Beans, Glenn Martin, Fullerton Fire Dept, etc.

Today's image is by noted photographer Dorothea Lange, showing the cultivation of beans near Santa Ana in May 1937. The mules are pulling a four-row cultivator.
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Tomorrow (Saturday) will be the 96th anniversary of the first water-to-water airplane flight. Santa Ana's Glenn L. Martin accomlished this on May 10, 1912, taking off from the waters of Newport Beach and landing in Avalon Bay at Catalina.
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Tomorrow with also mark the 100th anniversary of the Fullerton Fire Department. They will celebrate with an open house, 10am-2pm, at 312 E. Commonweath Ave, including firefighting demonstrations and tours of their headquarters.
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I posted a bunch of photos in the O.C. History group on Flickr today. I posted all the old pier photos for a writer at Coast Magazine, who needed them for an article. Other photos I posted incude shots from last night's Orange County Historical Society meeting, and from the ongoing restoration work on the historic Howe-Waffle House in Santa Ana.
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I thought I'd figured out how to post videos here, but I'm told some people still see black squares where the videos should be. I'm not sure what the problem is, but if you're experiencing technical difficulties with these movies (like the ones I posted Wednesday), please leave a comment or send me an email and let me know.
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Also, I will not be giving up on my traditional photo posts in favor of video. I'd just like to mix things up from time to time.

Disneyland 1957: Tomorrowland & Frontierland

Today I've posted two excerpts from a great 1957 home movie of Disneyland in Anaheim. Our intrepid Phoenix correspondent, Greg Ottinger, found this footage in a thrift shop and mailed me the reel. Today's clips look at Tomorrowland and Frontierland as they appeared very early in the park's history. Both feature many long-extinct attractions. The Tomorrowland segment includes rare color footage of a very short-lived attraction: The Viewliner train. I'll post more segments of this film in the future.
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I added the audio to this footage, which was originally silent. The vacation footage also included trips to Marineland and the Grand Canyon.
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By the way, don't forget tomorrow's Orange County Historical Society meeting in Orange.

Ranchos of Orange County, Modjeska field trip, etc

The map above was taken from The Old Spanish and Mexican Ranchos of Orange County (1955), a booklet produced by the Title Insurance & Trust Co. of Los Angeles. (The map does not appear in all editions.) I trimmed off some of the decorative details and the areas outside O.C., to reduce the file size (allowing it to be hosted on Flickr and still be legible.)
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The Anaheim Historical Society will present a guided tour of Helena Modjeska’s home, "Arden" on May 31. The home of the famous Polish actress was designed by architect Stanford White and is now part of a County historic park. The tour will begin in the morning with a bus trip beginning in Downtown Anaheim. It’s $25 for transportation and $5 for a box lunch (unless you want to bring your own). For further details or to sign up, contact Helen at (714) 774-2077.
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I was a little surprised at the lack of response to the Knott's Berry Farm videos I posted on Friday. Clearly, I'm unable to guess what people will find interesting. Sometimes I'll run out of time and post an image I think is sub-par, only to find a string of 10 comments following up on it. The only predictable thing about my readers is that you're unpredictable. It's a good thing I like surprises!

Walker's Market, Santa Ana, Questers & lifeguards

Fred Walker, long-time owner of Walker's Market in Santa Ana, died recently at age 96. Walker's Market opened in 1951 and closed in the 1980s. You can read more about Fred Walker in the Register's extended obituary.

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Today's photos show Walker's Market as it appeared around 1966. The top image shows just the market, at 1722 N. Tustin Ave. The second image (which I stitched together from two shots) shows an almost 180-degree view of the intersection of Tustin Ave. and 17th St. From left to right we can see Smitty's Pancake House, Bank of America, Kenny's 1/4 lb. Hamburgers (and tacos), a Mobile service station, Walker's Market, Triangle Shops (including a flower shop and a meat market), Security First National Bank, a lumber yard, Armstrong Nursery, another strip mall (featuring a dry cleaner's shop, "Steadman's," and Lemon Heights Realty), and a Richfield service station.

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I noticed a mention in the paper of the "Questers" - a San Juan Capistrano group interested in local history and in restoring historic buildings. Does anyone know more about this group? I can't find a website for them.

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This week, new author Kai Weisser will be selling and signing his history of the Huntington Beach Lifeguards at two events. On Wednesday, he'll be at the Sugar Shack in downtown Huntington Beach, 10am-Noon. On Saturday, he'll be at Barnes & Noble at Huntington Center ("Bella Terra" for those who just arrived on the turnip truck), from 1-3pm. Also, Kai is interested in doing more book signings, so let him know if you'd like to set up an event of your own.

Buena Park au-go-go

If it hadn't closed in 2005, today would have been Movieland Wax Museum's 46th birthday. The top photo shows Mike Tucker and his sister at this Buena Park landmark in 1962, when the paint was barely dry. I took the second photo last year on Movieland's "walk of fame," which is still accessible to the public. It's a who's-who of actors from 1970s and '80 TV and B-movies. The late Herve "Tattoo" Villechaize's inscription is by far the most elaborate.

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Speaking of Buena Park anniversaries, tomorrow (Monday) will be the 117th anniversary of the Buena Park School District.

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Further expanding on our theme,... Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of Mott's Miniatures in the historic Jeffries Barn at Knott's Berry Farm. Sadly, the Mott's were pushed out in 1992. I knew their amazing collection of miniatures had been auctioned off, but I had no idea where they'd ended up. Until now. Ken at OutsideTheBerm let the cat out of the bag on Friday.

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As "EDGE4194" pointed out in our comments section, I've added some new links to this site, including one to HistoricAerials.com. Old aerial photos fascinate historians the way yarn fascinates kittens.

Orange County street name changes

This is a view looking north on Los Angeles St (now Anaheim Blvd) in Downtown Anaheim, around 1900. Notice the lack of paving.
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Today's post rounds out our series on changing Orange County street names. I'm sure it won't be the last you'll hear on the topic, but the bulk of the information is either here or is linked from here. So, for your reference and amusement, here's another list:

• Alameda (Orange) is now Hewes St.
• Bay Blvd (Seal Beach) is now Seal Beach Blvd.
• Brea Canyon Rd (Fullerton) is now Brea Blvd.
• Bryant (Garden Grove) is now Orangewood Ave.
• Cypress Ave. is now State College Blvd.
• Hansen is now Knott
• Hiatt (La Habra), Nicolas (Fullerton), and Verano are now Euclid Ave.
• Huntington (Garden Grove) is now Nelson St.
• Miller (Buena Park) is now Valley View St.
• Oak St (Westminster) is now Hoover St.
• Old Newport Rd., Berrydale and Greenville St are now Fairview St.
• Palisades Rd. is now Bristol St.
• Pioneer (east of State College) is now Yorba Linda Blvd.
• South Main Extension is now MacArthur Blvd.
• Sugar St and (the old) Fairview St are now McFadden Ave.
• Taylor is now Lakeview Ave (south of Orangethorpe)
• Villa Park Rd and Vista (in the City of Orange) are now Katella Ave.

Previous street-name-change entries on the O.C. History Roundup:

• Anaheim Street Name Changes
• Brea Street Name Changes
• Huntington Beach Street Name Changes
• Irvine Street Name Changes
• Harbor Blvd Name Changes
• Beach Blvd Name Changes

Calico Mine Ride, Bud Hurlbut, RSM, grants, etc.

Today we're taking a look at the Calico Mine Ride, which opened at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park in 1960. This attraction was designed, built and owned by the innovative Mr. Bud Hurlbut, who also gave us such trend-setting attraction as the Timber Mountain Log Ride.
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This is also my first attempt at posting a video to my blog, so please be patient with any technical difficulties. I boiled this footage down from the half-hour long 1960 film, "A Family Builds A Mountain," which we have a copy of at the O.C. Archives. In my edited version here, only small portions of the attraction can be seen.
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A historical society for the City of Rancho Santa Margarita was launched on April 23rd.
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The History Channel is trying to encourage young people to become historical preservationists through their Save Our History grant program. Museums, historic sites, historical societies, preservation organizations and libraries are invited to partner with a local school or youth group and apply for funding to help preserve the history of their communities. Deadline: June 6.

Railroads, Bob Battin, "Fire In The Morning," etc.

The 10th annual Fullerton Railroad Days will be held this weekend at the Fullerton Train Station. If you have any interest in historic, modern, or even model trains, this free event is for you. Highlights include a chance to admire Disneyland's "Fred Gurley" steam engine at close range. Today's photo (above) depicts a railroad crew on a temporary spur at Huntington Beach, circa 1903-1910.

Former Orange County Supervisor Robert W. Battin died Tuesday at age 78. He served on the Board from January 1969 to July 1976. Among other things, he was instrumental in the creation of the Orange County Historical Commission.

The Anaheim Neighborhood Association (ANA) will hold a fundraising progressive dinner (at three of the Anaheim's best historic homes) on June 14, 6-10pm. The cost is $150 per person or $225 per couple, but the money goes to a good cause. The ANA is largely responsible for saving the Anaheim Colony Historic District from death by redevelopment. For details, click on the small image of the event flyer. (Yes, I know "neighborhood associations" usually goose-step for fun, and yes, I know that "progressive" is usually code for "far-left wingnut" - But neither is the case here. Trust me on this one.)

The pictorial exhibit, “Fire in the Morning,” will be on display throughout May at the UC Irvine Student Center (W. Peltason Dr at Pereira Dr). The exhibit features 100 photos depicting Mexican Americans of Orange County, from about 1915 through WWII. (Thanks to the exhibit’s creator, Yolanda Alvarez, for the info.)