Travel back to the 1920s aboard the Pacific Electric

The Big Red Cars in Orange County, (a look back at the Pacific Electric Railway), will be the topic of this year's annual dinner of the Orange County Historical Society, June 21, 2013. Even if you're not a member, you need to attend if you're interested in local history, the P.E., the 1920s, architecture, or just meeting friendly people. Let me explain this multifaceted evening of fun:

The event will be held at the beautiful Santa Ana Ebell Clubhouse (built 1924, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places). It will kick off with a social hour with a no-host bar and and great music of the 1920s, courtesy Josh McIntosh's outstanding record collection. Several rounds of walking tours of the historic French Park Neighborhood will also be offered during this time. The buffet dinner will feature beef, chicken, fish and (special order) vegetarian entrée, all kinds of good sides, and desert. Extremely rare silent film footage of the P.E.'s cars running through O.C. will run on the screen while we enjoy our meals and the company of friends old and new.

But the big feature of the evening is a fascinating and well-illustrated program about the Pacific Electric by Steve Crise and Michael A. Patris, authors of Pacific Electric Railway: Then & Now. I've heard wonderful things about a version of this program they've presented for historical groups in Los Angeles, and for this occasion they're reworking their material to put the focus more on Orange County.

Reservations are a must, so please RSVP by June 11. As of this writing, tickets are still available (and surprisingly affordable). For more information, visit OrangeCountyHistory.org or go directly to this PDF of the flyer/registration form. Confirmation will be made by email. If you attended OCHS' 2012 dinner at Knott's Berry Farm, you know you don't want to miss this year's event.

Ebell Club, Santa Ana, designed by noted local architect Frederick Eley in 1924.

Clara Mason Fox and OCHS

 

Lorraine Passero, author of Clara Mason Fox: Pioneer, Painter, and Poet of Orange County, will speak at the O.C. Historical Society tomorrow (Thurs., May 9), 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. (See the OCHS website for details.)

More than 50 years after the death of local pioneer Clara Mason Fox, a box found in an attic helped piece together the narrative of this remarkable woman. Clara's story, expressed through her art, poetry, and writings tells us that the Mason family left Illinois in the 1880s and were among the first settlers of Silverado Canyon. A true pioneer of her era, Clara served as perhaps the first schoolteacher in the canyon, and became an early Laguna Beach artist. She eventually travelled alone to New York City to study art at Cooper Union. After marrying local rancher George Fox and moving to El Toro, Clara was the first to write a history of that town.

In 2010, a serendipitous discovery of more than 150 of Clara's botanical watercolors—some dating back to 1894—were discovered in cabinets filled with plant specimens at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont. These watercolors are currently part of the exhibit “When They Were Wild: Recapturing California’s Wildflower Heritage” (March 9 – July 8) in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery at the Huntington Library in San Marino. The exhibit also includes work by other artists, including Alice Brown Chittenden (1859–1944), Ethel Wickes (1872–1940), and Milford Zornes (1908–2008).

Hope to see you at OCHS!

Visiting historic Wintersburg

Standing in front of the Furuta family home, built circa 1912.

Yesterday I served as a volunteer docent on a tour of the historic Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church/Furuta Family Farm complex in Huntington Beach. This site, which is in immediate danger of destruction, is probably the most important Asian-American historic site in Orange County, and among the most important in Southern California. The tour was led by Mary Adams Urashima, and was held in conjunction with the California Preservation Foundation's annual conference, which is being held in Orange County for the first time in about 30 years.

Me, standing in front of the Church's manse (parsonage), built around 1910.

I have posted about Wintersburg many times before, and I won't rehash the site's whole history here. It's at the corner of Warner Avenue and Nichols St. in north Huntington Beach. If you want to learn a lot more about it, I strongly recommend a visit to the blog, Historic Wintersburg. Mainly I'm posting today to share a few of the photos from our tour. Normally, one can't access the property, but we had special (and much appreciated) dispensation from the current landowners, Rainbow Environmental Services (until recently known as Rainbow Disposal).

Original mission building of the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church (1910)

Most good historians will tell you, there's no substitute for actually visiting the site you're studying and interacting with it. Even if the physical environment has changed over the years, a visit provides you with a sense of place and a picture in your head that help make sense of everything you read or hear about the site. It's hard to imagine writing much meaningful history about a place you've never been.

The Furuta family's barn (ca 1910) -- Likely the last agricultural barn left in the city.

One of the high points of our tour was walking through the Furuta family's barn, which includes several additions representing the various eras of history at the site. Lots of interesting details are visible, including a vintage walk-in refrigerator, exposed knob-and-tube wiring, cloth-insulated wire, original hardware, and wire racks for drying flowers.

Inside the Furuta barn, Carey casts a wary eye toward the ceiling.

The tour was a great experience, and I'm glad we had a bunch of locals in the group as well as all the folks who came to the conference from elsewhere. It would be too bad if all this effort was expended on people who feel no personal investment in Orange County. Not that dissemination of knowledge is ever a waste of time, but in this case the most important thing is to educate and inspire local people, who can make a difference to this preservation effort. Mission accomplished, I think.

A photo I took earlier of the newer church building (1934).

After the tour, we went over to the Huntington Beach Central Library, where we heard more about the history of the local Japanese community from Dennis Masuda, who grew up attending the church, and  from Dr. Art Hansen, a Professor Emeritus from CSUF who has studied and recorded the community's history for decades. Mr. Masuda gave us some excellent perspective and brought all this highfalutin' history talk back to a relatable human scale. And Art was both an inspiring teacher and a fire-and-brimstone evangelist for preservation and history.

Mary Adams Urashima, Dennis Masuda and Dr. Art Hansen at our panel discussion.

But most of the day came down to Mary, who did a fantastic job. Her enthusiasm for historic Wintersburg is contagious, and she is bubbling over with more stories about the site, (and the people who lived and worshiped there,) than she has time to tell. Every threatened historic site should have friends like her. My thanks to Mary and to all others involved in yesterday's event.

Weinermobile, Floral Park, Gospel Swamp & Fullerton College

SoCal music scene, 1969: A sidewalk jam session. (Photo by Doris Walker, courtesy Brent Walker.)

The photo above hails from Capistrano Beach, 1969, and shows actor Jerry Maren (Gerard Marenghi) as "Little Oscar," showing young Blair and Brent Walker how to play their new Wiener Whistles. (No snickering, please. This is a serious blog.) The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was visiting Capistrano Valley Shopping Center, at Doheny Park Rd. and Victoria Ave., which was built two years earlier and which featured a Vons grocery store and a Thrifty drugstore.

Maren traveled around in the Wienermobile (shown below) promoting Oscar Mayer hot dogs in the 1950s and '60s, but was also known for helping organize Little People of America, and for roles in many films. Today he is one of only three confirmed surviving Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz. (He presented Dorothy with a lollipop on-screen.)

He also had uncredited rolls in TRON, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Hello Dolly!, Planet of the Apes, Spaceballs, and the infamous all-midget Western, The Terror of Tiny Town. HE was also a regular on the bizarre Sid & Marty Croft show, Lidsville, and also portrayed the Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese in a series of McDonalds commercials that stole their look from the Kroffts' H.R. Pufnstuf.

The Weinermobile has appeared throughout O.C. over the decades, including in the 1967 Santa Ana Christmas Parade.

This weekend, April 27-28, will mark the 21st annual Floral Park Home & Garden Tour, in Santa Ana. This really is one of the nicer home tours offered in a historic Orange County neighborhood, and I'd recommend it to anyone. In addition to the tour of numerous "vintage homes and gardens," there will also be an antiques market, and a display of classic cars. Check out the details and ticket information on the tour website.

And now it's "mea culpa" time... In my last post, I said I didn't think that Carolyn Schoff -- the leading authority on the history of Gospel Swamp -- was involved in the Gospel Swamp History Festival tomorrow at the Heritage Museum of Orange County. Well, it turns out I was wrong. Carolyn will present a program entitled "What is Gospel Swamp?" at 11:45am & 2:15pm, April 27, on the museum grounds. It should be an interesting program in what will undoubtedly be a fun day. I apologize for the incomplete information I provided early.

The museum offers this information about Carolyn: "Carolyn Schoff was born in Orange County and raised in Gospel Swamp. After completing her graduate studies in Anthropology, she returned to the area 20 years ago, only to discover that her ancestors, the Forrest family, settled in Gospel Swamp in 1876 only a few miles from her home today. She has been fascinated with unraveling the history and mystery of Gospel Swamp ever since."

Fullerton College mascots Henrietta & Herbie Hornet, 1956-57. (See? I TOLD you this was a serious blog.)

Tomorrow is also the opening reception for "Legends and Legacies: The First 100 Years of Fullerton College" at the Fullerton Museum Center, 301 N. Pomona Ave. The exhibit "explores the historical, social, and cultural growth of the college and its relationship with Orange County through personal histories and collections." The reception begins at 6pm, and includes live entertainment, light refreshments, and a discussion with curators Carlota Haider and Christina Hasenberg. Tickets are $10 for the general public and free to museum members. The exhibit will remain on display through July 14, 2013. See the Fullerton College Centennial website for more information.

Big doin's in Gospel Swamp

In his book, Orange County Place Names A to Z, historian Phil Brigandi writes that "Gospel Swamp" was a well known place name in the late 1800s, which "referred to the marshy lands below McFadden Ave, south of Santa Ana, but it later spread across Fountain Valley... The city folk called their country cousins down in Gospel Swamp the 'Swamp Angels.'"

The old community of Greenville or Old Newport (no relation to Newport Beach) was at the heart of Gospel Swamp, and it stretched down toward what's now South Coast Plaza at the uppermost edge of Costa Mesa. But how the historic name has, in the last 60 years, come to be claimed by places as far away as Huntington Beach and Garden Grove is anyone's guess. I suppose people just love the name and want to adopt it.

Phil goes on to quote an 1873 article from the Los Angeles Star: "The swamp was originally settled by a number of families, among whom were more than the usual proportion of preachers, so the community was remarkable for their piety and church-going. Hence the name of the settlement."

The Swamp Angels were primarily Southern Democrats, and were seen as unsophisticated agricultural types. Despite their contributions to the region's development, their ways and appearance gave them a reputation as hicks or "pumpkin rollers."

On Saturday, April 27, 11am–4pm, the Heritage Museum of Orange County will hold the first-ever “Gospel Swamp History Festival," It's a good excuse for a family-friendly day of "old time" crafts and fun. The O.C. Blacksmith Guild, a local Quilters’ Guild, the Spinners & Weavers Guild, and the Victorian Tea Society will be there, doing their thing, and kids can make candles and such. There will also be tours and exhibits, and "performances by Native American dancers, storytellers, and living history portrayers." But I don't believe they'll be serving squirrel or possum stew.

It's also worth noting that the Heritage Museum is actually located in Gospel Swamp, and even has its own natural pond on the property -- a rare remnant of the swamp itself.

The festival will also include tours of the grounds and the historic Kellogg House (which is reason enough to check this out), and admission will be $5 ($3 for kids 11 and under).

The Richfield tower, Dana Point & Doris Walker

The Richfield tower in Dana Point, next door to Flake Brothers Burgers.

Brent Walker continues to find, scan, and share more great photos taken by his mother, the late local historian Doris Walker. The image above shows the Richfield Oil tower on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point in February 1969, shortly before it was taken down. It was built in 1928 -- not coincidentally the same year construction began on Richfield's corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, which featured a very similar tower at its apex.

At night, the five-foot-tall blue neon letters cast a glow on PCH.

I blogged about the Dana Point tower back in 2008, but didn't have images anywhere near this good. It was one of 36 such towers constructed 50 miles apart from each other along the California coast. Drivers saw it from great distances along PCH, especially at night, and it was visible far out at sea. But Richfield claimed they were "aerial beacons," guiding airplanes safely up and down the California Coast. The ad shown below, which I found in the Dec. 13, 1928 edition of the Huntington Beach News, promotes the radio broadcast that dedicated the whole string of Richfield towers.

You may also remember KHJ as the pre-1989 call letters for TV's Channel 9.

Speaking of Doris Walker, I attended the ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony for the Doris Walker Overlook at Heritage Park (at the end of Old Golden Lantern) in Dana Point. It's kind of a park within a park, and offers an outstanding view of the harbor, the headlands, and down the coast to San Clemente.

Civic leaders and Blair and Brent Walker dedicate the overlook, April 17, 2013.

 The entrance is decorated with "Disney rock" surmounted by several plaques, including one that reads, in part,...

"Doris Walker was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and began writing for publication at the age of eight. After studying English and journalism at Case Western Reserve University, Doris moved to Dana Point in 1963. She worked as an editor, reporter, photojournalist and public relations director while raising her two sons. A member of the Orange County Historical Commission, and a founder of the Dana Point Historical Society and Annual Festival of the Whales, ...this area's history comes vibrantly alive in her many books, including: Dana Point Harbor/Capistrano Bay: Home Port for Romance, Sections of Orange: Orange County, A Centennial Celebration, and the Adventurer's Guide to Dana Point."

The most scenic spot on the overlook features a very attractive bronze "book" depicting various elements of local history that appeared in Doris' work. The center of the site incorporates an existing cement depiction of a large compass, as one might find on an old nautical map.

Doris would have loved this.

It's hard to imagine that anyone -- even Richard Henry Dana -- was ever more enthusiastic about this section of California coast than was Doris. There couldn't be a more fitting tribute to the woman and her work.

Wintersburg still in the news

In case you missed OCHS' preservation meeting last week, at least you can see this video, which was part of Mary Adams Urashima's section of the program. This is also running on local cable.

To find out what can be done to save this important site, check out the end of the latest post at the Historic Wintersburg blog. There's an important meeting coming up on April 23, and they're hoping you'll attend.

Alert Ralph Story. We found another one...

I was walking around taking photos of the ruins of the Saddleback Inn and cut across the Santa Ana Elk's Lodge property to do so. In the process, I stumbled across this plaque: "Prentice Camellia, planted 1881. Orange County's oldest known camelia. Orange County Camellia Society."

There's only one problem... Note the complete lack of camellias!

On the other hand, note the old curbing, which is probably the last remnant of Judge Prentice's home. (See Diann Marsh's story about Prentice for a good yarn.) I knew roughly where the house was (across Elk Lane from the Santa Ana Zoo), but this pinpointed it. You can just picture the old man out on his porch yelling his unsolicited instructions at the workmen building the zoo.