder, is a child of the boom. Its magnificent tourist hotel failed to attract the tourist. For a time it stood idle, then it was utilized for a college. Claremont is a thriving college town, the seat of Pomona College, a Con- gregational educational institution. The Pearson Hall of Science, costing $25,000, a gift to the college, was erected during the year 1899. The greater part of the population is made up of college professors, students and the families of those who have located in the town to educate their children. The town is thirty-six miles east of Los Angeles on the Santa Fe Railroad.
During the year extensive road improvements were made and fire protection provided by the town trustees. Claremont has one of the most modern and finest equipped packing houses in California. It is owned by the Claremont Citrus
438
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Union. During the orange season the company employs from fifty to seventy-five men. In 1906 buildings to the amount of $120,000 were erected. Among these were a church, costing $25,000, and the Claremont Inn, costing $30,000. Work is in progress on a Carnegie College library which will cost about $50,000.
A college town is not expected to figure in commerce. Claremont is an exception. Over two thousand carloads of citrus fruits are shipped from Claremont every year. The Union Ice Company is constructing a $100,000 ice plant. This will be used in pre-cooling cars for orange shipment, and will be an important fac- tor in the orange industry of the district.
A million-dollar endowment was secured for the college in 1914. This boon will be of almost incalculable benefit in the advancement of the college. A music hall costing $100.000 has recently been given to the institution by Mr. Bridges of San Diego, in memory of his daughter. Rembrandt hall, an art building, has been completed. An endowment of $50,000 has been secured to improve the parks and campus. In 1911 a high school was erected at a cost of $75,000. Claremont had a population of 1,114 in 1910.
LORDSBURG
Lordsburg was laid out during the boom by I. WV. Lord. An expensive hotel was built, which, after it had stood idle for some time, was sold to the Dunkers, or German Baptists, for a college. A Dunker settlement has grown up around Lords- burg. The country tributary is devoted to orange growing. The town is thirty-three miles east of Los Angeles, on the Santa Fe Railroad.
SAN DIMAS
San Dimas is one of the many towns which owes its existence to the boom. It was laid off early in 1887 by the San Jose Land Company. It was designed by its founders to be the metropolis of the acreage possessions in the San Jose ranch. Lots sold readily for a time at fancy prices. The reaction came and prices fell. The town, how- ever, recovered from its depression and has gone steadily forward. It is surrounded by good fruit lands. It has excellent railroad facilities. It is on the main trunk line of the Santa Fe system and on the Covina branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, twenty-nine miles by the latter and thirty-one by the former, east of Los Angeles.
San Dimas has now direct communication with Los Angeles by the Pacific Electric Rail- way. It is also on the new macadamized boule- vard built from the funds obtained by the good- roads bond issue. San Dimas is surrounded by orange groves. In December, 1911, the large and finely equipped packing-house of the San Dimas Orange Growers' Association was de- stroyed by fire. With the characteristic energy and push of the orange grower, who never has time to whine over misfortune, a new building with all the latest improvements was quickly erected. In the past three years several new business blocks have been built.
GLENDORA
Glendora, twenty-seven miles east of Los An- geles on the main transcontinental line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, was founded in 1887 by George Whitcomb. The name Glendora is a combination of glen and the last syllables of Mrs. Whitcomb's name, Ledora. About 300 acres were subdivided into town lots and put on sale the latter part of March, 1887. Three hundred were disposed of on the first day of the sale. The town has made a steady growth. It has a beautiful location. Located on the upper mesa, its altitude places it in the frostless belt and renders it comparatively free from fog. The country contiguous to it is devoted to orange growing. The town is a shipping point for a large amount of citrus fruit.
It has become an extensive shipping point for berries and vegetables. During the year 1904. 450,000 boxes of strawberries and blackberries were shipped, and twelve carloads of watermelons were sent to various points from San Francisco to Arizona. Sixty-five acres of tomatoes were grown for the winter market.
During the year 1905 a grammar school, cost- ing $7,000, was erected. The Athena Club, a woman's organization, has established a public library.
AZUSA CITY
Azusa City is one of the cities of the boom. The town plat was surveyed in April, 1887, and the lots put on sale. So great was the demand for lots that purchasers stood in line in front of the office all night, and it is said $500 was paid for the second place in the line. The town built up rapidly for a time, then came to a halt. For
439
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
the past few years its growth has been steady. It is a shipping point for the orange crop of a considerable district.
In 1904 Azusa completed a city hall at a cost of $10,000. Azusa is the metropolis of San Gabriel canyon. This canyon is increasing each year as a pleasure resort. There are a number of hotels and camping places. It is estimated that 10,000 people during 1906 visited the various resorts along the river. Azusa is the stage station for the canyon. Considerable capital has been invested in working the mines in the canyon.
In the year 1910 Azusa completed and dedi- cated a new library building costing $12.500. It voted a bond issue of $40,000 to improve its two principal streets. It spent $15.000 in im- proving the Azusa Citrus Association packing house. A new grammar school was built at an expenditure of $7,000 in 1914, and a third build- ing was added to the high school group at an outlay of $10,000. In 1914 bonds to the amount of $55,000 were voted to establish a new water system and an electric lighting plant.
After its first fitful boom Azusa settled down to a steady growth. In the language of an enthusiastic admirer, "Azusa has no palatial mansions nor any hovels ; no colony of million- aires nor any paupers ; no opportunities for amassing sudden wealth, but ample room for profitable employment of brains, industry and capital." Azusa has a public library established in 1902. It contains nearly five thousand volumes. Azusa had a population in 1910 of 1,477. In 1900 its inhabitants numbered 863.
COVINA
Covina is a town of recent growth, having been built within the last eight or ten years. It is located on the Southern Pacific Railroad, twenty- four miles east of Los Angeles. It has a com- modious school building that cost $14,000. The leading product of the country tributary to Covina is the orange. The shipment of oranges for the season of 1899-1900 was estimated at 925 car- loads. The shipments since then have nearly doubled. The completion of the Covina Electric road has increased the population of the town about one-third. Covina has a free public library founded in 1897. It has a collection of 2,500 volumes and receives $900 income from taxation. It owns a building which cost $8,000. The build- ing fund was donated by Andrew Carnegie.
Covina has an ambition to become a great orange growing center. Its slogan in 1911 was "A million boxes of oranges." It did not reach it that year, but approximated very near to it. During the year 1911-12 the Covina Irrigating Company built a plant at Baldwin Park costing $150,000. This sends two hundred and fifty miners' inches from the plant to the reservoir on San Bernardino Heights, four miles distant. The business men and orange growers of Covina organized a Chamber of Commerce in 1909, which has done much for the town and its environs.
According to the federal census of 1910 Covina had a population of 1,652. It has a Union high school employing fourteen teachers and a public library of about 7,000 volumes. It owns a Carnegie library building which cost $10,000.
DUARTE
Duarte is a settlement located on the southern foothill slope of the Sierra Madre mountains, of which West Duarte, twenty-one miles east of Los Angeles, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, is the railroad outlet. Duarte is one of the oldest and best known orange growing districts in Los Angeles county. Duarte oranges rank among the best in quality of the citrus fruits of Southern California. The settlement in early times was famous for its water wars, contests over the right to the waters of the San Gabriel river. The open ditch for conveying water for irrigation has given place to miles of iron and
cement pipes. The old-time water wars are things of the past. Economic methods in the use of water have afforded a supply to a large area for- merly outside of the irrigating district. The town of West Duarte was founded in 1886, when the San Gabriel Valley Railroad was extended to that point. For several months it was the eastern terminus of that road.
IRWINDALE
Irwindale, on the Covina branch of the South- ern Pacific Railroad, twenty-one miles east of Los Angeles, is one of the towns of the San Gabriel valley that was not born during the boom. It is a comparatively new town, having been founded in 1895. It is in the citrus belt and is a fruit-shipping point of considerable importance.
440
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
MONROVIA
The first town lots in Monrovia were sold in May, 1886. So rapid was the increase in values that in less than one year lots on the business street of the city were selling at $100 a front foot. The town built up rapidly for a time, then it came to a standstill, as it had been overbuilt. Of late years it has been growing steadily. It has a fine location, and is regarded as a healthy place. It lies close to the base of the Sierra Madre moun- tains and has an elevation of 1,200 feet. It has four banks, a high school and several hotels. It was named after its founder, William N. Monroe. It is located on the Santa Fe Railroad, nineteen miles east of Los Angeles. The Southern Pacific has also built a branch through it, thus affording it excellent shipping facilities. Monrovia owns its own water system. In 1895 some $30,000 were expended in developing the supply from Sawpit canyon. It voted to issue bonds to enlarge and perfect its water supply. Oranges and lemons are the prime sources of wealth here as they are in the other towns of the San Gabriel valley.
Monrovia's development as a suburban resi- dence town began with the completion of the electric line from Los Angeles in March, 1903. Since then the population has increased from about 1,000 to 3,000. In 1904 a public school building costing $24,000 was erected and a woman's club house, costing $5,500, was built. The assessed valuation of property increased fifty per cent in a year. In 1905 bonds to the amount of $35,000 were voted for public improvements. Of these $18,000 were for the purchasing of a public park site; $8,000 for a city hall; $2,000 for the site of a Carnegie library. for which a donation of $10,000 is promised; $5,000 for en- larging the city water system, and $2,000 for a fire fighting apparatus.
The municipal water plant furnishes 350 miners inches of mountain water. A gas plant has been completed at a cost of $20,000. The streets are lighted by electricity.
The Monrovia Public Library was established in 1893. The library was moved in August, 1906. from its old quarters in the Spence block, which had been its quarters since its establishment, to new temporary quarters in the city hall. The Carnegie Public Library was completed dur- ing the year 1906. It was erected in the public park. The Pottenger Sanatorium, for the cure of lung diseases, is located on the upper
mesa at the base of the mountains, about one mile north of Monrovia. It has a wide reputation and is considered the most successful institution of its kind in the United States.
Monrovia passed its twenty-eighth birthday last year. It was a child of the boom. During the past decade it has made a steady progress. Property values have steadily ad- vanced. In 1910 bonds were voted to build a high school. The school was completed in 1912 at an expenditure of $80,000.
Monrovia has expended half a million dollars in municipal improvements. These include a water system costing $100,000; a sewer system involving an expenditure of $130,000; school buildings amounting to $100,000; and street paving. The city has free mail delivery. In the winter of 1913 and 1914 the San Gabriel river flooded a considerable portion of the country contiguous to Monrovia, damaging many of the orange orchards. The county is constructing dikes to prevent a recurrence of damage from floods. The population of Mon- rovia in 1910 was 3,576, an increase of 2670 in twenty years.
EL MONTE
El Monte, twelve miles east of Los Angeles on the San Gabriel river. is the oldest American settlement in the county. The first emigrants from the States located there in 1851. Among these were Ira W. Thompson, Samuel M. Heath and Dr. Obed Macy, with their families. In 1852 and 1853 over fifty families came, most of whom were from the southern and southwestern states. El Monte is in the midst of a rich agricultural district. El Monte has become celebrated for the production of English walnuts. It has an excel- lent high school.
El Monte, the place where the first American colony located in Southern California after the conquest of the territory, has undergone a com- plete transformation during the past decade. New industries have been developed and new agri- cultural products have taken the place of "hog and hominy" of the olden days. The celery crop of 1914 amounted to 1,200 carloads. Over 50,000 cases of tomatoes were canned and shipped. Two hundred and sixty-five carloads of sugar beets were shipped and seven hundred tons of English walnuts produced. A new municipal water system has been installed. El
441
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Monte has a Union high school employing ten teachers.
SAN GABRIEL
San Gabriel is the oldest settlement in Los Angeles county. One of its principal attractions to the tourist is the old mission church, built a century ago and still in a good state of preserva- tion. The Mexican population of the town clus- ters around the old mission, while the American residences are located a mile and a half to the south.
SOUTH PASADENA
The territory included in the limits of the city of South Pasadena is a part of the San Pasqual rancho. The first house built on that rancho was erected within what is now South Pasadena ; and most of the historic events of the Spanish and Mexican eras of which that rancho was the scene occurred within the district included in the city's area.
South Pasadena began with the boom and its first business house was a real estate office. The first subdivision into town lots was made by O. R. Dougherty in 1885. The city of South Pasa- dena was incorporated in February, 1888. Its limits extended from Columbia street south to the north line of Los Angeles City, and from the Arroyo Seco east to the west line of the Stone- man ranch. In 1889 the city limits were reduced by a vote of the people-the object being to get rid of a number of saloons that had started up on the outskirts of the city's territory. Several fine business blocks were erected during the boom. The city has four churches, Methodist, Presby- terian, Baptist and Episcopal. It has a good high school, employing four teachers; also a news- paper-the South Pasadenan.
South Pasadena in 1905 was organized as a city of the sixth class, and bonds were voted for a new high school. The aggregate cost of build- ings erected during the year of 1905 amounted to $300,000. The estimated population at the close of the year 1905 was 2,400 and the assessed valuation of property within the city limits for the year 1905-06 was $2,400,000, or $1,000 per capita.
In the first decade of the present century South Pasadena made an unprecedented in- crease in population. Its population in 1910 was 4,649 (its population in 1900 was 1,001), an increase at the rate of 364 per cent. Its esti-
mated population in 1915 is 7,000. In 1911 over $600,000 was expended in building. A new city hall was built and a fire engine house has just been completed. A high school was erected in 1912 at a cost of nearly $100,000. A women's club house has been erected. It owns a public library building that cost $12,000. Its library contains 11,000 volumes and has an income from taxation of $5,500.
TROPICO
Tropico is located six miles north from the center of the city of Los Angeles, on the South- ern Pacific Railroad. The town was laid out in 1887. The adjoining lands are divided into small tracts and devoted to fruit raising. The San Pedro & Salt Lake road passes along the borders of the town, affording easy access to the city. Tropico has a postoffice and stores.
In 1905 the Presbyterian Church was built, costing $3,500. The Los Angeles, Tropico & Glendale trolley line has been completed, giving a twenty-minute service to the business center of Los Angeles. Three hundred acres of strawber- ries are cultivated in the neighborhood of Tropico. The Western Art Tile works were established at Tropico in 1902. They now employ ninety men and manufacture hollow building tile, fireproof roofing and terra vita.
Tropico was incorporated as a city of the sixth class in 1911. Since then it has built a two-story city hall. The city offices are on the second floor, and the public library, which con- tains over 2,000 volumes, on the first. Besides the tile factory which now employs one hun- dred and twenty-five men Tropico has a basket factory which gives employment to one hun- dred and twenty-five women and girls.
GLENDALE
Glendale was laid out as a town in 1886. Dur- ing the boom of 1887 the village grew rapidly. A large hotel was built, costing about $70,000. A narrow-gauge railroad was built connecting it with Los Angeles. This has since been changed to a standard gauge and is now a branch of the Salt Lake road. The town for some time after the boom remained stationary, but with the awakening that came to all Southern California in the first years of the present century it began to grow.
442
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
In 1903 Glendale was incorporated as a city it. It has incorporated as a city of the sixth class of the sixth class. The Pacific Electric Railway completed its line to Glendale in 1904. Its con- nection with Los Angeles by electric railway gave the town a boom. Acreage has been passing into SAN FERNANDO town lots and the growth of the city in the past two years has been quite rapid.
Among the new enterprises that have been launched since the town took on a new growth are the establishment of two banks, each with a capital of $25,000, the lighting of the town with electricity and the erection of a depot by the Pacific Electric Company.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.