USA > California > Orange County > History of Orange County, California : with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 10
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What the future holds in store for this favored municipality no man can foresee. With a population of 15,485, according to the government census of 1920, and the development of the magnificent territory hereabouts, yet practically in its infancy, an increase to 25,000 in the next ten years would not appear an over sanguine expectation. As yet no effort has been made to attract tourist support to the city, although the mountains and coast line afford more varied attractions than most tourist centers have to offer. It is not at all visionary to predict that when the Santa Ana Valley awakens to the possibilities which it has neglected in this respect for all these years, its chief city will become as famous as a mecca for pleasure seckers as it has for its purely stable characteristics. At the present time there is not a first class hotel or restaurant in the city, nor accommodations of any sort which travelers of means desire. Located as it is on the El Camino Real, or "King's Highway," the main thoroughfare for automo- biles between Los Angeles and San Diego, as well as on two steam lines and one electric, in the midst of the most celebrated playground for tourists in the world, it does not seem possible that such a condition can long continue.
CHAPTER XI THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH By Sadie C. Sweeney
The city of Seal Beach is located in the extreme southwest corner of Orange County. bordering on the Pacific Ocean southeast of the mouth of the San Gabriel River, into which Coyote Creek empties some distance from the coast. Accord- ing to tradition, the place was selected and promoted as a beach resort by Los Angeles capitalists under the name of Bay City, which name the school district still bears. Although the city continues to receive the patronage of many Los Angeles people, its main support comes from its own residents who are citizens of Orange County.
The city was incorporated under its present name on October 25, 1911. Its area, as nearly as can be determined from the map, is about one and five-eighths square miles. Its assessed valuation for the year 1920, exclusive of operative property, is $638,755. Its present population is 669, according to the Federal census of 1920. There are two miles of paved streets, eight miles of oiled streets and about twenty miles of concrete sidewalk.
A complete sewer system is being constructed now, and the city has voted bonds to install a municipal water plant. Following are the present city officers, and officers of other organizations: Board of trustees: John J. Doyle, presi- dent : Albert J. Morris, Walter A. Storts, A. J. Spinner, J. Burkhart; clerk, B. B. Brown; marshal, Harry Mayer; city attorney, Joe C. Burke; treasurer. Mrs. Sadie C. Bailey ; recorder, John H. May ; health officer, J. P. Dougall ; plumb- ing and electric inspector, Harry Mayer ; board of health: Dr. J. Park Dougall, Sadie C. Sweeney, A. W. Armstrong, James Graham, Mrs. Millie Ernie ; chamber of commerce : James A. Graham, president ; J. H. May, vice-president ; A. W. Armstrong, secretary ; Sadie C. Sweeney, treasurer ; Gustav Mann, Wm. Temple- man, W. A. Storts, J. H. May, Raymond Aldrich : school board : Miss Amy Dyson, president ; I. E. Patterson, clerk; Mrs. C. L. Flack.
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The number of teachers employed in the public schools, the number of pupils enrolled, the value of the school property and the cost of the schools for the year 1918-1919, may be found in the chapter on Orange County's Schools under the title "Bay City," which is the name of the school district belonging to Seal Beach.
The only church to report in the city is the Bungalow Methodist Church.
Bathing is enjoyed the year 'round; it is absolutely safe for the children. There has never been a drowning in the surf at Seal Beach ; there is no under- tow. The climatic conditions, too, are the best that can be found in Southern California ; it is cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than at most other places.
The Pacific Electric Railway passes through Seal Beach on its way from Long Beach to Balboa. There is a paved road from Seal Beach to Long Beach and provision is made in the $40,000,000 state bonds, recently voted, to extend the state highway from Oxnard to Capistrano along the coast.
The growth of Seal Beach is retarded at present by the lack of housing facili- ties, and it might pay the holders of vacant lots to build on them; but it would be better for the community, as well as the home-seekers, if they would buy and build in Seal Beach for the sake of the many natural advantages it has to offer.
CHAPTER XII THE CITY OF STANTON
The city of Stanton is located centrally in the agricultural section in the western part of Orange County, southwest of Anaheim and northwest of Garden Grove. It was named after Hon. Phil. A. Stanton of Los Angeles, who has large holdings of land in that vicinity. The city was incorporated on March 29, 1911 : the principal purpose of the incorporation was to prevent Anaheim's sewer farm being located in that community. The area of the territory first included was afterwards reduced until now it is about six and one-half square miles. The assessed valuation of the city for the year 1920 is $629,335; and the tax rate for city purposes is $1.00. The population, according to the 1920 census, is 695. No one ever heard of Stanton parading itself as a railroad center ; yet so it is, as may be seen on the map. The branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, running from Anaheim to Los Alamitos, intersects the main line of the Pacific Electric Railway, running from Los Angeles to Santa Ana, in the very heart of the city of Stanton.
Following are the city officers as they stood after the election and appoint- ments in 1920: Board of trustees, John F. Roe, president ; E. B. Hosking, True W. Clark, James F. Robison, Frank G. Redmond ; clerk, F. C. Beecher ; treas- urer, F. D. Turner ; recorder, E. X. Willard.
CHAPTER XIII UNINCORPORATED TOWNS
Besides the nine incorporated cities in Orange County, which have been de- scribed elsewhere, there are about forty unincorporated towns, ranging in size from a few families to nearly sufficient population to incorporate as a city of the sixth class. Each of these towns serves as a business and social center for the surrounding territory, the postoffice in many cases having been superseded by the rural delivery from the larger cities. These towns may be briefly described in alphabetical order, as follows:
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Arch Beach is a small seaside resort one mile east of Laguna Beach. The shore line in front of this town is the most attractive on the coast, with its picturesque bluffs, jutting rocks and cunning coves. The name, Arch Beach, comes from a natural arch formed by the action of the breakers cutting a passage through a large projecting rock.
Balboa is the name given to the eastern end of Newport Beach, to an island in the bay, and to the palisades near Corona del Mar.
Berryfield, Benedict and Cypress are way stations on the Pacific Electric Railway northwest of Garden Grove in the order named going toward Los An- geles. Besides accommodating the local travel they form shipping points for the products of the surrounding farms, gardens and poultry yards.
Bolsa is located four miles west of Santa Ana in the grain. vegetable and stock-raising lands. It consists of a store, church, schoolhouse, and a few resi- dences which are badly scattered.
Brookhurst is the first station on the Southern Pacific Railway northwest of West Anaheim. Although it is located near the dividing line between the fruit lands and the dairy section, there are some fine orchards near the station.
Buena Park is the last station on the Southern Pacific Railway before cross- ing into Los Angeles County. It is surrounded by alfalfa, beet and general farm- ing lands. Here is located the large condensed milk factory of the Pacific Cream- ery Company.
Capistrano, the "Old Mission Town," is situated near the junction of San Juan Creek and Trabuco Creek, on the Santa Fe Railway, about twenty-five miles southeast of Santa Ana and three miles from the coast. The locality seems to be well adapted to fruits, grains and grazing, but the principal distinction is being the home of the San Juan Capistrano Mission.
The first attempt to found the Mission of San Juan Capistrano was made October 30, 1775. A cross was erected and a mass said in a hut constructed for the purpose. The revolt of the Indians at San Diego on the night of November 5th, and the massacre of Father Jaume and others, news of which reached San Juan on the 7th, called away the soldiers. The bells which had been hung on the branch of a tree were taken down and buried and the soldiers and padres hastened to San Diego. November 1, 1776, President Serra and Fathers Mugartegui and Amurro, with an escort of soldiers, reestablished the mission. The bells were dug up and hung upon a tree, and their ringing assem bled a number of the natives. An enramada of boughs was constructed and mass was said.
The first location of the mission was several miles northeast of the present site, and at the foot of the mountain. The former location is still known as La Mission Viejo. Whether the change of location was made at the time of the reestablishment or later is not known. The erection of a stone church was begu 1 in February, 1797, and completed in 1806. A master builder had been brought from Mexico, and under his superintendence the neophytes did the mechanical lahor. It was the largest and handsomest church in California and was the pride of mission architecture. The year 1812 was known in California as el ano de los temblores- the year of earthquakes. For months the seismic disturbance was almost continuous. On Sunday, December 8, 1812, a severe shock threw down the lofty church tower, which crashed through the vaulted roof on the congregation below. The padre who was celebrating mass escaped through the sacristy. Of the fifty persons present only five or six escaped. The church was never rebuilt. "There is not much doubt," says Bancroft, "that the disaster was due rather to faulty construction than to the violence of the temblor. The edifice was of the usual cruciform shape, about 90x180 feet on the ground, with very thick walls and arched, dome-like roof all constructed of stones imbedded in mortar or cement. The stones were not hewn, but of irregular size and shape, a kind of structure evidently requiring great skill to insure solidity." The mission
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reached its maximum in 1819; from that on until its secularization there was a rapid decline in the number of its livestock and of its neophytes.
This was one of the missions in which Governor Figueroa tried his experi- ment of forming Indian pueblos of the neophytes. For a time the experiment was a partial success, but eventually it went the way of all the other missions. Its lands were granted to private individuals and the neophytes scattered. It was restored by the Landmarks Club of Los Angeles, and its picturesque ruins are a great attraction to tourists.
Celery is one of the stations and shipping points on the branch of the South- ern Pacific Railroad running from Newport Beach to Smeltzer.
Corona del Mar is a small hamlet on the mesa east of the mouth of New- port Bay.
Delhi is a community center about two miles south of Santa Ana.
El Modena is snuggled up against the foothills on a sightly mesa three miles east of Orange. The town proper was started in the boom, about 1886, by immigrants from the East, chiefly of the Quaker or Friends' denomination. The boomers went out with the boom and those who were left set to work to develop the country. As a result there are many fine orange and lemon orchards in this section and many other fruits and farm products are grown here. About half a mile south of the schoolhouse is the famous Hewes ranch, containing several hundred acres of diversified fruits and a large packing house on the Tustin branch of the Southern Pacific Railway. El Modena has a good water system, a Friends' Church, a graded school, a general merchandise store and other conveniences per- taining to a prosperous community.
El Toro, twelve miles southeast of Santa Ana on the Santa Fe Railway, is the trading point of an extensive grain and grazing district. It is also the nearest railroad point to certain mining camps and bee ranches in the hills on the north and to Laguna Beach and Arch Beach on the south.
Fairview, seven miles southwest of Santa Ana, is located on the northwest part of the broad mesa lying between the ocean and the damp lands southwest of the county seat. A carline was projected in boom days to connect the town with Santa Ana, but there was not sufficient travel to justify its continuance. Circumscribed by the San Joaquin ranch on the east and south and by the damp lands on the west and north, the place has made but little growth.
Garden Grove, five miles northwest of Santa Ana on the Pacific Electric Railway, is the center of a large area of land adapted to general farming, dairy- ing and poultry raising. The shipping records show that Garden Grove has become the greatest egg producing district in Southern California. Ample water can be obtained for pumping at a maximum depth of 125 feet, which rises to within a few feet of the surface ; in fact, many of the wells flowed in the early days. This abundance of water has induced the installation of many pumping plants, thereby increasing the productiveness of the section. The town itself is making rapid strides toward a city, with brick blocks, cement sidewalks and nearly every kind of business house. A lighting district has been established under a state law, and a brass band is being maintained by the people.
Garden Grove people must have considerable satisfaction-not to say pride ---- in helping to produce the following eggs-traordinary results, as set forth in The Youth's Companion:
"The value of the eggs and poultry produced every year in the United States is now three-quarters of a billion dollars, or more than that of all the gold, silver and diamonds produced in a year in the whole world. There are about three hens to a person, and each hen lays on an average eighty eggs a year. The best layers produce as many as 240 a year. Farmers' flocks consist on the average of only about forty birds, but even at that they contribute notably to good living on the farm.
"Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'I have no hen.'"
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As proof that Garden Grove's productions are not confined to eggs alone, note the following products shipped from there in 1919: Beans, 45 cars, 1,350 tons ; beets, 130 cars, 4,662 tons ; cabbages, 37 cars, 439 tons ; eggs, 3,283 cases. 98,490 dozen ; oranges and lemons, 126 cars, 1,755 tons ; peppers, green chili, 132 cars, 1,990 tons; peppers, dried chili, 121 cars, 1,455 tons ; pimentos, 75 cars, 1.125 tons; potatoes, Irish, 11 cars, 157 tons ; potatoes, sweet, 26 cars, 404 tons ; tomatoes, 33 cars, 328 tons; walnuts, 40 cars, 483 tons; approximate value, $2,000,000.00.
Greenville is the new name for what used to be the Newport school district, or Old Newport to distinguish it from the beach city of the same name. Whether the new name will supersede the latter name for the town remains to be seen. The place is a small cluster of houses about three miles southwest of Santa Ana in what was formerly known as the "Gospel Swamp" region.
Harper is a station on the Santa Ana and Newport branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad near the north boundary of the latter city.
Irvine is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway about seven miles southeast of Santa Ana. It is the principal shipping point for the products of the great San Joaquin ranch.
Laguna Beach, at the mouth of the Laguna Canyon and almost due south of El Toro, has been retarded in its growth by its difficulty of access. It has many natural advantages, the shore line here being nearly as picturesque as at Arch Beach, but most people prefer to go where there is railroad communication. Nevertheless, with regular automobile connection with Santa Ana and private con- veyances, the town continues to grow and the resort to keep many loyal patrons.
A few years ago Pomona College, recognizing the advantages of Laguna Beach for the study of marine life, established a summer school there and gatlı- ered quite a collection of specimens in aquariums and cabinets to illustrate the instruction. For the same reason, and also for its coast scenery and atmospheric effects, Laguna Beach has become a veritable Mecca for worshipers at the shrine of the fine arts. "Nature calls mightily here and answers the craving of every being who appreciates her wonders and delights in her beauty." The many artists thus drawn thither have formed the Laguna Beach Art Association and maintain an art display in the auditorium. Funds are being raised for an art gallery, library and music room in a new building. The present officers of the association are : Edgar A. Payne, president ; Anna A. Hills, vice-president ; Mrs. Thaddeus Lowe, 2nd vice-president ; Nevada Lindsay, secretary ; Mrs. E. E. Jahraus, treasurer.
The following appreciation, clipped from the Santa Ana Register, though not localized by the author, Thomas Wright of Tustin, will apply to Laguna Beach as well as to other places along the coast :
"Orange County, fringed on its western boundary by scenic grandeur-the blue of the Pacific that ebbs and flows on its golden shores-the waves that beat against the scarred and rugged rocks that defiant stand, as they have done for ages, as the breakers hurl their restless forces against the barriers placed in their patlı by Him who holds the seas in the hollow of His hand !
"In this wonder spot of scenic grandeur, the wave-washed rocks reflect the glory of the sun and the blue of the sky, with their countless thousands of beau- tiful stone formations in all the colors and shades and delicate tints of the rain- bow's glorious glow.
"As a lover of the beautiful, I stand among the rocks, in the misty spray. unable to comprehend the true wonders of creation ; the unfathomable mysteries of the deep; the wonders in stones, shells and sea life washed in by the tides. I hear the happy laughter of children who play among the rocks and in the sand. 1 see lovers of the beautiful who come for recreation close to Nature's breast, some to meditate, others to study the wonders in curious shells, stones and sea life washed in upon the shore. I think of the Master who gave to us Christian- ity, who preached to the whole world by the Sea of Galilee, teaching the unfath- omable Love of God, and the simple lessons of faith and trust-as 'the lily that
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toils not, neither does it spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' I think of the sermons in stones, in flowers, in every living thing in purple dawn, in sunset's radiant glow ; in life, in love, in joy and tears-the inexpressible grandeur of it all !
"Then I remember what the Good Book says-that it was the fool who said in his heart, "There is no God.'"
La Habra is the name of a rancho and settlement near the extreme northwest corner of Orange County. The town is one of the stations of the Pacific Electric Railway from Los Angeles to Riverside through the La Habra Valley and the Santa Ana Canyon. This valley contains some excellent land and, with its close connection with the Los Angeles markets, has a bright future before it.
Los Alamitos, named after a rancho of that name, is situated on Coyote Creek at the western boundary of the county nearly due west of Anaheim. It owes its existence to the large beet sugar factory established about 1896 by Ex-Senator W. A. Clark and his.brother, J. Ross Clark. This factory worked up 80,000 tons of beets in 1909 and 90,000 tons in 1910. An auxiliary company to the Los Ala- mitos Sugar Company is the Montana Land Company holding 8,000 acres of land in the Los Cerritos rancho, which is in Los Angeles County, near the factory.
Mateo is the last station of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in Orange County, about four miles on this side of the San Diego County line.
McPherson, two miles east of Orange on the Tustin branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, took its name from the McPherson brothers who were most active in establishing the town. In the heyday of the raisin industry McPherson was a busy place, but, with the passing of the grapes and the competition of El Modena on the east and Orange on the west, the town has not made much progress. However, the place is surrounded by fine orchards and maintains an excellent packing house, extensive nurseries, a blacksmith shop and other conveniences for a rural community.
Modjeska Mineral Springs is a mountain health resort opened up in the San- tiago Canyon.
Olinda is a bustling town in the oil district eight miles northeast of Fuller- ton. The wells of the Santa Fe Railway, from which the company procures its chief supply of fuel, are located here.
Olive is situated at Burruel Point on the Santa Fe Railway, four miles north of Orange. Evidences of an earlier occupancy of this locality were visible forty years ago in adobe ruins and abandoned ditches, and the present name of the town is said to come from a group of olive trees found growing at the west end of the point. The whole territory about Olive is one vast orchard and garden with many individual owners. In the language of a resident, "whatever soil, water and sun- shine will germinate, sustain and fructify in any part of California, can be grown in the vicinity of Olive." Here are located the large flour mills of the Central Mill- ing Company, which are operated by water power from the canal of the Santa Ana Irrigation Company, supplemented by steam power. The capacity of the mills is about 100 barrels of flour per day. In 1919, 335 cars of Valencia oranges, and fifteen cars of Navels and lemons were shipped out. Wheat, barley and milo maize are shipped in for the Central Milling Company, of which John M. Gar- diner is president. The First National Bank of Olive has deposits of $169,436.51.
Peralta, or Upper Santa Ana, is a Spanish settlement on the southeast side of the Santa Ana River about four miles above Olive.
Placentia is the name given to the territory east of Fullerton and northeast of Anaheim. The nucleus of a town by that name was started in the year 1910 on the Santa Fe cut-off between Fullerton and Richfield. Trains on this cut-off pass through orange groves, some of whose fruit might almost be plucked from the car window. Here are the famous Chapman orchards, whose "Old Mission" brand of fruit brings the highest price of any similar fruit in the world. The Placentia Library District was formed September 2, 1919, the vote in favor being unanimous.
FLOURING MILLS
FIRST FLOUR MILL, OLIVE
FIRST BEE RANCH, SANTIAGO CANYON
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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY
Richfield, a couple of miles north of Olive on the Santa Fe Railway, has been nothing but the shipping point for the oil from the Olinda district for several years. Now, however, that it has been made the eastern terminus of the cut-off. it has commenced to grow and several substantial buildings have been erected.
San Juan-By-The-Sea, or Serra, is a small fishing hamlet at the mouth of the San Juan Creek. Here the surf line of the Santa Fe Railway, on its way to San Diego, first strikes the beach.
San Juan Hot Springs, fourteen miles northeast of Capistrano in the San Juan Canyon, has long been a noted resort for rest and recreation. Here many people find relief from various diseases in the hot baths and enjoy the rest and relaxation which the mountain seclusion affords.
Smeltzer is situated in the heart of the celery district south of Westminster. The town was named after the late D. E. Smeltzer of Kansas City, who discov- ered the adaptability of the peat lands, when drained, to the growth of celery. Smeltzer and Wintersburg, one mile further south, are busy places in the shipping season. These towns are on the Southern Pacific Railway from Newport Beach to Los Alamitos.
Sunset Beach is an ambitious resort between Huntington Beach and Seal Beach. The coast line of the Pacific Electric Railway from Long Beach to New- port Beach passes through these beach resorts, giving easy access to the pleasure seekers from Los Angeles and the interior cities.
Talbert is the business center of the Fountain Valley region southeast of Wintersburg and was named after some of the leading citizens of that locality. It is surrounded by productive farming lands similar to those generally found west of the Santa Ana River.
Tustin, founded in the early '70s by Columbus Tustin, is about three miles southeast of Santa Ana. It is the terminus of the Tustin branch of the Southern Pacific Railway, and has a station on the Santa Fe Railway, southwest of the town, called Aliso station. At one time there was a horse car line from Tustin through Santa Ana and Orange to El Modena, but the owners, finding it did not pay, took up the track between Tustin and Santa Ana, and also between El Mo- dena and Orange. Although Tustin is near the upper border of the damp lands, it is still on the mesa and is surrounded by many fine orchards of oranges, lemons. walnuts and deciduous fruits. The residents of Tustin have always taken great pride in their well-kept streets lined with stately trees; in order to light the same. they have established a lighting district, similar to the one established at Garden Grove.
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