Origins of Street Names and Tract Names in Los Alamitos

Not surprisingly since it is the smallest city in Orange County, Los Alamitos doesn’t have that many streets and roads.  But some do have an interesting history so I thought I’d put down some of what I know  — or think I know.  If you have any more info, feel free to let us know.

Los Alamitos officially has 13 tracts — but historicakky, there are more than that.

Old Town West (west of Los Al Blvd) and Old Town East (east of Los Al Blvd.  and west of the hospital) – This was the original community of Los Alamitos laid out in 1896.  Three blocks on either side of Myrtle (now Los Alamitos Blvd.) and between Katella and Catalina.  The SP railroad tracks paralleled Catalina on the north side, and the sugar factory was north of the tracks in Old Town East, and cattle pens were laid out north of the tracks in Old Town West.

City Garden Acres – South of Katella, between Los Alamitos Blvd and Noel).  This tract was pushed in the 1920s by realtor Perry Green. The first families moved in in June and July of 1924.  By September, enough new residents had moved in that the Press-Telgram was reporting that due to the growth “south of town” Laurel School may have to hire a fifth teacher and the auditorium may have to be used as a classroom. By mid 1925, Green was pushing City Garden Acres as a separate town, and the local papers were giving it its own dateline, as they noted such improvements as the new two0story building at Farquhar and Los Alamitos Boulevard which housed offices on the bottom floor and a community room on the top.  Another article mentioned the new baseball field at Farquhar where “the Los Alamitos team would play this season under the colors of City Garden Acres.” The depression ended significant growth, but the term was still used into the early 1950s.

Carrier Row —(frequently mistakenly called Battleship Row) – located just outside the front gates of the NAS Los Alamitos Naval Air Station, Carrier Row was the unofficial collective name for three separate phases of construction.  The first was called the Alamos Ranchos tract in late 1947-early 1948 and it was Lexington and the adjacent three blocks to the east.  This phase had some construction issues — heating and flooding in particular.   The heating was fixed by the contractors and the flooding led to the construction of some storm drains and ditches in cooperation with the base.  By the time the next phase was built in 1950 (covering the next four blocks to the east) it was called Plainview Homes.  A 1950 ad in the Nickelodeon newspaper called the tract “The Plainview Homes (builder: W.L. Denton).  A third  phase c. 1955 was called Los Alamitos Park.  Then in Streets were originally named for the Navy aircraft carriers where Los Alamitos-trained pilots were assigned during World War II. Lexington was the flag ship of Fast Carrier Task Force, under the command of Admirals Bull Halsey and Marc Mitscher which was in some of the toughest and most important battles of the Pacific war. Other carriers in the task force were Essex and Langley.

Alamos Ranchos — The official name for the first phase built in what became Carrier Row. (1947)  An article in the Jan. 4, 1948 Press-Telegram says “First Houses in New Tract Almost Ready:

   Alamo Development Co, yesterday announced that the first group of homes under construction at the Alamos Ranchos tract in Los Alamitos is nearing completion and that several of the houses are ready for public inspection.  The tract is located on Katella Avenue near Lexington Drive.
Eighty One homes are included in the first group of dwellings being built, although 321 homes are planned for the tract… The homes are being constructed on unusually wide lots, with frontages ranging from 70 to 80 feet.  Three basic plans are being offered in frame and stucco.
All homes will have the long, low California stucco style and each plan will have a number of variations to preserve then individuality of each home and prevent undue repetition, according to the developers.
The tract office is located at Katella Avenue and Lexington Drive. Roscoe J. Wilson Associates, 3404 East Seventh Street is sales agent for the development.

Los Alamitos Park – the third phase of what is now usually called Carrier Row.

Los Alamitos Terraces (1949-50) — Develop Max Nessler and architect Robert Levy built this tract of 92 homes on the land north of Catalina formerly occupied by the cattle pens where herds were fattened on the factory beet pulp.  Nessler had earlier bought land from the Bixby Land Company and built a small tract south of the airport and west of Bellflower.  It’s quite possible the Bixby Land Company (the Jotham-Lewellyn heirs) still owned this land as of 1950 when the land deal was made.

Dutch Haven (1960) – South of Farquhar, west of the base.  Dutch Haven began its development in the mid-1950s in La Palma, which was the home of numerous dairies owned by farmers of Dutch descent. This might have been the first — there were certainly many after this — and they were all under the management of builder William Lyon’s Luxury Homes, Inc. brand.   Dutch Havens were developed in Placentia (Unit No. 8, July 1959),  Los Alamitos, Buena Park (Units 14, 16, 15) , Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Newport Beach and elsewhere in Orange County and in Ventura County’s Conejo Valley.  Lyon was one of the state’s top three builders in the state when  his company was bought out by American Standard Corp. in 1968.  Lyon would go on to found William Lyon Homes which had even greater success.  The model homes for the Los Alamitos version of Dutch Haven went on the market in late 1959.  The grand opening was officially in __ 1960.   The homes at the south end of the tract were apparently an afterthought.  Shopping center Harry Rinker wanted to build a shopping center on Los Al Blvd. from Farquhar to Orangewood.  Ross Cortese originally wanted to build a middle school on the southeast corner of Orangewood and Los Al, but couldn’t because of federal laws regarding the proximity of public schools to air bases.  So in 1959 Cortese gave the land to the Catholic diocese to build a church which had to be named after his mother’s favorite saint – St. Hedwig.  In Feb. 1960, the OC Supervisors approved most of Rinker’s proposed shopping center, but said the two blocks just north of Orangewood had to remain residential.  So the Dutch Haven tract was quickly expanded.

Rossmoor Highlands – built in 1961 capitalizing on the hot name recognition of Rossmoor – built with a similar looking brick wall.

Parkwood – (1961) – Not to be confused with the later development off Lampson Road, This was a tiny slice of homes on Farquhar, just west of Lexington and the entrance to the air base. The three bedroom homes were available for only $195 down.  Since they were located on lands influenced by the layout of City Garden Acres, some of the lots were 182 feet deep.

Suburbia Estates – 1965

Greenbrook –  (1967) — Greenbrook Larwin Homes, Inc.  Larwin was another large builder with at least four other Greenbrook tracts in the Cerritos and Cypress areas.   Larwin also built the Tanglewood complexes east of Bloomfield and just south and north of Ball Road.

College Park North — This tract was built in 1966 and 1967 by S&S Homes (Nathan Shapell) who also built El Dorado Park Estates just across Los Alamitos Blvd in Long Beach, as well as College Park in Long Beach, and College Park West (1961) and College Park East (1962) in Seal Beach, and Garden Park Estates in Garden Grove (around the Lampson-Valley View area.)

Parkewood — 1970 – built by S&S Homes, who also built the College Park and El Dorado Park Estates tracts.  Prior to this, there was also a very small development of homes called Parkwood that was located near Farquhar and Lexington.  This was built in the City Garden Acres tract that became known as Apartment Row.

Alvarado Street – the original name for what is now Katella. When architect Frank Capitain laid out the town of Los Alamitos around the sugar factory, he names all but one of the north-south streets after trees. Beginning in the west were Oak, Chestnut, Walnuut, Myrtle (now Los Alamitos Blvd.), Pine, Main Street (now Reagan) and Cherry and Maple. The East west streets were Alvarado, Florista and Catalina, Sausalito and Cerritos (the last being named because it was the main path from Anaheim to the Los Cerritos rancho north of Long Beach). Alvarado was located on the new township’s southern border — Section 19, Tract 4 south. It was also called Church Street on some early 1907 maps because the Congregational Church and another church (not St. Isidore’s) were located on that street.

Ball Road — It was called Ball Road as early as 1921 (Armor’s History of Orange County.  In Orange the same road is called Taft, named not for the rotund President, but horticulturist Charles Parkman Taft.  Once you cross Coyote Creek it is called Wardlow Avenue, after early Long Beach pioneer Ray Wardlow, who would soon buy land in the Fountain Valley area and move there.

Bloomfield. There are two possible explanations for Bloomfield. Bloomfield Academy was where the Bixbys (Lewellyn, John W and others) attended when they were young men in Maine. This was near the eastern border of the new Los Alamitos township. But there was also a Bloomfield family located in Artesia.

Bradbury – a short continuation in the Rossmoor Highlands of Bradbury Road in Rossmoor.

Cerritos – this was the main road from Anaheim to the J. Bixby Company’s Los Cerritos rancho north of Long Beach.  The Bixby’s had set up a number of dairy areas and milk was transported over this road to the Pacific Creamery in Buena Park.  When the Los Alamitos sugar factory  was built in 1896 and 1897, the Cerritos road handled much of the wagon traffic.  A narrow bridge continued over Coyote Creek into Long Beach.

Essex – see Carrier Row

Farquhar Avenue – There are a couple possibilities. Robert Farquhar was the architect for J. Ross Clark (builder and GM of the Los Alamitos Sugar Company), and built many other prominent buildings throughout the Los Angeles area.  Other anecdotal stories say the man who rode the tractor that dragged City Garden Acres was also named Farquhar.

Fenley Drive (College Park North)

Green Street – part of the City Garden Park Acres (now Apartment Row) developed in the 1920s. Perry Green was the Long Beach real estate man who developed this tract. His daughter Lura, married A.J. Labourdette.

Harrisburg — this short continuation of Harrisburg runs all across Orange County.  Like Orangewood, it’s path is obstructed by the NAS Los Alamitos.

Howard (City Garden Park)

Humboldt –

Katella – named after Kate and Ella Rea, whose father owned a walnut ranch just south of Anaheim (across the street from present Disneyland) which he purchased in 1896. He named the ranch after a combination of his daughters’ names — Kate and Ella. The road in front of his ranch followed the division between section lines which ran across the county. The road that went in front of Rea’s ranch was called Katella, but n other areas this path was also called the Alamitos road or the Benedict road (present Stanton was once called Benedict), and in Los Alamitos itself, it was originally called Alvarado and is shown on later maps (1907, 1922 Sanborn) as Church Street. But probably because of the strength of the “K” sound (there is a  reason George Eastman chose the name Kodak) this whole street was soon called Katella. For a time, there was even a Katella school district, and there is still a Katella High School. The sisters lived long and apparently happy lives in Anaheim. Kate taught at Anaheim High School in the early 1900’s. Ella became the first chairwoman of the Library board. In 1963 they cut the ribbon at the opening of the continuation of Katella Avenue across the county line, Coyote Creek and the San Gabriel River to Willow Avenue in Long Beach.

Kaylor

Kyle

Langley – see Carrier Row

Lexington – part of the first Carrier Row development whose streets were named after the aircraft carriers where Los Alamitos-based and trained pilots and units were assigned during World War II. The USS Lexington was the flagship of Task Force __ , under the command of Admiral __ Mitscher which was in some of the toughest and most impactful battles of the whole Pacific warfare. Other carriers in the task force were Essex and Langley.

Los Alamitos Boulevard – when the town was laid out (1897) this road was originally called Myrtle Street.  The road was on the boundary which divided sections and thus was a natural piece to be expanded. [This is why many of your major roads are one mile apart in Southern California — they are on the dividing line between sections.] Below present Katella, the road continued south towards Long Beach and Anaheim Landing (later Seal Beach), meandering over areas of slightly higher elevation to avoid the lower damp and often mushy areas.  Soon after the construction of the sugar factory, Fred Bixby took over control of his family’s share of what had been the Rancho Los Alamitos.  The open range that sheep had run over freely became fenced in for farming (beets, alfalfa, and beans usually) and paths of travel became restricted on the roads between left between fenced-in sections.  All of the north-south streets of Los Alamitos stopped at what is now Katella. except for Myrtle which continued south until it hit the “Anaheim Road” east-west road which connected Long Beach and the port of Wilmington with Anaheim.  (In western Orange County this became Ocean Avenue — later Garden Grove Blvd.)

The Myrtle Street extension naturally became known as the Alamitos Road — at least by late 1910.  In January 1911 the Orange County Board of Supervisors laid out a highway system of 127 miles and sought to get approval to issue bonds to cover improvements of these roads.  Included on the this was the “Alamitos Road”, to run from the Bay City Road (whose northern end was also at the path that would become Ocean Avenue) “through Los Alamitos to the Los Angeles County Line” at Coyote Creek.   The road would be 4.19 miles in length.   The report also stated that oil macadam would be used on the road, that the maximum grade would be 6%, minimum road width would be 24 feet with at least 16 feet of it oil macadam, with four feet of crushed gravel on both sides.  “Little realignment of present roads would be necessary.” [ref]Good Roads: Contract News Supplement; Vol 2, No. 1; January 7, 1911[/ref] When this road was finally paved it naturally became the main thoroughfare and business soon moved from Main Street (later renamed Reagan) to Los Alamitos Blvd.

Noel

Orangewood

Paseo Bonita

Ranger – see Carrier Row.

Reagan Street– originally called Main Street, later renamed for Michael Reagan — who first moved to the community to work on the Los Alamitos Sugar Factory and then took over the water business in the community, after buying two wells from the Bixby Land Company.

Saratoga – see Carrier Row.

Snark (located in most southerly part of the Dutch Haven tract, off Harrisburg, just south of Von’s Shopping Center on Los Alamitos Blvd.) – Snark is one of two streets (along with Thor) in Los Alamitos named after 1950s cruise missile programs that were built by nearby facilities. The Snark, originally designated as the B-62, was an interim-type, air breathing intercontinental weapon produced during the period when intercontinental ballistic missiles were still being perfected. It carried a nuclear warhead and was launched from a mobile platform by two booster rocket engines. These propelled the Snark to flying speed in four seconds, at which time they were jettisoned and the missile continued in flight, powered by its internal jet engine.
The missile and its ground support equipment could be lifted by an aircraft, such as the C-124, and could be set up and ready for launch soon after arrival at a site. It’s flight path was controlled by internal celestial guidance. When the missile arrived over its target, the nose section containing the warhead separated from the fuselage and fell in a trajectory onto the target. The rest of the Snark, now useless, was destroyed on impact with the group.  The first Snark operational unit was activated by the Strategic Air Command in 1958 at Presque Isle AFB, Maine.  (source: StrategicAirCommand.com)

Tarawa – see Carrier Row

Toland (College Park North)

Thor – Thor was the free world’s first operational intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM). It was 65 feet long, 8 feet in diameter and weighed 105,000 pounds. Douglas Aircraft was the prime aircraft contractor. The missile utilized a single stage North American Rocketdyne LR-79 liquid oxygen rocket motor, which provided 150,000 lbs of static thrust. This gave the Thor of range of 2,000 miles. It had an inertial guidance system.
Development was rapid. The Thor entered active military service in September 1958. It was delivered to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for testing less than a year after the development contract was signed. It was launched from a combination transporter-erector vehicle and was directed to its target by a self-contained inertial guidance system. It was originally designated the SM-75, but later redesignated the PGM-17A.
The Thor’s 2,000 mile range was too limited for launching from the United States, so it essentially turned the deployment over to the United Kingdom. In early 1958, the two countries entered into an agreement whereby the US would furnish the missiles and train the RAF launch crews and the United Kingdom would build four Thor missile bases and man them with RAF missile squadrons.
The 392nd Missile Training Squadron was activated at Vandenberg on 15 Sept. 1957 It provided Thor training for RAF crews. On April 16, 1959, an RAF crew launched it’s first Thor as part of the training program. By end of the year, three squadrons of Thor IRBMs had been turned over to Royal Air Force and were operational in the United Kingdom. On April 22, 1960, the fourth and final Thor squadron was manned and activated. The Royal Air Force maintained them in a combat-ready state. They were never under the operational control of SAC units. (source: StrategicAirCommand.com)