La Verne, California

La Verne, California

Saturday, April 5, 2014

1927 Street Name and Building Number Changes

In December 1926 two City Ordinances were proposed to the La Verne City Board of Trustees (the governing body that preceded the City Council) regarding street name changes (No. 106) and building numbering (No. 107). These ordinances were approved and adopted at the Board’s meeting of January 3, 1927, and published in the La Verne Leader on January 6, 1927.

Ordinance No. 106 called for the changing of South 1st Street to Walnut Street and South 2nd Street to Orange Street. Here is the Leader article from January 6, 1927:



Ordinance No. 106 affected the people in only a few blocks, but No. 107 affected those people as well as every other building owner in the city. It called for a new numbering system throughout the city. The previous numbering system was similar to what San Dimas had and still has, a three (in a few areas, four) digit number with an east-west or north-south designation. Now, all numbers would be four digits. Here is the Leader article regarding Ordinance No. 107, published on January 6, 1927:



This article from the Leader, published on February 24, 1927, gives more details about the numbering system and how to determine the number of a building. There are a couple of errors in the sixth paragraph. It should read “Numbers on the north and west sides of the street will be odd, and those on the east and south will be even.”:



To help in my own research, as well what others may be doing, I have created a document that indicates La Verne building numbers before and after the 1927 numbering change. I haven’t completed it yet and there are no doubt errors in some of what I have done. Sometimes it appears that there was more than one number assigned to a building. Some buildings were built in 1926 and I have no record of the old number. Where there were vacant lots before 1927, and subsequent building took place, I have indicated the year of construction in parentheses. I hope to find more information as new sources come to my attention. I welcome any information or questions my readers might have. I intend to revise this from time to time, but here is what I have found so far (Six Pages):







Friday, April 4, 2014

La Verne Business Ads from 1946

I was born in 1946 in Park Avenue Hospital in Pomona at a time when my parents lived at 1970 Seventh Street in La Verne. I am posting a sampling of advertisements from various sources published that year for La Verne businesses.

Here is an ad for the First National Bank of La Verne from the 1946 Bonita High Echoes yearbook. The bank was located at 2307 “D” Street, now the site of Aoki Japanese Restaurant. The bank occupied that spot from 1910 until 1954 when a new building was built one block north at 2079 4th Street, now Bonita Avenue:





This ad for Baker’s Sweet Shop was published in the 1946 La Verne College Lambda yearbook. The building was replaced in 1980 by a two-story suite of offices and it now houses a variety of businesses:



The 1946 Bonita Echoes published this ad for Bishop’s Cleaners at 2336 “D” Street. That building now houses Wild Earth Spa:




The La Verne Leader ran this ad for La Verne Feed and Fuel on December 13, 1946. This building eventually became the La Verne Fire Station and was located where the parking lot for the present Fire Station now sits at the northeast corner of 3rd and "C" Streets. Note the sale of coal and coke for heating and cooking:




This ad for Everybody’s Garage was published in the April 12, 1946 issue of the La Verne Leader. The garage was located west of City Hall on property now occupied by the La Verne Public Safety Building:



The 1946 Bonita Echoes contained this ad for Chuck Overholtzer’s Insurance business. He was City Clerk at this time and had his business office at City Hall. City Hall at that time was located where the Police Station parking lot is now:



This ad, also from the 1946 Echoes, is for La Verne Malt Shop. It occupied the western-most building of the three buildings (2121, 2123 and 2125 3rd Street) that now house Henderson Insurance Services, 2123 3rd Street:



The 1946 La Verne College Lambda had this ad for Jack Chesney’s Tractor and Truck repair shop. It was located in a building that is now occupied by two businesses, Serendipity Spa Boutique (2134) and Chase’s Restaurant (2136):



This is the masthead from the December 13, 1946 issue of the La Verne Leader. A weekly newspaper, the Leader began in 1910 as the Lordsburg-La Verne Leader. In 1946 the Leader was located in an area that is now a driveway on the west side of the Telephone Building:



The Leader for April 12, 1946 ran this ad for the dental office of Dr. Worth. The building (2122 Bonita Avenue) is now occupied by a Mexican Restaurant:



In the same issue of the Leader is an ad for Smith Realty, across the alley to the east from Dr. Worth. The building is now occupied by La Verne Animal Hospital:



The 1946 Echoes carried this ad for Entre Naranjos Café, located at 1917 Foothill Blvd. Entre Naranjos is Spanish for Among Orange Trees. The café later became The Old Corral. The building is gone as are the orange trees. A building at the northwest corner of Emerald Avenue, numbered 1911 Foothill Blvd., houses several businesses and is located approximately where the café was: