Monday, August 18, 2008

Anaheim, the Mills Act, Huell, and a fig tree

I've received a lot of Anaheim news lately, and just haven't been able to keep up. This week I'll try to catch up. To get things started, today's photo is of Downtown Anaheim in June 1956. Nearly everything in the photo - including the Pickwick Hotel - was bulldozed in the 1980s. Click on the small inset image for a super-zoomed-in view.
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Thanks to lot of hard work by people who care, Anaheim is more enlightened today than it was in the 1980s. Case in point: Last week, 28 homeowners in Anaheim received Mills Act plaques and certificates for their restored/preserved historic homes. That's pretty impressive for a single year.
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Huell Howser’s recent visit to historic Anaheim will air on “California's Gold” on Sept 12 at 10pm and Sept 14 at 7pm. His guide, Cynthia Ward writes,
“We hit the Mother Colony House, the Pressel orchard, Pearson Park, and the North Clementine neighborhood… We did the Farmer's Market,… popped in for a surprise visit to the Muzeo and Local History Room, where staff recovered admirably despite no advance warning. We finished up at Linbrook Bowl and Anaheim High School. ...He was scheduled to shoot half an episode here and ended up giving Anaheim a full hour's program since we had so much cool stuff."
In response to a question Huell asked during the tour, there has also been much discussion of nominating the Australian Banyan Fig tree on West St as a historic landmark. Andy Deneau writes,
"The trees are generally attributed to Tim Carroll who [came from Austraila] and established the first major landscape plant nursery in Southern California. His ranch on west Broadway and Mable St is now the Fairmont School and one of the trees is still standing in the front yard of his fine old home. The tree on West St was planted by the Horstmann/Dwyer family as well as the ones across the street to the west… These trees were planted between about 1900 and 1915. Tim Carroll was also an accomplished amateur inventor. He invented a machine/structure for the automatic unloading of sugar beets from field wagons to rail cars. [Ed - This was called a "beet dump."] The patent model was given to the [Anaheim] Historical Society many years ago. Mr. Carroll's brother followed him from Oz and settled further west at Lincoln and Gilbert. That Carroll ranch is now the Ralph's shopping center."

4 comments:

Tris Mast said...

I would think Anaheim is more enlightened today, too, but how do we explain the awful changes made to the formerly-beautiful Anaheim Public Library on Harbor this year?

colony rabble said...

The Library was forced to update the entrance to comply with ADA. They met with the presrvation community to develop a design that maintained the original mid-century roots, while creating an entrance that was legal and usable. They even managed to match the old mosaic tile banding. The Anaheim Historical Society recently recognized Comm Svcs Director Terry Lowe and Librarian Carol Stone for honoring the design. Trust me, the one that was planned would have obliterated the original intent of the building. Not that I have strong opinions about this or anything. Have a great day. Thanks for the air space Chris.

Margaret Ann Ralston Dumouchel said...

ALERT CORRECTIONS:My name is Margaret Ann Ralston Dumouchel and Timothy Carroll is my great-grandfather born in Ireland County Cork. It is extremely discouraging to hear accounts of information that is not factually correct nor confrmed. Timothy Carroll actually traveled from Ireland by ship around the Cape of Africa traveling to Australia, then to Northern California; finally South to Anaheim where he settled in the open West Anaheim area and established the Evergreen Nursery. He imported trees from Australia to his nurservy after matching the climate and soil with in Australia with Anaheim. He was an incredible inventor of everyday household items as well as his patented "Beet Dump" later winning his patent protection claim 10 years after it's initiation. His model of his beet dump is in the possession of the Anaheim Historical Society, as well as his Lewis & Clark certificate awarded at the Lewis & Clark Exposition World Fair. It was Timothy Carroll's son, Joseph Carroll, who claimed his portion of the original estate at the corner of Lincoln and Gilbert Steet, where he lived with his wife Alouise Carroll and childen Elizabeth and Morris Carroll. Later Elizabeth Carroll built her family home several blocks South of Lincoln on Gilbert Street. The stores on that corner property remain in the family today, however the City of Anaheim removed the original Carroll Nursery Palm Trees from that property without notice or permission from the family only to move them to another location for one of its City Projects. That location has not been disclosed even to the family to this date. A sad commentary given the donations of schools and community services donated to Anaheim by Timothy Carroll, as well as Alouise, Elizabeth and Morris.

Unknown said...

I LOVE the library entrance re-design. I think the stylized signage is perfect!! It honors the original design while looking freshly modern, too.