Happy 125th Birthday, Orange County!

Created by County Surveyor S. H. Finley in Aug. 1889, this was the first official map of Orange County. (Courtesy the Library of Congress)

One hundred and twenty five years ago today, on Aug. 1, 1889, the southern portion of Los Angeles County broke away to become Orange County. This is our quasquicentennial -- an event marked by County government this afternoon with a small ceremony and birthday cupcakes at the Orange County Fair.

On the day Orange County separated, we had about 15,000 residents, three incorporated cities, and no paved roads. Our growth was slow and steady, reaching only 34,000 by 1910. But in the following decade, our population nearly doubled. In the roaring '20s, it doubled again, to 120,000.

Prior to WWII, Orange County was centered on agriculture. Many crops would do well and bring prosperity, taking advantage of our ideal climate and soil, until a disease would wipe them out and force us to find something new, beginning the cycle again. Along the way, we had enormous success with grapes, apricots, walnuts, celery, sugar beets, chili peppers, avocados, strawberries, beans, lemons, and, of course, the once-ubiquitous Valencia orange.

The manpower behind all that bounty was provided by a diverse population, including Americans, Mexicans, Germans, English, Japanese, Chinese, Basques, Indians, and the descendants of the Spanish Californios.

Our first half-century brought the Pacific Electric Railway, colleges, new cities,  highways, parks, floods, earthquakes, multiple oil booms, an airport, Knott's Berry Farm, and the aviation innovations of Glen Martin and others. Those decades saw the growth and development of our schools districts, churches, civic organizations, water management and other infrastructure.

With the Depression and the war, growth slowed, and it took more than two decades to double our population again. World War II brought us military bases, most notably at El Toro, Tustin, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and Costa Mesa.

Things went bananas in the postwar boom, and the population more than tripled between 1950 and 1960, reaching 700,000 - a number which was more than doubled just a decade later. A combination of the "quick decline" disease, new tax structures that crippled agriculture, and demand for more housing brought an end to the age of orange groves and changed our landscape forever. The massive growth and development never stopped.

The last half of the 20th Century brought us Angels, Rams, Ducks, and Mickey Mouse. We became the home of megachurches, freeways, universities, modern venues for the arts, major tourism and aerospace industries, planned communities, a brush with municipal bankruptcy, and waves of immigrants from Mexico, Vietnam and elsewhere.

Today we have 34 incorporated cities and a population of 3.1 million - a more than 22,000% increase since our founding. Orange County also has a cohesive sense of place, identity and community that our older sibling, Los Angeles, never will. Whether we're from San Clemente or La Habra, we're Orange Countians first, and we're proud of our home. We have done well with our independence.

Happy 125th Birthday, Orange County! You don't look a day over 100!

Warren Earp in O.C.

Warren Earp, youngest of the famed Earp brothers

Most think the term "wild and woolly West" didn't apply to Orange County. They're shocked to learn we had cowboys, Indians, shoot-outs in saloons, posses chasing horse thieves, and every other Old West cliche you care to mention. Admittedly, we weren't home to many of the big names from the history books, but we weren't exactly out of the picture either.

For instance, there's no record of famous lawman Wyatt Earp visiting Orange County, but some of his famous family spent time here. 

In a 1930s interview with historian Terry E. Stephenson, Orange County pioneer Henry Sterling Pankey recalled Nicholas Porter "Nick" Earp, who’d been a friendly neighbor living near his bee ranch on the Temescal side of the Santa Ana Mountains by Lake Elsinore. He noted that the Earps would sometimes find their way to the other side of the mountains.

Henry S Pankey, circa 1885

"[Nick] Earp was the father of the well-known Western marshals and gunmen, Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, and Warren,” said Pankey. “Morg, I believe, was killed at Tombstone while the Earps were here. The elder Earp and his wife and daughter, and son-in-law, Will Edwards, and Warren Earp, were on the place. These three men all worked for me at different times. Warren worked for me at Santa Ana, on my property southwest of Santa Ana in the Gospel Swamp section." 

Indeed, by the mid-1870s, Pankey owned parts of Lots 1 and 3 (the Isaac and William J. Williams allotments, respectively,) of the Williams Tract, which had been subdivided in 1874. This land was along the east side of what was then the course of the Santa Ana River, somewhere in the general vicinity of what's now the intersection of MacArthur Blvd and Harbor Blvd in Santa Ana.

Detail of map of Gospel Swamp in 1870s, drawn by Frank Salter from memory in 1940. (Click to embiggen)

Warren wasn't with his brothers at the famous O.K. Corral shoot-out in Tombstone in 1881, but he helped Wyatt hunt down the man who killed their brother, Morgan. Later in life, Warren took to trading on his brothers’ notoriety, became a well-known bully, and in 1900 was shot dead in Wilcox, Arizona during an altercation with cattleman John Boyett.

It may be a thin thread connecting O.C. to the O.K. Corral, but it's interesting that any thread exists at all.

Williams Tract map, 1874 (Click to enlarge)

PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Christian, Carolyn. "Contested Boundaries and Intertwined Realities: Gospel Swamp and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints in Orange County," Orange Countiana, Vol.10, Orange County Historical Society, 2014, pp 17-33.

Pankey, Edgar & Libby Pankey. Love of the Land: The Pankeys of Orange County, Seven Locks Press, 2000.

Pankey, Edgar & Bonnie Pendelton. Edgar & Elizabeth Pankey: Family Life in Early Orange County, Orange County Pioneer Council, 1992.

Salter, Frank C. The Original Setlers [sic] of Gospel Swamp in the 1870s (map), 1940, Bowers Museum.

Stephenson, Terry E. & H. S. Pankey. "From Texas to California in 1869," Orange County History Series, Vol. 3, Orange County Historical Society, 1939.

Williams, Byron. "The Williams Settlement of Gospel Swamp," Orange Countiana, Vol. 11, Orange County Historical Society, 2015. 

Williams Tract map, 1874, Los Angeles Maps Book 3, page 114, Orange County Archives.

Travel back to the year of Orange County's birth

From the exhibit: A scene at the Hotel Laguna, circa 1889.

An exhibit entitled "O.C. Circa 1889" is opening, just in time for the County's 125th birthday, at the Old Orange County Courthouse. It will launch with an opening reception on July 17th, 7pm-9pm, featuring a lecture by historian Phil Brigandi, who assembled the photos and information for the exhibit. Please RSVP by July 14 to 714-973-6607. The exhibit runs through Oct. 10th.

Visitors will get a chance to see what life was like here in 1889, the year Orange County broke away from Los Angeles to become its own county. Rare photos of local communities, family life, agriculture, transportation, schools, recreation, businesses and notable personalities are accompanied by information telling the story of Orange County's beginnings. I've gotten a sneak preview, and it looks fascinating! Hope to see you at the reception!

W. A. Connoly's blacksmith shop, Fullerton, 1889.

By the way, there's currently a small display about Orange County's agricultural history on the first floor of the Old Courthouse, courtesy the Orange County Archives. Stick your head in and say "hello" if you decide to stop by and check it out.

Wintersburg secret revealed!

Mary Urashima leads a tour in the Furuta Barn at Wintersburg.

Wondering what the big Wintersburg announcement will be tomorrow? (Referenced in yesterday's post.) Wonder no more! The cat is out of the bag! See the National Trust's video announcement of America's 11 Most Endangered Historical Sites. Also, check out the Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force Facebook page for additional information.

Huntington Beach, O.C.'s birthday & Key Ranch

Huntington Beach Pier, April 1906

This weekend marked the 100th anniversary of the first recorded instance of surfing in Orange County. (There's reason to suspect that it may have happened earlier without anyone writing it down.) In 1914, to celebrate the opening of Huntington Beach's new concrete pier (the old wood pier, shown above, had been damaged in storms), a whole weekend of festivities were planned. Among the assorted revelry was a demonstration of surf riding by George Freeth. This story has already gotten a lot of coverage elsewhere, so I won't flog it to death again here.

Speaking of Huntington Beach,... There will be several interconnected events on Tues., June 24, related to the Historic Wintersburg Preservation project. First there will be a national press conference at Huntington Beach City Hall with mayor Matt Harper and the Wintersburg Preservation Task Force. Apparently, it's "big news," but it's all super secret right now! Then, from  11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., 10% of your bill at The Red Table Restaurant (16821 Algonquin, in H.B. ) will go toward the preservation effort. At 6:30 there will be another big announcement at The Red Table regarding Wintersburg. Keep an eye on HistoricWintersburg.blogspot.com for more information.

The Arches

Wood panel from The Arches, carved by "C. Abel," and found in Costa Mesa.

Recently, I visited Normandy's New York Hardware Co. in Costa Mesa. It's a delightful place full of both modern hardware (doorknobs, hinges, etc.) and antique mall brick-a-brack. And what did I find there, but a number of old signs and decorative panels from one of Orange County's most historic restaurants: The Arches!

It began as a service station, built in 1925 on Pacific Coast Highway, at the intersection of Newport Blvd. in Newport Beach. This was the same year the highway opened between Huntington Beach and Newport.

Historian Phil Brigandi writes, "John Vilelle (1897-1981) built The Arches. Originally he had a partner named James Sturgeon, but he didn’t stay around long. Vilelle & Sturgeon ran the gas station, and their wives, Fern Vilelle and Anna Sturgeon [later] ran the restaurant."

One of several wood panels from The Arches seen at Normandy's.

Ten-year-old Victor Chatten named the place in a 1926 newspaper contest and won five dollars. Clearly, it was named for the Mediterranean arches on the front of the building. Later, a diner and and market were added. The diner would evolve and improve over the years.

"Not long after prohibition ended in 1933, Johnny Vilelle got a liquor license, and started serving cocktails." says Brigandi. He sites as 1941 ad bragging of "unexcelled Steak Dinners and Good Coffee. Cocktail Bar in connection" and a 1949 ad for "Steak, Chicken, Lobster in Season, Cocktails.”

In 1936,  a large bridge was built nearby, taking Newport Blvd. over the highway at what was then one of the most dangerous intersections in Orange County. Soon, the bridge was unofficially dubbed "Arches,"  and the name stuck. Soon, not just the business, but also the bridge and the surrounding area was known as The Arches. It was a landmark, and remains so today.

An early image of The Arches service station (left) and market/cafe (right)

The business went through multiple sets of hands, but the name was always retained. The import of Arches as a place on the map was at least as significant as The Arches as a specific business.

Eventually the service station disappeared. And what started as a diner eventually completed its transition into a high-end restaurant and watering hole for the well-heeled.  John Wayne, Shirley Temple, and other famous folk were regulars.

"By the early 1970s," Brigandi writes, "The Arches was being touted for its French food, and – if the old Orange County Illustrated magazine is to be believed – the bar had a reputation as a place for 'swingers.'"

A view of The Arches from across the highway, circa 1955.

Dan Marcheano bought the restaurant in 1982. He moved out in 2007 and new owners (Los Arcos Newport LLC) moved in, fully prepared to continue the tradition of The Arches.

But Marcheano took the name with him. After a certain amount of unpleasantness between the old and new owners, Marcheano opened a new "The Arches" in Cannery Village -- and then, when that didn't work -- to a location on Westcliff Dr. This forced the owners of the old location to come up with a new name. Keeping a big curlicued "A" on the beginning of their roadside sign maintained a familiar look, so the place became "A Restaurant."

The Arches shortly before its renovation into A Restaurant, 2008.

 The new owners also found that certain infrastructure issues probably hadn't been dealt with in many decades. The entire restaurant was jacked up into the air and new foundations and plumbing were installed.

Meanwhile, the new The Arches on Westcliff struggled and finally closed at the end of 2010.

Revisiting the old Latin maxim, "De gustibus non est disputandum."

A Restaurant seems to be flourishing. I hope this original location eventually reclaims the moniker that everyone still calls it anyway: The Arches. Regardless, the owners of A Restaurant might want to get their butts over to Normandy's New York Hardware and reappropriate some historic signage.

More relics of The Arches at Normandy's New York Hardware.

Branding iron mystery

Someone walked into the Orange County Archives today with three branding irons he'd acquired from a descendant of Vincente Yorba, Jr. I traced the brands and posted the tracings above. The center one looks like a variation on Bernardo Yorba's original brand from the 1830s/1840s, but it's not exact. Do any of you sharp-eyed readers know the "who" or the "when" of these brands?

I can tell you some places these brands do not appear: They aren't in the "Historic Brands of Orange County" guide in Jim Sleeper's 2nd Orange County Almanac of Historical Oddities. They don't appear in the 1919 California Brand Book (the only edition I have at hand). They also don't appear in the little chart of rancho brands at First American Corp., which is also reproduced in Cindy Tino-Sandoval's Images of America: Yorba Linda. They are also absent from the county's old Brand Book and the other filed brands at the Orange County Archives.

So now the ball is in your court. Please leave your comments in the comments section below. Thanks in advance for any light you can shed.

The House of Bernardo Yorba

The historic Bernardo Yorba adobe, when it was still standing - Circa 1900.

The exploration and documentation of the ruins of Bernardo Yorba’s home by Don Meadows in 1919 will be the topic of the next Orange County Historical Society meeting. Historian Phil Brigandi, a longtime friend of Meadows, will tell us about this early adventure in local archaeology. This program will be held Thursday, May 8, 2014, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange.

(The previously announced speaker is unable to attend. We knew it was just a matter of time before the dumb guy who schedules OCHS' programs screwed up.)

OCHS also has a small book on this subject, The House of Bernardo Yorba by Don Meadows, available for sale. They should have copies available at the meeting and also sell them through their website.