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| James & Hannah Alton with their children (L to R) Cecelia, Leonard, Gertrude, and Loretta Rose (in arms). (Photo courtesy Santa Ana Historical Preservation Soc.) |
The first segment of Alton was a stretch less than half a mile long called Alton Street in Santa Ana. It extended east from South Main St. In 1945 it was still an unnamed dirt road, or at least the name didn't yet appear on maps. However, the street appeared in the 1952 Rene Atlas of Orange County, as Alton St.
Prominent dairyman James E. Alton and his wife, Hanna Hallicy Alton -- both natives of Parsons, Kansas -- lived and ranched along South Main St. in the Greenville area (below Santa Ana) since at least 1901 when the first of their nine children was born. (James primarily made the newspapers when involved in Knights of Columbus activities or when picked up for public intoxication.) When the Post Office began home delivery, the road to their little farmhouse needed a name, and "Alton" was the obvious choice.
In 1952, James’ son, Joseph W. Alton, took charge of the business: J. E. Alton & Sons Co. At that point, James and his second wife, Frances, lived at 15032 Alton St., Santa Ana. (Hannah died in 1946.)
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| Looking east on the original segment of Alton St. near S. Main St., in Santa Ana. |
Later, it appears that Alton Street was extended east to Newport Blvd., then southeast into what's now Irvine, and was bisected when that segment of Newport Blvd. became part of the 55 Freeway.
As Irvine was developed and grew in the 1960s, 1970s and even into the 2010s, Alton St. was extended yet further and became Alton Ave. and (east of the 55 Freeway) Alton Parkway. Several more unconnected segments of Alton were also added to the west in South Santa Ana as more land was developed. Today, the western terminus of Alton Ave. is at Susan Street.
Alternately, Alton family lore claims that Alton Parkway in Irvine was not named for their family, but was named for someone else and just happened to line up with the existing Alton Avein Santa Ana. I've yet to find evidence for this idea, but I haven't disproven it either.
3 comments:
I drive Alton every day and never knew this story. Thanks!
Thanks Chris! I always enjoy any history about streets (says the guy who used spend his lunches in the Archives studying old Renie and Thomas maps)
I just received the following email, which doesn't tell us anything about the Altons the road was named for, but which still provides a little snapshot of mid-20th-century life in that area:
"Hi there, my name is William Alton. Loved your article on Alton Parkway. My father was Jerome Alton -- He was born in 1921 in Chicago, Illinois and passed away in 1997. . . He traveled the world and fought for his country in WWII. In 1941 he joined the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor, to the chagrin of his mother and father. He served at Guadalcanal and Bougainville and received four battle stars there. He was being trained for the mainland invasion of Japan, but the atom bombs probably saved his life. After the Japanese surrender, my dad was sent back to the mainland in California and was assigned to El Toro MCAS as a Marine Reservist. He looked for work and was employed by Knott's Berry Farm, helping package their products. My dad rented a room at a beach house in Newport Beach.
". . . My dad -- by then a Sergeant in the Marines -- was a larger than life character and apparently was a big part of a lot of stories around El Toro. He met the Altons [you discuss] in your article, but [they] were no relation.
"My dad used to tell a story about an O.C. Sheriff deputy who would always ticket Marines during their leave on the weekends right outside El Toro by what is now Alton Parkway. This one time, he led a group of Marines in full battle fatigues and crawled up to the patrol car that was hidden in the bushes by the road and chained its rear axle to a nearby tree. Then one Marine raced out of the base at maximum speed and the deputy took off after him only to lose his rear axle shortly thereafter. That is one of his Orange County adventures he used to tell.
". . . I remember, when visiting my brother (Jerome Alton Jr. born 1969 USMC served in Persian Gulf War) at the same base he served at fifty years ago, as we were driving down Alton Parkway and I asked him if it was named after him… he only chuckled… and kept on driving.
"Not saying it was, I just love connecting Marine Corps lore for the ages, in the OC. ... [My father] loved O.C. and served many years there after the war all the way through the Korean War, retiring as a Gunny (Gunnery Sergeant). His ashes will be spread along its coast."
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