Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Fairhaven, SAAAB, Marie Schmidt, Brea, etc.

 The old Howe-Waffle House in Santa Ana seems to reflect each season -- And with all that orange and white trim, Halloween is no exception. Note that the sign in the window now advertises the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society's annual Cemetery Tour, which will be held at Fairhaven Cemetery on Oct. 20th, 10am-3pm. A lot more information is available on their website.

Meanwhile, down at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, I'm told that one of the few remaining buildings from the Santa Ana Army Air Base (shown below) is scheduled to disappear. It appears that the veterans memorial garden that was once a fixture in front if this building has already disappeared, although the flagpole remains. It seems a shame to see the remnants of the SAAAB disappearing one by one.
Historical volunteer extraordinaire Marie Schmidt passed away Oct. 1 at age 94. It was only last year that Marie retired from her volunteer work at the Placentia Public Library’s History Room -- which she, along with Pat Irot and Pat Jertberg -- created in 1991. She was also an active member of the Placentia Historical Society, the Orange County Historical Society, the Yorba Linda Historical Society and the Placentia Library District Historical Committee, and was a docent at the historic Bradford House. Marie was one of the most productive volunteers in local history, and the Placentia History Room is a fine testament to her work in our field. Let us hope that future generations pick up where she left off. Marie leaves a large family and many friends and will be greatly missed.
The photo above shows crucibles and stirring rods found by archaeologists near historic mining sites in Orange County. I took this picture recently at the John D. Cooper Archaeological & Paleontological Center. Wish I had more information on these, but even without context they're pretty interesting. I'll post a few more photos from the Cooper Center soon.

The Brea Historical Society has unveiled a new publication, Brea, Then & Now, (shown below), which features hundreds of photographs of people, places, and events from throughout the community's history. The author is Tim Harvey, and the book is available for $30 at the Brea Museum & Heritage Center, the Brea Civic Center (Community Development office), That Frame Place, and Aljon Graphics.
Does anyone have any OLD pictures of the Huntington Beach City Jail, wedged into the alley between Main St. and 5th St? The building still stands (behind the Sugar Shack cafe), but modern photos won't help this time. We're trying to confirm that the big sliding doors indeed date back to the time of the structure's use as a jail.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was just at the Fairgrounds last month (while on a visit) and noticed that just about all the old buildings are gone. Now this one too...the old Infirmary to go? BTW, the building roof frame did look a bit tired. Perhaps the building is just beyond economic repair. It wasn't built to be permanent, but nonetheless, something should be preserved from the past. And this one is quite typical of what was there. PS...back in the early 60s I recall a few barracks buildings on the OCC property...all long gone of course.