1857-1910 – Anaheim Landing was first permanent settlement in this area

Before Los Alamitos, before Seal Beach (even before Long Beach), there was Anaheim Landing. Now it’s swallowed up by the US Naval Weapons Station, but it was the first major European/non-Native American settlement in the Los Alamitos-Seal Beach area.  It got its name because of its use by the merchants and residents of the Anaheim … Read more

Los Alamitos – The Floods of 1952

Before they were channeled in high concrete walls, the San Gabriel, Los Angeles, Santa Ana  Rivers as well as Coyote Creek used to frequently flood during heavy rains.  More often than one might think,  these rains were enough to cause the rivers to change courses, only to later revert back during another storm.   The Santa … Read more

1896 – USGS map showing Los Alamitos area as it was

To the left is a late 1896 USGS map showing the lower portion of “the Downey” quadrangle, the upper portion of the Bolsa quadrangle and the west portion of the Anaheim quadrangle, but mainly focusing on Rancho Los Alamitos and the surrounding area. The sugar factory would be constructed later that year but the early … Read more

August 1907 – Murder in Early Los Alamitos

The young town of Los Alamitos had a reputation as a rough place, and this incident did nothing to change that image.  It is culled from the files of The Pacific Rep0rter which summarized the legal cases (including appeals) along the Pacific Coast.   1907, August 25 – Murder in Los Alamitos TAGGART, J. Defendant … Read more

1899-1900 – Orange County Directory – Los Alamitos

1899-1900 Orange County Directory Belt Fine Publishing, Santa Ana — $2.00 March 1899 [p.153] LOS ALAMITOS Is located on a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad some 14 miles northwest of Santa Ana. It is the heart of the sugar beet section and the Los Alamitos Sugar Beet factory is located there. This establishment alone distributes … Read more

1899 – Pete Labourdette opens a saloon just outside Los Alamitos

P. ___ Tarride operated a saloon, winery and grocery in what would become the city of Los Alamitos.  He is listed in the 1899-1900 City index published in the Orange County Directory.  In late 1899/early 1900  the holdings were taken over by J. Pierre (Pete) LaBourdette, according to Walter Case, whose column “Did You Know … Read more

June-July 1903 – Mexican, Japanese field workers organize at Los Alamitos

This article is from the The Sugar beet, Volume 24, Issue 7, one of the three principal trade publications covering the Sugar Industry throughout the world. The Beet’s correspondent, Rialto, resided in San Francisco and primarily culled his information from the Southern California newspapers, the Anaheim Gazette, Sana Ana Blade, the Chino Champion, and sometimes … Read more

1908 – Alamitos Congregational Church gets new minister

The Pacific, Volume 58, Issues 1-26, p8-9 (1908). By Congregational Churches in California. Northern California Congregational Conference   Los Alamitos.—The Los Alamitos Congregational Church, which has had a struggle to live, is now meeting with encouraging results under the care of Rev. A. L. Seward and his wife, who is very efficient in calling, carrying cheer and sympathy wherever … Read more

Oct. 14, 1897 – Weekly statistical sugar trade journal, Volume 21

LOS ALAMITOS, Cal.—The beet sugar factory of the Los Alamitos Sugar Co. employs 75 men day and night, and produces 40 tons of granulated sugar per day. The capacity of tho factory is from 300-100 tons, but 408 tons of beets have been sliced in one day; 3,500 acres are cultivated in beets, but this will be raised to … Read more

Early Mexican workers in Los Alamitos

Source:  The Home missionary: Volumes 74-76 – Page 198  (1902) The Home Missionary was the annual publication of the Congregational Church Missionary Society, which supplied the minister for the Congregational Church in early Los Alamitos.   The minister’s report to the society provides much information about the early religious happenings in Los Alamitos. In this report … Read more