Willard Smith of Villa Park

One of the most influential Orange County citizens of the 20^th century is barely remembered today. Willard Smith of Villa Park was a huge figure in the citrus and banking industries, water and land development, and most notably, as a County Supervisor from 1925 to 1955.

Willard Smith was born March 24, 1882 in the rural community of Mountain View (now Villa Park), in the house his father, rancher James M. Smith, built at the east end of Santiago Boulevard. (Now 18992 Santiago Blvd. at Sycamore and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.) Willard would live in the house most of his life. He attended Mountain View Elementary School and Santa Ana High School, and graduated from the Orange County Business College in Santa Ana.

As a young man, Smith tried his hand at various jobs. He left home in 1900 to work in the sawmills of Redding but soon returned to Orange County to start a citrus grove fumigation business. Next, he entered the photo engraving business, which took him to San Diego and then to Los Angeles. But the chemicals he had to work with were bad for his health. In 1906 he returned to Villa Park where he managed three citrus ranches and began raising prize-winning English bulldogs. 

Within a year, Smith was made president of the Serrano Water Co. (later called the Serrano Irrigation District), which served the Villa Park area. In that role, he was involved in the construction of the Santiago Dam and the creation of Irvine Lake in 1931. Smith served on the board of the Bixby Development Co. and was involved with the development of the Cerro Villa and Peralta Hills tracts. 

A financial whiz and already a stockholder and director of the National Bank of Orange, Smith filled in “temporarily” for an ailing cashier and soon also found himself in a lifelong banking career. When the bank merged with the First National Bank of Orange, he remained on their board for more than forty years and he served, at various times, as vice president and chairman of the board.

Willard married Edna Lee in 1910, and the couple had two sons, Dr. George Abbott Smith (1911-2002) and Willard Irving Smith (1914-1957).

Smith was a founding member of the Villa Park Orchards Association, and served as its president from 1913 to 1959. He also served on the board of the Orange County Fruit Exchange, and was a founding member of the Orange County Farm Bureau.

Smith was active in numerous fraternal and civic organizations. He was a member of the Orange Grove Lodge #293, Free and Accepted Masons, serving as Worshipful Master in 1918. He was also active with the Orange Chapter #99, Royal Arch Masons, the Al Malikah Shrine Temple, the Orange Elks Lodge, the Orange Rotary Club, the Orange Community Chamber of Commerce, and the Native Sons of the Golden West.

As a prominent and capable community leader, Willard Smith was an obvious choice when, in 1925, it came time for the governor to appoint a replacement for Orange County Supervisor Leon Whittsel, who had been appointed to the State Railroad Commission. 

Once on the board, Smith’s talents, experience, penchant for research, and community connections made him a force to be reckoned with. He was “the sparkplug of the county’s executive board,” wrote the Orange Daily News. “There is little of the sensational about Willard Smith, he is instead a quiet, level-headed executive who takes every responsibility in dead earnest and never makes a play for publicity.” 

Smith would not have run for re-election, but a contingent of friends and supporters arm-twisted him into it. He would end up being the longest-serving Supervisor in the history of Orange County.

Representing the Fourth District, he saw the county through some of its most turbulent and transformative times, including prohibition; the dedication of the Orange County Airport; the building of the Ortega, Imperial and Coast Highways; the Great Depression; the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake; the development of Newport Harbor; the 1938 flood, the construction of Prado Dam and other flood control infrastructure; World War II, the shift away from an agricultural economy, the planning of Disneyland, and the beginnings of Orange County’s post-war population boom. No other individual was more responsible for guiding and shaping Orange County during its greatest era of development. During his time in office, he served several terms as chairman of the board.

Although involved in steering the County through a vast array of critical issues, Smith was best known as an expert on county finances, water, flood control and agriculture. He also took a strong roll in forestry issues, fire prevention, and the growing population’s need for good roads.  

Politically, he was a proponent of keeping taxes low and spending revenue locally rather than turning to state and federal government for local needs. That said, he was more than willing to travel to Sacramento or Washington, D.C., when an advocate for Orange County was needed in the halls of power.

Despite his career and his impressive resume of public service, Willard Smith always regarded himself primarily as a farmer. His other interests were, he said, “incidental.”

Upon his retirement, Los Angeles Airways named their new heliport between Orange and Santa Ana in honor of Smith. After several years of poor health, he died in Orange on May 20, 1969. 

So much of what he created or laid the groundwork for is still part of Orange County today.