O.C. History Roundup

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Calico (2)

2009-12-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some more before-and-after shots of Calico. The images above show the same view in about 1960 and today. In the second image, Phil Brigandi stands in for Walter Knott. It appears there's no longer a post to lean on.

The next two images show the Calico House Restaurant in 1958 and 2009. This is the big restaurant in town. Our time in town was limited, so we opted for hotdogs instead of going here.

The last two images, below, show the entrance/commisary for the Maggie Mine in the early 1950s and today. In the 1950s image, "Calico Fred" is the only person in sight. The current image includes a lot more people, including Phil, Katie, and a prospector made out of concrete by sculptor Claude Bell.

History and the Holidays

2009-12-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Today's photo shows Balboa Island's Marine Ave. decked out for Christmas in the late 1940s. I'm taking a break from my Knott series today to post information about some fun holiday historical events. Get out your calendar and start marking dates,...
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Come to a party, learn about local history, and do some Christmas shopping all at the same time at the Orange County Historical Society's "Author's Night" and Holiday Party on Dec. 10th. Authors speaking about, selling and signing their books at this event include Richard Dodd (Architectural Styles in Orange County), Phil Brigandi (On My Honor: A Century of Scouting in Orange County), Doris Walker (Orange County, A Natural History), Stephanie George and Carlota Haider (Sowing Dreams, Cultivating Lives: Nikkei Farmers in Pre-WWII Orange County), Jay Jennings (Knott's Berry Farm: The Early Years), Christiane Salts (Cordelia Knott: Pioneering Business Woman), and Lawrence De Graaf (The Fullerton Way: Fifty Years at California State University, Fullerton). The folks from CSUF's Center for Oral & Public History will also have a variety of their earlier titles available for sale. There will also be holiday refreshments and perhaps a visit from a famous (jolly) special guest. The program begins at 7:30pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., Orange, and is open to the public.
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The Orange County Archives, the Old O.C. Courthouse, and the Howe-Waffle House will throw open their doors for holiday open houses this Saturday, Dec. 5th. From 10am to 4pm, the Archives will offer behind-the-scenes tours and a rare weekend opportunity to do research using their outstanding collections. The general public is welcome. The Archives is located in the Old Courthouse at 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Room 101, in Santa Ana. The Museum upstairs will also be open and will offer crafts for kids and a showing of the movie "Rocky & Bullwinkle," which was filmed in the building in 2000. Also, the beautiful Dr. Howe-Waffle House & Medical Museum, just across the street, will offer refreshments and tours amid Victorian-inspired Christmas decor.
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The Anaheim Historical Society will hold their Annual Victorian Christmas Party at the historic Woelke-Stoffel House, 419 N. West St., this Friday, Dec. 4th. You have to see this Victorian gem (also known as "The Red Cross House") to appreciate how much restoration work has been done recently. Both the Woelke-Stoffel House and the even-more-historic Mother Colony House (next door) will also be open for open houses sponsored by the Anaheim Public Library, noon-3pm, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12.
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The Dana Point Historical Society's Holiday Open House will be held Dec. 6th, 2-5pm, at the Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan Ave. They're planning "an extensive display of the development of Capistrano Beach through the newly aquired Doheny Collection. There will be photos, tract maps, house plans, and [plans for] commercial buildings of the early 1930s."
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The Huntington Beach Historical Society will hold it's annual holiday open house Dec. 4th, 5-9pm, and Dec. 5th, noon-4pm, at the historic Newland House, 19820 Beach Blvd.
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No matter what part of O.C. you hail from, remember that memberships in city and county historical societies make great Christmas gifts. I suppose that sounds commercial, but becoming a part of these great non-profit groups really is a win-win situation that benefits the whole community.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Calico (1)

2009-11-30T23:18:00.000-08:00

The little town of Calico, near Yermo, California, sprang to life with a silver boom. At it's peak the place had about 1,200 residents. But like most boom towns, things went bust. After a short but lively existance, from 1881 to 1896, Calico quickly faded into a "ghost town," as seen in the photo above.
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In 1951, just ten years after opening his highly sucessful mock ghost town in Buena Park, Walter Knott purchased the entire real ghost town of Calico. He already had a couple personal links to the site. First, he had briefly worked as a carpenter during a short-lived scheme to revive one of Calico's mines. Secondly, Walter's uncle, lawman John C. King helped found Calico and was a key partner in its most productive mine: The Silver King.
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The Knotts rebuilt many of the long-since-missing buildings in town, and added a few additional buildings they thought would help the tourist trade. Like Ghost Town at Knott's Berry Farm, Calico soon had a general store full of tourist tchotchkes, a saloon serving boysenberry punch, a train ride, a gussied-up mine to explore, mule rides, a "Mystery Shack," and much more. In the photos below you can see what the town looked like during Knott's reconstruction effort in the 1950s and what it looks like today. Note that both images are taken from a similar angle to the older image above.

Ultimately, government interference kept Walter from making Calico the kind of financial success he had hoped. In 1966, he gifted the whole town to the County of San Bernardino, and it became a regional park. Today, visitors can see all the layers of the site's history: From prehistoric rock formations, to silver mining boom town, to 1950s roadside attraction, to county historical park. All of it is fascinating. I'll share more Calico photos with you in the coming days.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Buena Park

2009-11-28T00:06:00.000-08:00

Walter Knott and his cousin, Jim Preston, rented land south of Buena Park and started growing berries there in 1920. They soon opened a berry stand and then a nursery to sell berry plants. The before-and-after photos above show the original berry stand around 1926 and that exact same location as it appears today.

After a while, Jim left to run his own farm in Norwalk. Then Cordelia Knott added a tea room, which eventually grew into the popular Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant (which turned 75 this year). Their daughter, Virginia, opened a small gift shop which grew into a large one. Walter started adding attractions to occupy visitors while they waited for a table at the restaurant. Eventually, this string of small attractions led to a larger one -- A replica of a Ghost Town, which opened to the public in 1941.
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One of the earliest attractions in Ghost Town was the Wagon Train Show, in the Gold Trails Hotel, which appears in the before-and-after photos below. The older photo shows the hotel (new construction, incorporating a few pieces of buildings in actual ghost towns) in the 1940s. The "after" photo shows the recently rebuilt hotel as it appears today.

I won't give you a blow-by-blow account of all the ways Knott's Berry Farm prospered and grew. It's a pretty well known story. Suffice it to say, it was very, very successful, owing in large part to the hard work of the Knott family themselves. The photos below show a later addition to Ghost Town: The Calico Saloon. The first image shows it when it was new, around 1952, and the second image shows it as it appears today.

The Calico Saloon sat right across from the Calico Mine Ride and the Calico and Ghost Town Railroad on Calico Square. Why were all these 1950s and early 1960s additions named "Calico?" Stay tuned.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Shandon

2009-11-27T00:03:00.000-08:00

The Knott's long experiment in the Mojave proved a failure. Walter took other jobs nearby, including one as a carpenter in a short-lived scheme to revive a silver mine at Calico. (More on Calico later.) But it was clear that they needed a new start -- And that start appeared in the form of a job in Shandon, California, near Paso Robles. Walter was allowed to use a strip of land to raise fruits and vegetables for the ranch hands, and could sell anything they didn't eat. It turned out he had a lot left to take to market. Combined with income from Cordelia's new business making candy for nearby shops, they were soon solvent again.

The strip of land Walter farmed in Shandon is shown below. It lay between the Estrella River and the home of the ranch owner, which is shown above in its current (vacant) state.

On their feet once again, they were prepared when, in 1920, Walter's cousin Jim Preston suggested they move south and partner with him to start a berry farm near Buena Park. Indeed, without the time they spent in Shandon, there would have been no Preston & Knott's Berry Place (later known as Knott's Berry Farm).

The photo below shows the Shandon property from another angle. It took Katie and me a good deal of time tracking around Shandon to find this location when we visited last year. My research had only turned up a few sketchy descriptions of the property. Luckily, the guys at the local San Luis Obispo County Fire Station pointed us to a knowledgeable local rancher who in turn led us to the entrance of the Red Cedar Vinyard, where we found the ranch house.

Of course, the Knotts didn't live in the big adobe ranch house. They undoubtedly lived "in town." I never did figure out an address for them. The photo below shows the local United Methodist Church and gives you an idea of the kind of town we're talking about,... Small. Rural. A little bit charming around the edges. There are about 1,000 residents living there today. The ones I met were friendly and helpful.

Old-timers in town still remember the Knotts fondly, and recall being treated with the utmost hospitality when they later visited their old neighbors in Buena Park.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Newberry Springs (2)

2009-11-26T19:03:00.000-08:00

Today's images are before-and-after photos of the Knott homestead in Newberry Springs. Aside from the small house disappearing, things haven't changed much since the family left. But with no buildings to use as landmarks, the mountains in the distance were our only guide.

The photos above look west and the ones below look east. One wonders if struggling like pioneers in an inhospitable place somehow appealed to Walter Knott (who grew up with his grandmother's stories of coming west in a covered wagon), or whether it was just the free land that appealed to him. Or perhaps a bit of both.

Standing in the middle of the desert, looking at this land, one can well imagine how hard living here must have been for Cordelia. Walter probably didn't enjoy it much either, but at least it was his idea. And as Phil pointed out, "Cordelia was a city girl" and not used to roughing it.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Newberry Springs (1)

2009-11-24T16:51:00.001-08:00

The second stop on our Knott trek was the parcel of land Walter and Cordelia homesteaded in Newberry Springs on the Mojave Desert from about 1914 to about 1917. The photo above shows what it looks like today. The Knotts tried to grow grapes here, which proved to be one of their few significant business missteps. However, they still stuck it out long enough (three years) to establish the homestead.

The black and white photos in today's post are from the homestead and show the Knott kids, Cordelia, and the family dog with a number of turkeys. I don't know if I'll get to post again before the 26th, so I'd better make use of these gratuitous gobbler shots while I can.

If you don't hear from me before then (or even if you do), have a happy Thanksgiving!

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Norco

2009-11-23T23:37:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Phil, Katie and I headed east, out of Orange County (*gasp!*) to do a sort of "Walking in Walter Knott's Footsteps" tour. Our first stop was Norco, where we found the site where the Knotts started a second berry stand and nursery. It never took off like the original Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park. The photo above shows the Norco stand and nursery in about 1930, at the corner of Hamner Ave. and 3rd Street. (They also grew berries not far away.) The photo below shows what the same spot looked like as of Saturday.

Our next stop was in Newberry Springs, on the Mojave Desert, where Walter and Cordelia Knott homesteaded some land and went broke. Then we spent the rest of the day at the old mining town of Calico, which the Knotts purchased, rebuilt, and turned into a tourist attraction in the 1950s. In the coming days, I'll share photos of the homestead and Calico, along with additional information to shed more light on the Knott's story.

Postcards from Anaheim

2009-11-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more postcards from Tom Pulley's collection -- This time depicting Anaheim. The postcard above shows the Municipal Light and Water Plant. (Nod to Steve Faessel.) The image below shows an earlier incarnation of Anaheim High School.

This last image (below) is from 1916 and is just one of many similar generic card designs featuring Dutch children. (Their accents always seem more German than Dutch to me, but I could be wrong.) The pennants or other decorative motifs featuring the cities names were always added later, allowing the same cards to be sold anywhere as "local." I don't quite understand what the appeal was -- But then I don't really understand the appeal of Family Circus, Precious Moments or Hello Kitty either.

Huntington Beach historical documents

2009-11-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

Self-described "info sherpa" Richard K. Moore writes, "...With the assistance of library volunteer Stuart Gitlin, the [Huntington Beach Public] Library has digitized over 300 historical documents about the City of Huntington Beach and the Library. These scanned Adobe PDF files are useful to anyone interested in researching local history. For example, a popular school assignment is finding out how a local street got its name."

All these documents are now available on the library's website. (This project seems like the logical next step after the historical booklets Alicia Wentworth used to put together.) I'm sure I will spend way too much time reading through this stuff in the coming weeks.

Today's photo shows the Huntington Beach Pier, the Golden Bear, the Pav-a-lon and other downtown highlights in the 1930s. The crossed arches stood over the intersection of Main St. and Pacific Coast Highway. The photo comes from the collection of Barbara A. Milkovich.

Mission, Evangeline Hotel, Maze Rock, Disney, etc

2009-11-15T01:01:00.000-08:00

Today I'm posting three photos of Mission San Juan Capistrano taken in 1923. All three come from the Pierce Collection, which is held by the Old Courthouse Museum. The one above shows the Serra Chapel. The other two are fairly self explanatory, except to mention that the girl sitting on the fountain is Helen Pierce.

The historic Evangeline Hotel (1906) in Huntington Beach has dropped in price again,... to only a million dollars.

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The Bowers Museum blog has added posts about the business ledger of Don Tomás Yorba and the "Maze Rock" from Trabuco Canyon.

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Major Pepperidge recently posted some 1971 images of Lion Country Safari and the Japanese Village & Deer Park.

Stuff From The Park recently added posts about Knott's Berry Tales and about an event I'm sad I wasn't around to see: "Dixieland at Disneyland." Can you imagine getting to see Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, The Firehouse Five Plus Two, and all those other talented musicians perform for the (then) low fee to enter Disneyland?

And speaking of Disneyland, Vintage Disneyland Tickets recently posted some great Disneyland concept art from a 1955 McCall's magazine.

Knotts, last-minute persimmons, and Arts & Crafts

2009-11-14T20:43:00.001-08:00

Well before Walter and Cordelia Knott made their fortunes with berries and chicken dinners, they went broke trying to farm on the Mojave Desert. Farming on the desert may sound crazy, but today there are thriving farms in the area. Also, Walter had already experienced some success in the Coachella Valley -- land many considered relatively worthless in those days. Today's photos (all from the Orange County Archives) show the Knotts on their Mojave homestead in the late 1910s.

The photo at the top of today's post shows Walter and probably Virginia Knott. The image immediately above shows Cordelia with the children (probably Virginia and Russell Knott). And the photo below shows Russell with some furry friends.

I'll probably post more about the Knotts' desert experiences in a week or two.

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The 15th annual Pitcher Park Persimmon Party will be held tomorrow, (Sunday,) noon to 3pm, at Pitcher Park, on the corner of Almond and Cambridge, in Old Towne Orange. (Sorry about the late notice!) Our friend Lisa Ackerman writes, "Pitcher park gets its name from the Pitcher family who owned the parcel for decades. They deeded the land over to the city for use as a passive park, and the Honey House and small Pitcher Park Museum and Fire Museum also occupy this postage stamp sized park. People can learn about all things persimmon there, buy persimmons and persimmon baked goods, a persimmon cookbook, and enjoy blue grass music, too! A fun little homespun celebration unlike anything else in Orange County. Or anywhere else, for that matter! Proceeds go to benefit the Pitcher Park Foundation, which educates school children and the community on our agrarian and community roots."

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Local architect Richard H. Dodd will lecture on "The Embodiment of the Arts and Crafts Movement," Nov. 18, 7-9pm at Sherman Gardens, 2647 E. Pacific Coast Hwy, in Corona del Mar. The event is free. Call 949-673-2261 to RSVP. Mr. Dodd will also be among the authors featured at the Orange County Historical Society's Authors Night on Dec. 10th, which I'll tell you more about very soon.

OCC, Neutra, Knott's, Tustin hangars & Mendez

2009-11-13T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today I'm posting some photos of the old Richard Neutra-designed Art Center at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. I took these photos in 2000, just before the place was demolished.

The old Art Center was extremely functional and was an inspiring place to work. It also very effectively accomplished the California Modern goal of blending indoor living and outdoor living seamlessly. I'm sorry I didn't get more and better photos of the place before most of it was cordoned off.

Remember the "Knott's Beary Tales" ride at Knott's Berry Farm? Major Pepperidge at Gorillas Don't Blog has posted a great "fun map" of the ride illustrated by Chris Merritt, along with some other great images from Chris's collection. .

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, it sounds like the County is still looking for viable reuses for their historic Tustin Lighter-Than-Air Hangar. This is good news! If you have any economically viable reuse ideas, please feel free to post them in the Comments section below. It's certainly unofficial, but you never know who may be reading this blog or whether your suggestion might start a useful conversation. Indoor theme park? World's only indoor drive-in movie theater? I figure you can never have too many good ideas..

A new documentary about the groundbreaking Mendez v. Westminster desegregation case was shown today at Fullerton College. (Sorry I didn't hear about this soon enough to post about it earlier. If you have an interest in this subject, you might keep your ear to the ground for future showings of, "Tales of a Golden State: The Mendez v. Westminster Story," by Erica Bennett.

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I'd like to reiterate something my Blogger profile has said from day one: "This blog is maintained in my free time. Views expressed here are mine alone." In other words, this is my blog, and I'm the one responsible for its content. That said, I definitely welcome your corrections, complaints, suggestions, kudos, or other comments. I do the best I can, but I always appreciate an assist. However, please contact me directly if you have a concern. We can almost always work things out and make corrections if needed. Thanks.

Bolsa Chica and WWII

2009-11-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

Back for one more pass at Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach. During WWII, the Bolsa Chica Gun Club's land became part of our nation's coastal defense. Bunkers were built on the ridge behind the old clubhouse, and the area was dotted with large gun emplacements. The photo above by Doug McIntosh shows one of the bunkers being demolished in 1994. The image below shows the area from the air in 1954.

The most noticable extant features of the WWII era at Bolsa Chica are the round concrete gun emplacements along the edge of the bluff. (Not shown in this photo.) These were never actually fitted with guns. The contractors didn't build them to the military's specifications. Ironically, these "rejects" are the once piece of this defense outpost that still stands today.
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Sorry I didn't get a chance to post over the holiday. As always -- many, many thanks to our veterans.

Old El Toro and photographer Ed Cochems

2009-11-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

Jane Norgren brough in these photos of El Toro on the cusp of suburban development. (Probably the late 1960 or early 1970s.) The Old West was rapidly being overtaken by tract housing. A number of the old buildings in El Toro, including St. George's Episcopal Mission (seen in the first photo), were saved by moving them to Heritage Hill Historical Park.
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One of Orange County's best-known early photographers, Edward Cochems, will be the topic of a lecture by Michelle Light of UCI's Special Collections and Archives at a special event at the Old Orange County Courthouse, Nov. 19, 7-8:30pm. The program will feature Cochems work between 1920 and 1945, including many unpublished, unique images from UCI's collection. There will be a reception after the talk. RSVP to (714) 973-6610.

Cook's Corner

2009-11-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

The O.C. Gazette recently ran an article about Cook's Corner. I thought I might expand a little on the subject here.
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In his 2006 book, Orange County Place Names, A to Z, historian Phil Brigandi writes, “Andrew Jackson Cook settled here in the 1880s, and gave his name to the area. In the 1930s, his son, Jack Cook, started a lunch counter and bar at the junction of El Toro Road and Live Oak Canyon Road. Today, it is a popular watering hole for motorcyclists and other canyon travelers.”

Andrew J. Cook was born in Missouri on May 9, 1846 to Hyram and Roseana Cook. Voter records show him having a fair complexion and blue eyes. In 1850 he lived in Tomlinson, Arkansas. In 1870 he lived in Los Nietos in Los Angeles County. He married Mary Ann Barker in Downey, California on Oct. 12, 1871. He and Mary (shown in the photo above), and their many children lived in Phoenix, Arizona prior to moving Orange County. Andrew died April 20, 1905 here in Orange County.

The photo above (courtesy the Orange County Archives) shows Cook's Corner during the flood of 1969.

In his 1976 book, A Boys’ Book of Bear Stories (Not for Boys): A Grizzly Introduction to the Santa Ana Mountains, historian and longtime Holy Jim Canyon resident Jim Sleeper wrote, “Distinguished equally for its excellent cuisine and quaint décor, this roadside rest stands as the gate house to the Santa Ana Mountains. For nearly 30 years the author has found Cook’s Corner a wellspring of inspiration for distilling the truth about these mountains.”

The photo above shows the place in 1970.
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The website by the current owners of Cook’s Corner claims that, “...Andrew Jackson Cook... got about 190 acres of Aliso Canyon in a land trade in 1884. In 1926, his son, Earl Jack "E.J." Cook converted a cabin into a restaurant for miners and local ranchers. After Prohibition ended in 1933, alcohol begain being sold, and Cook's Corner became a full-fledged bar. In 1946, Cook bought an old mess hall from the Santa Ana Army Air Base and the tavern was born. In 1970, a Santa Ana motorcycle accessories owner purchased it and Cook's Corner was molded into what it represents today…an old-fashioned roadhouse. Cook's (as it is normally referred) is still as rugged-looking as a World War II-era-mess-hall-turned-biker-bar should look.”

Bolsa Chica Gun Club, Huntington Beach (again)

2009-11-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

In response to my recent post about the Bolsa Chica Gun Club in Huntington Beach, my archaeologist pal, Doug McIntosh wrote that in late 1994 "we did a job at the gun club site. Documented several of the hunting blinds and the pumping system which supplied fresh water into the marsh. The wooden hunting blind features were littered with old brass shot gun shells and broken Perrier-style mineral water bottles. It was a real treat to see these features..."
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Doug provided all of today's photos, including the culvert (with gate) shown above, and the old flume seen below. Doug writes, "The features are of milled redwood and dated to the gun club period of operation... The salts in the ground aided in preserving many of wooden blinds and flume system which supplied fresh water..."

The image above shows a Byron Jackson centrifugal pump (post-1909). The image below shows a wooden culvert. Note the oil well and bluffs in the background.

Doug also writes that, coincidentally, "In the early 1930s our family, which supplied the Alpha Beta grocery store chain with beef, leased some of this area to graze cattle."

The photo above shows the pump, wooden culvert, and Doug's shadow. (Dontcha hate it when that happens?) Another closeup of the pump and its platform are shown below.

Personally, I remember seeing even more bits of the old Gun Club still standing when I used to haunt this area as a kid. I wouldn't be surprised if things went missing between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. I took some photos back then, but I have to find them before I can share them here.

Capo Beach, Camp Pendleton, anteaters & Knott's

2009-11-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple old postcard images of Capistrano Beach (now part of Dana Point) from Tom Pulley's amazing collection. Both are undated, but I'm going to take a wild stab and guess they're from the 1940s.
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The San Juan Capistrano Historical Society's Christmas Tour of Camp Pendleton will take place on Dec. 9. The bus will leave the O’Neill Museum, 31831 Los Rios St., in San Juan Capistrano at 9am. Tour stops include the Ranch House and Bunk House, the Mechanized Museum, lunch at the South Mesa Club, and the LCAC hovercraft facility. The bus will return San Juan around 4:00 to 4:30. Reservations are mandatory. Call (949) 493-8444. Seats on the bus are going fast.
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Historian Phil Brigandi will speak on "Walter Knott and the Early Years of Knott's Berry Farm," at the San Dimas Historical Society’s Fall Dinner at the San Dimas Canyon golf course clubhouse, 2100 Terrebonne Ave. on Nov. 12 at 6pm. Click here for information on how to sign up. It’s $25 for non-members. Reservations must be made by Monday.
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UCI’s Special Collections & Archives now has it’s own blog: Anteater Antics. Their entries showcase random items from university collections you might not otherwise see. The items have been selected because they are "historic, nostalgic, or just plain made us smirk." Lots of good stuff!

Ken at OutsideTheBerm has been outdoing himself lately. In his latest post he shared an update on Chris Merritt's forthcoming Knott's Preserved book, as well as some early artwork by Paul von Klieben.

Santa Ana, Fullerton, Irvine, natural history, more

2009-11-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

This circa 1920s postcard shows a spot identified as "The Sphinx, Balboa Beach." Does anyone know more about this, or its exact location?
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Despite public protest, the City of Santa Ana will tear down over a dozen historic homes between the Civic Center and the train station as part of its proposed "Station District" redevelopment project. It sure wouldn't be hard to pick several dozen buildings near the train station that should be bulldozed,... but these aren't the them. Some of these homes predate the County itself. Luckily, at least a couple of them are scheduled to be saved, but I hate to think what kinds of threats the preservationists had to make to get that concession.
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A fire broke out in the historic Williams Building at 112 E. Commonwealth Ave. in downtown Fullerton this morning, causing a lot of damage. See the Register's website for more information.
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Disneyland Nomenclature has a new article about the development of the term "Cast Members" to describe Disneyland employees. Niche interest stuff, to be sure, but I think at least a few of my readers are in that niche.
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Dr. Jutta Burger of the Irvine Ranch Conservancy will address the California Native Plant Society on the subject of "Preserving the natural treasures of the historic Irvine Ranch" on Nov. 19, 7-9pm, at the historic Duck Club, on Riparian Way in Irvine, CA. She will describe the habitats, their regional importance, the vision and approach to managing them, and current projects. Highlights will include observations from recent grassland and sensitive species surveys, choice photos from wildlife camera operations, and plans for removal of invasive plants and restoration of certain areas.
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Speaking of natural history, these past couple weeks have been sad ones for those fighting to save Orange County's natural treasures. Joel Pasco, noted veterinarian, wildlife rehabilitator, and co-founder of the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach passed away on Oct. 24. (He was also the husband of Jean Pasco of the O.C. Archives.) And today I learned that environmental activist Dr. Jan Vandersloot, Director of the Ocean Outfall Group and the Bolsa Chica Land Trust (and my dermatologist during my pimply teenage years,) died yesterday. The State Coastal Commission adjourned in his memory.
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Both gentleman made great strides to ensure that our great-grandchildren will be able to appreciate the natural wonders that drew everyone to Southern California in the first place. The world needs more people like them.

1938 flood, wine, historical tours, Woodruff, etc.

2009-11-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

Learn about the big flood of 1938 at the Orange County Historical Society's meeting on, Nov 12, 7:30pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., Orange. Our speaker, Eddie Castro, witnessed the flood first hand, and is a member of several north O.C. historical organizations. The flood killed over 50 people and destroyed or badly damaged thousands of homes. Castro's talk will include film footage of the flood. (Today's photo, above, shows Buena Park during the flood.)

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The Old Towne Preservation Society will hold its biennial Historic Home Tour of Orange, Nov. 7 & 8, 10am-4pm. The self-guided walking tour of five homes and one commercial building starts at the Woman’s Club of Orange, 121 S. Center St. (at Chapman). Tickets are $20. Visit OTPA's website for information.

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The Dana Point Historical Society is hosting a bus trip to L.A. on Nov. 10th. Leaving the Selva Beach parking lot at 8:30am (returning at 4pm) the tour will start with a visit to Hollywoodland to see Sidney Woodruff's original real estate office (before he came south to develop Dana Point), complete with Woodruff memorabilia, and some nearby original Woodruff homes, plus other related shops and attractions. The tour will also stop at the Los Angeles Museum/Memorial (honoring L.A. firefighters who have died in the line of service since 1886) and the original historic firehouse. Lunch will be served in the former firehouse dormitory. The cost is $40. To reserve a spot, call (949) 248-8121.

The Anaheim Historical Society will present a short program on the history of wine making in Anaheim by Jane Newell (Heritage Services Manager for the Anaheim Public Library), followed by wine tasting and tapas. This event will be held Nov. 13, 6:30-8:30 pm at Orange County Custom Wine, 1211 N. Las Brisas St., Anaheim. The cost is $15 for AHS members, $20 per person for non-members, and as a special enticement to join, $25 per person for those becoming members (includes 1 year AHS membership). Please RSVP to Susan Faessel.

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The Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society will hold a guided Architectural Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Santa Ana, Nov 7, 2:30pm, beginning at the Waffle House Museum, 120 Civic Center Dr. Tours are $8 and last 1 1/2 to 2 hours. To RSVP, call (714) 547-9645.

An architectural walking tour of historic San Juan Capistrano will be held Nov. 7, 10am, beginning at the old train depot on Verdugo St. The walk includes adobes, Spanish-era dwellings and streamlined modern buildings, covers about a mile on level ground, and lasts 90 minutes. This event is held every Saturday. A $5 donation to the Friends of the Library is requested. RSVP to (949) 489-0736.

Infamous crimes of Orange County

2009-11-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

Larry Welborn is doing a series for the Register on the "50 most notorious crimes in Orange County history." Today is day two, featuring the story of burgler and serial killer Mose Gibson. Yesterday's entry was about lynched ax murderer Francisco Torres.
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Another case I'm guessing will eventually be covered is the 1951 murder of 10-year-old Peggy Hull by Henry Ford McCraken. The photo above shows McCracken being led back to his jail cell from the Old Courthouse in Santa Ana. The photo below shows Sheriff Jim Musick, Ranger Joe Scherman and others gathered around Hull's body after it was found in Live Oak Canyon. Some say McCracken's trial was the first major instance of a sensational legal case being exploited by television. In a sense, you can draw a direct line from the McCracken coverage to the voyeurism of the O. J. Simpson trial or the shock value of "reality television."
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McCracken's first trial ended in deadlock and a mistrial. The jury at a second trial found him guilty of murder. He was executed in 1954.

Writer Nathan Callahan has posted a fascinating essay about this trial and its effects on television and media today.

Casino, H.B., new books, Capistrano & Anaheim

2009-11-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

Today's photo shows Huntington Beach in November 1934. I'd guess our vantage point is from the end of today's Goldenwest Ave. The photographer is looking down the coast toward Downtown H.B. The pier is just visible.
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LAB Holding Co. has received approval to operate the landmark Casino San Clemente (1937) as a restaurant and special events venue. Frankly, I was getting a little worried about this place, so this seems like a big step in the right direction. It's harder to bulldoze a place when people are inside eating dinner.

Architect Richard Dodd has written a new book about historic styles of residential architecture throughout Orange County. Right now, you can only get copies through the author. I'll let you know as it becomes available elsewhere. You probably remember Dodd from his talks to many local historical organizations.

Rev. William F. Krekelberg has written a new history book entitled, Mission San Juan Capistrano. He says it features information about the Mission "that was unknown in earlier works." I'm always pleased to see someone break new ground! The book is available at the mission for $20. The author will sign books at the Soldiers Barracks (on the Mission grounds) Nov. 14, noon-1pm, and Nov. 19, 1-1:30pm. Light refreshments will be served.

Also in Mission news, Anthony Moiso is stepping down as president of the Mission Preservation Foundation after 12 years. He will still be on the board, but the president positional will be filled by George O'Connell. Moiso, President and CEO of Rancho Mission Viejo, was a founding member of the Foundation, which raises money for Mission San Juan Capistrano.
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I'm a bit late reporting it, but Cynthia Ward had a good entry on her Anaheim Life blog about the origins of Anaheim's Halloween Parade. (Stuff I definitely did not know.) Meanwhile, Ken at OutsideTheBerm posted some wonderful "haunted ephemera" from Knott's and Disneyland.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T00:22:00.000-07:00

The photo above shows the Excelsior Creamery float in the Anaheim Halloween Parade, probably sometime in the 1940s. The map below is from one of the earliest Halloween Haunts at Knott's Berry Farm, in 1976.

Duck hunting at Bolsa Chica

2009-10-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled across this image in U.S. Geological Survey's online photo library. It shows the Bolsa Chica Gun Club in Huntington Beach, just after the big earthquake of 1933. (Note the huge crack long the road.) Until yesterday, I didn't know the USGS even had a historic photo collection like this, but man do they have some cool stuff!
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While we're on the subject of the Bolsa Chica Gun Club, here's an odd excerpt from J. A. Graves' 1928 book, My Seventy Years in California,...

“The Bolsa Chica, a very aristocratic duck club, which bought a large body of land in the Bolsa Chica Rancho, near the present town of Huntington Beach, always had most excellent shooting until quite recently. The Westminster Club was near there. I was one of the organizers of the latter, and shot there many years. The Blue Wing [Club] adjoined the Westminster. I was at the Westminster one day, heard a shot on the Blue Wing, followed by a yell from various members, and looking up, saw the sky raining ducks. Mr. J. E. Fishburn, for many years president of the Merchants National Bank, wanted one duck to complete his limit. He picked out a big sprig [a.k.a. a pintail duck] and fired at it. A flock of sprig were circling in, ready to light. They came in range of his gun, as he fired, and he killed, with one shot, fourteen sprig. This seems like a hard story to ask any sane person to believe, but Mr. Fishburn is alive, and he and several members of his club will verify it.”

And what makes for a more charming anecdote than rich Angelenos slaughtering waterfowl? In fact, there were something like 13 gun clubs (a.k.a "duck clubs") in the Bolsa Chica area alone, to say nothing of all those near Irvine or in the marshes between Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa. Most members were rich businessmen from Los Angeles.
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Graves also gives an account of an standard outing to a gun club, circa 1911. He's awfully wordy, so I will paraphrase:
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After work on Friday, he would take the Pacific Electric or hitch a ride in a friend's "machine" down to Bolsa Chica. Taking an automobile let him avoid a dark, two-mile ride from the P.E. stop to the Club in a mule-pulled wagon. On the other hand, it meant sharing the unpaved roads with innumerable slow wagons hauling sugar beets to the Alamitos sugar factory.
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Once at the Club, he met with other members who would be shooting the next day. They had a hearty dinner together and selected blinds for the following morning. After dinner, members spent the evening chatting, reading, playing card games and relaxing before going to sleep.
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The keeper awakened each of them with a rap on their doors at 5:00 a.m. They put on their hunting gear, ate breakfast, and headed out into the darkness toward their blinds. Thirty minutes before sunrise, a bell rang, letting everyone know they could begin blazing away. Initially, they might see no game, but would hear a few guns popping in the distance -- sometimes at neighboring clubs.
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At this point that Graves regales us with a depiction of the slaughter and maiming of innumerable waterfowl -- All against the backdrop of the great outdoors and a glorious sunrise.
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By noon, most of our mighty Nimrods had bagged their limit. Having once again defended democracy against a potential duck incursion, they retired to Bourbon and cold showers at the Club. This was followed by a "good hot lunch" before making the drive back to Los Angeles.

First American goes digital

2009-10-28T14:43:00.001-07:00

Good news! First American Corp. -- which has one of the best collections of early Orange County photos anywhere -- is beginning to put some of their images online. Their website lacks captions, but it includes some great old photos. I'm posting two of them here today. Above is an image of employees of the Yorba Linda Citrus Association. Below is a circa 1960s image of the monorail leaving the Disneyland Hotel.

They've also posted a short video about the history of First American, which is worth a look. Let's hope this is just the beginning!