An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day, Part 127

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > California > Los Angeles County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 127
USA > California > San Diego County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 127
USA > California > Orange County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 127
USA > California > San Bernardino County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 127

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).

the United States, where he had seen the trip undertaken perforce in carts whose construction was guiltless of iron; and he saw their number grown from fifty persons to near 3,000 per montlı. In 1858 old San Pedro was abandoned and Wilmington became the real port for Los Angeles' commerce. In the early days 500 tous of freight would have been a fair average for the trips both ways each month; now there is as high as 15,000 tons afloat at one time, to say naught of the enormous amount of produce which the same vessels carry away on their departure. In 1871, after several careful preliminary sur- veys, the United States Government commenced the work of improving Wilmington harbor; this inner harbor then consisted of nearly 1,200 acres, and a narrow entrance from the outer bay and Rattlesnake Island. From this island to the rocky pile called Dead Man's Island, one and a quarter miles, San Pedro bay was com- paratively shallow, except in a narrow channel near Dead Man's Island. Timm's Point was the nearest point to this channel on the main- land. The improvements instituted comprised a training wall from Rattlesnake to Dead Man's Island, closing the old channel; and another wall from Timm's Point to Dead Man's Island, estab- lishing the channel between the latter wall and the island. These walls form a channel 500 to 800 feet wide, connecting the outer with the inner bay, so that lumber vessels and all but two or three of the largest steamships coming to this port can reach the wharf at San Pedro at high tide. Vessels that can not reach the dock find safe anchorage about two miles outside. Further improvements at this harbor are greatly needed and some are now in progress, carried on, not by the government, but by railroad companies hav- ing important interests there. Congress has lately made an additional appropriation of $500,000 for such improvements, however.

In the explosion of the little steamer, Ada Hancock, April 29, 1863, near Wilmington, among many people lost were, of the merchants: William T. B. Sanford, Dr. Henry R. Miles, Loeb Schlessinger; of the steamer Senator:

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

Captain J. S. Bryant, Fred Kerlin, Thomas Workman; the young Albert S. Johnston, son of the general of that name, and Miss Medora Hereford, sister-in-law of B. D. Wilson, who was so severely injured as to die a few days after.

This harbor has several picturesque peninsn- las and high points of land stretching into the sea, and Dead Man's island, the most conspicu- ous object in the bay. Twenty miles out is the great summer resort, Santa Catalina.

Ever since the early settlement of California, San Pedro has been a commercial point of more or less importance. It is now second to San Francisco only; for though the town itself is sınall, compared with San Diego, it is the receiv- ing and distributing point for Los Angeles and the populous, rich and growing districts there- abouts. Until 1873, the port was known as San Pedro, but in that year Congress decided that it should be called Wilmington, as nearly all the business was transacted at this town, lo- cated at the head of the inner bay. In 1882 an act of Congress established the customs district of Wilmington, with that town as the port of entry, and Hueneme, San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara as ports of delivery, neither of these three places being in the same county as Wilmington. Until the extension of the rail- road to San Pedro, all the business of the port had to be transacted by means of lighters, for the conveyance of merchandise between vessels and the landing places. The construction of the railroad from here to Los Angels in 1869 gave fresh impetus to the development of ag- ricultural resources in the county, as well as to business generally in the city. In 1870 the anchorage for vessels touching at this harbor was nearly five miles from Wilinington, in San Pedro bay, and about one mile from Dead Man's island.

The village of Wilmington was laid out in 1858 by General Banning, and by him named in honor of his native city, Wilinington, Dela- ware. It flourished until the Southern Pacific Railroad was completed to San Pedro, since

when it has not been able to compete with that point.

Long Beach, on the coast southward from Wilmington, is becoming a noted resort, and at present it is especially advertised as the Meth- odist camping-ground. The village is located on a smooth platean which slopes gently down to the water. From any portion of the town a charming view greets the eye. At low tide the beach is hard, smooth and level for seven or eight miles, constituting a perfect boulevard npon which twenty teams can be driven abreast, their hoofs clattering as if upon a turnpike, Long Beach has an intelligent, refined class of citizens, excellent public schools, four church societies, no saloons, enterprising business men, and a live newspaper.

Santa Monica is one of the most charming of seaside resorts. It lies on a level plateau be- tween which and the ocean there is a perpendic- ular descent of about 100 feet. At the foot ot the bluff stretches a long line of beach, well adapted to surf-bathing, and it is mainly this delightful and invigorating pastime which makes Santa Monica so popular. It is estima- ted that during the bathing season 2,000 people a day, on an average, visit this place, and on Sundays a much larger number. The perma- nent population of the town is about 1,500. A branch of the Southern Pacific runs thither from Los Angeles, and also the new Los Angeles Conn- ty Railroad. The Santa Fé is expected to throw a branch into the town soot There are several large hotels here, and several large bathing houses on the beach. A wharf is shortly to be built. The surroundings are exceedingly pic- turesque. From almost any portion of the town may be enjoyed a most delightful view of the mountains, foothills, plain and ocean. Three miles up the coast is the famous Santa Monica cañon. This town was founded in 1875, by United States Senator John P. Jones and Col- onel R. S. Baker.

One of the great institutions of Los Angeles County is the National Soldiers' Home, located abont fifteen miles from the city and four miles

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

from Santa Monica beach, with both of which places it is in railway communication. When the management appointed by the Government to locate snch an institution on the Pacific coast visited Los Angeles, they were hospitably re- ceived and entertained by the city council, board of trade and others. They had visited and inspected other counties in California, and had received from some of them tempting offers; yet it remained for Los Angeles to secure the coveted prize. A tract of 300 acres, with a sufficient water right (the water coming from the mountains) and thirty acres additional for a reservoir, were offered free; and an adjoining tract of 300 acres was set aside for sale and guaranteed to yield $100,000 in cash, to be ap- plied to the improvement of the grounds. Con- gress appropriated $190,000 for the erection of buildings, and the work was speedily begun and completed. There are four barracks, each 50 x 200 feet, affording quarters for 125 men; a res- idence for the surgeon and other officials; an imposing building of two stories with a lofty tower, and with accommodations for 2,040 men. The arrangement of this building is unique, the kitchen being the second story, the pantries and serving-rooms on the ground floor and the seul- leries in the basement, all connected by five elevators. The ground is a gentle slope toward the south, and this building crowns the emi- nence. Immediately in front is a large lawn, with music pavilion and flagstaff. On either hand are twenty-five barracks, so arranged as to secure the maximum of sunlight, while the porches are sheltered from the cool trade winds. In a depression of thirty-five feet below the general level of the slope are the boiler honses and laundry, from which the other houses and buildings are heated by steam, and to which the sewage is conveyed to be removed by steam pumps. A hospital in cruciform shape, 450 x 50 feet, with accommodations for about 500 patients, occupies a conspicuous position. There are also commissary and quartermaster's buildings, head- quarters building, treasurer's residence, memno- rial building and guard-house. A side track

from the railroad runs to the laundry, boiler- house and commissary buildings, and a grand boulevard from Los Angeles to Santa Monica will pass through the grounds. The reservoir among the hills constitutes a charming little ar- tificial lake.

Compton was laid ont in 1869, and named in honor of G. D. Compton, then the sole resident. It is eleven miles south of Los Angeles, on the Wilmington branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The distinctive industry is the mnak- ing of butter and cheese. Although it is not considered a first-class section for the production of decidnons fruits, citrus fruits and many kinds of deciduous fruits and berries are successfully raised here.

From the evidence of the remains of aboriginal implements, etc., it is clear that the Arroyo Seco anciently flowed through a richly wooded and populous region before entering the Los Angeles river; and several Indian rancherias of importance occupied the lands now covered by Pasadena, Garvanza and Lincoln Park. The first visit of white men to this territory was on January 17, 1770, when Gaspar de Portolá, re- turning southward with the first landward ex- pedition sent ont from Loreto in search of Monterey, having missed the trail along the coast, entered the San Fernando valley through the Simi pass, and, crossing the Verdugo Hills, inistook the Arroyo Seco, then a full stream' being swollen by winter rains, for the Porci- úncula, now the Los Angeles river. The natives were friendly, hospitable, and ready to share their primitive food-supplies with the strangers. Ere long, this territory was traversed by a well- broken trail connecting the parent missions of Monterey and San Diego, which was called Ca- inino del Rey (the King's road), and over which were sent northward all the dispatches from Mexico and Guatemala. In consideration of her services as nurse and midwife, Eulalia Perez, of the Mission San Gabriel, was granted three and one-half leagnes of the mission lands; and this grant comprised precisely the tract now in question, then known as Rancho San Pascual,

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

according to some, from the saint to whom was sacred the day of the grant's making, but by others said to have derived that title from the name by which had been baptized its Indian captain, at the old San Gabriel mission.

The removal of the San Gabriel Mission to its present site greatly affected the destiny of the San Pascual Indians. It was the wooded slopes of the Arroyo Seco that furnished tim- ber for the dwellings of Los Angeles. Here, too, were lassoed the bears that were used in the rude sports of primitive times.

A Mexican grant carried with it the obli- gation to occupy and improve its territory ; and, as Eulalia Perez failed to comply with this condition, it came about that presently Manuel Garfias, a gay and popular soldier, received from his friend, Governor Micheltorena, the title to the Rancho San Pascual. This grantee built among the spreading oaks of the Arroyo Seco, a house of considerable pretensions for that time, where he and his family dispensed much rural hospitality for some years. Then they suddenly departed for Mexico, and the im- provements went to ruin, and nature had soon effaced almost every trace of human occupancy. In August, 1873, the California colony of In- diana sent out from Indianapolis a committee to select for the members of the society the most favorable spot on which to establish a settle- ment snitable for the cultivation of citrus and other fruit. After a careful survey of many locations in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino counties, the association purchased the interest of Dr. J. S. Griffin, consisting of about 4,000 acres, in the Rancho San Pascual. At a critical moment in the negotiations, Thomas Croft laid down the required amount, and, securing the property, he was for a brief period the sole owner of the whole domain. The original purchase comprehended beautiful upland plains, wooded glens and sylvan open- ings, as well as mountain lands upon the slopes of the Sierra Madre, arroyo lots filled with valuable timber, and a magnificent grove of live-oaks, covering 400 acres, on the road to Los

Angeles, making a natural park entirely suited for outdoor resorts and diversions. John H. Baker and D. M. Berry, " the Caleb and Joshua" of the California colony of Indiana, were present on the bright winter morning of January 27, 1874, when the twenty- seven incorporators met for the selection of their individual homesteads. Many of these were wealthy, while others had brought but humble savings to secure a modest home where there should be " sninmer all the year round." Nearly all had a choice spot in view, and it was an anxious moment when, the lovely landscape at their feet, and the maps out- spread, the bidding began. One of the wealth- iest shareholders moved that the owners of single shares be invited first to make their se- lections; and such was the diversity of soil, location and topography, that each of the twenty-seven stockholders obtained his chosen homestead without interfering with the choice of his neighbors. The advantages of this site were even greater than the selectors had sup- posed at the time of its choosing; the elevation of some 1,000 feet more than that of Los An- geles, eight miles distant, was a sufficient guar- anty of exemption from malaria; soil, drainage, and an apparently inexhaustible water supply, were all most satisfactory; game and fish were abundant; the mountain barriers slut ont the north winds; the view was grand, what with the perspective of mountain and valley, and the blue Pacific, with Catalina island in the dis- tance. Los Angeles was near enongh at hand for reliance; three miles eastward was the Southern Pacific Railway station at San Gah- riel Mission; close by were the enormous estates of Sunny Slope and Santa Anita, with their great orange groves and vineyards; the superb orange groves of the Duarte also were near, and Riverside with its rich yields, was not so very far away. Prompt and energetic measures were instituted for the utilization and development of these manifold advantages. Homes were reared, orange groves and orchards of diverse fruits were planted, and many improvements of cominon interest organized. The public schools,

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

the pride of Pasadena, were begun in 1874, in a private house, with only two pupils; in 1888 it was shown by official reports that Pasadena had " the best ventilated, the best lighted, and the handsomest school-buildings of all towns of its size in the United States." There was then an enrollment of 1,354 pupils, and an instruct- ional force of a superintendent, four principals, three vice-principals, and seventeen teachers. The school property is valued at $200,000. There are also two private academies; here live also many professional teachers of high repute in music and the fine arts. Services of the Presbyterian Church were at first held at the bachelor quarters of Mr. Charles H. Watts; but that gentleman's marriage and the birth of a child necessitated the procuring of another place of worship. Thus, the first church edifice was erected in 1875-'76, costing, with its parsonage, some $4,200. The Woman's Home and the Foreign Missionary Society, organized in this church, have been most useful institutions. The first Methodist society was organized in 1875, and their chapel was dedicated January 7, 1887. Both these denominations have long since outgrown their primitive temples. They, with the other nine congregations of Pasadena, are provided with handsome and commodious places of worship. In March, 1880, Pasadena held her first citrus fair, the display receiving high praise from the hundreds of visitors. In 1881, at the annual fair of the Southern Cali- fornia Horticultural Society, Pasadena took the first premium for display and quality of citrus fruits. It is a well-known fact that young trees, growing on virgin soil, produce the very best exhibition fruit; but the San Gabriel orange belt was the earliest known in American fruit culture, and trees in the Mission garden sixty years old, are still producing fruit of excellent quality, thus attesting the superiority of the soil of this district. A single tree in Pasadena, eleven years old, yielded in one year 3,000 fair- sized, well-flavored oranges. In 1880, Pasa- dena was served with a tri-weekly stage and mail; now this flourishing young city of 10,000

inhabitants has a service of almost hourly trains over the Santa Fé railway, and a mail delivery by carrier. Then the people depended wholly upon Los Angeles; now the city contains two magnificent hotels, of almost world-wide fame; three banks, two daily newspapers, twenty miles of horse car lines, running in every direction; a manufacturing company which operates one of the largest planing-mills in the State, and a brick yard producing 60,000 bricks daily.

The Indian name of this region was " Acu- rangna," signifying " where streams incet." Dr. Elliott suggested the present naine of Pasa- dena,-an Algonquin word, meaning "Crown of the Valley."

THE GREAT BOOM OF 1886-'87.

The great real-estate boom of Los Angeles in 1886-'87, is certainly the most wonderful thing of its kind in the history of the Pacific slope. Of course, nothing has excelled the great gold boom of '49 and '50, but in real-estate booms this is pre-eminent. There had been one, com- paratively small, eleven years before. The years 1872-'74 witnessed a general improvement in material matters. Immigration was steady, crops and markets were good, and real estate advanced in price. Its advancement marked it as a good investment for local capital, and in the winter of 1874-'75 a genuine boom began. In 1875 also, immigration was large, and many bonght land at the high figures then ruling, while others caught the fever and bought largely, paying part cash and making agreements to convey, or giving mortgages for the balance of purchase price.

In the fall of 1875, with the failing of the bank of Temple & Workman, the bubble burst and the usual crisis followed. Men who had bought on credit suddenly found the money market stringent, and the four years that fol- lowed were full of the efforts of these luckless land-holders to extricate themselves,-complete failure attending only too many of these strug- gles. In 1876 there was a gradnal diminution in the number and value of real estate sales.

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

In 1877 and 1878 it was really unusual to find a piece of property unmortaged. Then came a period in which even the leaders could see no value in real estate; new loans could not be ef- fected; high rates of interest prevailed, and tlie era of foreclosures began. In 1879 there was no such thing as a market for nnimproved property, and even productive real estate conld not be sold for an amount on which it was ac- tually yielding a liberal interest. During all this period of depression people worked, econo- mized, pushed new industries, and in 1880 the ontpnt of products arrested the downward tend- eney. The receipts for the crops of grain, wool, wine, honey, and fruit and dairy products distributed among the producing classes an amount of capital, which was circulated with good effect, paying off mortgages, securing new loans, and making money easy.

The following is the story of the boom of '87, as told by H. E. Brook: " Rail com- munication with the northi was opened in 1877, but the boom did not really begin until 1881, when the Southern Pacific, which had gone on building east, met the Santa Fé at Deming. Then land began to rise, but not rapidly. l'eo- ple did not yet realize the value of land. They had no conception of what was coming. In 1882, when the Southern Pacific was opened to New Orleans, the population increased to about 15,000, and property began to stiffen in price. Values in Los Angeles and vicinity rose abont 25 per cent. that year, the previous valuation having been very low. People continued to come, and in 1883 values doubled, while the population had increased to 25,000. The prog- ress continued through 1884 and into 1885. The Santa Fé road was on the way to Los An- geles, making another direct through road to the East. The Santa Fé reached Los Angeles in November, 1885, and after that it is difficult to follow the course of the boom, so rapid and immense was the advance. People poured in by thousands, and prices of land climbed rap- idly. Everybody that could find an office went into the real-estate business, either as agents or

speculators, or as operators. Tracts of land by the scores were cut up into lots. Auctions, accompanied by brass bands and free lunches, drew their crowds. At private sales lines were formed before daybreak in front of the seller's office, for fear there would not be enough lots to go around. As soon as a mnan sold out at a profit, in nine cases out of ten he re-invested. There was no lack of faith in the country. Some of the new towns laid out in this period outside of Los Angeles, contained in themselves and their surroundings elements of solid worth, which insured their permanent progress. Others were merely founded on the credulity of the public, and the general scramble for real estate, whatever and wherever it was. The advances in values of real estate were astonishing. The best business property in Los Angeles, a corner on Main street, could have been bought in 1860 for $300 the front foot, in 1870 for $500, in 1880 for $1,000. Now it is valued at $2,500. For a lot on Main and Sixth, that was sold in 1883 for $20 a foot, $800 a foot was offered last year. Acreage property rose in like proportion, and meanwhile population continued to pour in. As Los Angeles city property began to reach prices which were then considered near the top notch, the boom in outside property was started. Great tracts of land were bought by speculators and subdivided and sold in lots to snit purchas- ers. Some of the speculators were men of large capital, and some had next to none. They took their chances of coming ont ahead, and nearly all of them did. New life was put in inany small places previously settled, and many new enterprises were launched on land that had never been touched. Some of the land, which only a few years before could hardly have been given away, but which has been shown, with proper cultivation, to be among the best, was bought at extremely low figures, but eligible land soon began to rise, in response to the large demand. Lands four miles outside the city limits of Los Angeles, that were sold for $1 an acre in 1868, rose to $1,000 an acre, in some cases. Some of these lands were divided and

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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

sold without improvement, the work to be done later; some were sold while improvements were going on; some were improved, and then sold. Water was the first great necessity,-the first subject to be broached by purchasers. Such streams as exist were made use of at once: ditches were dug and the water turned in with branch ditches to the various tracts. Dams were built in mountain gulches, and great bodies of water stored. In some places artesian belts were discovered and put under contribu- tion. Some lands were bought by colonies from the Atlantic States, and were improved by them. When a tract was laid out as a town site, the first thing usually done was to build a hotel. Cement sidewalks, brick blocks, a pubic hall and a street railway soon followed. A miniature city appeared, like a scene conjured up by Aladdin's lamp, where a few months ago the jack-rabbit sported and the coyote howled. Such a scene of transformation had never before been witnessed in the world. Old settlers, who had declared that land was dear at $5 an acre, looked agliast to see people tumbling over each other to secure lots at $500 each. New arrivals were charmed with the climate and surround- ings, and determined to get a share of it before the shares gave out. Most of the purchases were made on the basis of one-third cash down, the balance in installments on six and twelve months' time. Snch was the state of affairs in the spring of 1887. Up to that time the course of the boomn, then some three years old, had been accompanied by reasonable restrictions as to future possibilities. The buyer had gener- ally acquired some little idea of what he was purchasing, and had exercised some judgment in making his selections.

In the summer of that year a crowd of out- side speculators settled down upon Los Angeles like flies upon a bowl of sngar. Many of these came from Kansas City, where they had been through a school of real-estate speculation. These men worked the excitement up to fever heat. They rode a willing horse to death, and crowded what would have been a good, solid

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Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1038

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1038