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 1^st Street to Walnut Street and South 2^nd 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):

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 4^th 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 3^rd Street) that now house Henderson Insurance Services, 2123 3^rd 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:

The History of Palomares School in The La Verne Leader

I find that one of the best ways to present a history is to use contemporary writing like that which is found in local newspapers. The La Verne Leader began publication in 1910 as The Lordsburg-La Verne Leader, a newspaper that reported on happenings in the city of Lordsburg and the community of La Verne to the north. The newspaper changed its name in 1917 when Lordsburg became La Verne. The community to the north became La Verne Heights.

At the time the grammar school was built in about 1908, its main building was adequate for the number of pupils in the city. The new Sloyd or Manual Arts building that was added in 1913 would have opened up more classroom space in the main building.

This article from the June 6, 1921 issue of the Leader reports on the eighth grade graduation. One of my mom’s older brothers, Homer Jay Kreps, was in that class. There were 24 members. We will soon see an article about a later class to demonstrate the growth of the school.

As time went on, more people came to live in La Verne and it was deemed necessary to expand the main building. By 1922 it was decided to do this by adding a wing of classrooms on both the north and south sides of the old building and remodeling the main building to conform to the new structures. This architect’s drawing appeared in the Leader on March 23, 1922.

This article from the Leader issue of August 24, 1922 tells of the progress to date.

This article from the Leader for May 28, 1925 tells of the coming eighth grade graduation. My mom, Esther M. Kreps, was a member of that class of 33 pupils. Even though that is only nine more than in 1921, it is an almost 38 percent increase over that four year period.

This June 3, 1926 Leader article tells of newly hired teachers. Some of them had long careers in the district.

This July 1, 1926 Leader article tells of re-roofing the central building and a program of general improvement. However, something of more significance, historically, is the mention of the need to handle the overflow of pupils. There is a short-term solution to what is called “The Mexican Problem,” and also the proposal of an additional school.

This September 16, 1926 Leader article tells of the new principal’s program and the teachers for the coming year. You can see by some of the classes that there was already some segregation in the school.

Less than six months later on February 24, 1927 we find a Leader article telling of the decision to build a separate school for the Mexican children.

A week later, on March 3, 1927, we have the following Leader article about funding for the new school.

On March 31, 1927, the Leader ran an article about the new school giving details about construction and proposed costs.

In another post on this blog, these lines give more details about the new school:

In the spring of 1927 bonds for $25,000 were voted by the citizens and a new five room steel and tile building was constructed at the corner of “A” and Palomares streets, especially for the Mexican school population. All of the Mexican children were required to go to this school except those in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. According to law, a principal was appointed for each building, and the office of district superintendent was created.

On the new building $17,000 was expended and the remainder of the bond issue was spent in equipment and rearranging of the rooms of the Lincoln School. An auditorium was extremely necessary and the waste space in the central building of the Lincoln School, including one small classroom, was built into an auditorium with a nice stage and room for 200 people.

In this October 13, 1927 Leader article we find that the school was being used even before its completion. I apologize for the quality of this copy and hope everyone can read it. Let me know if you want clarification.

Palomares School, located at the Southwest corner of Palomares and "A" Streets, is shown at the bottom of this 1952 photo from the La Verne College Lambda yearbook. The L-shaped building was built in 1927 and the straight building below it was added in 1937. The large building to the east is Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, torn down in 1968 to allow for the widening of Arrow Highway.

Even though the school opened in the Fall of 1927, it was not named until 1928. Nor was the "D" Street school named Lincoln until that time, the two schools being referred to as Unit No. 1 and Unit No. 2 of the City Grammar School. This June 21, 1928 Leader article tells of the naming of the schools and the teachers assigned to each for the coming year.

Segregation of the elementary schools ended in 1947 and that Fall all children of the La Verne City School District in Kindergarten and grades one and two began attending Palomares School. Those in grades three through eight attended Lincoln School. In the Fall of 1949 a new primary school went into operation and Palomares School began being used for recreation and other purposes.

2111 Bonita Avenue

OneWest Bank, located at the Northeast corner of Bonita Avenue and "D" Street since 2009, occupies an area that has known only two types of businesses since construction of a new service station began on the previously vacant lots in late 1934.

This photo was taken by Joseph B. Bixler in 1930 from the tower of the Church of the Brethren, looking West. This is the intersection of Fourth (now Bonita Avenue)  and "D" Streets.

This ad was part of a New Year's greeting from the Merchants and Business Men of  La Verne that appeared in the La Verne Leader on December 28, 1934. Apparently this was a preview of things to come because the following article appeared in the February 8, 1935 edition of the Leader:

The proprietors of this station were Dwight Shirk and Joe Roynon. Shirk had been the operator of Court Auto Service at 2023 Third Street since 1930 and Joe Roynon was the brother of J. Marion Roynon.

Dwight Shirk operated the station until 1945 when we read this item:

Ben Wells' Christmas greeting appeared in the Leader on Christmas Eve 1948.

This photo of Ben Wells' Service Station was taken by my aunt Eunice Kreps from her back yard at 2130 Fifth Street after a snow storm in January 1949.

Henry Marshall, a retired Standard Oil employee, gets his windshield cleaned by Ben Wells in the early 1950s. The Historical Society acquired this photo from Marshall's great granddaughter.

On January 22, 1953, Del Myer announced in the La Verne Leader that he was assuming the management of La Verne Chevron along with Ted Todd. Del is pictured here in a 1959 ad from the La Verne College Lambda yearbook.

By 1960 Lewis Smith had taken over the station. This is an ad from the 1960 Lambda.

Lewis Smith (R) and his brother Robert breaking down tires in this ad from the 1964 Bonita High School Echoes yearbook.

   I believe that Smith had the station through 1965 when he sold the business to John Johnson. The July 17, 1968 issue of the Leader contained a notice that Johnson was selling the business to Terry Lambert and escrow would close on August 8. I believe that Lambert was the last owner of the business. In a column of the December 24, 1970 issue of the Leader, an announcement was made that the Chevron station was being torn down.

   In the legal notices of the Leader dated December 16, 1971, we find that the La Verne Planning Commission will be considering an application for a Conditional Use Permit, submitted by First Federal Savings and Loan Association of San Gabriel for a relocatable structure to be used as a temporary office. It was to be located at "D" Street and Bonita Avenue, with an address of 2111 Bonita Avenue.

   Dwight Shirk still owned the property until it was sold to the savings and loan.

   Federal Savings and Loan Association of San Gabriel Valley held a House-Warming party at their temporary office March 13 through April 10, 1972.

This photo from the May 11, 1972 issue of the Leader shows the Savings and Loan temporary office at the bottom.

First Federal customers received this letter in May 2000.

The bank became IndyMac Federal Bank in July 2008.

On March 19, 2009 IndyMac Federal Bank became OneWest Bank.

2327 "D" Street Returns To Its Roots

   As I have spent time walking around Old Town La Verne the last few years, I have looked for new things that I can relate to the past. I was quite interested when Roots Hair Salon moved into 2327 "D" Street, which had most recently housed a Post Office Substation. My research led me to discover that for most of its existence from 1939 until the present this little building was part of the larger building to the South, numbered 2325.

   However, as early as 1912 the Raley Brothers, Oscar and Leslie, operated a barber shop in the building that was then numbered 323 North "D" Street. They also offered baths, cigars, tobacco, soft drinks and served as a laundry agency. By 1914 Leslie was pursuing ranching but Oscar continued barbering. By 1918 he was joined by Orville Haines, as evidenced by this advertisement from the February 21, 1918 issue of the La Verne Leader:

   Although both Raley and Haines acquired Real Estate licenses in 1920, they both continued barbering until at least 1922 but by 1924 Raley had entered into the Real Estate business with William Leslie and had an office on the East side of "D" Street, in the same block. Haines continued in the same location (the street number was changed to 2327 in 1927 as a result of a major revamping of the numbering system) until 1939 when he had a new building built at 2344 "D" Street, a location that is now occupied by the outdoor dining area of Warehouse Pizza. When Haines moved out, Van Dusen Department and Variety Store, which had been occupying 2325 "D" Street, then expanded into the former barber shop. The two stores became one with the number 2325 and remained so until Roots Hair Salon began occupying 2327 in January of 2012.

   

   Here are some more ads for Haines Barber Shop:

1923 La Verne College Orange Blossom Yearbook

1931 Bonita High School Echoes Yearbook

Oscar Raley's son Wallace graduated from Bonita Union High School with my mother in 1929.

Orville Haines' son Robert (referred to as Bob in the above ad) graduated from Bonita in 1932 and went on to become a teacher and was principal of Roynon Elementary School at the time I attended from 1957 to 1960. Another of Haines' sons, Thomas, was our family dentist for years.