Free O.C. history books online!

I've added a list of links to free online local history books in the column of links on the right side of this page. Scroll way down and you'll find them just below my "Land & Property" links. 

San Francisco Cable Cars at Knott's Berry Farm

A Cable Car running through the Knott's Berry Farm parking lot, 1965.

My new article about the San Francisco Cable Cars that once operated at Knott's Berry Farm is now available online at my pal Werner Weiss' excellent website, Yesterland.com. Click on over for the article and loads of photos.

Ticket courtesy O C Archives.

The burning of the North Hangar, MCAS Tustin

The early hours of the morning, 11-7-2023. (Photo courtesy Tustin Fire Dept.)

On the morning of November 7, 2023, we lost one of Orange County's most remarkable landmarks to fire. The enormous North Hangar at old MCAS Tustin has been one of the most recognizable parts of the local landscape for more than four generations. 

The two Lighter-Than-Air (a.k.a. blimp) Hangars at what was originally Naval Air Station Santa Ana were constructed in only six months in 1942 as part of the effort to protect our coastline from enemy attack. Each hangar is 17 stories tall, more than 1,000 feet long, 300 feet wide, and could house six inflated blimps. There are no larger free-standing wooden buildings in the world. They are an important reminder of our military history and a testament to American architectural ingenuity.

The base closed after World War II, but was reopened in 1951 (during the Korean War) as Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana, primarily as a helicopter base. It was renamed MCAS Tustin in the 1980s and closed for good in 1999. However, the Department of the Navy continued to own the North Hangar and leased it out for events, television productions and other uses. 

Possibly the first film shot at the hangars was This Man’s Navy (1945) whose protagonist was a Navy blimp pilot. In 1975, the hangars were used again in the filming of the movie The Hindenberg. Two years later the TV show The Waltons used them in an episode depicting "John Boy's" witnessing of the Hindenberg disaster. More recently, the hangars appeared in JAG, The X Files, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Pearl Harbor, the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, and lots of car commercials. Many Californians probably got to know the hangars best through Huell Howser’s California’s Gold, which dedicated an episode to these enormous historic buildings.

Note the scale of the fire truck (left) compared to the hangar. (Photo courtesy Leslie Stone)

From the minute the base closure was announced, there were people who wanted the hangars demolished to make way for new development. But by 2009, OC Parks was dreaming up adaptive reuse options for the hangar as part of a combined historical and regional park.

 In 2012 the Parks Commission approved the creation of a regional park on a large parcel that includes the North Hangar (a.k.a. Hangar 28), the air traffic control tower, and a lot of surrounding acreage. At the time, OC Parks claimed they would preserve and adaptively reuse the historic structures. The Navy had already approved the idea that the North Hangar and the surrounding land would ultimately be handed over to OC Parks. Similarly, the South Hangar and surrounding land would go to the City of Tustin.

The author in the North Hangar, 2013.

By 2013, OC Parks was holding meetings and a few public events in the North Hangar to discuss the forthcoming regional park. That's when I finally got the chance to visit.

I've often heard the phrase, "I can't believe my eyes," but this was the first literal example I've ever experienced. My brain couldn't accept the hangar's enormity when I was standing inside. Looking at a standard-sized row of doors on the far side of the hangar did not help me grasp the scale of the building. I know that sounds nuts, but it really was a surreal experience. 

By late morning, at least half of the hangar had collapsed. (Photo courtesy Leslie Stone)

The park plans stalled when the building was damaged by the wind in 2013, causing damage to an experimental high-tech $35 million dollar zeppelin being constructed inside by tenant Worldwide Aeros. 

The extensive wind damage raised questions about the old hangars' integrity and how costly or even possible adaptive reuse would be. Repairs were not made, and the Navy (which still owns the hangars) did little to no preservation, restoration or maintenance. Finally, in 2021, the Tustin City Council finally put a stake in the heart of the park plans but said they wanted to preserve the site. 

Now, in the wake of the fire, the City says it remains interested in helping preserve the remaining hangar. The undamaged South hangar awaits environmental remediation in advance of any further reuse planning.

South Coast Air Quality Management District warning, the day after the fire began.

Historic tree cut down for streetcar

Tree at Sycamore St. and Santa Ana Blvd. by the Orange County Courthouse, circa 1920s.

On Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2023, I noticed that one of the historic trees surrounding the Old Orange County Courthouse was being cut down. The tree has been there since 1897 and has always been part of the classic image of this historic heart of our county. 

I talked to the crew and they said the tree was being removed because of the streetcar construction project that's [glacially] working its way through Downtown Santa Ana. The crew returned the following day to HEAVILY prune back the other historic trees along the side of the block facing Santa Ana Blvd. (For now, I'll hope that these other grand old trees survive the attack and return my focus to the excised tree.)

The tree is cut down on Oct. 10, 2023. (Photo by author.)

In the County's Old County Courthouse Historic Park Master Planning Program (1988), Historic Resources Planner Marlene Brajdic wrote, 

"The grounds include specimen trees which are designated on the Orange County Heritage Tree list. [Approved in the mid-1980s.] These heritage trees are Canary Island Date Palms, Camphor Trees, Magnolias and Coco Palms. To enhance the 'County Square' as the property was known, the camphors and acacias were placed around the perimeter in 1897. The magnolias and several date palms were established just following the courthouse construction."

Courthouse Square, circa 1898. The tree is barely visible and highlighted in green on the upper left. (Courtesy First American Corp.)

While I believe the tree torn out on Tuesday was a magnolia -- which according to Marlene would argue for a date circa 1901 -- early photos seem to indicate that this tree was larger than the other magnolias on the block and thus likely predated them. That would argue that the tree was planted along with the block's camphor and acacia trees by convict laborers in 1897.

Corroborating that assumption, the photo above shows the Courthouse Block soon after the 1897 construction of the County Jail (upper right) but before construction of the Courthouse began in 1900. The tree is barely visible behind other trees on the upper left. I've highlighted it in green to make it slightly more visible. There are also photos of the tree in situ *during* the construction of the Courthouse in 1900. (See below.)

Tree appears on far left (highlighted in green) during construction of the Courthouse, 1900.

The heritage trees ringing the Courthouse Block are an integral part of one of the County's most beloved and instantly recognizable historic sites. They bring beauty and an added sense of stability not just to the block but also to the Santa Ana Civic Center and Downtown Santa Ana. They provide homes to a great numbers of birds, bees and squirrels. And they've provided the shady backdrop for countless thousands of wedding pictures over the past 126 years. It's a crying shame to see even one of these trees destroyed.

Aerial view of Courthouse Block, circa 1910. Tree highlighted in green.

The destruction is even sadder when you consider that it was all done to help make way for the 4.15-mile "Trolly to Nowhere" (a.k.a. Orange County Streetcar) project that will cost more than $408 million, which nobody asked for, which has crippled downtown businesses all along the route, which has wasted millions of man-hours in traffic snarls over the past six years, which will ensure horrible traffic problems for decades to come, which can't be efficiently re-reouted (like a bus) when needs change, and which will (like most urban public transit systems) likely end up becoming a deeply unpleasant if not dangerous way to travel. 

For what it's worth, innumerable OTHER trees have also been destroyed throughout central Santa Ana to make way for this boondoggle. I just happen to be focusing on THIS tree because it's part of a well-defined historic environment with which I'm very familiar. Consider it a symbol of similar outrages up and down the line.

The same tree, offering shade to Santa Ana Parade of Products participants and their horses, early 1900s.

If it's ever completed, the new Orange County Streetcar line will connect the Santa Ana Metrolink station (which itself is only reachable from a handful of mostly strategically inconvenient stops in Orange County) and take passengers to that hub of happiness we know and love as the corner of Harbor Blvd. and Trask Ave. in Garden Grove. And I think we all know what awaits us there, right?: An old Yoshinoya, a Shell Station and a check cashing place! Good times!

With all due respect to those who love rail in all its forms -- Light rail isn't and never again will be viable for Southern Californians. Yes, the Pacific Electric's Red Cars were swell in their day, but not so swell that people didn't switch to automobiles the nanosecond they could afford them. Almost every bit of Southern California evolved around the automobile -- not light rail. As such, there are no hubs. People live everywhere, people work everywhere, people want to go everywhere. One would have to tear down ALL of Southern California and rebuild it to make such a sea change even theoretically workable. Even then, we are almost a century past the point where residents would be content to be confined by the limited travel/commute opportunities represented by public transportation. 

The same tree is front and (just left of) center in this 1979 photo.

The only argument that may remain for these electric trolleys is that they will run "clean and green." But even that's bunk. Rather than burning fossil fuel IN the vehicle, the fuel will have to be burned at a power plant and the power transported by inefficient transmission cables to the trolley, wasting much of the energy in the transmission process. And even if we completely destroy the rest of America's deserts and other open spaces with endless windmills and solar farms, the resulting "green" energy will not begin to meet the demand during the lifetime of this trolley system. 

It's interesting that in the wake of the lovably Lorax-y environmental movement of the 1970s, the County of Orange created the aforementioned Heritage Trees list and policies regarding the protecting of such trees. (If anyone has a copy, let me know.) 

But today's "environmental movement" isn't all that interested in things like old growth trees. I will leave it to you, dear reader, to decide what they are interested in instead.

The view on the morning of Oct. 10, 2023. (Photo by author)

O.C. Q&A: Casual Restaurants Edition

Q: I remember a restaurant sign with Carl’s Jr.’s Happy Star wearing a sombrero. Is my memory playing tricks on me?

A: Nope. In 1972, Orange County hamburger king Carl Karcher started a Mexican fast food chain called Taco de Carlos. Menu items included California Burritos (chimichangas), Crisperitos (super-gringo chimichangas), machaca burritos, tacos, and green chile burgers. At its peak, there were 17 restaurants, but the chain fizzled. Karcher sold the restaurants in the early 1980s, but it seems that visions of tacos still danced in his head. In 1994 the first dual-branded Carl's Jr./Green Burrito restaurant opened, and in 2002 Carl Karcher Enterprises bought Green Burrito outright. 

Q. What's with the old church in the parking lot at Moreno's Mexican Restaurant in El Modena?

A. I'd love to report that someone formed a religion around Mexican food, but the truth proves almost as interesting. Orange County's first Quaker house of worship was built on that site -- now 4328 E. Chapman Ave. -- in 1887. Sadly, the Friends' building plans didn't take Santa Ana winds into account, and within weeks the place was literally blown apart. The sturdier 1888 replacement building served the Quakers for about 80 years and is now used for events and overflow seating at Moreno's.

Q. I remember a pink restaurant with huge portions near Disneyland. What was that place?

A. That was Garden Grove's legendary Belisle's, on Harbor Blvd. Harvey and Charlotte Belisle opened it shortly before Disneyland opened in 1955. Their enormous portions, vast menu, home cooking, and family atmosphere made it popular. Outside, a large man with a bell or a little person in a chef's hat beckoned to potential customers. Belisle's made a grape and lettuce-free meal for Cesar Chavez and meatloaf for President Reagan. If you wanted something that wasn't on the menu, Belisle's would still try to oblige -- from goat chops to ostrich eggs. The restaurant was demolished by the local redevelopment agency in the 1990s and replaced with a couple less popular chain restaurants.

Suspicious historians

I just stumbled across this Tustin Police blotter item in the Tustin News from Aug. 31, 1989: "Police investigate the report of a suspicious person in a vehicle at 235 South A Street. The woman in the car is studying Tustin's history." 

Haven't ALL local historians and preservationists been stopped many times for the "weird" behavior of documenting historic sites?  Ha!

Anyway, the classic California Bungalow in question here was built by Paul and Mary Anderson in 1922. And the "suspicious" woman was undoubtedly one of the volunteers working on the 1990 City of Tustin Historical Survey (which is a resource I use often now, thanks to Guy Ball sending me a copy). I'd bet money the suspicious woman was local historian Carol Jordan, who did a tremendous amount of work on that survey. Carol's now 95 and still great company. Had lunch with her a few weeks ago.

About those Al Capone stories in the Register and Orange Coast magazine...

Photoshopped image by Fr. Bill Krekelberg.

A lot of traffic has been driven here by coverage in the Orange County Register and Orange Coast magazine relating to my ORIGINAL ARTICLE about Al Capone and Rancho Santa Margarita. 

Want to attend my lecture on the same topic at the Orange County Historical Society this Thursday evening (9/14/2023)? CLICK HERE for details.

O.C. Q&A: South Santa Ana Edition

Diamond School, South Santa Ana, circa late 1890s.

Q: I've heard the name "Gospel Swamp" applied to areas from Huntington Beach to Garden Grove. Where was it actually located?

A: Today, every neighborhood with a puddle claims it was part of Gospel Swamp, because it's such a great nickname. However, contemporary records indicate that the name was originally and primarily applied to the marshy area at what's now the south end of Santa Ana -- from McFadden Ave. down through the South Coast Metro area. Soon, the name drifted over the Santa Ana River a bit, into parts of Fountain Valley. But no, the name did not apply to such far-flung locales as Westminster Garden Grove, or Huntington Beach. 

The name comes from the mid-to-late 1800s, when the population of that rural area skewed toward Southerners, Democrats, and pious holy-rollers. The area also featured an unusually high concentration of preachers. According to the late historian Phil Brigandi, it was George Lynch who coined the name "Gospel Swamp" immediately after attending a sermon by fellow pioneer Rev. Isaac Hickey. Soon the name was in general use. The more urbane Santa Ana residents began referring to the area's residents as "Swamp Angels." 

Q: A few years ago, they added a big arch over Main Street, just north of Warner Ave., reading "Historic South Main Business District." How did it get there, and why is the area considered historic?

A: The arch was built in 2007 as part of a redevelopment project. For most of its history, largely Hispanic South Santa Ana centered around the Holly Sugar Factory on Dyer Road. The plant opened in 1912 and was demolished in 1983. Many local residents worked there, and other businesses sprang up to serve them.  

The arch itself is a replica of one that stood over Highway 101 near Chapman Ave. before the I-5 Freeway was built.

Q: Nothing says California like palm trees. Where’s the best place in O.C. to appreciate them?

A: South Coast Plaza has an amazing collection of well over fifty varieties of palm trees from all over the world, including rare ones like Howea belmoreana, Rhapis excelsa, and Dypsis leptocheilos. Rows of Cuban royal palms along Bear St. (56 in all) are the only such stands of this species between Florida and Hawaii. The Segerstrom family, who owns the mall, is fond (not frond) of palms and even planted an additional 100 trees to honor the centennial anniversary of their family's arrival in Orange County.

If you go on a palm jungle scavenger hunt, be sure to check every nook and cranny, including parking lots, road medians, and the wing formerly known as “Crystal Court.” Adventure awaits! But unlike most tropical safaris, you should worry more about texting drivers than venomous snakes.