Another mystery, SAAAB & Orange State College

Yesterday's mystery photo was solved so quickly, I thought I do another mystery post before returning to our regularly scheduled program. The images above also come from the County Planning Dept collection at the Orange County Archives, and both were taken in 1964. Anyone know where? It's even possible that County planners took these photos outside O.C. just to show examples of waterfront development. I'm not even sure if these are different views of the same lake. As always, any light you can shed is appreciated. (As you can see, the second image is a large panorama I cobbled together from several slides.) As always, click the images to enlarge them.

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Regular reader Bulldog24 solved yesterday's photo mystery, identifying the image as the "Orange County Sheriff's Range on Katella Ave east of the Santa Ana River." He also sent me the following items of interest via email,...

"The Range office was a building from the Santa Ana Army Air Base as I recall, located behind where the person taking the photograph was standing. The Range had a nice Commons area with an huge red brick BBQ. ...I think the old range office building ...may be the last remnant of the original range facility standing.

"Speaking of old buildings from the Santa Ana Army Air Base. I was told years ago that the Cal State Fullerton Police building off of State College Blvd was also one of buildings taken from the old base. The buildings housing the CSUF Police Station, child care, and physical plant buildings were all taken from the base. They are on Gymnasium Drive at State College. The new CSUF Police Facility is being built just south of the old station. These are one story long wood frame buildings. I am told these buildings are the LAST of the Original "Orange State College" buildings (classrooms) from when the school began. Don't know if they will save any of these when the PD moves into their new home."

Mystery photo, Rossmoor, Fairhaven, OCHS, etc.

The mystery photo above shows a shooting range in Orange County around 1960. I don't know anything else about the image other than the fact that it was taken by someone in the County Planning Dept. and that it is now part of the Orange County Archives collection. Anyone know more? (I love the snappy hat on the guy on the right!)
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D.D. is looking for older photos of Jack L. Weaver Elementary School in Rossmoor. If you have some to share, please email D.D. (a Weaver alumnus) directly. Appearantly, the school was closed for a while but reopened in 1996.
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Lou Carlson of Fairhaven Cemetery will discuss Fairhaven's historical aspects at the next Orange County Historical Society meeting, Oct. 9, 7:30pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. (And many thanks to Trinity Epsicopal for continuing to be such a gracious host!)

Los Alamitos, Irvine, Dana Point, cemetery tours & Waffle babies

Today's photos are from the Los Alamitos Fall Festival Parade, held on Sept. 8, 1951. Not a critical moment in O.C. history, I suppose, but how often do I stumble across cool old photos of Los Alamitos?

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The retired Chief of OC Parks, Eric Jessen, will discuss the history of the Irvine family at a "walk and talk" tour of the Irvine Ranch Historical Park and Katie Wheeler Library in Irvine on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 10am. Parking and admission are free, but reservations are required. Call (949) 669-8753. The tour will begin in the library's garden.

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The Dana Point Historical Society will host their 2008 home tour on Sunday, Oct. 5, 11am-4pm. Details are available on the DPHS website.

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The Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society's annual Cemetery Tour will be held Oct. 18, 10am-3pm, at Fairhaven Memorial Park. This year's theme is "Medical History in Orange County." You'll hear the stories of O.C.'s medical pioneers as you visit their graves and tour the grounds. More information is available on the SAHPS website.

The SAHPS also recently dedicated the Evalene Pulati Santa Ana Room at the Dr. Howe-Waffle House. This exhibit room will be used to display a wide variety of artifacts from Santa Ana's past.

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Speaking of Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle, the SAHPS is compiling an updated list of "Waffle Babies" - children delivered by Dr. Howe-Waffle. If you or anyone you know of is a Waffle Baby, or if you know of one who has moved or passed on, please update the Society at sahps@sahps.org.

Valencias, Judge Harold T. Stone, Fullerton & Knott's

The first grove of Valencia orange trees in California was planted in 1880 by R.H. Gilman on land which then belonged to the Placentia Fruit Company, and which now is part of California State University Fullerton. The Native Daughters of the Golden West placed a historical plaque on the site in 1934, which stated that "the trees are still in flourishing condition." However, it appears that younger Valencia trees have been planted to take their place. The structure in the background is CSUF's Humanities Building.
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What do "Night Court," supercharged engines, magic tricks and County Supervisor Chris Norby have in common? An article in today's Register explains the historical connections and how it all ties into local landmark status for a 1919 Craftsman bungalow in Fullerton.
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Phil Brigandi has updated the history of early Knott's Berry Farm on his website, changing the focus of the piece. "It's so easy to talk about all the things that have changed at Knott's Berry Farm," he writes, "but I thought it would be interesting to talk about some of the things that are still there -- and maybe get people looking around a little more while they're waiting in line for the next 'thrill' ride." Accordingly, Phil also provides links to "before and after" photos of many of Knott's early attractions.

Lion Country Safari

These photos were taken at Lion Country Safari in Laguna Hills/Irvine in 1971. Visitors would drive their cars through enclosures of wild African animals, including lions, elephants, ostriches, zebras, rhinos and many others. Many locals remember the escape of Bubbles the Hippo in 1978. Over time, Lion Country Safari grew to incude a variety of other animal-related attractions and shows, including the Zambezi River Boat Ride. Orange County's Lion Country Safari opened in June 1970, and closed in 1984. The original Lion Country Safari, located in Florida, is still open for business.

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Today's first photo (top) is taken from the latest round of uploads to the Orange County Archives' new Flickr site. Note the man who appears to be hiding behind the elephant.

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Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. It's been a busy week, followed by being down sick for a couple days. Given my choice between sleep and blogging, I've been opting for sleep.

Olive, citrus, Mendez v. Westminster, etc.

Founded in 1812, Olive is a small community just inside the bend of the Santa Ana River in what is now part of the City of Orange. It was long known for its flour mill and for citrus packing. You can learn much more about Olive on Daralee Ota’s great “Olive Through The Ages” website.
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Today’s first image (top) is a “Celeste” brand label from the Olive Heights Citrus Association around the 1930s. According to the Orange Public Library, "The Olive Heights Citrus Association was located by the railroad tracks on Orange-Olive Road, and was incorporated on November 14, 1914. It burned down in 1927 but was rebuilt across the street and when it closed in 1984, it was one of four remaining packing houses in Orange County." The second photo shows Olive as it appeared in 1912. (Click the image to enlarge it.) Note the mill on the far left side of the image

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Yesterday, the Register featured some stories of Ricardo Juan Valverde’s family, which came to Westminster several generations ago. His grandparents were significantly involved in the landmark Mendez v. Westminster school desegregation case, yet never told him about it. “No one in town, to my knowledge, had ever mentioned the case,” he writes. Interestingly, the Mendez family has similar stories about discovering the case by reading about it later in life. Anyone know why this wasn’t discussed among the families or in the community?
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The Register also published a fascinating review of Gustavo Arellano’s new book. I haven’t read the book myself, so I can’t yet comment. But the review makes it sound like his book is very similar to his work elsewhere.

The hovering head of Helena Modjeska

If you thought the two disembodied heads I posted a couple weeks ago were kinda weird, you ain't seen nothing yet. Check out the new addition to to the Helena Modjeska exhibit at the Old O.C. Courthouse Museum! The new artifact, seen in the photo above, is a life mask of Modjeska. (Resting on clear glass, it almost appears to float!) After the initial strangeness wears off, it's interesting to look at an accurate three-dimensional representation of her face -- albeit in somewhat garish colors.
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On Monday, the Register's front page carried a companion piece to Richard Harris' new book about old Orange County theme parks. On Tuesday, they wrote about the preservation of hundreds of oak trees near Cook's Corner.

Old-Orange-County-Courthouse-O-Rama

Today's images are both postcards depicting the Orange County Courthouse. The first (top) is postmarked 1904, but was adapted from a 1901 photo. Note the rather fanciful color scheme. (The building actually has a red roof and red Arizona sandstone walls.) The second card is slightly more color-accurate and is postmarked 1909.

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Speaking of old postcards, The Vintage Postcard and Paper Fair will be held again this weekend in Glendale. See Hal Lutzky's website for details. I'm afraid I'll be missing this one.

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Smithsonian Magazine's Museum Day comes to Orange County on Sept. 27. Numerous museums will be open and free to the public, 10am-4pm that day, including the Old Courthouse Museum, the Orange County Archives, the Pacific Coast Archealogical Society (also in the Old Courthouse), and the Howe-Waffle House.

Light Impressions will present a workshop for do-it-yourself home archivists on Oct. 18, 9am–2:30pm, at the Old Orange County Courthouse. The workshop is called, "Safeguarding Memories and Preserving Our Past," and is co-sponsored by the O.C. Historical Commission and OC Parks.For more information or to register, call Carey at 714-973-6610 or Marshall at 714-973-6607.

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OC Parks will also present two programs featuring Professor Beth Holmgren, author of an upcoming biography on Madame Helena Modjeska, the legendary Shakespearean actress who called Orange County home for more than twenty years. The first of these is “The Lady and the Star: How Modjeska Conquered Late Nineteenth Century America,”Oct. 31, 6-7:30pm, at the Old Courthouse Museum. The second program is “Helena Modjeska and the California Dream,” Nov. 1, 1-3pm, at Modjeska's home. Due to limited capacity at both locations, reservations are required. Call 714-973-6610.