In the August 23rd, 1955 edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper, a sewing machine executive and former Long Beach resident, James F. Collins, offers to sell his home in Los Cerritos to Dr. Sammy Lee. Lee has been turned down twice in his effort to buy a home in Garden Grove because of a “racial restriction” covering the sale. Collins said he moved to Honolulu in 1950 because he was “damned sick and tired of seeing such bigotry practiced. He went on, “I’m so ashamed of such goings on on the mainland.”
James F. Collins was born in 1896 in Nebraska. He lived with his family in San Bernardino For a good portion of his adult life he lived in Long Beach until he “got fed up” and moved to Hawaii. In the 1940 census James F. Collins, a sales manager for a sewing machine company and his family living on Appleton Street in Long Beach. James’ son James served in the U.S. Navy and was discharged in November 1945. At that time, he listed his home address as 3839 Chestnut Street and his father and the rest of his family were still at the Chestnut Street address in 1950. Sometime between 1950 and 1955, James moved his family to Hawaii.
It is no uncommon if you research the prior deeds for sales of your home to find racial covenants. I found them in the early deeds for my own home in Los Cerritos. In fact, it is quite possible that they were in place in the older deeds for the home that James’s offered to sell to Dr. Lee and he was unaware. When I went to the Hall of Records in Norwalk, CA, researching the history of my house, I obtained a copy of an original deed that included racial covenants. The old deed was not altered consistent with today’s law. Rather, a page was stapled on top of the deed that the racial covenants are illegal. The title insurance policy for my Los Cerritos home has language specifically deleting any covenants based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
The Stars and Stripes newspaper is published daily by the U.S. military for U.S. military stationed overseas and their families.
This home was constructed by George E. Bartlett. He moved into the home in late 1950. George was born in Marshalltown Iowa on July 23, 1894. He worked for Modern Builders Construction at 2812 Long Beach Blvd and later started his own company. He married Louise Beirmann while in Iowa and had two sons, Theodore and Earl Erwin Bartlett also known as Carl. Louise died in Iowa in 1922. By 1930 George had moved to Long Beach, now married to Elma Marie who was also born in Iowa. They lived at 3603 Lime before they moved to Pacific. The auto in the driveway is a 1952 Buick.
George’ s own business was called George E. Bartlett Construction Business. In 1932, George E. Bartlett Construction Co. was awarded a contract by the city of LB to build Orange Avenue and Hill Street viaduct over the Pacific Electric Railway and only out of work Long Beach citizens were being employed on the job, registered voters who were selected from the various lists of unemployed in the city. (Morning Sun, Thursday 23, 1932, The Long Beach Sun 11 Jan 1932, Page 15). George’s company was also involved in repairing the Oriental Theatre, which began known as Murray’s Theatre, at 5384 Long Beach Blvd. according to the April 21, 1933 edition of Southwest Builder and Contractor.
EPSON MFP image
According to the current resident, the Bartlett’s liked to entertain as evidenced by the large gathering in their backyard. It is possible the couple facing the camera in front are the Bartlett’s but the identity of the people in the photograph is unknown
There are five memorials in Los Cerritos Park. For three of them, there is no marked designation of who they are for so they are somewhat invisible to the park user. Unfortunately, our city no longer allow plaques or signage associated with the newer memorials. I wanted to document these memorials so as time passes, this important part of our neighborhood history will not be lost. First a bit of history about how Los Cerritos Park came to be and then a description of the four memorials I am aware of. If anyone knows of any others please post a comment.
The Los Cerritos Park is located along County Club Drive from San Antonio Blvd., down to Country Club Park Place. The first park parcel was 1.9 acres and was donated by Amelia Bixby to the County of Los Angeles in May 1907. It was annexed to the City of Long Beach in 1924. This park adjoined the Pacific Electric Los Cerritos station on its west side. A number of additions were made to the park to increase its size to the current 7.24 acres.
Memorial No. 1 Charles R. Rowell Park
Charles R. Rowett came to California from Kentucky in 1895. He settled first in Wilmington but moved to Long Beach in the early 1900s. He was in the real estate business and became one of the first developers in Los Cerritos. Rowett opposed the drilling of oil wells in the neighborhood and worked to assure restoration of the neighborhood once oil wells were banned. He lived at 3813 Chestnut so he would have experienced firsthand the oil fires, smoke and oil pools that dotted the neighborhood south of Bixby Road. He was the first president of Los Cerritos Improvement Association and affectionately known as the “Mayor of Los Cerritos.” According to the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine website, an additional parcel of 2.28 acres was acquired in July 1940 and named for Rowett. But according to Rowett’s obituary published in the Press-Telegram on July 27, 1943, a parcel of land, “soon to be named for him,” would be dedicated on land given by the Bixby’s adjacent to the school. Whether the land was purchased by the city or donated to the City, the land area across from Los Cerritos School, north of Bixby Avenue, was originally called Rowett Park, in honor of Charles R. Rowett.
Memorial No. 2 Gary “Rocketman” Gabelich
In 1985, a Memorial Grove was dedicated in the northwest section of the park (near the corner of Del Mar Avenue and San Antonio Drive) in memory of local resident and race car driver Gary Gabelich. Gabelich won many drag racing championships and set world speed records on both land and sea. He held the Land Speed record for 13 years. He also was associated with several local charitable causes including the California Pool for the Handicapped, Special Olympics and March of Dimes. In 2008, Gabelich was inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame on Pine Avenue. His widow, Rae Gabelich represented our neighborhood on the city council from 2004 to 2012.
Unfortunately the bronze plaque was stolen from the park in the summer of 2018. The grove dedicated to Gabelich still exists near the corner of Del Mar Avenue and San Antonio Drive. The memorial stone is still there, without its plaque, encircled by hedges and with benches, a welcome respite for a weary park user or for a moment of reflection.
UPDATE
On November 30, 2023, a new stone memorial plaque was unveiled replacing the one that had been stolen.
Memorial No. 3 Lillian Kawasaki
In September in 2014, a jacaranda tree was planted near Country Club Drive, just north of the restroom building. There is no better memorial to remember Los Cerritos resident, Lillian Kawasaki, one of Southern California’s environmental leaders. Lillian Kawasaki was the first chief of the Environmental Affairs Department created by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. She would go on to other leadership positions for the City of Los Angeles, including General Manager of the Community Development Department and Assistant General Manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Kawasaki was the co-founder of the Friends of Manzanar, an organization that supports the preservation and restoration of the Japanese internment camp, once home for some of her own family members. She was elected to the Water Replenishment District in 2008 and ran an unsuccessful campaign for Long Beach City Council in 2012. Since its planting, her friends and family decorate the tree every Christmas and sing Christmas Carols.
Like Gabelich, Kawasaki has another memorial- the Water Replenishment District of Southern California at 4040 Paramount Blvd., Lakewood, renamed their Eco-Garden and the Eco-Gardener Program after her. The program teaches homeowners how to have a beautiful garden while saving water.
UPDATE: Lillian’s family and friends decorate this tree for Christmas every year. This year, ten years since her passing, a permanent plaque was added to the tree.
Monument Number 4-The Awaida Family
Halloween 2019 was a tragic night in Los Cerritos. A Los Cerritos family, returning home from a Halloween celebration, were hit by a 20 year old man, arrested on the suspicion of driving under the influence who now faces murder charges. The crash happened while the family walking near the southern end of the park along Country Club Drive. Joseph Awaida, age 30, his wife Raiham Dakhil, age 32 and their three year old son, Omar, died as a result of the crash. Immediately community member’s built a temporary memorial of flowers, candles and toys. No one could walk or drive down Country Club Drive without seeing how the memorial increased in size as the Awaida’s struggled for their lives.
One year later, on November 1, 2020, three olive trees were planted near the accident site, as Country Club curves by the intersection of a closed roadway that bisects the park. Like the Kawasaki tree, there is no plaque to memorialize the reason the trees were planted. Today the trees are young, just like the family. We can watch the trees grow old, remembering the family that will not.
UPDATE: The backside of the restroom building, which faces the park has been painted to honor the Awaida’s, Mom, Dad and “Winky.”
Memorial No. 5 Clarice Murphy Tree
The California Pepper Tree in the park near the corner of Country Club Drive and Los Cerritos Lane was planted in memory of Clarice Murphy 1928-2013. This tree was a gift from neighbors and friends of Los Cerritos resident Pat Murphy on the passing of his mother in November 2013. It has a circular bench around the truck and thus serves as a gathering place or a resting point for those using the park.
The Huntington Library’s online map collection is a treasure-trove that you can experience from your own home. My interest was piqued when I came across a map labeled “Los Cerritos Park.” As you can see there is a label Los Cerritos Park at the end of Roosevelt Drive but the park and most of Los Cerritos is off the map. The map should more properly be called Bixby Knolls. The map was made in 1939 as part of a field survey done for the Regional Planning Commission. Regional planning was started in Los Angeles County in 1922 with the establishment of the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) an organization that still exists today and is responsible for advising the Board of Supervisors on all planning matters. It is the oldest planning body in the United States. In 1927, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that allowed the county to regulate land use. Zoning, in the form of land use districts, had already started within the City of Los Angeles. But by the 1920’s Los Angeles was spreading out and a concerted effort to push for zoning was made by real estate interests who wanted to stabilize property values The Regional Planning Commission produced a series of maps and set about to designate land use zones, starting first in the area east of Los Angeles. Today, we still live with the repercussions of those early decisions, such as the legacy of hazardous waste sites in eastern Los Angeles County.
Some interesting history of our neighborhood is shown on this map- like the Works Project Administration’s storage sheds on the corner of California and Carson Streets, along with fields designated for crops and grazing. The fruit stand at the corner of Long Beach Blvd and San Antonio is shown. See my blog post “The Virginia County Market” August 2015 for more information about this fruit stand.
This photograph of the Mormon Sunday School in Virginia City
on March 24, 1924 is a testament to the fact that the area which is today’s
North Long Beach was a thriving independent community prior to its being annexed
into the City of Long Beach. The 1925 Polk City Directory for Long Beach
lists only two LDS affiliated churches in the Long Beach area, one at 1200
Atlantic Avenue in downtown Long Beach and one at 5379 Elm Avenue. The Elm Street site is in the heart of what
was Virginia City, the corner of Elm and Market Street. Since its time as Church of Jesus Christ of
the Latter Day Saints, the site continues to be used for religious purposes. Today, 5379 Elm is the pastor’s residence
attached to a pro-life church and social service non-profit agency called The Nesting
Place, a complex of buildings that has become one of the largest extended
pregnancy care facilities in Greater Los Angeles.
The oil boom of the 1920’s was responsible for the growth of Virginia City as residential developments replaced dairies and farms to provide housing for people working in the oil fields. With a growing residential population, the community petitioned for its own post office under the name of Virginia City.
Although the area, which was north of Del Amo Boulevard, was
incorporated into Long Beach in 1924, it continued to be referred to as Virginia
City for some time. By the early 1930’s
the area was home to 30,000 residents. It
proximity to the Los Angeles River meant that it was subject to flooding. In
1925, the Long Beach City Council approved diverting rock that had been
destined for Long Beach Harbor to Virginia City to temporarily fortify the
river banks to protect the neighborhood.
The source of the name, Virginia City, is not clear, some attribute it to the closeness to the Virginia County Club in the Los Cerritos neighborhood of Long Beach. In recognition of its link to the past, businesses in what was once the downtown area of Virginia City, formed a group called the Virginia Village Association.
