Weber's Bread bakery in Santa Ana

Kilpatrick's Bread Bakery (From ad in Huntington Beach News, 11-1- 1928)

Although gone for over 45 years, the Interstate Bakers Corp complex (a.k.a. Weber's Bread Plant #28) is one of those Orange County spots that generates a lot of nostalgia and questions from the public. It was built in 1927 as a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival at 2656 N. Main Street, along the State Highway (now Interstate 5) in Santa Ana. It was Kilpatrick's Bakery until March 1930, when numerous local industrial bakeries -- including Kilpatrick's and Weber’s -- amalgamated as the Interstate Bakers Corp. The factory would bake for many brands, including Millbrook, Weber's Bread, Dolly Madison, and Four S Bakery. From this point on, the names Weber Baking Co. and Interstate Bakers Corp. seem to be used almost interchangeably for the facility. Numerous additions were built onto the bakery, including in 1941, 1963, and an attached retail bakery store in 1968. 

North Main St. at the I-5 in Santa Ana, 1959

In a strange twist of corporate diversification, Interstate was acquired by Data Processing Financial & General Corp. in 1975. By 1978, most locals associated the place more for it's "thrift bakery" retail shop than for the factory itself. And the Carter Era "malaise" made discounted day-old bread even more popular.

But it was also an era of corporate consolidations and streamlining. After closing the Main Street facility, Interstate Brands Corp. sold the property in 1980 to the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Ana. Between city redevelopment efforts and new freeway expansions and overcrossings by the State, the entire area underwent significant change. Along with the nearby (and also-well-remembered) Skate Ranch, the bakery complex was soon demolished.