The San Gabriel Valley - A 21st Century Portrait

THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
A 21st Century Portrait
by Enrique Diaz
A PUBLICATION OF THE EL MONTE/SOUTH EL MONTE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

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THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
A 21st Century Portrait
by Enrique Diaz
Commissioned by the El Monte/South El Monte Chamber of Commerce
Historical Publishing Network
A division of Lammert Incorporated
San Antonio, Texas

First Edition
Copyright © 2005 Historical Publishing Network
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from
the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Historical Publishing Network, 11555 Galm Road, Suite 100, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (800) 749-0464.
ISBN: 1-893619-45-1
Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2005921154
The San Gabriel Valley: A 21st Century Portrait
author: Enrique Diaz
original photography: Enrique Diaz
cover artist: Donald “Putt” Putnam
cover photography: Nick Diaz
contributing writers for “Sharing the Heritage”: Natalie Dunbar
Marie Beth Jones
project sponsors: Alhambra Chamber of Commerce
El Monte/South El Monte Chamber of Commerce
El Monte Historical Society
Monrovia Chamber of Commerce
San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership
West Covina Chamber of Commerce
Historical Publishing Network
president: Ron Lammert
vice president: Barry Black
project managers: Sheila Branch
Bari Nessel
Roger Smith
director of operations: Charles A. Newton III
administration: Angela Lake
Donna M. Mata
Judi Free
book sales: Dee Steidle
production: Colin Hart
Michael Reaves
Craig Mitchell
John Barr
Evelyn Hart
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
2

CONTENTS
4 PREFACE
6 CHAPTER I Introduction: You Could be Here and Not Know It
A description and overview of the region extending from Claremont on the East to La Cañada-
Flintridge on the West, focusing on interesting landmarks across the large contiguous land
known as the San Gabriel Valley. It is pointed out that the Valley is so large and takes up so
much of Los Angeles County, that it is easy to find, easy to get to, and very difficult to ignore
or forget.
14 CHAPTER II Valley Origins: Native Americans, Europeans,
Mexicans, and Modern America
From the earliest Tongva peoples (Gabrielinos) who founded Yangna (Eastside Los Angeles,
including the San Gabriel Valley) to the Spanish explorer Cabrillo, whose arrival set in motion
what then became the Mexican Nation and ultimately California (admitted to the union on
September 9, 1850), this chapter shows how the Valley’s past shaped its present.
20 CHAPTER III City Origins: Unique Beginnings, Distinctive Legacies
This chapter is a broad narrative survey on individual San Gabriel Valley Cities. It includes a
brief mention the city’s origin, followed by unique and interesting facts about each one.
Included are each city’s place, importance, and contributions to the Valley. Famous locations
and landmarks are highlighted as well as famous persons who have origins in that city or
reached fame while living there. This is the largest section of the book because it includes
information about all cities, gathered not only from libraries, but also from local institutions
such as museums, churches, and universities. In addition, it includes interviews with various
local celebrities and discussion of past Valley celebrities, as well as first-person accounts of life
in the Valley.
32 CHAPTER IV Modern Traditions: The Valley of Today
Presents a vibrant, thriving, group of modern communities in action. Technology has become
an important part of Valley life and touches every part of the Valley’s daily activities. In
addition, as the Valley evolves, we notice new traditions brought here by a growing number of
people from various other parts of the world. In the Valley today, there are Buddhist Temples,
Mosques, Coptic and Orthodox Churches in addition to traditional Protestant and Catholic
churches. There are growing numbers of enclaves with new cultural traits and a growing
number of people speaking other languages in addition to English. Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog,
Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, and Portuguese are at the top of the list of foreign languages spoken in
the Valley. But many here also speak Croatian, Italian, French, Vietnamese, and Basque. What
a rich cultural quilt the Valley weaves!
38 CHAPTER V Fast Forward: The Valley of the
Twenty-first Century and Beyond
The Valley holds the promise of an exciting future; a culture evolving from our current one
into something never before seen, unique and exhilarating. What will the San Gabriel Valley
be like in the near future? What will it look like? Those are the questions answered in this
section of the book. How will technology continue to reshape the Valley? How will the Valley
solve some of modern society’s problems such as traffic and environmental concerns? A
portrait of the future Valley is represented, full of hope and success.
41 PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
90 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
91 ABOUT THE COVER
CONTENTS
3

PREFACE
✧
A map of the San Gabriel Valley by
Jose Zepeda.
Faced with the task of writing a book about the San Gabriel Valley, the first thought that came
to mind was how to connect the many cities that encompass the Valley. Then came the realization
of the Valley’s vastness. It is one huge piece of land! Still, it can be traversed easily enough in a good
car.
There are many first-class major thoroughfares in the San Gabriel Valley. Two of the earliest,
most famous and well traveled have to be Valley Boulevard and Route 66. Then there’s Colorado
Boulevard with its famous Rose Parade. Also notable is Garvey Avenue, named after the area’s first
Pony Express mail rider, Richard Garvey. Other famous Boulevards at the core of the Valley are
Rosemead, and of course, Huntington Drive.
I recently drove the length of some of these boulevards in my struggle to decide the best way to
capture the essence of the San Gabriel Valley on paper. As I drove down one of these great
concourses, I realized that if I were to try to include all the history and culture encompassed in the
Valley, I would have to write a forty-volume encyclopedia. Not a bad project, but one that I decided
to leave for another time. Instead, I opted to write a book in a style fit for the twenty-first century;
to approach the Valley the way a person today might surf the web. I determined to start writing
about the Valley and to let the each fact take me in the most interesting direction, like a randomly
clicked hyperlink on the World Wide Web.
This format also enabled me to be more culturally inclusive, as the Valley is made up of multiple
cultures and multiple histories, sometimes existing parallel with one another. With this approach
I hope to create intersections and connections within the exciting fabric of our richly diverse
populations.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
4

PREFACE
5

THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
6

CHAPTER I
I NTRODUCTION:
Y OU C OULD B E H ERE AND N OT K NOW I T
Most people around the globe know about Los Angeles, California. They know where it is, what
its climate is like, what its people are like, and that the main industry in Los Angeles is
entertainment in the form of movies made in Hollywood. What most people don’t know is that the
origin of the famous megalopolis is a region east of the city known as the San Gabriel Valley.
Because the San Gabriel Valley is not part of the City of Angels, but rather a quilt of individual
cities that have been stitched together over time, it is not as well known as L.A.’s own valley, the
San Fernando Valley, which is almost entirely within its city limits. The San Gabriel Valley,
however, is actually the birthplace of Los Angeles, and is, like the metropolis to which it gave
naissance, a most vibrant and unique place.
The San Gabriel Valley is a very distinct group of cities joined together in a bond that has created
a region offering an enjoyable, friendly, dynamic, and healthy lifestyle. It is the Eastern Gateway
into Los Angeles, and, traveling east to west, one will find not only different cities, but varying
types of ethnic populations including (but not limited to) various Asian nationalities, Middle
Eastern, Latin American, European, African-American, and well as Anglo-American.
The San Gabriel Valley is a region of over 30 cities covering 417 square miles on the eastern end
of Los Angeles County. Abundantly laced with freeways, malls, movie theaters, commuter rail
stations, and lots of cars and car dealerships, the San Gabriel Valley is an integral part of the Los
Angeles car culture. In fact, the first freeway in the West (now known as the Pasadena Freeway),
and was built in the Valley over the historic Sycamore tree-lined Arroyo Seco Parkway about 63
years ago, when it was considered quite an innovation. The Parkway has been named a National
Engineering Landmark as well as a National Scenic Byway.
Also abundant in the region are natural recreational activities. The San Gabriel Valley extends to
Angeles National Forest, Southern California’s 650,000 acres of majestic wilderness, including
mountains with elevations of up to 10,000 feet. San Gabriel Valley residents and visitors can enjoy
an extended skiing season because of the Valley’s proximity to the San Gabriel Mountains. The
highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains is known as Mount San Antonio, but popularly referred
to as Mount Baldy. Part of the Angeles National Forest, the mountains have resorts, biking and
hiking trails, lakes, retreat centers, and just about any other conceivable activity one might imagine.
The region also offers many cultural and recreational attractions, including the Norton Simon
Museum in Pasadena, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Rose Bowl, the Botanical Gardens in San
Marino, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, and Raging
Waters water park in San Dimas, to name a few. And let’s not forget that the San Gabriel Valley is
home to the country’s largest county fair, the L.A. County fair.
The San Gabriel Valley is also noted for its prestigious institutions of higher learning, including
Caltech, the Claremont Colleges, Azusa Pacific University, and outstanding community colleges
such as Mount San Antonio College, Pasadena City College, Citrus College, and Rio Hondo
College. The Valley is also home to California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. Also in the
Valley is the famous Huntington Library in San Marino. According to the distinguished library’s
web site, the location went from “a working ranch to a world-renowned collections-based research
and educational institution…in the past 100 years.”
Made up of a vast collection of neighborhoods, cities, and regions, each one is struggling to find
its individual identity in the apparently limitless expanse that is Los Angeles; a city that for many
is synonymous with Southern California. The truth is that you could be here, in the San Gabriel
Valley and not even know it! That’s partly what this book is about, to show the landmarks and
✧
A portion of a mural on a building wall in
the town of Azusa.
CHAPTER I
7

✧
Above: Main Street in Alhambra.
Below: A fountain in Arcadia.
unique details that make the San Gabriel
Valley special.
Precisely because the San Gabriel Valley is
so large and takes up so much of Los Angeles
County, people tend to equate one with the
other. But the Valley is more than simply the
largest chunk of land in the county. There are
over a million people in the San Gabriel Valley
and they make up a vibrant, dynamic, and
very diverse population.
When and where did it begin? And who
was involved in its magnificent development?
To answer such questions, one must look
toward the West end of the San Gabriel Valley,
to the San Gabriel Mission which is the
cultural genesis of the metropolis, filled with
a historical richness emanating from historic
walls. The mission, founded by father
Junípero Serra and dedicated to the Archangel
San Gabriel in 1771, quickly became the
area’s central settlement. The San Gabriel
Valley remains an area that even today persists
in being the heart of Southern California.
So what kind of place is the San Gabriel
Valley? What is the climate like? What kinds
of people live here? What do they do for fun?
What kinds of jobs do they have?
The answers to all of these questions can be
summed up in one word: diversity. If the San
Gabriel Valley can be described in one word,
that word is variety. When one hears talk of
California being a place where people can trek
from the waterways to the desert and snowcapped
mountains, they usually mean the entire
state. What they don’t mention is that all of that
(and more) can be found in one place: the San
Gabriel Valley. And the variety doesn’t only
apply to the natural landscape. It applies to the
people who live in the San Gabriel Valley as well.
Illustrating the diversity found in the San
Gabriel Valley is an experience that has been
shared by many of its residents, and in this
case was had by a group of friends during the
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
8

middle of the hottest season of the year. It was
a summer scorcher of an afternoon in the San
Gabriel Valley when the group sought refuge
in an air-conditioned Chinese restaurant in
Monterey Park. They sat, enjoying the respite
from the heat, sipping chrysanthemum tea
and eating lotus root soup. Although most of
the lunch crowd appeared to be Chinese, a
fair number of Anglos and Latinos were there.
The friends had driven to this restaurant
from nearby El Monte because a man in the
group had suggested it, and when they
arrived, the parking lot of the restaurant was
full, except for one spot in front of the door
marked “RESERVED”.
The man who suggested the trip to the
restaurant said, “Park there!”
The driver who had never been there,
replied, “It’s marked reserved.”
“Yes,” the first man insisted, “it’s reserved
for expensive cars. You can park there.”
Since the driver was maneuvering a Lexus,
he slid into the spot. Other acceptable cars for
the “reserved” spot, according to the
guide/friend were Mercedes, BMW, and Rolls
Royce automobiles.
✧
Above: The Baldwin Park Performing
Arts Center.
Below: Pomona College in Claremont.
CHAPTER I
9

✧
Right: The stone Olmec Head in Covina.
Below: La Parisienne Restaurant
in Monrovia.
The experience was fascinating. Here they
were, physically in the middle of the San
Gabriel Valley, but culturally in Taipei or
perhaps Hong Kong.
The San Gabriel Valley, birthplace of the
Los Angeles region, is filled with such places
and experiences. From Alhambra to Duarte,
Monrovia to Rosemead, there are lots of
culturally unique stores, temples, and
restaurants. Thai food, Mexican food, Chinese
food, Italian food, Greek food, Arabic food,
and other ethnic cuisines join traditional
diners to serve the valley’s residents.
The valley’s diversity is apparent in the
richness of its cultural life. The San Gabriel
Valley has been the home to the Los Angeles
County Fair since 1922. Currently, the fair
includes entertainment from various cultures,
the biggest represented being Chinese and
Mexican (although many other Asian,
Hispanic, and other cultures are included). In
these pavilions visitors can taste foods from
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
10

✧
Top: A Buddhist temple in El Monte.
Middle: The Mormon Temple in Glendora.
Bottom: Arrow Highway in Irwindale.
CHAPTER I
11

✧
Above: The Derby Restaurant in Arcadia.
Below: The Cal Poly Pomona Multipurpose
Technology Complex in Pomona.
Opposite, top: Downtown San Gabriel.
Opposite, middle: A fountain on the campus
of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.
Opposite, bottom: The Lakes Theater in
West Covina.
those cultures and witness entertaining live
singing and dancing.
The region also has a large Cuban
community with its own club headquartered in
El Monte. But Cubans are just one of the
Hispanic groups which are included in the
Hispanic population of the valley. There are
Colombians, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans,
Guatemalans, Venezuelans, Brazilians,
Argentineans, Chileans, Dominicans, and
others. The valley is one of the few places were
South American comestibles can be found.
Argentinean owned Tito’s in El Monte is said to
have the best empanadas in the valley, although
fans of Filipino owned Valerio’s in West Covina
swear by its empanadas. Few areas in
California can boast of having Filipino fast food
outlets. Walnut, in the San Gabriel Valley can
make that claim.
Yet, even as the diversity of the valley
grows, a unique feature of the region can be
found in its tenacity for nurturing tradition.
Sure the vast orange groves which once
existed in the valley are mostly gone, but
other vestiges of a bygone era remain strong.
To quote Bettijane Levine of the Los Angeles
Times in an article about Alhambra, a San
Gabriel Valley city representative of the
region, “It seems, for the most part, a
wholesomely sleepy city.”
“Wholesome” yes, “sleepy” sometimes, as
any visitor to the area will notice, the choice
is theirs: excitement or quiet relaxation.
Younger people can visit one of the many
nightclubs in the Valley. Nightlife is alive and
exciting from Alhambra to Pomona. A family
may choose a movie, as the region is home to
a large number of multiplexes, many with as
much as 30 screens per location. Of course, as
previously mentioned, one can find a quiet
spot to sit and talk. Along the world-famous
Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, where the
Rose Parade is held every year, one can
find, even in the middle of the hustle
and bustle of life, small bookstores to
browse, relaxing cafés, and intimate movie
theater complexes showing a unique fare of
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
12

independent and foreign films. Waiting in
line in one of these theaters, the Laemmle
Playhouse 7, next to Vroman’s Bookstore, one
can overhear the moviegoers speaking in a
myriad of languages.
The San Gabriel Valley has the San Gabriel
Mountains, where Mount San Antonio, also
known as Mt. Baldy, reigns. There are ski
resorts at Mt. Baldy for those who are
adventurous and athletic and a Mt. Baldy Zen
Center for those more inclined toward
spiritual relaxation and renewal. According to
the Zen Center website, Baldy Zen Center is
“a community engaged in the study and
practice of Rinzai Zen Buddhism.” It also
explains that through the guidance of founder
Joshu Sasaki Roshi, “the monks and nuns
continue to conduct the training in a
traditional manner.”
This Valley, which has developed its own
character over the years is the birthplace of
that most famous of urban center—Los
Angeles—and continues to both influence
and enrich the metropolis in a kind of
symbiotic relationship. From the west end of
the Valley, from Baldwin Park, El Monte,
Rosemead, Monterey Park, Alhambra, and all
the surrounding communities, one can be in
Los Angeles in ten minutes or less. Each of
these cities has buses (running on the Busway
Express) and trains from the Valley to the City
of Angels. Additionally, for those who enjoy
driving, the spaciously wide San Bernardino
Freeway (Interstate 10) also leads visitors
from the Valley into the metropolis. Interstate
10, which changes name after downtown Los
Angeles to the Santa Monica Freeway, can also
take Valley residents to the cool beaches of
the Pacific Ocean on warm summer days.
Also on summer days, Valley residents may
opt to travel along Interstate 605 (the San
Gabriel River Freeway), a north-south
highway, which like the Interstate 10 ends at
California’s Pacific Coast Highway.
Considering all of its resources, wonders,
people, and culture, one could say that the San
Gabriel Valley is a kind of heaven on earth; the
ultimate promise of the American Dream, of
neighbors helping one another, of temperate
weather, places resembling big city excitement
and places still quiet enough to meditate.
CHAPTER I
13

THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
14

CHAPTER II
V ALLEY O RIGINS: NATIVE A MERICANS, EUROPEANS,
M EXICANS, AND M ODERN A MERICA
NATIVE AMERICANS: VALLEY OF SMOKES
In the beginning, the San Gabriel Valley appears to have been as diverse a place as it is today.
Sure the people were all Native Americans, but many groups existed, each with its own cultural
signature. By far, the group that left its cultural mark most indelibly in the Valley was the Tongva.
To the Tongva, the San Gabriel Valley, which is now considered the birthplace of what became the
Los Angeles region, was known as Yang-na, or “Valley of Smokes”, a name given to the region because
of the constant haze in its atmosphere. A haze evident even today. The Tongva (today called
Gabrielinos) who lived in the San Gabriel Valley, were a Shoshonean people who started settling in
the area around 500 A.D. Beyond that, what is known about these native people is skimpy and
therefore, if viewed as an opportunity, presents a wonderful chance for the people of the Valley to
continue digging into the past to find out as much as possible about these earliest Valley residents.
Among the things we do know is that Tongva is similar to a Uto-Aztecan word meaning “The
World” or “Known Existence”. It has also been interpreted as “The Humans”. The main language
spoken in the San Gabriel Valley in those times is said to be the Uto-Aztecan Shoshone tongue, a
language related to the Aztec Empire and ancient Mexico through the travelers and societies of the
Great Plains. Some of the communities then had names still retained today. For example: Piwongna
is now Pomona, Pasakeg-na is now Pasadena, and Cucomog-na is now Cucamonga.
This connection to the language of the Aztecs is an indication that the original Tongva residents
were, like today’s San Gabriel Valley residents, very cosmopolitan and social. They must have had
trade with various Native American nations.
The Arboretum, a Valley institution in Arcadia, talks about the Tongva on its website, stating that
Tongva once lived near what is now called Baldwin Lake “in kiys or ‘wickiups,’ brush shelters
constructed of staked willow poles thatched with layers of dried tule reeds. Rabbit skin mats provided
bedding and small fires kept the occupants warm.” The information on the site also states that the
Tongva “were hunters and gatherers who lived directly off the land. They did not practice agriculture,
nor did they need more than Stone Age skills and tools. Weapons were of stone and wood, cooking
vessels of soapstone and basketry. Acorns from the plentiful California oaks were the staple of the
Tongva/Gabrielino diet, supplemented by small game and native nuts, seeds, and berries.”
The California History website, asserts that: “Tongva society was divided into distinct social
classes. The elite included the families of the headmen and other wealthy individuals. The
remainder of the population was divided between a middle class of affluent families and a lower
class of families of more modest means.
Marriage among the Tongva was generally between individuals from the same social class. On
her wedding day, a Tongva bride was adorned with beads, skins, paint, and flowers. She was
carried halfway to her future husband’s home by her family and friends who danced and sang along
the way. The groom’s relatives met the entourage and carried the bride the rest of the way. They
placed the bride beside the groom and poured baskets of seeds over their heads to ensure a rich
and bountiful life together.”
From the San Gabriel Valley the Tongva/Gabrielinos extended their reach to Long Beach and on to
Catalina Island, and were said to have been the first Native American Californians to meet Europeans.
In fact the Tongva were the people who rowed ti’ats (plank canoes) out to meet the Spanish explorer
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, leader of the first European expedition to what is now the western coast of
the United States in 1542.
✧
Spanish ships arriving off the coast
|of California.
CHAPTER II
15

✧
Tongva Indians meeting the ships of
Spanish explorers.
So important are the Tongva in the history
of the San Gabriel Valley that, according to the
San Dimas Chamber of Commerce and the San
Dimas Arts website, the Festival of Western
Arts sponsored a Tongva mural, Between the
Sun and the Moon by Steven Rieman, in 1997.
EUROPEANS:
FIRST CONTACT
European first contact in California
happened around the 1530s when Hernando
Cortez’s men ventured to Baja California. The
Spaniards did not visit Alta California until
1542 in an expedition under the direction of
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. It would be over two
hundred years before the Spanish began to
earnestly colonize the coastal regions Cabrillo
had claimed for the Spanish Crown.
After the Seven Years War (1756-1763)
realigned the alliances of Europeans and their
colonial empires, Spain began the serious
effort of settling California for Spain and to
bring the local Native Americans to
Christianity and a European lifestyle.
The task at hand was carried out by the
creation of military forts known as presidios
and the building of the California missions.
The missions project was supervised by
Franciscan fathers under the direction of
Junipero Serra, and in 1769, the first Spanish
parties left Baja California to begin establishing
the European presence in Southern California.
One of the twenty-one missions built
was the San Gabriel Mission in the heart of the
San Gabriel Valley. The San Gabriel Mission, the
second European settlement in California, after
San Diego, became the focal point of the area.
Mission life drastically changed the life of the
people living around the San Gabriel Mission.
Native Americans converted to Christianity were
often required to live at the Mission and
not allowed to return to their own ways. Instead,
they were taught Spanish and European culture.
By 1821, Mexico achieved its independence
from Spain, and life in California again changed
drastically. Under Mexico, Californians were
allowed to trade with foreigners and foreigners
could now hold land in California. In addition,
Mexican California made outright land grants to
individuals for ranchos. In Spanish California,
land grants to individuals were few and title to
these lands remained in the hands of the crown.
Yet the most important change the newly
independent Mexican republic made in
California was to secularize the missions
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
16

and take away control of the Native
Americans and the mission property away
from the Franciscan missionaries. The Tongva
or Gabrielinos lived at the Mission until
the system was abolished in 1834 by the
Mexican Republic.
From that first contact between the Tongva
and Europeans to the establishment of an
independent Mexican nation, began what would
eventually become the development of a rich,
American, multiethnic culture, which continues
to grow in the San Gabriel Valley today. The two
cultures, Spanish and Tongva became
intertwined both in customs and traditions as
well as by blood, evidenced by the Spanish
surnames of many Tongva and the term
“Gabrielino” used to describe the Tongva.
MEXICANS: RANCHO
LIFE
Under Mexico, California and the Valley
focused more on rancho life; the trading of
livestock and the growing of crops.
Manufacturing was not common and most
manufactured products came from foreign
lands. Many people emigrated from the United
States and others came from other countries by
ship to California’s great shores. During the
Mexican era, Americans, Scots, even the
French came to the region, along with many
other ethnicities. According to the Los Angeles
Times, in an article titled “Go West, Jean-
François” by Charles Perry, “In 1828, Mexico
permitted some former members of Napoleon’s
Imperial Guard to settle here as payment for
their service to the Mexican revolution.” The
San Gabriel Valley continued in a progressive,
sophisticated direction.
During this period, “In 1834 Governor José
Figueroa issued a proclamation ordering the
secularization of the California missions”
because “The constitution of the Republic of
Mexico endorsed the equality of all Mexicans
regardless of race. Mexican liberals concluded
that the missions—which denied basic liberties
to the Indians—were unconstitutional,” says
the California History site.
Throughout this period fiestas were common
in the Valley as were rodeo and bullfights.
Indeed, there was much to celebrate. It was a
period when large land grants (50,000 acres per
grant) were issued to Caballeros who were
native-born Californians of Spanish descent.
The San Gabriel Valley is home to many of these
land grants or ranchos, which in many cases
have become the various cities of the Valley.
Foreigners, among them Filipinos and
Chinese, continued arriving in California and
the San Gabriel Valley, as gold was discovered
in the state. The Chinese, in fact, had been in
Mexico as far back as the 1600s. Eventually,
the Valley, along with the rest of California and
the West became part of the United States, and
the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the
document that transferred California from
Mexico to the United States is housed at the
Huntington Library, San Marino, in the San
Gabriel Valley.
✧
The mission in San Gabriel.
CHAPTER II
17

✧
A member of the Tongva Native American
tribe in the early twentieth century.
MODERN AMERICA:
CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
OF THE VALLEY
The discovery of gold in California, now
within the borders of the United States,
changed the country, the state, and of course
the Valley. Many Americans rushed to
California in search of gold, and joined the
already numerous groups of people in the state
and in the Valley. A new culture began
developing statewide, uniquely Californian,
and a culture unique to the San Gabriel Valley
also began to develop.
The sleepy Mexican ranchos of old gave
way to orange groves and new cities. The
flow of people continued unabated (as it
continues today) into the Valley. New roads
were built, new homes, churches, stores,
hotels, schools and many other structures and
institutions. Old California, incorporating its
Tongva, Spanish, and Mexican roots into its
new culture, grew into a land of opportunity
and prosperity, with the San Gabriel Valley
fully partaking in this new wealth.
The region transformed itself into a magnet
that attracted those who wanted to be
successful financially and wanted to live in a
place conducive to good health. Indeed, the
San Gabriel Valley was marketed to Easterners
as a warm and sunny alternative to dreary
cold weather back East.
As time passed and the automobile became
common, highways began to be built. One of
the most famous runs through the Valley,
Route 66, also known as the Mother Road and
the Main Street of America. Many people
came to the San Gabriel Valley through this
road, just as many had come in the past via
the Santa Fe Trail.
After World War II, in the 1950s, a great
time of prosperity ensued in the Valley.
Many companies were established in the
Valley; the Valley’s educational institutions also
began to grow, as did its population with an
accompanying home building boom. Some of
the Valley’s cities, which up to that time had
been unincorporated communities, became
incorporated cities during that time. People
continued to come, looking for the promise of
a better life.
As the 1960s gave was to the 1970s, many
of the Valley’s cities modernized, and a
building boom of a different kind began. It
was the time for shopping malls. Indeed,
some of the Valley’s best known and most
popular malls were built during that time;
malls like Santa Anita in Arcadia, the Plaza in
West Covina, or Puente Hills.
In the 1980s the mall-building boom
became the movie multiplex-building boom.
It seemed that every few months during that
time a new multiple screen theater would
open. And why not? The residents of the
Valley love movies. It has been said that San
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
18

Gabriel Valley movie theaters are the most
resilient to movie attendance slumps. That
probably explains the incredibly large number
of successful video rental locations
throughout the Valley. Baldwin Park alone has
two Hollywood Video stores and a
Blockbuster Video along with numerous other
video rental outlets.
When the 1980s came to an end, the Valley
once again began a period of renovation and
reinvigoration. In the 1990s cities jumped on
a redeveloping trend. It is a trend that
continues today and has converted the Valley
into a splendid place to live.
The culture that has emerged in the Valley
is one of people of many cultures getting
along and sharing as well as blending the best
of each culture with the others.
Imagine living in a place where the
people are friendly and come from every
ethnic culture conceivable. At the same time,
a place where it is safe to live, where jobs are
plentiful, small and large companies succeed,
and there are freshly paved streets lined with
trees: a place where little boys and girls are
still allowed by their parents (because it
is safe) to sell fresh lemonade on the sidewalk
during warm days. Where small,
neighborhood stores still stand in the middle
of residential neighborhoods, and a person
can still get an old-fashioned haircut from a
local barber.
Idyllic as it may sound, the description is
an accurate one of the San Gabriel Valley;
beauty, tranquility, and prosperity here is
all around.
✧
This parking garage in West Covina is a
product of the mall-building boom that
hit the San Gabriel Valley in the 1960s
and ’70s.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
For more information about the early history of the San Gabriel Valley, please visit the following websites.
http://www.losangelesalmanac.com
http://www.tongva.com
http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Chumash/Tongva.html
http://www.californiahistory.net/2_natives/tongva.htm
http://members.aol.com/yangna/ynh2.html
http://www.harvestfields.netfirms.com/herbs/whsage.htm
http://www.sandimaschamber.com/City/city14.htm
http://sandimasarts.com/
http://www.arboretum.org/history.htm
http://www.californiahistory.net/
http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
http://www.english.uiuc.edu
CHAPTER II
19

THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
20

CHAPTER III
C ITY
O RIGINS:
U NIQUE B EGINNINGS, DISTINCTIVE L EGACIES
Taking a survey from A to Z of the cities of the San Gabriel Valley, one must begin with
Alhambra, on the far west end of the Valley, a gateway from the Valley to Los Angeles and vice
versa. Alhambra was founded in 1771 by Benjamin “Don Benito” Wilson and was named after the
famous Moorish palace in Granada, Spain. Appropriately, the city’s flower is the Granada Rose. One
may notice that the year in which Alhambra was founded falls under the Mexican era, making this
city unique as having existed both prior to and after the American era. Alhambra has consistently
been a forward-looking city, which today has a majority of residents of Asian descent while still
enjoying a great mix of people with Anglo, Hispanic, Black, and other ethnic heritages.
Next is Altadena, on the far northwest side of the Valley. Altadena was founded in 1887 by
Captain Frederick and his brother John Woodbury of Marshalltown, Iowa. It was named after a
local nursery whose owner composed the name using the Spanish “alta” meaning upper and “dena”
from Pasadena. Altadena is unique in its egalitarian contingencies of racial representation, having
nearly equal numbers of Anglo, Hispanic, and Black residents with a smaller number of Asians,
American Indians and others. Altadena remains unincorporated but maintains its very distinctive
individuality as a town.
Arcadia is next on our tour, a city near the foothills of the northwest part of the San Gabriel
Valley founded by Elias “Lucky” Baldwin, a man of legendary proportions in the San Gabriel Valley.
He led the area to cityhood in 1903 and became Arcadia’s first mayor. Arcadia is home to Los
Angeles County’s famed Arboretum where many local exotic plants are on display. It is also the
location where many movies and television shows have been shot. From Tarzan movies to shows
like Fantasy Island, the beauty and charm of the place make it irresistible. Still, it is most famous
for its roving peacocks, which the city has adopted as its symbol. A modern and affluent city,
Arcadia is also home to the historic Santa Anita Race Track. While its population is mainly divided
between Anglos and Asians, there is a number of Hispanic, Black, and Native American residents
within its borders.
Let’s now visit Azusa, a charming city in the foothills of the majestic San Gabriel Mountains.
Azusa, whose name comes from the Tongva Indians who first called it Asuksa-gna, was known as
Asucsa under the Mexicans. It was founded circa 1840 but laid out in 1887 by Jonathan S. Slauson,
an early banker in Los Angeles. The same Slauson after whom the great Los Angeles thoroughfare
is named. Azusa can boast of having a university (Azusa Pacific) within its borders. It is also the
namesake for one of the major avenues in the San Gabriel valley, and one of the principal points
of entry into the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles Forest. It is a vibrant community, which while
surging forward retains its historic flavor. Azusa residents are mainly Hispanic and Anglo with
some Black and Asian residents.
Southwest from Azusa is Baldwin Park, a city so centrally located within the San Gabriel Valley,
it has been called “the hub” of the Valley. The city was once part of cattle grazing land belonging
to the San Gabriel Mission, and later was part of Rancho Azusa de Dalton and Rancho La Puente.
It was named after the owner of Rancho Puente de San Gabriel, Elias “Lucky” Baldwin, whose
influence can still be seen in the form of an architectural treasure on Baldwin Park Boulevard; once
Lucky Baldwin’s country mansion, it is now home to a Catholic convent. Baldwin Park’s taste led
the city to contract with a famed artist for public art at the city’s metro train station. The city’s
young people are very involved in their community, giving the city the unique honor of once
having had the youngest mayor in the entire nation! Baldwin Park’s population is mainly Hispanic
with a large number of Anglo residents and a small number of Black and American Indian
✧
The Santa Fe Depot in Claremont in 1889.
CHAPTER III
21

✧
Above: The Hugo Reid House in Arcadia.
Below: A historic mansion in Baldwin Park.
residents. The city’s Asian population has
been steadily growing larger and larger.
Along the northwestern end of the San
Gabriel Valley, nestled in the foothills of
Angeles National Forest is the city of
Bradbury, which was founded in 1892 on
land bought by Lewis Leonard Bradbury from
the Rancho Azusa de Duarte. Bradbury is very
unique in that while it has less than 1000
residents, just about every major ethnic group
is represented. Other unique features are that
its residents’ average age is 42 years, and there
are so few children in Bradbury that there is
no need for schools. The small number of
children who live in Bradbury attend school
in the neighboring city of Duarte. There is
also no need for a chamber of commerce in
Bradbury because there are no businesses, not
one! Still, the average salary of the people in
Bradbury is over $100,000.
Back in the central region of the San
Gabriel Valley, below Azusa and west of
Irwindale and Baldwin Park, lies the city of
Covina. Covina was founded circa 1882 by
Joseph Swift Phillips who bought the land
from John E. Hollenbeck. It has been rumored
that Covina’s name was coined by its founder
after a cove of vines, but no one knows for
sure. While Covina is another “hub” city
bustling with business activity, it is also
unique for keeping its small town charm
alive. Covina has one of the largest movie
theater complex in the Valley with no less
than thirty screens at one location, but its old
fashion style movie theater, the Covina has
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
22

een spared and today is a local playhouse.
Covina’s downtown has been used by
Hollywood when a small town locale is called
for in the script. On television, downtown
Covina doubled as Roswell, New Mexico, in
the TV series Roswell. Covina’s sister city is
Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Xalapa has given its
sister city an Olmec sculpture which stands in
Covina and is a very unique cultural artifact
as the Olmecs were one of the earliest Native
American cultures in the Americas. Covina’s
population mirrors the majority of the cities
in the San Gabriel Valley, having a majority of
Hispanic and Anglo residents, some Black and
Native American residents, and a growing
Asian community.
Southeast in the San Gabriel Valley is the city
of Diamond Bar. Diamond Bar was a ranch for
a long time before becoming a city. No homes
were built in Diamond Bar until the 1960s. It
was developed as a master-planned community
and incorporated in 1989. That makes
Diamond Bar one of the newest cities in the
Valley. The majority of Diamond Bar’s residents
are over 18 and the city has a very large percent
(74%) of college-educated residents. Its
children utilize the neighboring schools of
Walnut and Pomona. Most of Diamond Bar
residents are Asian or Anglo with a fair number
of Hispanics, Blacks, and Native Americans.
The end of the road for the 605 Freeway
northbound is the city of Duarte. Duarte is
an enchanting foothill city with a small
town flavor. Ex-Mexican Corporal Andres
Duarte founded the city in 1841 on land
granted to him by the governor of Alta
California. The city of Duarte is home to
two of the nation’s premier health care
facilities: Santa Teresita Hospital established
by Carmelite Sisters and the world famous
City of Hope complex. Duarte also has the
unique distinction of being the home to the
state’s oldest avocado tree and its official
flower is the daisy. Historic Route 66 passes
through the city. Although the majority
of its residents are Hispanic, Duarte also has
✧
Above: A residential neighborhood in the
town of Bradbury.
Below: The “retro” marquee of the Covina
Valley Playhouse.
CHAPTER III
23

✧
Pat O’Brian with Father Coffield and
Cande Mendoza.
a large Anglo population, a growing Asian
community as well as Black and Native-
American residents.
A well-respected and strategically
positioned city is the city of El Monte. Once
called Lexington, the city was founded around
1850 and has the distinction of being one the
San Gabriel Valley’s most densely populated
cities. Only Pomona and Pasadena have larger
populations than El Monte. The city is also
home to a Free Trade Zone, Business Incubator,
and MTA Hub, among other institutions. El
Monte is also rich in history and cultural
mixture. At the millennium, the city was
named as one of the safest cities in the country.
Among its unique features are its historical
museums and the fact that it can claim to have
the highest Latino population in the Valley. El
Monte also has the characteristic of having
citizens who are not only community oriented,
but fiercely proud of their city. Besides the
Latino community, El Monte has a growing
Asian population and a good number of Anglo,
Black, and Native American residents.
Heading northeast along the base of the
San Gabriel Mountains is the city of Glendora,
California which bills itself as the “pride of the
foothills”. Indeed, Glendora is a picturesque
but at the same time tranquil city with
immaculate front yards on tree-lined
streets. Glendora was founded in 1887 by
George Whitcomb. Glendora also has a State
Historical Landmark known as the Glendora
Bougainvillea, at twelve hundred foot it is the
largest Bougainvillea ever grown in the United
States. Glendora has two sister cities: Moka
City in Japan and Mérida, Yucatán in southern
México. Glendora is one of California’s safest
and most attractive cities. It has a popular
and quaint shopping area known as the
Village. Although Glendora’s Anglo residents
make up most of its population there is a
large number of Hispanic and Asian residents
and smaller groups of Black and Native
American residents.
Hacienda Heights is a vibrant, unincorporated
community in the San Gabriel Valley
with a unique history. Originally owned by
John Rowland and William Workman, the
property was eventually acquired by Elias
“Lucky” Baldwin. In 1912, one of his
descendants, Anita Baldwin, sold it to Edwin
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
24

Hart and Jed Torrance who subdivided the
area and named it North Whittier Heights. It
became well known for its avocado, citrus,
and walnut crops. In 1961 it changed its
name to Hacienda Heights. The town is home
to His Lai Temple, the largest Buddhist
Monastery in the Western Hemisphere. Also
unique to Hacienda Heights is that many
original homes of the area remain around the
area between Gale Avenue and Valley
Boulevard. Others are found scattered about
the community with some belonging to direct
descendants of the founders. Hacienda
Heights has an even number of Hispanic,
Asian, and Anglo residents. It also has
small Black and Native American communities.
In addition, there is a large
contingent of residents from other various
ethnic groups.
City of Industry has less than one thousand
residents but brings in an annual $2.1 billion
dollars in taxable sales. Although the area’s
history goes back to settlers like William
Workman and John Rowland in the 1840s,
the city was not incorporated until 1957. City
of Industry is home to the Workman and
Temple Family Homestead Museum, filled
✧
Above: Entertainer Lou Costello with Miss
El Monte in the 1950s.
Left: Pat O'Brian and Cande Mendoza with
Miss El Monte in the 1950s.
CHAPTER III
25

with Southern California history. Because the
city was founded as a place for business,
residential growth is not permitted to
encroach on industrial and commercial sites.
The city’s few residents are evenly split
between Anglo and Hispanic residents with a
few residents of other ethnic groups. The few
children who live in the city are served by the
Hacienda La Puente Unified School District.
Near the Santa Fe Dam, at the juncture of
the Rio Hondo River and San Gabriel River, lies
the city of Irwindale. The area was first settled
in the 1850s by Gregorio Fraijo and Fecundo
Ayon who came to California from Mexico in
search of gold. The city was founded in 1871
but got its permanent name in the 1890s when
a local fruit grower combined his last name
Irwin and his daughter’s first name Dale.
With less than 1,500 residents, the city is
known as having a close-knit, family-oriented
community of people who identify themselves
mostly as Hispanic. The city’s main business
over the years has been gravel pits. Today,
Irwindale has seen dramatic growth in the
establishment of other businesses as it entered
the millennium.
On the far northwest corner of the San
Gabriel is the city of La Cañada Flintridge.
Founded in the 1840s by Mexican school
teacher Ignacio Coronel, La Cañada joined
together with neighboring Flintridge (named
after U.S. Senator Frank Flint) in 1976 to
incorporate into La Cañada Flintridge. La
Cañada Flintridge has several unique
distinctions. It is the farthest western point in
the Valley and is a border city to Southern
California’s other famous Valley, San Fernando.
It is a city where tree-lined streets and well-kept
lawns are the norm. Its schools consistently
rank in the top five percent nationwide. La
Cañada Flintridge has large Anglo, Hispanic,
and Asian populations and smaller Black and
Native American groups of residents.
On the east end of the San Gabriel,
surrounded by San Dimas on the west,
Angeles National Forest and Claremont on
the East, and Pomona on the South, is the
city of La Verne. The city was founded in
1887 by I. W. Lord and originally named
Lordsburg. Later, the foothill-area Bixby
family is said to have chosen “La Verne,” a
French term interpreted as “growing green” or
“spring-like”. Today, La Verne is a city with
one of the San Gabriel Valley’s many top
universities: the University of La Verne. It is a
city where with a majority of Anglo residents
but has a large Hispanic population and
smaller Asian and Native American
populations. La Verne also has residents of
other ethnic groups.
On the north central area along the
foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains is
✧
The Starlite Drive-In in El Monte.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
26

the city of Monrovia, founded in 1886 by
railroad executive and former Los Angeles
Councilman William Monroe, after whom it
was named. Monrovia has the distinction of
having been incorporated almost at the same
time as it was founded. For most cities in the
Valley, it was years or decades after their
founding that incorporation came, Monrovia
was incorporated in 1887, only a year after it
was founded. That Monrovians have pride in
their community evident in the city’s All-
American City designation. Monrovia is an
upscale city with a beautiful and thriving
business and entertainment corridor along
Huntington Drive. It has a very diverse
population of Anglos, Hispanics, Blacks,
Asians, and other ethnicities. Its has the
distinction of having one of the larger number
of Black residents in the Valley.
Another well-known city on the far
western edge of the Valley is Monterey Park,
originally a subdivision of the Repetto Rancho
and initially named Ramona Acres upon its
development in 1906. The name of Monterey
Park was chosen because the hills in the area
had come to be known as “Monterey” which
means “King’s Hill” in Spanish. Monterey
Park’s official city flower is the ubiquitous
geranium, which seems fitting for a city so
representative of the San Gabriel Valley, in its
commitment to education and pride in
community. East Los Angeles College lies
within Monterey Park’s city limits, one more
of the Valley’s outstanding educational
institutions. This city is also the original home
of Laura Scudder’s potato chips, the site of the
first adobe building in the city built by Jose
Lugo, and was also home to Pony Express
rider Richard Garvey whose name was given
to one of the Valley’s main streets. Monterey
Park is unique in that it is home to the Valley’s
largest Asian population and also has a large
Hispanic population. A smaller number of
residents in Monterey Park belong to Anglo,
Black, Native American, or other ethnicity.
One of the San Gabriel Valley’s most
widely-known cities is Pasadena. Its name is
so recognizable it once was the name of a
television show. Pasadena is the home of the
world-famous Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl.
The city has long been known one of the
Valley’s best venues for cultural activities. The
Pasadena Playhouse is a world-class theater,
and the city’s movie houses exhibit unique art
films from all over the world. Pasadena is also
a book lover’s paradise, being home to
Vroman’s Bookstore and a host of other wellstocked
bookshops along Colorado
Boulevard. The city was founded in 1874 and
incorporated in 1886.
Just to the south of Pasadena is the city
of Rosemead, whose famous namesake
✧
The dedication ceremony of the Arroyo
Parkway in 1940.
CHAPTER III
27

✧
The tower on the City Hall in Pasadena.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
28

oulevard stretches from the foothills of the
San Gabriel Valley down to the edge of the
county’s south bay region. Rosemead was
founded circa 1850 and was named for an
early settler, Leonard. J. Rose. At one point the
community was a camp named Savannah,
established by John Guess and his wife who
came to the San Gabriel Valley from Arkansas.
Rosemead has one of the Valley’s consistently
best kept residential streets. The city’s streets
are clean and its lawns and gardens welltended.
Its citizens are community minded
individuals who participate in municipal
activities. It is said that about sixty years ago,
tranquil mornings in Rosemead were
interrupted by the roar and wails of lions from
the lion farm in nearby El Monte. Today, both
cities have an very amicable relationship and
Rosemead High School is part of the El Monte
Union High School district. After Monterey
Park and Alhambra, Rosemead has the third
largest Asian population in the Valley as well
as a large population of Hispanics. Anglo,
Black, Native American, and other ethnic
groups complete the city’s population.
San Dimas, on the east end of the San
Gabriel Valley is known for its small town
friendliness. The city was founded circa 1880
and was once known as Mud Springs. The
name San Dimas is derived from Saint
Dismas. The city is home to the famous water
park Raging Waters, a favorite during the
summer months.
On the west central region of the San
Gabriel Valley stands the city of San Gabriel.
The city was founded in 1771 and named
after the great California mission which still
stands in the city today and came to be known
as the “pride of the California missions”. San
Gabriel is the namesake of the Valley and also
the oldest European settlement in Los Angeles
County; it is the site from which a small group
of families set out in 1781 to found the place
we known as Los Angeles. San Gabriel,
founded by father Junipero Serra has
been designated by as a California State
historical landmark and as the birthplace of
the entire Los Angeles region. The Franciscan
fathers who ran the mission supplied the
settlements around the mission with products
such as soap, wax, cloth, hides, and footwear.
They also introduced orange trees and
grapevines to the area ,making them
forerunners of Southern California’s
agricultural industry. Today, the residents of
the city include Asian, Hispanic, and Anglo
populations, with smaller numbers of Blacks,
Native Americans and other ethnicities.
Just north of San Gabriel and south of
Pasadena is the city of San Marino. San
Marino was originally known as Huerta de
Cuati, a name given it by a woman named
Señora Victoria Reid who owned the land at
the time. In 1852 she deeded her rancho to
Don Benito Wilson who later deeded it to J.
✧
Julie Reyes All-Girl Band hailed
from Pomona.
CHAPTER III
29

de Bath Shorb. Shorb named it after his
grandfather’s plantation in Maryland which
had been named after the Republic of San
Marino in Europe. San Marino is the home to
the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens and the city’s first mayor
was General George S. Patton, Sr. Unique to
the city is the annual median income of its
residents which tops $100,000. Its population
is evenly split between Asian and Anglo
residents with smaller numbers of Hispanics,
Blacks, and other ethnic groups.
At the base of the San Gabriel Mountains,
north of Arcadia and east of Pasadena is the city
of Sierra Madre, named by Nathaniel C. Carter,
after the original name of the San Gabriel
Mountains. Sierra Madre means “Mother
Mountains” in Spanish was suggested by Carter’s
wife. The city was founded in 1881 and has a
famous record size wisteria vine which is more
than one hundred years old. Sierra Madre also
enjoys the lowest crime rate of any non-gated
city in Southern California and is known for
an unprecedented spirit of community
volunteerism. It also has the largest Anglo
population of any city in the San Gabriel Valley,
with smaller numbers of Hispanic, Asian, Native
American, Black, and other ethnic groups.
Along the Pomona Freeway is an area
believed to have been settled by William
Workman and John Rowland in 1841. Today,
it is known as the city of South El Monte.
South El Monte occupies a great central
location in the Valley and has excellent
transportation corridors, making it an
excellent choice for businesses. Known as the
“city of achievement”, South El Monte was
incorporated in 1958 and recognized as an
All-American City in 1975.
Another interesting city on the west end of
the San Gabriel Valley is South Pasadena.
Founded in 1885, the city is known for its
preservation efforts, maintaining its tree-lined
streets and historic California Craftsman-Style
homes, making it a popular location for
films. South Pasadena’s residents are so
committed to preservation that they have
been fighting the construction of an extension
to the Long Beach Freeway (710) through
their city since the mid-1960s. South
Pasadena’s residents are mostly Anglo, but it
has sizable Asian and Hispanic populations as
well as smaller Black, Native American, and
other ethnicities.
One of the San Gabriel Valley’s younger
cities, founded in 1923 by Walter P. Temple is
the city of Temple City. The city is
predominantly a residential community of well
maintained streets lined with aged trees. The
city’s population is evenly split between Anglo
✧
An old house located on the campus of Mt.
San Antonio College in Walnut.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
30

and Asian populations and has lesser numbers
of Hispanics, Blacks, Native Americans, and
other ethnic groups.
Located of the southeast corner of the San
Gabriel Valley is the city of Walnut. Although
Walnut was incorporated in 1959, its history
dates back to the first Spaniards who arrived
in the area in the early 1800s and introduced
the concept of the ranchos, which continued
into the Mexican era. The first land grants in
what is today Walnut, were those of Rancho
De San Jose granted to Don Ricardo Vejar and
Don Ygnacio Palomares; the Rancho De Los
Nogales, issued to Jose De La Cruz Linares,
and Rancho La Puente, issued to John
Rowland and William Workman in 1842.
In1868 John Rowland and William Workman
divided Rancho La Puente, leaving Rowland
the eastern half and Workman the western
half. Rowland’s section is where most of
today’s Walnut lies. Mount San Antonio
College, one of the country’s finest
community colleges resides in Walnut. People
from all over the world visit the city during
the Mt. Sac Relays. Its residents are mostly
Asian, with equal numbers of Anglo and
Hispanic populations. Blacks, Native
Americans, and other ethnic groups make up
the rest of the city’s residents.
A very popular destination in the San
Gabriel Valley is the city of West Covina, which
was founded circa 1900 and incorporated in
1923. West Covina stretches from the north
side of the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10) to
the south side of the freeway and from west at
Baldwin Park and east at Walnut. It is know for
its large mall and adjacent entertainment
center. Its population is even split between
Hispanic and Anglo cultures and it has large
numbers of Asian and Black residents, with
smaller numbers of Native American and other
ethnic groups.
✧
A train running between Sierra Madre and
Los Angeles in 1908.
CHAPTER III
31

THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
32

CHAPTER IV
M ODERN T RADITIONS: THE V ALLEY OF T ODAY
THE IDEAL AMERICAN DREAM
The San Gabriel Valley represents the American Dream as well as the American Ideal. By that I mean
first, that there is plenty of opportunity to achieve the American Dream of financial independence in
the Valley. Many large companies make their home here, including various organizations from the high
tech sector. In addition, small business thrives in the Valley providing even more opportunities for its
residents. Secondly, people can achieve the American ideal of living in a place filled with the best in
world culture that can be had. There was a time when residents of the Valley traveled into the
entertainment capital of the world (Hollywood) or the city of Los Angeles itself to find cultural venues.
That has changed. Today, The San Gabriel Valley provides a dazzling array of nightclubs, museums,
theaters, bookstores, Internet cafes, performing arts centers and performing arts schools.
Still, the residents of the Valley can have it both ways. Whenever they wish, Los Angeles and
Hollywood are just minutes away. The great beaches, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Playa de Rey,
Santa Monica, Malibu, and many others to the west and Long Beach, Sunset Beach, Seal Beach to the
south. Southeast is Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and many other Pacific Ocean playgrounds.
For those who love sports, there are great venues such as the Staples Center where the Los
Angeles Lakers play just minutes from the San Gabriel Valley. Dodger Stadium is also only minutes
away. Right in the Valley, in Irwindale, is the Irwindale Speedway and NASCAR Racing.
Nearby, on Broadway Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, is the largest concentration of historic
movie palaces in the entire nation. These architectural gems provide examples of an elegant bygone
era to those eager to learn and appreciate the arts. Many of these grand movie palaces are still open
and exhibiting films. Some, like the Mayan (on Hill Street) have been converted to very popular
concert halls and nightclubs. The Los Angeles Theater, an architectural masterpiece, opened in
1931 with the gala premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s movie classic City Lights.
From these great historical achievements arise fresh new traditions built not only by present
advances in science and technology, but also by incorporating the triumphs of the past. For example,
the City of Monterey Park has a great many restaurants offering Chinese and other Asian cuisines.
This, in fact is true for many other cities in the Valley: cities such as Rosemead, Alhambra, Arcadia,
and Covina, to name a few. The San Gabriel Valley originates an Asian Festival that takes place every
year at the Los Angeles County Fair. Chinatown itself is just minutes away from the Valley.
Little Tokyo, home to the Japanese American Museum is also within easy distance from the
Valley, offering many Japanese cultural and gastronomical delights. Near Little Tokyo, due East is
the Los Angeles’ own Plaza Garibaldi, fashioned after Mexico City’s famous plaza. Here, one can
find many Mariachi bands roaming the plaza, waiting to be hired on the spot to play at a party,
wedding, or some other special event.
Even Little Saigon in nearby Orange County is within a short distance of the Valley. There, one
can enjoy delicious Vietnamese food and shop “Asian style” in one of the many stores along the
wide avenue.
Also close to the Valley is L.A.’s Byzantine-Latino Quarter. The “Byzantine” references the strong
role of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in this community. This area of the Los Angeles is being
developed as a place where one may shop mainly Greek and Latino products and be exposed to Greek
and Latino culture.
This is to say nothing of the San Gabriel Valley’s own many cultural festivals and other events. There
are Greek Festivals in the cities of Covina, Alhambra, San Gabriel, and Pasadena. There are also Filipino
special events in Baldwin Park and Alhambra. Cuban cultural and social events are also held in El Monte.
✧
Arroyo Parkway near Pasadena.
CHAPTER IV
33

✧
Above: Businesses along a busy street
in Monrovia.
Below: The Morgan Park Center in
Baldwin Park.
Opposite, top: Mt. Sierra College
in Monrovia.
Opposite, middle: Azusa Pacific University
in Azusa.
Opposite, bottom: Citrus College
in Glendora.
The cultural richness of the Valley becomes
apparent in these modern traditions brought
here, to blend with the traditions of the Native
Americans in the area, the Shoshone, Tongva,
Chumash, and many others. And even as the
old and new traditions blend within a given
ethnic group living in the Valley, newer
traditions emerge as members of the various
ethnicities interact with one another.
There is harmony in the way the various
ethnic groups get along in the Valley.
The San Gabriel Valley has been called the
“Intellectual Capital of California” because we
have so many great educational institutions
here. Claremont, on the far east end of the
Valley has six private colleges. In addition,
there are several state colleges inside the
Valley and in the immediate surrounding area.
Also, the Valley is home to four community
colleges and several other community colleges
are situated in adjacent areas. Not to mention
the many other proprietary private vocational
institutions in the Valley. These vocational
schools range from very small to really big.
They include a wide array of programs
from business management to medical
career training to commercial art and many
other subjects.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
34

One long-time Valley educator who
deserves mention here is Candelario J.
Mendoza. Mendoza or “Cande” as he is
affectionately known, is one of those many
success stories in the San Gabriel Valley.
He came to the Valley with his family at the
age of one. The family settled in Pomona,
where Cande still lives and is very
active in the community. He attended local
elementary schools and graduated from
what was then La Verne College in 1942.
Through the years he has worked locally
as a teacher, counselor and principal. He
also served on the Pomona Unified School
District’s Board of Education and is
currently in his fifth four-year term on the
district’s Board of Trustees. In 1983 the
Pomona School Board named an elementary
school—Candelario J. Mendoza School—in
his honor. In addition to his educational
success, he has had business success as
well, at one time being a local radio host
and then founding a local newspaper La Voz
(also known as “The Voice of Pomona”),
that is still published today. His story
illustrates the opportunities available in the
San Gabriel Valley.
Beyond that, there are small but thriving
cultural projects. There is a San Gabriel
Valley Poetry Quarterly online. There are
coffee shops with open microphones for
poets in places like Walnut and Pasadena.
There are internet game houses and internet
cafes in places like Azusa and Alhambra. In
unlikely places like El Monte, an online
world-class magazine with a worldwide
audience is published. Nuvein Magazine is a
high quality literary magazine publishing
fiction, poetry, and ideas. Also in the Valley
are the first local web radio stations:
Perspective Radio and Nuvein Radio. It is a
trend that is sure to grow.
At the center of this prosperity and
promise of a greater future is the Valley’s
youth. This is a generation that has grown up
in ethnically mixed neighborhoods; a
generation where many speak more than one
language, and where many cultures
intermarry. In fact, many of the young people
in the Valley today come from ethnically
mixed parents. This creates new traditions
CHAPTER IV
35

✧
Above: The Perfectly Sweet Coffee House
in Alhambra.
Below: The San Gabriel Valley is dotted
with churches, such as this one in Irwindale.
where a person incorporates the cultural way
of life of one parent with that of the other,
then blending with American culture.
RICH TRADITIONS,
RICHER VALLEY
The young people in the Valley come from
all types of backgrounds, and, increasingly
they are immigrants or children of
immigrants. Most seem to have a special place
in their heart for the culture of the countries
from which they come; but all share in the
excitement of being part of this great country,
the United States of America, and this great
region of California, the San Gabriel Valley.
The youth of the valley are becoming
engineers, teachers, doctors, writers, movie
directors, Internet entrepreneurs, and
launching themselves into many other careers
which secures their future and prosperity to
the Valley now.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
36

✧
Portions of the modern facade of the San
Gabriel Mission that depict the history of
the San Gabriel Valley.
These youth are also continuing a
heritage of service to the community,
participating in service club organizations
such as Rotary and Kiwanis, along
with many others. There is something
unique about these young people in that
the generation gap of old is slowly
disappearing. There is more fraternity
between young and old, between newcomer
and long-time resident. A partnership that
one must admit can only lead to a more
prosperous future.
CHAPTER IV
37

THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
38

CHAPTER V
F AST
F ORWARD:
T HE V ALLEY OF THE 21ST C ENTURY & B EYOND
REAL OR SCIENCE FICTION?
Many of the things we see in the Valley today once existed only in the imagination of book
authors or movie directors. But today, residents of the Valley use their telephones to take pictures
as well as make phone calls. They use their portable music players to catalog large numbers of
songs in a music library as well as a way to transport computer files or keep calendars and agendas.
More and more, in this digital, high definition world, computers are at the center of our lives.
People shop online and fall in love online. Our schools in the San Gabriel Valley are constantly
increasing the number of distance learning classes offered. These are classes that are given online
through the computer.
Valley residents can also pay bills, replenish food, file claims, and many other tasks online. As
the Valley gets accustomed to this new way of life, our way of doing many familiar tasks will surely
resemble much of the stuff we see on the movie screens.
Although shopping on the web makes if very convenient for consumers, as web shopping grows
it also creates many more opportunities for local small business to establish themselves, having all
the resources needed right here in the San Gabriel Valley. Then there’s education, where technology
is already making inroads. The Valley’s educational institutions are increasingly offering more
classes via the web. They call this long distance learning. There are even degrees that a student can
obtain without ever setting foot in a classroom.
Still, there are even more amazing discoveries that will make the lives of the residents of the
Valley radically different. For a while now we have had image manipulation technology where we
can zoom in on a photograph and modify it. Now we have the emerging field of nanoscale science,
engineering, and technology allowing scientists work on a molecular level atom by atom.
✧
Institutions like the Claremont Colleges will
help prepare the people of the San Gabriel
Valley for the future.
LEADING THE WORLD
Just as California has the world’s entertainment center in Hollywood, it also is the center of
much of the high-tech industries that provide digital entertainment to the world. The San Gabriel
Valley, with all of its centers of higher learning and it large pool of educated, technologically savvy
residents, stands at the forefront of this change which represents a paradigm shift.
In the past, the children in the San Gabriel Valley chose more traditional occupations when
picking a career. Today, as they prepare for the future, they are choosing less traditional, more hightech
occupations, for which a need will continue to arise. These new occupations require a high
level of computer skills as well as good interpersonal and communication skills. The San Gabriel
Valley is a great place for companies with future plans of outsourcing high tech jobs out of the
country to look to. These companies can find a large pool people with the skills needed at very
competitive costs.
The San Gabriel Valley is also place for entrepreneurs, for those who want to take action toward
their own future success. It a place in continual motion forward, a place where new residents can
make their dreams come true. It is a place of opportunity and a place of diversion. Where one can,
as the old saying goes, work hard, then play hard.
Many of the high technological ideas and products which will become commonplace in the near
future will come from the San Gabriel Valley, a region that can certainly lead the world in the
technological age.
CHAPTER V
39

✧
Above: The Kaiser Permanente Medical
Center in Baldwin Park will ensure that the
San Gabriel Valley of the future will always
be on the cutting edge of medical technology.
Perhaps the structure’s modern design holds
some clues to the appearance of the San
Gabriel Valley in the future.
Below: As the San Gabriel Valley moves
toward the future, there will always be
reminders of its treasured past, such as
the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium.
WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE?
In the near future, the San Gabriel Valley will
be even more beautiful that it is today (if that’s
possible). In the last twenty years, many of the
revitalization projects have taken shape and
many of the Valley cities have had facelifts. Also
many forward-thinking companies have settle
in the Valley and continue to come, at times
financing beautification projects to create an
even more pleasant environment in the Valley.
The air should be even cleaner in the near
future that it is today. Valley residents have
been working hard for a cleaner environment
and it’s been a journey in the right direction. As
cleaner fuels are found and people learn new
habits in transportation, combined with new
methods of transportation, traffic congestion
has already become less of a burden. It should
get even better in the near future.
And, as models of doing business are
changed by the Internet, many of the Valley
residents will not have to travel far (or travel
at all) in order to do their jobs. This will also
have a tremendous positive impact on the
streets and highways of the Valley.
Additionally, as the various cultures of the
Valley continue to evolve, it will be an even
more vibrant and colorful place, so unique
that people from all over the world will want
to come and see it for themselves; a paradise
region within a paradise country. The San
Gabriel Valley truly is and will continue to be
a promised land of opportunity.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
40

PARTNERS IN THE
SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
historic profiles of businesses, organizations, and
families that have contributed to the development
and economic base of the San Gabriel Valley
City of El Monte...........................................................................42
Sanitation District of Los Angeles County.........................................46
Wells Fargo Bank .........................................................................50
Fairplex......................................................................................52
Century 21 Marty Rodriguez ..........................................................54
Foothill Workforce Investment Board................................................56
Alta Dena Dairy...........................................................................58
Kaiser Permanente........................................................................60
Diana’s Mexican Food Products, Inc. ...............................................62
Citizens Business Bank ..................................................................64
McConnell Cabinets, Inc. ...............................................................66
Lawry’s Foods ..............................................................................68
Mt. San Antonio College ................................................................70
Miller Brewing Company................................................................72
Foothill Transit ............................................................................74
El Monte Convalescent Hospital ......................................................76
Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District ...........................77
Bryman College ............................................................................78
Dellacor Company ........................................................................79
Vincent Jewelry Design Center........................................................80
Moran Motors ..............................................................................81
Azusa Pacific University................................................................82
Ramona Care Center .....................................................................83
Circle Machine Company ...............................................................84
Holiday Inn Monrovia ...................................................................85
El Monte Union High School District ...............................................86
Work Source California .................................................................87
Hanson Aggregates-Los Angeles.......................................................88
El Monte/South El Monte Chamber of Commerce ................................89
SPECIAL
THANKS TO
Alloys Non-Ferrous
Foundry, Inc.
Comfort Inn
Computer Projection Rentals
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
41

✧
Above: El Monte City Hall.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
Below: El Monte Community Center.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
CITY OF
EL MONTE
The “island” of El Monte, a 4-by-7-mile tract
of rich, low-lying land east of Los Angeles
between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo Rivers,
has always offered respite and replenishment to
native dwellers and travelers. In centuries past,
the Gabrielino, or Tongva Indians used this area
as they traversed the land harvesting foods and
hunting game.
Blessed with deep, rich, alluvial topsoil, the
area was crossed by small streams, and in those
early days was covered by stands of slender
willows, alders and cattails, interspersed with
expansive meadows, wild grapevines, and
succulent watercress.
Between the 1770s and 1830s, missionaries
and Spanish soldiers stopped here, and named
the area, “El Monte,” which referred not to
the mountain as most assume, but to that
era’s definition—“meadow or marsh” or “the
wooded place.”
During the land-grant/rancho era of the
1830s-40s, the area continued to serve as a
natural resting place for weary travelers,
including a small party of Americans led by
Jedediah Smith, a famed mountain man and
explorer. Among his party in 1826 was Harrison
Rogers, whose diary entry about their stay
referred to the rest and rehabilitation offered by
“Camp Monte” or “Monte Camp.”
El Monte’s first permanent residents arrived
in 1849-50, a time when thousands of
prospectors and immigrant pioneers came to
California seeking gold. Few found wealth in
the gold, but some found the riches of a fertile
land and built homes. Originally setting off in
search of gold, the Thompson family crossed
the San Gabriel River to reach El Monte in 1851
after a fourteen-month journey from Iowa that
had left them physically and emotionally
depleted and living with a daily concern for the
barest necessities of life. With the hardships
they had endured crossing mountains and
deserts and fending off the attacks by hostile
Apaches, their aims changed, and they wanted
only to settle at the first place offering adequate
fresh water and good soil for farming.
Other pioneers led by Captain Johnson of
Lexington, Kentucky, arrived in the following
year. A brief survey of the gold fields to the
north convinced Captain Johnson that El
Monte’s agricultural promise offered a more
realistic key to the future of his group. A
natural leader, he became an important part of
the community in the 1850s with permanent
residents consisting of no more than a dozen
families. He proposed naming their village
“Lexington” in honor of his birthplace and as a
tribute to the importance of that name in U.S.
Revolutionary War history. Even though
residents agreed, the original name of El
Monte, Monte Camp or The Monte persisted.
When the State Legislature organized
California into smaller defined governmental
units called townships, they named this area El
Monte Township, with the Village of Lexington
as its government seat. Two years later the
town’s name reverted to the original: El Monte.
Farmers here enjoyed increasing success,
despite occasional floods from its rivers and
other periods of severe drought. The
community grew steadily with card parlors and
dance halls, robberies and murders. Vigilantes,
particularly the infamous “Monte Boys,”
hastened the hanging of wrongdoers.
Politically divided by the Civil War the
community had Confederate sympathies, even
though California was a Union state. During these
early years, El Monte’s successful agrarian
economy was based on such products as wool,
honey, grain, fruit, castor oil, hops, cotton, and El
Monte Bacon. Early business enterprises included
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
42

the Willow Grove Inn on the Butterfield Stage
route between Riverside and Los Angeles. This
early “motel” was established, owned and
operated by members of the Thompson family.
Improved transportation became available
in 1873, when Southern Pacific built the first
railroad through town. Other important
milestones included publication of the weekly
newspaper strictly for El Monte, in 1876, and
the opening of the drug store in 1892.
Agriculture remained at the core of El Monte’s
economy in the early twentieth century, though
fruit orchards, walnut groves, truck farms, hay
and vegetable fields, and a growing dairy
industry replaced most of the earlier field crops.
Arden Farms was one of the largest dairies in the
area. Bodger Seed Ltd. leased large tracts of land
on the southern part of the “island” to grow plots
of flowering plants for seed production. Laid out
in precise geometric patterns, these fields
brought visitors from throughout the San Gabriel
Valley during the blooming season, and led to
the area being called Las Flores.
El Monte Union High School District was
organized in 1901, to include students from
portions of the present communities of Bassett,
Whittier, Montebello, Rosemead, Temple City,
Arcadia, Monrovia and El Monte. During its first
year of operation, 12 to 15 students attended
classes in a single room upstairs in the old
Lexington Avenue Grammar School. By 1908
enrollment had grown to sixty-five students, who
were housed in a separate high school campus.
Main Street was first graded and paved in
1906. In 1907 Pacific Electric intercity railroad
service was extended to El Monte. The line’s old
“Red Cars” remained an important part of
transportation for the next forty-five years.
Until incorporation of El Monte in 1912,
volunteer fire and police departments served
the area.
The 1910 revolution in Mexico saw a large
increase of Mexican immigration into the
southwestern United States. Most of these
immigrants found jobs as farm workers,
many in the lush farmlands of El Monte.
Despite experiencing hardships and
discrimination in housing, education, jobs
and public service, these young men enlisted
in the armed forces of WWI, WWII, Korea
and Vietnam. The American Indians and
Japanese Americans also served and worked
in support of their country.
The “Roaring ’20s” had a slightly different
connotation in El Monte than elsewhere in the
country, with the arrival of Gay’s Lion Farm.
Two European-born former circus stars, Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Gay, operated this tourist
attraction, which has been called “the
Disneyland of the 1920s and 1930s.” The Gays
raised wild animals for use in the burgeoning
motion picture industry, with the operation
housing over 200 African lions. The compound
had individual cages for adult lions, a larger
“nursery” cage for cubs, and a very large,
centrally located arena cage in which Gay
trained the lions to perform acts for spectators.
Many of the lions starred in films during the
1920s and 1930s, including the “Tarzan” films
starring Elmo Lincoln and Johnny Weismuller.
The MGM lion logo was made with “Jackie,”
one of the Gays’ most famous stars. Athletic
teams from El Monte High School chose “The
Lions” as their team name, and Gay
periodically designated one of the young,
active male lions as the school’s official mascot
to make an appearance at certain home football
games and with a roar encouraged cheering of
the hometown crowds.
World War II rationing of meat and gasoline
led to closing the lion farm, with the lions
✧
Above: Cherrylee Street, a typical
residential street.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
Below: One of the many El Monte city parks.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
43

✧
Top: The El Monte Lion at the original
Gay’s Lion Farm location, Valley Boulevard
and Peck Road.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
Middle: El Monte’s downtown shopping
center, El Monte Valley Mall.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
Bottom: The Lexington Grammar School
Fifth Grade class, 1939.
“loaned” to public zoos. Once the war ended,
however, Charles Gay’s failing health made it
impossible for him to resume the business, and
today the only remnant of the farm is a
magnificent statue of Jackie the Lion, which was
relocated to the present El Monte High School
campus. This statue has been designated as an
official historical monument, with the farm’s
history inscribed on a bronze plaque at its base.
A new lion statue resides at the intersections of
Peck Road and Valley Boulevard, the original
site and commemorating the history of Gay’s
Lion Farm.
In the 1930s, El Monte was a small
community with a Mexican population of about
20 percent, a Japanese population of 5 percent,
and an Anglo population of 75 percent.
However, the Depression of the ’30s brought
drastic changes to El Monte, as it did to many
other communities. Farm profits plummeted,
leading some landowners to sublet small farm
tracts to Japanese tenants, who raised such cash
crops as berries, melons and vegetables. Other
areas of El Monte, particularly large groves and
orchards, were subdivided into homesites of
one acre or less, transforming El Monte to a
bedroom community from which residents
commuted elsewhere.
During these times, most Mexican
immigrants worked as farm hands and lived in
one of three immigrant camps (Hicks, Las
Flores, or Medina Court), and the Japanese
tenant farmer lived on the farm itself. There
was minimal racial tension between these two
immigrant groups, as they had common goals
and both suffered discriminatory practices
from the majority population. For example,
elementary education was segregated, with
Mexican and Japanese students attending
different grade schools (K-5) than their Anglo
counterparts. However, there were some tense
situations such as what occurred in the famous
“El Monte Berry Strike” of 1933, which by the
end had mixed results for all sides.
The Long Beach earthquake in March 1933
severely damaged the high school, leaving
forty percent of the classrooms unsafe for use.
Makeshift wood and canvas bungalows served
as temporary classrooms, until a new school
was built. The new school, which provided
improved facilities for the growing
enrollment, opened in 1939, and still stands
today on Tyler Avenue below Mildred Street as
El Monte High School.
The graceful new El Monte Community and
Civic Center, designed in the mission
architectural style, opened in June 1936 next to
the high school on land donated by Bodger
Seed, Ltd., with several days of celebration that
initiated the Pioneer Days observance held
annually for the next ten years (with a brief
hiatus during World War II). Citizens enjoyed
old-fashioned games and events, dressing in
western frontier style, and taking part in a
pioneer pageant held in the auditorium to depict
the “Thompson Party” and “Captain Johnson.”
Because these annual “bashes” tended to
encourage over-imbibing and attracted a rowdy
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
44

element from surrounding communities, they
were discontinued.
El Monte had been a small, prosperous farm
town, but the advent of World War II brought
dramatic changes as small aircraft parts factories
sprang up on the west side of town, young men
joined the military, and the number of farms and
dairies dwindled. Population exploded in the
1940s and early 1950s—illustrated by high
school enrollment, which soared from 1,500
students in 1943 to 3,700 in 1948. Five different
beginning/ending times had to be instituted to
accommodate all the students and class
schedules. During its first forty-eight years, El
Monte Union High School housed its entire
student population in one school, but from 1949
to the present, four additional schools were built.
From a population of about 10,000 in 1940,
the population now numbers approximately
116,000. In place of the sleepy little town of
orchards, flower fields, and farms and dairies,
is an urban community of homes, schools and
parks supported by an expanding industrial
and commercial base.
Located approximately twelve miles east of
downtown Los Angeles, El Monte is the hub of
the San Gabriel Valley, where two major
freeways—Interstate 605 and Interstate 10—
intersect. Other transportation alternatives are
offered by a MetroLink train station; MTA bus
terminal; and El Monte Airport, a countyoperated
general aviation facility. The tenth
largest city (out of 88) in Los Angeles County,
the land use within its ten square mile area is
58 percent residential, 11 percent retail, 10
percent industrial, 7 percent office/commercial,
and 14 percent other. El Monte is ethnically a
very diverse community, with the year 2000
demographics reflecting an increase in the
Asian population up to an all-time high of 18
percent, the Hispanic population remaining
steady at 75 percent, and Caucasians
decreasing to 7 percent.
El Monte is home to Longo Toyota, the largest
single auto dealership in the world, with other
successful auto dealerships situated nearby.
Other major retail businesses include Home
Depot, Kmart and Sam’s Club. Major industries
include Vons Distribution Warehouse, Wells
Fargo Operations Center, and St. Gobain Glass
Containers. El Monte is on the move, with a new
Aquatics Center with four indoor pools
scheduled to open in summer 2003.
In recent times, new immigrants from
Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Indochina, the
Philippines, Central and South America have
moved into El Monte, providing an
international flavor and strong workforce.
These citizens have a positive work ethic and
get along well with each other. City
commissions include formal ties with Taiwan,
China, Mexico and France. Members of all
ethnic groups serve within these commissions,
bringing together people from countries across
the world. Despite all these changes, El Monte
continues to offer a home for those seeking to
put down roots, seek new opportunities, and
bring fresh ideas and energy to the area—the
wooded place of shelter and security, the
meadow land of opportunity and promise.
✧
Top: Longo Toyota and Lexus, the largest
car dealership in the world.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
Middle: El Monte general aviation airport
and new terminal facility with elegant
dining amenities.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
Bottom: New building in Flair Business
Park, located just south of the Interstate
10 freeway.
COURTESY OF JOHN COLLARI.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
45

SANITATION
DISTRICTS OF
LOS ANGELES
COUNTY
The story so far for the twenty-first
century—at least for many Californians—
might well be that of the energy crisis. While
many debate the impact of deregulation of the
electric power industry on the rise in energy
costs and power outages that blanketed many
parts of the region, one agency with roots deep
in the San Gabriel Valley has a seventy-nineyear
history of providing innovative solutions
not only to energy but also to environmental
problems that threaten the quality of life for
families throughout the region.
Originated by a law—the County Sanitation
District Act of 1923—the Sanitation Districts
of Los Angeles County operate out of the Joint
Administration Office in Whittier. The agency
handles those unwanted resources others
consider as waste, solid waste (trash) and
sewage, in an environmentally sound and costeffective
manner.
Albert Kendall (A. K.) Warren, Hugh
Pomeroy, and R.F. McClellen were the three
remarkable men behind the formation of the
Sanitation Districts. Each man had significant
political or public agency experience. Warren
was an employee of the Los Angeles County
surveyor, who as a construction engineer had
experience with storm drainage. Pomeroy was
a member of the State Assembly, director of
county planning, and ex-officio secretary of
the boards of directors of the Sanitation
Districts. McClellen served as chair of the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
It was Pomeroy who introduced the bill
that created the Sanitation Districts. Along
with Warren’s vision for the multi-city/county
handling of sewage for the southern plain of
Los Angeles County and McClellen’s
wholehearted support of the Act and the
creation of the Sanitation Districts, ground
was soon broken for the county’s first joint
sewage disposal outfall system.
Though not the most glamorous of
subjects—that of sewage—if the early visions
of these men had not been seen to fruition,
the impact of the industrial and residential
expansion in the Los Angeles County area that
followed World War I would have most surely
been felt by a system ill-equipped to handle
the ever-increasing volume of sewage and
industrial waste, most notably among the
lovely beaches of Southern California.
Today, an alliance of twenty-five
independent districts comprise the Sanitation
Districts that, under a single administration,
handles wastewater treatment and solid waste
disposal for over five million people. Each
district, determined by geographic drainage
areas rather than political boundaries,
controls the collection, treatment and disposal
of area wastewater.
Fifteen of the Sanitation Districts are also
party to the Joint Refuse Transfer and Disposal
System Agreement. This agreement provides
for the construction and operation of refuse
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
46

transfer and disposal facilities, and, critical to
the energy crisis that this decade is likely to be
remembered for, the operation of refuse-toenergy
plants, as well as power plants at
wastewater and solid waste facilities. In fact,
through the power generation from both
wastewater and solid waste facilities, the
Sanitation Districts are among the top twentyfive
power generators in the State of California.
From its Whittier headquarters, the
Sanitation Districts act as an operating agency
with an in-house engineering staff. The
Sanitation Districts provide their sewage and
solid waste services at a cost lower than most
similar agencies elsewhere.
Much of the energy generated from solid
waste comes from the operation of the Puente
Hills Landfill, which is owned and operated
by the Sanitation Districts. The landfill
incorporates myriad solid waste management
programs that together formulate the
Sanitation Districts’ strategy for waste
management challenges of the future.
The collection and control of landfill gas,
formed by the natural decomposition of
waste, is a main source of energy recovery.
The collection process used by the Puente
Hills Landfill has become the standard for all
landfills operating in the country, especially
because of its positive impact on air quality.
Gas collected from the landfill through a
network of wells and pipe trenches is burned
in a boiler, which creates steam that is
processed through a turbine to generate
electricity. The Puente Hills Energy Recovery
Facility—a gas-to-energy facility—generates
50 megawatts of electricity for some 75,000 to
100,000 homes in Southern California,
providing a very clean energy source.
The Sanitation Districts’ Puente Hills
Landfill also pioneered the world’s first fully
automated fueling station capable of processing
landfill gas to an innovative, high-quality, highoctane
vehicle fuel that could help reduce air
emissions from vehicles operating at the
landfill by more than 130 tons per year.
The Clean Fuels From Gas Demonstration
Program, which began in 1993, received the
Clean Air Award from the South Coast Air
Quality Management District, the Governor’s
Environmental and Economic Leadership
Award, and the Honor Award from the American
Academy of Environmental Engineers.
The Puente Hills facility is the largest
recycling facility in the state. The facility also
conducts materials recovery and recycling, and
provides a market for recyclable materials for
many cities in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond.
The Puente Hills facility encompasses just
over 1,300 acres, with less than two-thirds of
that space—800 acres—being used as landfill.
One dollar per ton of refuse received at the
landfill is set aside for the Puente Hills Landfill
Native Habitat Preservation Authority. The
money is used for the purchase, restoration
and maintenance of off-site natural habitats in
the La Puente, Hacienda Heights, and Whittier
Hills areas. When the landfill reaches capacity
and closes, portions of the landfill site will be
turned over to the Los Angeles County
Department of Parks and Recreation for
development as a recreational facility to
benefit the surrounding communities.
✧
Opposite, top: Ground was broken for the
Wright Road Trunk sewer in September
1925 by (left to right) Hugh Pomeroy,
Supervisor R.F. McClellen, and Sanitation
Districts’ Chief Engineer A.K. Warren.
Opposite, bottom: A map showing
Los Angeles County wastewater
treatment facilities.
Above: The Puente Hills Landfill Gas-to-
Energy Facility.
Below: The Commerce Refuse to
Energy Facility.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
47

✧
Above: The Puente Hills Landfill, located
near Whittier, when combined with its
Materials Recovery Facility (inset), will help
make the transition to the long haul of
waste by rail to distant landfills.
Below: Reclaimed water use at Wilderness
Park in Downey.
The Sanitation Districts produce another
precious resource—water, or more specifically,
clean, clear water, recovered from wastewater—
that’s right, sewage. Southern California
imports water from a long distance and at a
great expense. The Sanitation Districts’ water
reclamation and recycling efforts augment the
region’s water supply, and help maintain the
quality of life for millions of people in Los
Angeles County.
The Sanitation Districts operate eleven
wastewater treatment plants that service over
five million people through a simple, threephase
water reclamation process that yields
nearly two hundred million gallons of
reclaimed water each day. One of those, the San
Jose Creek Water Reclamation Plant, is located
near the City of Whittier, next to the Sanitation
Districts’ headquarters. Portions of the plant lie
on either side of the San Gabriel (605) Freeway.
During the primary treatment phase, solid
materials are removed from sewage. Next,
naturally occurring microorganisms feed on
dissolved organic materials that remain after the
first phase. And finally, the newly cleaned water
soaks through filters, recreating the process that
occurs in nature, effectively creating a river in a
concrete box. The reclaimed water is disinfected
with chlorine, and is ready for water recycling.
Recognizing that the treatment of wastewater
must encompass only the most advanced quality
control methods, the Sanitation Districts’
methods of treating reclaimed water have
resulted in water that is free of detectable
viruses. The end product also meets state and
federal drinking water standards.
Reclaimed water is sold by the Sanitation
Districts to local public and private water
suppliers, and is transmitted to customers by
special pipes designated for that purpose. The
water from the San Jose Creek plant supplies
water to nearby cities that then use it for
irrigation of community greenbelts, parks and
street medians. The reclaimed water is also
used by area businesses for industrial use. The
Sanitation Districts’ Joint Administration Office
uses reclaimed water in its own lavatories and
for irrigation purposes. Some of the reclaimed
water is also mixed with stormwater and
imported water and filtered through the
ground to replenish underground supplies.
Adding more bang to the consumer buck,
the Sanitation Districts’ Joint Water Pollution
Control Plant also generates biogas as a
byproduct of sewage processing, which in turn
operates three generators that provide all the
electrical power for pumps needed to operate
the facility. The excess is then sold to the
power company that provides electricity for
area homes.
Over the last decade, the Sanitation Districts
have spent an average of $40 million each year
to rehabilitate and replace deteriorating sewer
lines to maximize the smooth operation of its
wastewater treatment system. The Sanitation
Districts have also plunged into the world of
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
48

protecting ocean environments through its
Ocean Monitoring and Research Program. The
monitoring program provides a means to
measure the success of the Sanitation Districts’
endeavors to protect the ocean. The Sanitation
Districts have also co-sponsored the Southern
California Coastal Water Research Project since
1969; in an effort to understand the impact
society has on the area’s coastal waters.
Looking into the future, the Districts have
prepared a master plan that anticipates the
increasing need for wastewater facilities through
the year 2010. Included in the broad scope of
that plan is the expansion of the San Jose Creek
facility. The master plan anticipates the growth
in business; industry and residences served by
the Sanitation Districts’ Joint Outfall Systems,
and will help maintain the quality of life for
which the Southern California area is known.
The agency has a long history of engaging
the public through meetings, workshops, and
the media, always with the health and well
being of all citizens as a paramount concern
and all the while providing much-needed
services at some of the lowest prices in the
United States. The Sanitation Districts’ 2010
Plan continued the agency’s long history of
public involvement through group meetings
with the Citizens Advisory Committee and
leaders of environmental groups.
As the overall population of California—
and specifically the San Gabriel Valley—
continues to expand, residents can be assured
that the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles
County will uphold its reputation as a longterm
good neighbor.
Its efforts to be energy wise—since 1938—
and its accomplishments in water reclamation
and solid waste recycling should preserve the
Sanitation Districts’ place as a leader in
providing the essential infrastructure and in
the rich history of the San Gabriel Valley for
years to come.
✧
Above; The Joint Water Pollution Control
Plant in Carson.
Below: The San Jose Creek Water
Reclamation Plant near Whittier.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
49

WELLS
FARGO
BANK
The Wells Fargo name, long associated
with the centuries-old stagecoach and images
of the Old West, has today become one of
America’s most extensive banking franchises.
And even though Wells Fargo—with close to
$280 billion in assets—is the fourth largest
institution of its kind, its growth hasn’t
caused the financial giant to stray far from
its roots.
Two men—Henry Wells and William
Fargo—established Wells, Fargo & Company
Banking and Express in 1852, in response to
the flood of people who migrated to the West
for the great California Gold Rush.
Wells and Fargo opened their business
headquarters in San Francisco after securing a
contract for providing twice-weekly mail
coach services between St. Louis/Michigan
and Northern California. The company
employed agents in towns throughout the
West who not only provided courier services,
but also engaged in the precious transport of
everything from cash, to gold to news. This
twenty-seven-hundred-mile route was a literal
information highway for the late 1800s.
One thing that has likely contributed to
Wells Fargo’s ranking by Forbes’ Magazine
as the “nation’s most admired superregional
bank” for two years in a row is rooted
deeply in its humble beginnings on those
well-traveled stagecoach routes: valuing the
people in the community that it serves.
Today, Wells Fargo’s San Gabriel Valley
division, under the direction of Senior Vice
President and Division Manager Terry Zink,
oversees 62 of the company’s 5,400 stores and
business centers nationwide. What’s unique to
each division is the manner in which the
corporate office allows it to personalize
services in response to the needs of each
community served—a practice that doesn’t
vary much from how business was conducted
so many years ago.
With offices in West Covina, the San
Gabriel Valley division coordinates operations
for 31 freestanding or “traditional” bank
branch offices, 26 innovative, in-store sites,
and five business offices.
There are some thirty cities that comprise
the San Gabriel Valley, an area rich with
cultural diversity at every turn. Wells Fargo’s
division office takes into account the needs of
each of the individuals who live and work in
each unique area, and tailors its services to
meet those needs.
The primary focus of Wells Fargo’s San
Gabriel Valley’s division is community
banking. Company-wide, the bank’s list of
products and services offered includes
checking, savings and time certificates for
consumers and businesses; equity loans and
lines of credit; commercial loans and lines of
credit; and consumer loans and credit cards.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
50

Add to that already extensive list twentyfour-hour
customer service, online bill
payment and banking services, membership
banking, merchant cards, a huge network of
ATMs and a host of other diversified offerings,
and it’s easy to see how the company has
been able to sustain its long history of
providing what one editor and early coach
traveler, Samuel Bowles, said was “the
omnipresent, universal business agent of all
the region, from the Rocky Mountains to the
Pacific Ocean.”
Even as early as the 1800s, Bowles
observed, “Going along hand in hand with the
rapidly changing population…offering
readier and more various facilities than
[anyone else, Wells Fargo] has grown very
much into the heart and habit of the people.”
The company hasn’t strayed far from that
ideal. Today, it upholds service to the
cities that it serves by funding and
maintaining various community reinvestment
projects. In fact, at the close of the twentieth
century, the company spent over $63 million
to help local programs and nonprofit
organizations nationwide.
Wells Fargo also encourages its employees to
participate in volunteer activities, completing
the picture of the bank as a vital member of the
community. Employees of the San Gabriel
Valley division provide much-needed support
to area organizations such as Rosemary’s
Children’s Home, Junior Achievement, and
Rebuilding Together Pasadena.
Each year, employees and representatives
of Wells Fargo’s San Gabriel Valley division
also participate in the City of Hope Breast
Cancer Walk; the Junior Achievement Bowl-a-
Thon; the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation
Walk; and the United Way Day of Caring, to
name just a few.
The office also encompasses parts of
Orange County, and provides volunteer
services to that area’s United Way.
Throughout the State of California, the
company has made it a priority to assist with
providing affordable housing, promote
economic development for small businesses,
and provide job training programs and with
the revitalization of low- and moderateincome
communities.
In an era likely to be remembered for
financial market fluctuation, Wells Fargo has
remained stable. And through its efforts to be
sensitive to the needs of diverse areas like the
San Gabriel Valley, it is likely to continue to
receive accolades on a local and global level
far into the next century.
✧
Opposite, top: A horse-drawn courier and
banker from Wells Fargo’s earlier days in
Arcadia, California.
Opposite, bottom: A postcard of Main Street
in Alhambra, California.
Above: Senior Vice President and Division
Manager Terry E. Zink, of Wells Fargo’s
San Gabriel Valley Division.
COURTESY OF SILVIA MAUTNER.
Below: Wells Fargo Bank, San Gabriel
Valley Division.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
51

FAIRPLEX
✧
Above: The businessmen responsible for
forming the Los Angeles County Fair
Association and the Los Angeles County
Fair (from left to right): J. M. Paige,
Charles P. Curran, L. E. Sheets, Fred E.
Whyte, George Cobb, and A. E. Andrews.
Below: More than 1.3 million people visit
the Los Angeles County Fair annually.
What started in 1921 as a novel idea borne
of two businessmen to showcase local
business, the Los Angeles County Fair
Association has grown into a sprawling yearround
multi-use complex just south of the
San Gabriel Valley.
Mention Fairplex to Los Angelenos and the
mind immediately recalls images of rich
agricultural displays, livestock demonstrations,
and row after row of vendors displaying a
dazzling array of wares, not to mention a
dazzling arcade, delicious food, and
entertainment options for the whole family.
All this excitement happens under the
auspices of the Los Angeles County Fair, which
premiered in October 1922, and is billed as a
“showcase of entertainment, education, exhibits,
horticulture, arts, agriculture, horse racing,
science, technology and special attractions.”
This ambitious description, though farreaching
and quite inclusive, isn’t much
unlike what fair founders Clinton B. “Jack”
Afflerbaugh, a druggist and City Councilman,
and Harry La Breque envisioned nearly eighty
years ago: an elaborate expo to showcase local
merchants and their wares.
Afflerbaugh’s civic pride, combined with La
Breque’s talent as a promoter of railroad
carnivals produced an event so successful that
it led to the birth of an annual county fair of
grand scale and proportion.
Picturesque Pomona has been the fair’s home
from the start. A beet and barley field,
forty-three acres in size, was purchased in 1922
to facilitate hosting the event. At the same time
the physical structure began to take shape, the
organization known today as the Los Angeles
County Fair Association, a 501c (5) non-profit
mutual benefit organization was formed.
The Association’s charter says the
organization was formed “primarily for the
promotion of the agricultural, horticultural and
animal husbandry interests of the great
Southwest.” But many annual fair guests are also
likely to note the myriad foods and festivities
this fall spectacular has to offer.
An array of entertainment offerings combined
with the traditional staples has transformed the
L.A. County Fair into one of the top ten of all
North American fairs and exhibitions, with an
estimated attendance of 1.3 million annually.
But Fairplex is more than just the home of
the annual county fair. The facilities, which
contain 543 acres—more than ten times their
original size—are home to more than 300
events throughout the calendar year.
Trade shows, computer fairs, concerts and
sporting events are just some of the events
offered, with many of them produced by
organizations outside of the Fair Association.
Physical highlights that keep the Fairplex
calendar full include: close to 325,000 square
feet of indoor exhibit space, housed in eight
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
52

exhibit halls; a horse racing facility, Fairplex
Park, that accommodates major races on a fiveeights-mile
track with a grandstand for
spectators; a park for recreational vehicles;
pristine plazas, park space and picnic areas; a
dozen acres of carnival space; parking for up to
thirty thousand vehicles, and much more.
Additionally, the full service complex also
boasts an eight-story all-suites hotel. The
Sheraton Suites Fairplex houses close to 250
luxury suites, and offers a wide range of guest
amenities that include a swimming pool, spa,
gym and restaurant.
Fairplex is also home to the Wally Parks
NHRA Motorsports Museum, a twenty-eightthousand-square-foot
complex that houses
vintage and historic racing vehicles and other
racing memorabilia. The museum is open
year-round and also offers meeting facilities
and a gift shop. Fairplex also hosts the NHRA
Winternationals and World Finals.
The Millard Sheets Gallery at Fairplex is
representative of a tradition of exhibiting the
fine arts since its inception in the 1920s. Today,
the gallery promotes public appreciation of the
visual arts and acts as a showcase for local
artists and national works in a variety of
mediums that include paintings, textiles,
photography, drawing, and sculptures.
The Fair Association also operates the
Fairplex Child Development Center in
conjunction with the University of La Verne,
which has provided a high-quality early
childhood program since 1991. The Fairplex
Education Foundation also supports creative
teaching strategies and educational programs
to promote a long-term interest in learning
during the Fair and on a year-round basis.
Fairplex also gives to the community on a
year-round basis, through charitable and
philanthropic endeavors that include an adopta-school
program that provides a special day at
the fair for the students of Yorba Elementary
School. Fairplex also sponsors the FairKids
Discovery Club program that provides free fair
admissions and organized field trips that offers
a day of “edutainment” for more than eighty
thousand children.
Members of the Fair Association also
maintain memberships in thirty different
professional and community service
organizations, and provide much-needed
financial support for organizations such as the
American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America,
and the United Way.
As a full service facility, home of a first class
fair, and productive member of the many
communities it serves, Fairplex continues in
the rich traditions of its founders, and will
likely be a show place of success for centuries
to come.
✧
Above: Fair guests enjoy a bird’s-eye view of
the Fair.
Below: Nightly fireworks mark the end of
the day at the Fair.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
53

CENTURY 21
MARTY
RODRIGUEZ
✧
Above: Marty Rodriguez, multimillion
dollar producer and world’s most successful
agent in Century 21’s history.
Below: Marty Rodriguez Real Estate Center,
Glendora, California.
Depending on your belief system, “learning
what you live” can bring wild success to some,
while imparting tragic failure upon others. And
if as they say, knowledge is power, then San
Gabriel Valley-based realtor Marty Rodriguez
has become an intimate friend and constant
companion of the sometimes-elusive formula
to success.
In this age of memorized mission
statements and other quick fixes for reaching
the professional pinnacle, Marty, a twentyfour-year
veteran of the real estate business,
has her eyes trained on one thing—bringing
happiness to herself and others by being the
best example that she can be; to inspire and
change lives; and, to bring out the best in the
people whose lives she touches.
That, Marty says, is her goal in life. And to
achieve it, she has eradicated the distraction
of negativity, and has instead fixated on her
skills as a master salesperson–something she
has done well since the age of six, when she
succeeded in selling more candy than anyone
else for school fund-raisers.
The drive and determination that Marty
exemplifies has manifested itself in a litany of
achievements, not the least of them being
recognized as the world’s most successful
agent in the history of Century 21.
In the last decade alone, Marty’s sales have
nearly tripled. In 1992 she sold some $44
million in residential sales, closed 160
transactions, and earned over $1.2 million in
gross closed commissions. Fast-forward to
the year 2001, and the numbers show
incredible growth: $116.4 million in
residential sales, and 455 closed transactions.
Against the odds—and in more than one
market fluctuation—Marty has remained at
the top of the real estate game, showing
earnings growth when many others folded and
went to seek work in a more stable industry.
Author Norman Vincent Peale once said,
“Change your thoughts and you change your
world.” This sage advice is akin to the “Rules of
the Road” that every employee—12 general
office employees and 15 sales agents—learns
upon walking through the doors of Marty’s
immaculate 11,000 square foot Glendora office.
“Respect, teamwork and excellence” are
the canons this agency operates by. Everyone
in Marty’s employ is expected to uphold every
tenant that she herself exemplifies.
Recognizing that only 5 percent of all real
estate agents do 95 percent of the business, and
that buying a home is perhaps the single largest
investment of a lifetime, Marty looks for qualities
in her employees that will add to “the team that
delivers the dream”—homeownership.
Marty carefully examines the belief system,
honesty, truth and integrity of each team
member, and insists that they have—and
maintain—a commitment to the client and
the company. In this way, agents help to build
client loyalty and long-lasting relationships
that yield repeat sales and referrals.
It would be hard to enjoy such professional
success without having at least some
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
54

semblance of balance in her family life. Marty
has gone a step further, and firmly believes
that children should not only share in, but
should learn to appreciate the work to which
their parents are dedicated.
In fact, three of the four children and stepchildren
that Marty and husband Ed have raised
between them have pivotal positions in the
agency, with daughter Shelley, a USC Marshall
School of Business graduate, at the helm as
Broker and business manager; stepson Ed, Jr.,
serves as sales manager; and son Sean is the
brain behind the agency’s computer system and
Internet presence. He also helped his father
expand the agency’s physical headquarters.
Marty’s parents can likely be credited with
influencing her overall success. Early on, they
encouraged their children—all eleven of
them—to settle for nothing less than the best,
and taught them not to buy into the limitations
others might impose on them. Their advice
was straightforward: go to school, earn good
grades, work hard and attend church.
Add to that foundation Marty’s tireless
energy, her desire to motivate others, and a
keen knowledge of her product, and you get
the backbone of a real estate team worthy of
the accolades it constantly enjoys on a local,
national and international scale.
Marty has earned personal praises for the
time she volunteers to various community
organizations committed to helping local
businesses and children. She shares her
knowledge with others in the field by giving her
time as a speaker and writing articles for
industry publications.
The spirit of success this real estate team
enjoys is perhaps best captured by the words
of Goethe: “Treat people as if they were what
they ought to be, and you can help them
become what they are capable of becoming.”
If the growth enjoyed by this award winning
business is any proof of that statement,
Century 21 Marty Rodriguez has only just
begun to produce the proverbial “win-win”
for its agents and clients.
✧
Above: Marty and husband, Edward
Rodriguez II with children, left to right,
Sean, Shelley (Dow), and Ed III.
Below: One of many choice properties sold
by Century 21 Marty Rodriguez.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
55

FOOTHILL
WORKFORCE
INVESTMENT
BOARD
✧
The grand opening of the Foothill Workforce
Investment Board Mobile Training Unit.
The Pasadena area Foothill Workforce
Investment Board (FWIB) was created in
response to the federal Workforce Investment
Act (WIA) of 1998. The WIA replaced the Job
Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1982, which
was established to prepare youth and unskilled
workers for entry into the workforce.
The FWIB is comprised of a group of
businesses, education and community leaders,
along with representatives from a broad range
of government and trade organizations. It is
one of 8 such groups in Los Angeles County,
and 52 in the state of California.
Just as the WIA has its roots in decades-old
federal legislation, the FWIB has a twenty-fiveyear
history of providing employment and
training services to San Gabriel Valley residents,
first as a Prime Agent serving Pasadena, and
then as a member of a consortium of cities
formed in 1983 that also included Arcadia,
Duarte, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, South
Pasadena, and the community of Altadena.
The mission of the FWIB is to provide an
employment and training system responsive to
the needs of both job-seekers and employers.
To accomplish that goal, the FWIB operates
the Foothill Employment and Training
Connection (FETC), a comprehensive One-
Stop Career Center. The FETC has a budget of
approximately $7 million in federal grant
funds and served 24,272 customers in Fiscal
Year 2001-02 alone.
Three levels of service are available to job
seekers from the FETC:
• Core Services help those conducting selfdirected
job searches by providing them
with access to several helpful tools,
including multimedia information kiosks;
access to Cal JOBS, an Internet-based job
browsing system; and access to computers,
phones, copiers and facsimile machines.
Workshops in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint
and Labor Market information/ERISS are
also available at the Core Services level.
• Intensive Services addresses the needs of
those who may require one-on-one
assistance from an FETC Employment
Specialist. This service is particularly
helpful to those who have not been in the
market for a job for a long period of time.
The following workshops are also available
at this level: Interviewing Tips; Resume
Writing, Success Strategies; Put a Dot.Com
in your Job Search; and Mock Interviewing.
• The FETC also provides Training Services
to those who do not benefit from the first
two service levels. FETC staff completes
skill assessments to determine if updated
training is needed to optimize a candidate’s
hiring potential, and to develop a
vocational training program to make the
candidate more marketable.
In addition to its main office on Green
Street in Pasadena, there are eight FETC
affiliate sites: four of these are located
throughout Pasadena, and four others are
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
56

located in the nearby San Gabriel Valley. The
Monrovia Adult School/ROP Program and the
Pasadena branch of the Los Angeles Urban
League are comprehensive affiliates and can
provide a full range of WIA services as well.
Another integral part of the FWIB’s program
is the innovative Mobile Training Unit, a thirtyseven-foot
recreational vehicle that has been
converted to a mobile one-stop training and
career center. The MTU provides employment
and training services to high unemployment
communities on a mobile basis.
In addition the MTU is utilized to help
businesses upgrade their employees computer
skills with ten fully functional high-tech
computer stations that provide job seekers
with access to self-directed job-search software,
the Internet, web-based learning, occupational
assessments, and computer training and
tutorial programs. Employers may utilize the
MTU for recruitment, job fairs, interviews, and
skills testing and upgrade training.
Donald Neu, Director of Safety and
Training from Pasadena-based Advanced
Technology Company, a major aerospace firm,
had this to say about the MTU: “The Mobile
Training Unit created an excellent
environment highly conducive to learning.”
Close to 60 of the company’s employees
completed some 185 hours of training
provided by the FETC staff, all on board
the MTU.
The FWIB also provides a myriad of
valuable services to the business community.
Upon becoming business partners with the
FWIB, businesses can receive assistance with
developing their existing and/or future
workforce. Business services include computer
skills training for employees; recruiting and
job-matching; interviewing facilities; and
downsizing assistance. The FWIB has a
dedicated staff ready to assist businesses to
supplement their human resource efforts.
The MTU has been present at many
prominent events held throughout the San
Gabriel Valley, including the Tournament of
Roses Fan Feast and the Pasadena Black
History Festival and Parade. The MTU has
also visited job fairs sponsored by groups
such as the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce,
and by schools including Duarte High School
and Citrus College.
The U.S. Department of Labor and the
National Association of State Workforce
Agencies honored the MTU with a Technology
Showcase Award in July 2001.
The FWIB has succeeded in passing all 15
federal and state standards for the 2001-02
performance year. Based upon preliminary
review, it appears that FWIB may rank as one
of the highest performing Local Workforce
Investment Boards in the State.
Brett Sears, Associate Regional Planner of
the Southern California Association of
Governments summed it up this way: “Because
of the hard work of the FETC staff, I know that
the residents of the Foothill communities
looking for employment are in good hands.”
✧
Above: The Mobile Training Unit is a
thirty-seven-foot recreational vehicle
converted to a mobile, one-stop training
and career center.
Below: The interior of the Mobile
Training Unit.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
57

ALTA DENA
DAIRY
✧
Above: The entrance to City of Industry
based Alta Dena Dairy.
Below: Alta Dena Dairy’s
production facilities.
After being in business five decades and
undergoing two acquisitions, some companies
would find it difficult to remain loyal to the
caliber of service that helps to sustain
marketplace longevity. Yet, since its founding in
1945, Alta Dena Dairy has consistently delivered
the highest quality products to its customers,
even while undergoing rapid growth.
After more than a half-century in business,
the company’s mission—to create shareholder
value, deliver products of value and quality,
and to provide excellent customer service—has
not changed much from the high standards
upheld by its founders. Three brothers from
Frohna, Missouri—Ed, Harold, and Elmer
Stueve—started the business after working
their way to California, where they worked as
milkers and route men for an Azusa dairy.
The brothers learned all they could about
the dairy business, and eventually saved
enough of their earnings to buy a dairy of
their own in nearby Monrovia. From a modest
beginning with just over 60 cows and two
bulls, the Alta Dena Dairy family of products
has grown to a portfolio of over 350 different
items, with an additional 400 products
purchased for resale.
The first quart of milk bearing the Alta
Dena name was sold on July 1, 1945. The
company name commemorates a route in
Altadena serviced by a single pick up truck.
Just five short years after opening, the fleet
increased to six trucks, and the company’s
territory encompassed Altadena, Arcadia,
Monrovia, Pasadena, and San Marino.
It wasn’t long before the business would
outgrow the small Monrovia dairy, and plans to
move the company’s sales, production and
distribution facilities to the City of Industry were
in the works. That move was made in 1956, just
nine short years after the business opened.
Alta Dena Dairy remained in the hands of
the Stueve family for over forty years. It was
acquired in 1989 by the Bongrain network of
dairy companies, and was sold again just a
decade later to Dean Foods. And though
Dean’s group of 120 dairy companies can be
found nationwide, each is run by a general
manager who ensures that the products made
meet the needs and expectations of the local
communities and cities served.
One of the hallmarks of dairy history is the
reliability of home delivery service. Alta Dena
continues to maintain a thriving home delivery
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
58

usiness, which is easily one of the largest
remaining in the United States.
Recent estimates show that the company’s
home delivery business, comprised of 80
independently owned home delivery routes,
services some 30,000 customers and covers
250 square miles, from Ventura County to the
north, and south to San Diego.
Alta Dena Dairy prides itself on providing
a safe and positive work environment for the
nearly 450 employees who work at its City of
Industry headquarters. The dairy occupies
about twenty-eight acres. Facilities on the site
include plants for milk processing and ice
cream manufacturing, and cold storage areas
for these products.
Some of the many products offered by Alta
Dena Dairy include milk and ice cream
products; cultured products that include sour
cream, cottage cheese, buttermilk and kefir;
yogurt in cups and in drinkable form; cheeses
to please every palate; and an impressive line
of organic products as well.
While the work ethic embraced by the Stueve
brothers continues to be upheld by Alta Dena
Dairy, the dairy industry has undergone
significant technological changes. One of those
changes—the use of recombinant bovine
somatotropin, or rbST, used to stimulate milk
production in cows—has been at the center of
controversy since the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) approved its use in 1994.
Scientists and consumer groups have
raised concerns over the long-term effects of
rbST on cows and humans. Some have raised
the issue of the potential for an infection in
the udder called mastitis, which some believe
may lead to a potential increase in the
presence of antibiotics in the milk supply.
Alta Dena Dairy respects the FDA’s decision
to allow the use of rbST. However, the
company has long held the belief that the
quality of milk begins with health of the cow.
As such, all of the dairy’s milk comes from local
independent farmers who do not use rbST.
Alta Dena Dairy believes in doing things
the natural way. To get the freshest, best
tasting milk, their farmers keep the cows
healthy and happy. The cows that supply the
milk bearing the Alta Dena name are kept
comfortable, fed only the freshest alfalfa, and
even have their own nutritionists.
Once the milk is produced, it is tested
seventeen separate times to insure that it
contains no harmful substances. And Alta Dena’s
milk is always kept colder than required, and is
delivered within 24 to 48 hours of milking.
In the end, though the times and technology
change, Alta Dena Dairy products are as they’ve
always been: Pure. Wholesome. Good.
✧
Above: Fleet of delivery trucks with cold
and delicious Alta Dena milk products
depicted on the side.
Below: Alta Dena’s City of Industry,
California headquarters.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
59

KAISER
PERMANENTE
✧
The Baldwin Park Medical Center, Kaiser
Permanente’s flagship facility in the San
Gabriel Valley, offers a range of services
that include emergency care, family
practice, and many specialty services.
It has been a long journey from Kaiser
Permanente’s humble beginnings as a twelvebed
hospital in the Mojave Desert to its current
status as the nation’s largest nonprofit integrated
health system. But from the beginning, we’ve
been committed to a revolutionary idea:
patient-focused, physician-driven healthcare.
With more than 219,000 members in the San
Gabriel Valley and facilities in Baldwin Park,
West Covina, San Dimas, and Montebello,
Kaiser Permanente continues to be a leader in
the healthcare industry.
Kaiser Permanente began as an innovative
experiment by a young physician, Sidney
Garfield, MD, to bring medical care to
workers building the municipal aqueducts
across the Mojave Desert in Southern
California in the 1930s. The experiment
centered on prepayment to a dedicated group
of physicians for the delivery of a full range of
healthcare services, including prevention, to
workers. It was renewed by industrialist
Henry J. Kaiser and Dr. Sidney Garfield for
Kaiser’s workers on the Grand Coulee Dam
and, during World War II, in Kaiser Shipyards
in Northern California, Washington, and
Oregon, and the Kaiser steel mill in Fontana,
California. Both men held the same belief that
preventive measures and early treatment
would keep Kaiser’s workers safe, healthy, and
productive. The experiment proved to be a
success, and in 1945 Kaiser Permanente
began providing healthcare for the public. By
the end of that year, Kaiser Permanente had
17,500 members in Northern and Southern
California. Today, Kaiser Permanente is one of
the largest private providers of healthcare in
the world, serving 8.2 million members in 9
states and the District of Columbia, with over
6 million of those members in California.
Organized labor championed our Health
Plan and greatly aided in its expansion. Kaiser
Permanente still maintains ties to organized
labor through the National Labor Management
Partnership. The Baldwin Park Medical Center
was our first hospital to open under Kaiser
Permanente’s National Labor Management
Partnership, which was established to promote
cooperation and collaboration between the
Health Plan and our thousands of union
employees. By involving employees and unions
in organizational decision-making at every
level, our partnership is designed to improve
the quality of healthcare, make Kaiser
Permanente a better place to work, enhance
Kaiser Permanente’s competitive performance,
provide employees with employment security,
and expand Kaiser Permanente’s membership.
Kaiser Permanente joined the San Gabriel
Valley community in 1963 to meet the needs of
a growing population. The first medical office
was opened in West Covina, offering primary
care services. As more San Gabriel Valley
residents turned to Kaiser Permanente for highquality
healthcare, we added and expanded
services by opening medical offices in
Montebello (1989), San Dimas (1991), and
Baldwin Park (1991). To provide a full
continuity of care, we also established dedicated
Mental Health Offices in West Covina in1981.
In the fall of 1998, we proudly opened our
flagship facility in the area, the Baldwin Park
Medical Center, a six-story, 272-bed hospital
and medical office. The medical center anchors
our presence in the San Gabriel Valley, offering
members a wide range of services including
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
60

emergency care, critical care, family practice,
internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology,
pediatrics, surgery, and a birthing center.
Specialty services include allergy, audiology,
cardiology, dermatology, diagnostic imaging,
endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology,
infectious disease, laboratory, nephrology,
neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopedics,
pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry,
respiratory therapy, rheumatology, and urology.
More than thirty-five years after becoming
part of the San Gabriel Valley, Kaiser Permanente
continues to provide high-quality healthcare
services to more than 219,000 members in the
Valley. Over twenty-three hundred dedicated
employees and physicians work together to
ensure that each member receives the personal
attention and healthcare that meets his or her
needs. In addition to keeping our members
healthy, Kaiser Permanente also invests financial
and human resources in the community by
partnering with a number of other nonprofit
organizations to promote good health. In
addition to awarding Community Service
Grants, we also donate surplus equipment,
provide volunteer services, and collaborate with
numerous community organizations. Recipients
are nonprofit organizations that share Kaiser
Permanente’s commitment and philosophy to
community health.
In the San Gabriel Valley, Kaiser Permanente
has been an active community supporter. As the
number one corporate sponsor of the American
Heart Association’s East San Gabriel Valley Heart
Walk for the past few years, physicians and
employees have worked diligently to raise funds
that will help in the fight against heart disease
and stroke. Physicians and nurses also volunteer
their time at East Valley Community Health
Center in West Covina to provide care to
uninsured patients who would otherwise be
without medical care. Many of our healthcare
practitioners also share their medical expertise by
speaking to local students and offering them job
shadowing and mentoring. Through the Medical
Explorer Post and Summer Youth Program, local
high school students are given a firsthand
opportunity to experience a work setting in a
medical care environment. In addition to the
numerous community health fairs that Kaiser
Permanente supports, the annual Kaiser
Permanente Family Health Fair provides a
variety of free health screenings and services to
over one thousand San Gabriel Valley residents
each year, many of whom are uninsured.
In an effort to provide affordable health
coverage for uninsured children, the Kaiser
Permanente Cares for Kids Child Health Plan
was launched in 1997 with a goal to help ensure
universal coverage for California’s nearly two
million uninsured children. The Child Health
Plan provides subsidized healthcare coverage for
children from birth through age eighteen. In a
unique commitment among health plans, Kaiser
Permanente dedicated $100 million to subsidize
the Child Health Plan, the centerpiece of Kaiser
Permanente Cares for Kids initiative. From its
inception, a commitment to research and
evaluation of issues related to healthcare
coverage for uninsured children was seen as
critical to the success of the program. There are
currently 1,374 Southern California children
receiving care under the Kaiser Permanente
Cares for Kids initiative.
Today, the San Gabriel Valley remains a leader
in the areas of commerce, trades and technology.
Kaiser Permanente is committed to supporting
the Valley by offering the kind of medicine that
mirrors the region’s image—high-quality,
personalized care supported by advanced
technology and outstanding health professionals.
With more than eight million members
nationwide, Kaiser Permanente has the goal of
continuing to serve as the leading healthcare
provider of the twenty-first century.
✧
Above: Kaiser Permanente has more than
twenty-three hundred physicians, nurses,
and staff in its San Gabriel Valley facilities
that work hard at meeting our members’
healthcare needs.
Below: Tashe Chambers, a clinical assistant
in the general surgery department at the
Baldwin Park Medical Center, shows a high
school student how to use a blood pressure
cuff during a “job shadowing” activity.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
61

DIANA’S
MEXICAN FOOD
PRODUCTS, INC.
✧
Right: Diana Magaña, Miss United States
World 1989.
Below: The Magaña children (from left to
right): Hortensia, Sam Jr., and Diana.
Before mission statements were in vogue,
businesses were built on the hard work of
employees and by providing good service. This
axiom was especially true for the spate of
family businesses that opened in the late 1960s
that continue to operate at a profit today.
Diana’s Mexican Food Products is one of
those family owned and operated enterprises
that started from humble beginnings and
continues to enjoy success that has carried its
founders into the twenty-first century.
As a young Mexican immigrant, Samuel F.
Magaña came to America at the age of sixteen.
He was the first employee hired by another
large Mexican food company in Los Angeles,
where he was eventually promoted to general
plant manager, while concurrently attending
night school to enhance his education.
In addition to learning a trade that would
eventually be the foundation upon which the
family business was built, Sam also met
Hortensia, who moved from Durango, Mexico
to Los Angeles in the early 1960s. The two
shared a passion for American enterprise—
and for each other—and were soon married.
By 1969, armed with entrepreneurial drive
and business know-how, the young couple
purchased the first of what would soon
become a chain of grocery, wholesale and
restaurant businesses that bore the name of
their firstborn daughter, Diana.
The first to open was a small grocery store
in Gardena, operated by Hortensia while Sam
continued to hold down his job at the plant.
By then, his tenure had reached well over
twenty years.
Food products sold at the grocery store
were authentic in every way, as Hortensia
often made trips to Mexico to select items to
be sold in the family’s market. Tortillas were
among the best-selling products in the store,
and soon, Diana’s first tortilla-manufacturing
plant opened in Maywood in 1973.
While the family business thrived and
expanded, so too did the Magaña family. Two
daughters, Diana and Hortensia, and a son,
Sam Jr., completed the family portrait. Diana
made history of her own as the first Hispanic
woman to be crowned Miss California 1987-
88, and later, Miss USA/World.
From the mid-1970s through the early
1990s, the Magaña family business prospered.
Next to open were a bakery, another tortilla
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
62

plant, restaurants and a tamale processing plant.
It was the opening of the family’s El Monte
corn tortilla plant and a small restaurant in 1991
that put Diana’s Mexican Food Products on the
map in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley.
El Monte was chosen as the site for the
tortilla plant because of its support of
business growth and expansion. The family
owns the land in each location where they
operate, and they spend the money necessary
to upgrade each site, thereby adding value to
the community’s overall economic base.
Many of the one hundred employees who
work at the San Gabriel Valley location
originally lived near the Norwalk location,
and willingly uprooted their families to move
them closer to the new plant. As a testament
to Sam’s treatment of his employees, several
members of Diana’s original workforce remain
today, along with many of the sons and
daughters of those original workers.
Today, the company’s client base reaches
across the Pacific into Japan, where the
popularity of authentic Mexican cuisine has
skyrocketed. Diana’s also supplies tasty
homemade tortilla chips to large casino clients
in nearby Las Vegas, and produces private label
tortillas and other fine products to domestic
clients in Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, and Oregon.
Each of the Magaña children has worked in
the business at one time or another. In fact, a
larger than life portrait of the trio adorns the
company’s fleet of trucks.
Sam Jr., a graduate of California State
University, Dominguez Hills’ business administration
program, continues to be involved
in the company’s day-to-day operations as
general manager.
After spending time gaining valuable handson
experience, young Sam has returned to school
to pursue his MBA at Loyola Marymount
University on a part-time basis, while concurrently
working at the family’s business. Sam’s
sister, Hortensia, is also a LMU alumnus, having
received her degree in international business.
Diana, a USC graduate, studied communications.
The family maintains a strong sense of civic
duty in each community they do business in.
In addition to her role as vice president of
Diana’s Mexican Food Products, the Los
Angeles Business Council has honored the
elder Hortensia for her business achievements
and impact on women in the workplace. She
volunteers her time in the Mexican community,
and is pivotal to the promotion of Mexican art
and culture in the Los Angeles area.
Sam Sr. volunteers his time by raising muchneeded
funds for the less fortunate in his role as
past president of Comite De Beneficencia. He
also serves as scholarship fund co-chair of
Pomona’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of
the Pacific.
Diana’s also actively supports local law
enforcement agencies, chambers of commerce,
churches, and other nonprofit organizations.
According to Sam Sr., people can achieve
whatever they put their minds to. With that
belief, and by offering a quality selection of fine
food products, the Magaña family business
continues to enhance the San Gabriel Valley
community, and is likely to endure for
generations to come.
✧
Above: The Magaña Sisters (from left to
right): Diana and Hortensia.
Below: Diana Magaña in a 1996
promotional photo.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
63

CITIZENS
BUSINESS
BANK
✧
Citizens Business Bank corporate
headquarters, Upland, California.
“Citizens Business Bank—The Bank
Business Banks On.” This is much more
than just a catchy slogan. It’s an undeniable
statement of fact in the San Gabriel Valley.
A top-rated financial institution with 31
offices operating in 24 cities strategically
located in the San Gabriel Valley, Riverside,
San Bernardino, Kern, Orange, and eastern
Los Angeles Counties. Citizens Business Bank
provides premium quality financial services to
the business and professional clientele in its
market areas. Over its twenty-seven-year
history, the Bank has achieved consistent
superior performance that has earned it both
local and national recognition.
Among the many accolades Citizens
Business Bank has received are:
• Named as the highest performing bank
in California, in a study by the highly
regarded consulting firm of McKinsey
and Company;
• Selected as “Premier Performing Bank” for
twenty-three consecutive years, and Super
“Premier Performing Bank” for six years,
both in studies by Findley Reports;
• Named as winner of the Entrepreneur of the
Year award in 1995;
• Selected as winner of the Lincoln Award;
• Many personal honors have been awarded to
Bank officers and staff for their individual
contributions to the communities the
Bank serves.
Citizens Business Bank offers a complete
package of financial services to suit the needs
of business, professional and individual
clientele. These include all types of deposits,
loans and investments; in addition to
comprehensive asset management, traditional
trust services; and international banking
accommodations. Citizens Business Bank is
also the bank for a large clientele of
agribusinesses and dairies.
A variety of real estate-related services are
provided to local financial services companies,
real estate firms and individuals through
Community Trust Deed Services, located in
Colton, California.
CVB Ventures, Inc. is the home of the
Bank’s Growth Industries Group, which
has as its mission providing entrepreneurial
access to capital through strategic
relationships with both equity and debtfunding
sources.
The superior performance of Citizens
Business Bank began some twenty-seven years
ago, as George and John Borba began
discussing the need to start a bank in Chino.
The Borbas did not feel the local bankers were
giving the community the attention and
quality of service it deserved. They began the
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
64

process of establishing the Chino Valley Bank,
with the founding group formed in April
1973. Four of the eight founders of the Chino
Valley Bank continue to serve on the board of
directors of Citizens Business Bank.
Chino Valley Bank opened for business on
August 9, 1974. The founders’ vision was
simply to be the best bank with the highest
quality of customer service for Chino citizens.
When the new bank attracted over twenty-five
percent of all deposits in Chino, the success of
these efforts began to garner attention in other
areas. This, in turn, led business people and
individuals to contact the bank’s officials, asking
them to consider opening branches in their
communities. These expressions of interest
resulted in the establishment of branch offices
in Corona, Upland, Ontario, and dozens of
other communities. Through the years, the
Bank has continued to grow with its markets.
On April 27, 1981, CVB Financial Corp.
became the parent company for Citizens
Business Bank. A common board of directors
serves the holding company and the Bank.
The Bank’s original capital of $1.5 million
is now $188.6 million, and the small
hometown bank has evolved to become the
largest bank with its headquarters in the
Inland Empire area of California. The Bank
began serving the San Gabriel Valley in 1986
and now has ten offices in these communities.
Chino Valley Bank became Citizens
Business Bank on March 31, 1996. This name
change was approved to reflect both the
geographic expansion and the strategic
business focus of the Bank.
The strategic vision of Citizens Business
Bank is to be recognized as the premier
relationship financial institution for businesses
and professionals in California, with $3.5
billion in assets by the end of year 2005; and
$5.0 billion in assets by the end of year 2010.
This vision also calls for earnings growth of 15
percent per year, a return on equity of 20
percent, and a return on assets of 1.6 percent.
The Citizens Business Bank’s mission—to
achieve superior performance and to rank in
the top ten percent of all California financial
institutions in return on equity and assets—is
based on an unqualified commitment to five
core values. These are financial strength,
superior people, customer focus, costeffective
operation, and having fun.
To learn more about Citizens Business
Bank, please visit www.cbbank.com or call
877-422-2264.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
65

MCCONNELL CABINETS, INC.
The history of McConnell Cabinets, Inc. is
a real-life “fulfillment of the American Dream”
in the San Gabriel Valley.
Harvey “Mac” McConnell founded the
company in 1944 in his hometown of El Monte,
California. In 1946 when Bill McConnell, Mac’s
son, and Lou Sarrail completed service in World
War II, they returned home to the San Gabriel
Valley to build a future. Both Bill and Lou
joined Mac in his cabinet business. When Mac
retired, they purchased the company from him.
That early venture evolved into a lasting
partnership between the McConnell and Sarrail
families that is still going strong.
The McConnell quality and service
consistency earned them a respected status
with New Home Builders while the bedroom
communities of the San Gabriel Valley were
being built. As the Valley grew, McConnell
continued to manufacture and install cabinets
for countless new homes.
The founders’ families literally grew up in
the building industry. They absorbed the
winning attitudes, as well as the manufacturing
knowledge and business skills of the company
founders. Now, while overseeing and operating
today’s business, they take special pride in
sharing their families’ tradition of quality
craftsmanship and customer service with each
of their employees.
The company currently delivers and installs
cabinets for over ten thousand new homes
annually, throughout Southern California and
Southern Nevada. As it has for sixty years,
McConnell Cabinets continues to build on its
record of commitment to design excellence and
consistent manufacturing quality for both new
homebuilders and individuals undertaking
home remodeling projects.
There’s a sincere bond between company
and employees (for many, McConnell was a
first-time job). Having long-term experienced
employees is a valuable strength of the
company. At a recent holiday gathering, 53 of
the 500-plus employees received awards for
over 15 years of service, and 17 for service of
more than 25 years. One of the employees
was celebrating his fifty-second anniversary.
Employees recall riding horses throughout
the area, and how orchards, farmlands, and
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
66

dairies were changed into modern communities.
Others recall the many friendships that were
developed with fellow employees, tradesmen,
and vendors (many of whom also went on to
become well known successful entrepreneurs).
Some employees even remember when real
circus lions were trained at Gay’s Lion Farm on
Valley Boulevard, not far from the cabinet shop.
As a family-oriented business, the company
and its employees are actively involved with the
community in a wide variety of organizations
and projects. Sponsoring local youth sports
teams, school activities, clubs, and youth
groups has built personal ties. A strong feeling
of partnership with the community includes an
ongoing awareness of the environment that
surrounds its manufacturing facilities, which
have grown from the early days of 4,800 square
feet to over 340,000 square feet on over 19
acres of property.
Although it doesn’t seem that long to those
involved, McConnell is proud to be in its sixth
decade of servicing the cabinet needs of the
California and Nevada residential building
industry. The company works daily to continue
building not only fine cabinetry, but also its
reputation as a quality company, operated by
employee owners who care about their
customers and the success of their projects.
The ability to change has allowed the
company to continue its growth and success.
Kitchen storage has evolved from “kitchen
cupboards” and basic storage into cabinet
designs that have taken on the appearance of
fine furniture. They feature integral designs
that enhance the interior of many rooms in
today’s homes.
Changing lifestyles and personal
preferences have brought about more
convenience features, as well as different
materials, colors, and designs.
With more square footage devoted to the
kitchen/family area, it has become a primary
meeting space for family and friends,
emphasizing cabinetry as a decorating
statement. Today’s cabinets include islands,
peninsulas, buffets, desk areas, computer
centers, and other specialty storage.
McConnell is uniquely equipped and
staffed to create the exact design sought for
any space and purpose.
Personal service has been a cornerstone of
the company. That, combined with very
capable employees, high quality materials,
modern technology, and that old-fashioned
attitude, supports the company’s well-deserved
reputation as the best-known and most highly
respected cabinet supplier in the West.
“Homes that showcase McConnell
cabinetry are known to reflect good taste,
superior construction, and increased value.”
Whether it’s a long awaited “dream
kitchen” or new construction, McConnell
offers exciting new cabinet styles to satisfy
every taste and budget.
Professional Designers work with homeowners
to understand their lifestyle and overall
needs, and then create truly custom designs,
resulting in beautiful cabinetry and maximum
storage functionality for the space available.
For more information about McConnell
Cabinets, please call 626-937-2200 ext. 0, or
email showroom@mcconnellinc.com., or visit
www.mcconnellcabinets.com.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
67

LAWRY’S
FOODS
✧
Above: Lawrence Frank experimented for a
year before coming up with the perfect
seasoning for Lawry’s beef, c. 1938.
Below: The original grinder designed by
Lawrence Frank to produce the world’s best
selling spice blend, Lawry’s ® Seasoned Salt.
The Lawry’s Foods “menu for success”
began some nine decades ago with a modest
but successful potato chip store and bakery.
The year was 1915 and partners Lawrence L.
Frank and brother-in-law Theodore Van de
Kamp went into business together for what
was to be the appetizer to whet the palates of
discriminating epicureans in search of the
perfect prime rib.
After moving west in the 1920s, a young
Lawrence soon realized another dream:
opening an American food establishment with
the same flair and distinctive cuts of prime rib
found in some of London’s finest restaurants,
visited while vacationing with his family.
Frank’s Depression-era venture raised a few
eyebrows among restaurateurs. In fact, his
contemporaries were said to think he was
crazy. Undaunted, Lawrence christened his
venture “Lawry’s The Prime Rib,” and to the
delight of patrons in a then-sparsely populated
Beverly Hills, his gamble paid off.
Critics called for failure, but Frank’s recipe
was destined for success. His menu featured a
favorite American staple—meat and
potatoes—served the way he remembered
from his family’s Sunday dinner table in
Wisconsin, Frank’s boyhood home.
The beef served at Lawry’s was reminiscent
of the portions of the generous seven-rib
roasts served at the Frank family’s Sunday
dinner table, which typically weighed in at
fourteen pounds, and were always from the
choicest cuts. And the potatoes, always Idaho
russets, were either baked in hearth ovens, or
whipped with fresh milk, earning them the
distinction of being among the finest potatoes
to ever be served in the world.
The success of the family’s restaurant
ventures was no doubt tied to the countless
hours chefs spent perfecting each dish. But it
would be Lawrence’s experimentation with the
perfect blend of spices to complement those
prime ribs of beef that cemented the Lawry’s
name in the taste buds (and the kitchens)
of America.
Since prime rib cannot be seasoned before
carving, Lawrence created a special blend of his
own to enhance the flavor of this tender meat
after it was cooked. What resulted was a
seasoning salt that complemented the flavor of
nearly every food, an unmatched combination
of herbs and spices that was literally good
enough to steal.
Restaurant patrons so often pocketed the
mix after savoring the restaurant’s selections
that Lawrence decided to package and sell his
blend under the separate entity Lawry’s Foods.
Today, Lawry’s ® Seasoned Salt is still an
American favorite and the best selling spice
blend in the world.
Under the direction of Lawrence’s son,
Richard, the small family operation grew into
a multifaceted, multimillion-dollar business
that operates today out of its headquarters in
Monrovia, California.
The Thomas J. Lipton Company purchased
Lawry’s Foods from the Frank family in 1979.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
68

Today, the “seasoning” business continues to
flourish, based on the insistence on quality
that started with the dreams of Lawrence
Frank nearly ninety years ago. Restaurants
bearing the Lawry’s name continue to be
owned by the Frank family, though they are
no longer involved in the spice business.
Lawry’s Foods has enjoyed a long association
with Southern California, and for years
after the Lipton Foods purchase, remained
headquartered in the historic California
Center just outside of downtown Los Angeles.
When economic considerations caused the
company to consider relocating, Lipton made a
decision to move Lawry’s management,
marketing, sales and research and development
teams to Monrovia, the San Gabriel Valley’s All
America City. In fact, according to Lawry’s Vice
President John Heil, the location was chosen
only after the company surveyed the home zip
codes of its staff, and took into consideration the
demographics of many long-term employees.
Attracted to the close knit community and
the city’s overall growth, the offices the
company occupied on Cinco de Mayo in 1995
also encompass a test kitchen, and houses a
variety of historical items central to the
development of the original Lawry’s seasoning
blend, including the original grinder designed
by Lawrence Frank.
Lipton is a subsidiary of Uniliver, one of
the world’s largest producers and marketers of
food, home and personal care products that
also includes popular brands such as Ragu
Pasta Sauce, Lipton Tea, Lipton Soups and
Side Dishes, Shedd’s Spread Country Crock, I
Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and Wishbone
Salad Dressing. In 2000 Unilever acquired
Bestfoods, Inc. to create Unilever Bestfoods
and expand its product portfolio to include
brands like Bestfoods, Skippy and Knorr.
In addition to a full line of spice blends, the
Lawry’s name graces an array of fine food
products, including tangy and tasty marinades,
conveniently packaged spices and seasonings,
and Lawry’s Steak Sauce, the newest addition
to the Lawry’s brand portfolio. In short, Lawry’s
manufactures everything needed to sizzle, stirfry
and/or tenderize your way to a dazzling and
delicious family meal.
Lawry’s “Menu for Success” has come out of
the kitchen, so to speak, and has spilled into
the community, in the form of the company’s
“Partners in Education” program. Crosscurricular
kits and enrichment programs
provide support to over a half-dozen schools in
the Los Angeles Area. These schools also
receive much-needed financial support.
Additionally, the company participates in
various community and church partnerships in
the Greater Los Angeles area.
From its roots as one of the oldest and most
respected food companies in America, the
Lawry’s name is synonymous with quality
products and community involvement—a
winning combination founded in the
centerpiece of homes around the world—the
family kitchen.
✧
Above: Just some of the fine products that
carry the Lawry’s Foods name.
Below: Test kitchens, Lawry’s Foods,
Monrovia, California.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
69

✧
The Mt. San Antonio College Campus.
MT. SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE
With over forty thousand students
enrolled every semester, Mt. San Antonio
College (Mt. SAC) of Walnut, California is
the largest single college district of the state’s
108 community colleges.
Mt. SAC offers 87 Associate in Science
Degree majors and 119 occupational
certificate programs. Each semester, Mt. SAC
students have over three thousand course
offerings to choose from, in a variety of areas
ranging from agricultural sciences to nursing
to business. Mt. SAC also offers classes in a
full array of general education fields of study.
The Weekend Business College allows
working adults the opportunity to complete
their Associate in Science Degree by taking
classes on weekends.
Mt. San Antonio College has over fifty-five
years of experience providing quality
educational options to members of one of the
areas most diverse communities. The College
prides itself on the ability of students to access
a quality education at an affordable cost of
only $11 per unit for credit classes.
Many Mt. SAC students continue their
education at one of the many California State
Universities, University of California
campuses or other private universities nearby.
One of the missions of the community
college is to advance both regional and state
economic growth, as well as promote global
competitiveness through education, training,
and services that contribute to continuous
workforce improvement.
Through its Community Education and
Economic Development Division, Mt. SAC
provides direct services to businesses in the
San Gabriel Valley. The Small Business
Development Center, located in eastern Los
Angeles County, provides quality management
and technical assistance for existing and
potential small businesses, resulting in success
for the entrepreneur and sustainable economic
growth for all Californians.
The Training Source provides solutions to
problems faced by the business community,
and offers consulting services and on-site
training to incumbent workers.
The Exercise Science/Wellness Center
provides comprehensive exercise, health
promotion, and risk prevention programs to
the corporate community and the community
at large. Businesses have on-site access to the
promotion of physical activity for employees,
leading to the improvement in the quality of
life, including sound nutritional habits and
stress management.
Mt. SAC’s Regional Health Occupations
Resource Center advances Los Angeles
County’s growth through education, training
and services that contribute to workforce
development, bridging the gaps between
Health Care Education and the Health Care
Industry. On-site training is available.
ESL and International Programs assist
community members in gaining linguistic
proficiency and cultural skills necessary to
reach educational and vocational goals,
while recognizing that multilingual and culturespecific
groups are valuable resources to the
health of American life, economics and values.
The Community Education and Services
program provides on-going assessment of
community and business needs, delivers
outreach programs to defined target
populations and responds to the evolving
enrichment and lifelong learning demands of
the community.
The Business and Workforce Performance
Improvement Center of Excellence markets the
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
70

services of the community college and provides
performance consulting and training services to
meet the requirements of business and industry.
Basic Skills and Special Programs provides
business and industry with a well-prepared
workforce, and responds to the needs of the
economy with course development that
parallels growth projections in industry.
Mt. SAC boasts many National Community
College championship teams, including the
Forensics/Speech Team; Flying Team; and
Mock Trial/Paralegal Team. The College’s
Chamber Singers have won two firstplace
and one third-place award at the
International Eisteddfod Music Competition
in Wales, where they also took second-place
in the “Choir of the World” competition.
In sports, Mt. SAC recently won the South
Coast Conference Athletic Supremacy Award
for a third consecutive year. The Mt. SAC
Mounties Football Team also won a National
Championship in the 1997-98 season. In
addition, the Mt. SAC men’s and women’s
Track and Field teams, and Golf team have also
been honored as California State Champions.
Mt. SAC also hosts four special track and
field athletic events, including the famous Mt.
SAC Relays.
Academically, Mt. SAC’s Honor Society
Chapter (Phi Theta Kappa) is the largest in the
United States. Students completing the Mt.
SAC honors program receive guaranteed
admissions to the most prestigious universities.
Mt. San Antonio College is located in eastern
Los Angeles County, in the city of Walnut, and
is freeway accessible from the Grand Avenue
exit off the San Bernardino (I-10) Freeway; from
the Grand Avenue exit off the Pomona (60)
Freeway; or, from the Temple Avenue exit off
the Orange (57) Freeway.
For more information about Mt. San
Antonio College, please call 909-594-5611,
or access the College’s Web site at
www.mtsac.edu.
✧
Mt. SAC offers courses in small business
development and counseling.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
71

MILLER
BREWING
COMPANY
✧
Above: Miller Brewing Company’s
aesthetically pleasing environment makes it
a welcome distraction to its industrial
surroundings.
Below: Miller Brewing Company’s Award
Winning Family of Products reflect the
tradition of its founder, Frederick J. Miller:
“Quality, uncompromising and unchanging
since 1855.”
Few landmarks in the San Gabriel Valley
are more familiar to commuters along the
Foothill (210) Freeway than the gleaming red
Miller Brewery sign. The giant red logo stands
tall among the facility’s towering 180,000-
gallon fermenting cylinders on the company’s
expansive 254-acre complex in Irwindale.
Miller’s California Brewery moved from
nearby Azusa in 1980 after the Irwindale
Redevelopment Agency offered the company the
sprawling parcel of land it now occupies for the
modest sum of one dollar. The prime location,
complete with freeway proximity and a
breathtaking view of the majestic San Gabriel
Mountains as a backdrop, made the offer one
that the company simply could not refuse.
Miller had been considering an expansion
for quite some time before receiving the
extraordinary offer made by the Irwindale
agency. The new location gave Miller the
opportunity to expand while leaving ample
room for growth. The complex encompasses a
total of seventeen acres, and is situated on one
of Southern California’s most vital crossroads
for business and commerce.
Discussions regarding how best to utilize the
balance of the available acreage continue. In the
past, the company considered building a space
needle styled restaurant on the corner of the
property that overlooks the nearby mountains.
The Irwindale Brewery is one of seven
operated across the country by Milwaukeebased
Miller Brewing Company. The facility’s
first production run of Miller’s trademark
brew was made back on January 1, 1980. The
Irwindale Brewery eventually yielded a total
of two million barrels of beer during that first
year of operation.
With advances in brewing technology
resulting in production increases, the number of
barrels made annually by the California Brewery
has surpassed 6.5 million in recent years.
Miller’s Irwindale Brewery operates 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. Its workforce is
comprised of a diverse group of local citizens
who hold positions as brewery workers, as well
as corporate and management positions.
The summer season is one of peak
production for Miller’s California Brewery. At
those times, the company’s payroll climbs at
800, making it one of the largest employers in
the San Gabriel Valley, and in all of Southern
California. Even during the winter, when
production adjusts to reflect seasonal changes,
payroll figures seldom drop below six hundred.
Five simple ingredients are used to brew
Miller beer: water, barley, corn, hops and
yeast. The Irwindale Brewery maintains its
own private water source to ensure that this
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
72

crucial ingredient, which comprises ninety
percent of the brew, is of the highest quality.
The grain, carried in daily by rail car in
twenty-ton increments, is what gives Miller’s
family of brews their distinctive flavor.
Brewmasters in high tech control rooms
operate computers that ensure that the
finished product results in the perfect balance
of over three thousand flavors.
The Irwindale Brewery produces and ships
the full line of Miller products to Arizona,
California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and
Washington. The brewery exports products to
Australia, China, Mexico, and Taiwan, and also
ships beer to military bases in the Pacific Rim.
Miller has been a major supporter of local
and state charitable organizations since the
Irwindale Brewery opened its doors over two
decades ago. The company’s former manager of
public relations, Robert Alaniz, was the first
president of the Irwindale Chamber of
Commerce in 1980.
Miller Brewing Company’s commitment to
corporate responsibility and community
development has earned the corporation
recognition from throughout the U.S. National
programs such as TOOLS FOR SUCCESS © , a
unique scholarship initiative for vocational
school graduates was lauded by former U.S.
Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman for its
innovative approach to workforce development.
Miller California also sponsors major events
and attractions such as the Los Angeles County
Fair and the Irwindale Speedway. The company’s
commitment to the community is also evident in
the list of well over two hundred charitable
organizations it contributes to each year.
From the widely-known American Red
Cross, Boy Scouts of America, March of Dimes
and United Negro College Fund to supporting
local organizations such as the Foothill Unity
Center, Project Angel Food, and local Rotary
and Kiwanis Clubs, Miller’s Irwindale Brewery
remains connected to its California community.
✧
Left: Miller Brewing Company began
production in its Irwindale facility in 1980.
Today the brewery produces over 6.5
million barrels annually with shipments
going to California, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii. It also ships
beer to military bases in the Pacific Rim.
Foreign exports include China, Taiwan, and
Mexico.
Below: Located along the 210 Freeway, its
lush green lawns and gleaming fermenting
tanks provide a historical landmark for
Southern Californians.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
73

FOOTHILL
TRANSIT
✧
Foothill Transit’s fleet carries more than
sixteen million passengers annually.
With a fleet of 306 buses, Foothill Transit
carries more than 16 million passengers
annually, over a 327-square-mile service
area that includes the San Gabriel and
Pomona Valleys of southern California’s Los
Angeles County.
In 1988, when the former Southern
California Rapid Transit District announced
service cuts and fare increases that would
impact the San Gabriel Valley, Foothill Transit
was created in an effort to provide better bus
service to the area, while reducing costs and
improving local control. In the first publicprivate
partnership of its kind, Foothill began
by operating two lines, with twelve more added
during the next five years. Still more lines were
added later and Foothill celebrated its ten-year
anniversary in 1998 with twenty-seven fixedroute
local, express and rail feeder lines.
The public agency has no employees. Its
management and operations are provided under
contract to private enterprise. A five-member
executive board, composed of four elected city
officials and one county appointee, representing
twenty-one cities and three Los Angeles County
supervisors, provides policy direction.
Twice named as the country’s “Outstanding
Transit System of its Size” by the American Public
Transit Association (1993 and 1995), Foothill
has also earned Congressional recognition and
federal funding that benefit the communities it
serves. APTA also recognized Foothill Transit in
1997 with a “Bus Safety Award,” and The
National Safety Council of Greater Los Angeles
awarded its First Place Sweepstakes award to
Foothill in 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Foothill Transit is committed to providing
the newest customer service innovations to its
customers. Among these is the new SmartBus
technology, which will allow Foothill to track
buses via global positioning satellites, monitor
passengers getting both on and off the buses,
and monitor bus interiors via high resolution
security cameras, all with the touch of a button.
This new technology literally makes every
vehicle a smart bus, recording and compiling
passenger data so that Foothill can better direct
public resources to the communities that need it
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
74

most, as well as adding peace of mind via added
security enhancements.
At Foothill an email network of Employee
Transportation Coordinators (ETCs) ensures
that employees can obtain up-to-theminute
information on commuting, special
discounts and upcoming events to help
customers. In addition, Foothill operates six
Transit Stores throughout its service area,
each providing scheduling information and
selling all types of fare media, including
monthly and joint passes and the Metrocard,
for one stop shopping.
In 1994, Foothill was the leader among Los
Angeles County transit operators in introducing
the Metrocard, a fare debit card sold in
values of $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. This
card is now accepted as fare by five municipal
operators in the county, providing added
customer convenience. Other early
innovations also continue to serve the agency
and customers as well. Among these are
Foothill’s eight Timed TransCenters, locations
where many buses come together, allowing
passengers to transfer easily to another bus to
continue their journey, enhancing on-time
performance and assisting the commuters.
Foothill’s Pomona TransCenter brings together
multiple modes of transportation—buses,
Metrolink commuter and Amtrack passenger
trains—as does the Claremont TransCenter.
Puente Hills’ TransCenter is truly state-of-theart,
with a Foothill Transit Store and marquee
entrance located at this major Southern
California shopping mall.
This year Foothill Transit will complete its
second Strategic Plan in ten years and will
also begin a fare restructuring analysis. These
studies allow the agency to make educated,
realistic plans for the next decade, using
detailed and up-to-date information about its
customers and their needs.
During 2000, Foothill addressed the needs
of customers with disabilities by taking delivery
of eighty-four new low-floor buses. Although
the fleet had been one hundred percent liftequipped
since its inception, Foothill’s new
buses provide increased reliability for
wheelchair users and senior citizens.
One of the largest transit privatization efforts
in the United States, Foothill Transit has
delivered the cost-effective service it promised. A
three-year evaluation completed by Ernst &
Young in 1993 showed that Foothill Transit’s
public-private partnership resulted in cost
savings of forty-three percent per revenue hour
over the previous transit provider. Farebox
revenues pay for approximately thirty percent of
Foothill Transit’s operating costs. The remainder
of the agency’s finding is obtained from Los
Angeles County Proposition A and C funds, the
California State Transportation Development
Act, and State Transit Assistance funds.
Having made its name as an awardwinning
transit provider by taking the “road
less traveled,” Foothill takes pride in its
uniqueness, and is confident that continued
success will crown its efforts in the future.
For more information about Foothill
Transit, please call 1-800-RIDE-INFO or visit
www.foothilltransit.org.
✧
Foothill Transit’s offices are located at 100
North Barranca Avenue, Suite 100, in
West Covina.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
75

EL MONTE
CONVALESCENT
HOSPITAL
✧
Above: Robert R. and Lilly P. Telles
founded the El Monte Convalescent
Hospital in 1964.
For almost forty years the El Monte
Convalescent Hospital has provided twentyfour-hour
a day skilled nursing care for its
residents, as directed by their physicians. The
administrator, Registered Nurses, Licensed
Vocational Nurses and Certified Nurse
Assistants, social workers, activities department,
dietary department, maintenance staff,
housekeepers and laundry department work
daily to maintain a professional plan of care and
an environment that promotes each individual’s
maximum healing and enjoyment of life.
Today’s nursing home residents are
younger, with emphasis on rehabilitation and
shorter stays so they can return home.
Robert R. and Lilly P. Telles founded the
organization in 1964, with Lilly providing its
guiding hand for the next twenty years. In
1978 her son, Jesse R. Telles, who had attended
UCLA’s Graduate School of Management (now
the Anderson School of Management), joined
her as assistant manager. He became the
administrator in 1984. Together they have
worked to build El Monte Convalescent
Hospital into an exemplary healthcare facility.
Licensed by the State of California and the
Federal government for 99 beds, the facility’s
staff averages 80 personnel. It has had a
contract with the Veteran’s Administration for
over thirty-five years, providing skilled nursing
care for many U.S. military veterans from the
greater Los Angeles area.
“Few organizations have more personal local
impact than do nursing homes,” Jesse Telles
says. “Most people choose a nursing home
based on reputation and proximity to family
and loved ones. Since we are located in the City
of El Monte, near Rosemead and Temple City,
our primary impact has been in those cities.”
This impact includes the facility’s
workforce. Most reside and are rearing their
families in those cities. A great many young
people train here to become Nurse Assistants,
and some have become Licensed Vocational
Nurses and Registered Nurses.
El Monte Convalescent Hospital has been
involved over a long period in a variety of
community activities, including preparation of
“Meals on Wheels” for a number of years. Other
activities include membership in the El Monte,
Rosemead, and Temple City Chambers of
Commerce; the advisory board of the Visiting
Nurses Association of Pasadena (now Partners in
Care); the advisory board of East Los Angeles
Community College’s Department of Health
Information Technology; the advisory board for
the creation of the Edward R. Roybal School of
Applied Gerontology at California State
University at Los Angeles; and consistent interest
in local high schools, including contributions to
fundraisers and providing a location for schools
to learn about long-term healthcare.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
76

The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal
Water District provides a critical link to
the San Gabriel Valley’s water supply. The mission
of the Upper District is to provide a reliable and
cost effective supply of high quality water for
municipal, industrial, and aquifer recharge
applications within the San Gabriel Valley.
The District service area includes twenty-one
San Gabriel Valley cities and unincorporated
areas, which the Upper District imports water for
city water departments, water companies and
water agencies, serving a combined population
of over 1.3 million in a 144-square-mile area.
Residents of the San Gabriel Valley voted to
establish the Upper District—incorporated on
January 7, 1960—to meet the needs of the brisk
expansion taking place in the region, and to
solve water supply problems that resulted from
that expansion.
In 1963 the Upper District joined the
Metropolitan Water District (MWD) as a
member agency. As a result of that relationship,
the MWD provides supplemental water from the
Colorado River and the State Water Project.
Most of the imported water is used for recharge
of the groundwater aquifer.
The Upper District delivers supplemental
water to an aquifer underlying major
portions of the San Gabriel Valley. The agency
also maintains eight direct connections
to member sub-agencies, supplying them
with treated imported water for direct
domestic consumption.
An elected five-member Board of Directors
represents an equal number of geographic
areas that embody the District. The board
meets twice-monthly, on the second and
fourth Tuesday of each month.
Additionally, as a member agency of the
MWD, the Upper District appoints one
representative to sit on the larger agency’s board
of directors.
The Upper District also maintains
representation on the San Gabriel Basin Water
Quality Authority and the Main San Gabriel
Basin Watermaster Board.
The Upper District works in partnership
with the United States Forest Service on
several programs that focus on maintaining
the integrity of the area’s local watershed.
Those programs include an interpretive
signage program that explains the vital
relationship between people, the forest and
the watershed.
The Upper District initiated the San
Gabriel Valley Recycled Water Demonstration
Project as a means of conserving water and
increasing the reliability of our water supply.
The project will draw water from the San Jose
Creek Water Reclamation Plant in North
Whittier. The recycled water will be reused at
a number of locations throughout the valley,
reducing the need for imported water.
Through prudent management and efforts
in conservation, education, water recycling
and public information, the Upper San Gabriel
Valley Municipal Water District continues to
safeguard the area’s water resources well into
the twenty-first century.
UPPER
SAN GABRIEL
VALLEY
MUNICIPAL
WATER
DISTRICT
✧
Top: Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal
Water District’s main connection to
imported water, USG 3 located below
Morris Dam.
Above: Upper San Gabriel Valley
Municipal Water District’s headquarters
in El Monte, California.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
77

BRYMAN
COLLEGE
Esther Bryman of the Los Angeles Colleges
of Medical and Dental Assistants founded the
Bryman Schools in 1960. The Rosemead
campus opened in 1968. In 1975 the Bryman
Schools were acquired by the National
Education Center ® -Bryman Campus.
Corinthian Schools, Inc. acquired the school in
December 1995, with the name changed to
Bryman College in 1996, and moved to its
current location in 1998.
Designed to train students in healthcare and
business fields, the school is housed in a
modern, two-story facility with 22,000 square
feet containing 16 classrooms, laboratory and
office equipment, faculty and administrative
offices, and a library containing reference and
reading materials related to the academic
programs. Students gather for lunch and
breaks, to study, or visit in a student lounge that
is equipped with a variety of vending machines.
Bryman College, it’s facilities and
equipment all complies with federal, state and
local ordinances and regulations, including
those related to fire safety, building safety and
health. Conveniently located near public
transportation, Bryman College is easily
accessible from the Pomona (I-60) and San
Bernardino (I-10) freeways. Ample parking is
available on campus.
The philosophy of Corinthian Schools, Inc.
is to provide quality programs that are sound
in concept, implemented by a competent and
dedicated faculty and geared to serve those
seeking a solid foundation in the knowledge
and skills needed for employment in their
chosen fields. The programs emphasize
hands-on training, are relevant to employers’
needs, and focus on areas that offer strong,
long-term employment opportunities.
To provide the training and skills that will
lead to successful employment, the schools will:
• Continually evaluate and update educational
programs;
• Provide modern facilities and training
equipment;
• Select teachers with professional experience
in the vocations they teach and the ability
to motivate and develop students to their
greatest potential;
• Promote self-discipline and motivation so
that students may enjoy success on the job
and in society.
Bryman College voluntarily undergoes
periodic accrediting evaluations by teams of
qualified examiners, including subject experts
and specialists in occupational education and
private school administration. Although the
school does not guarantee employment, it has
been successful in placing the majority of its
graduates in their field of training.
Beverly Yourstone serves as School President
for the El Monte campus. Other key staff
members include Eddie Soto, admissions
director; Mary Sue Costello, placement director;
Radie Giffard, finance director; and Monica
Delgadillo, student services advisor/registrar.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
78

With a history of almost sixty years in
business, Dellacor Company closed its shop
in December 2001 following the retirement of
its founder and owner, John Joseph Smay.
Smay, a tool and die maker from Cleveland,
Ohio, had studied drafting and tool and die
engineering in both high school and college.
Having always wanted a company of his own,
he took the plunge in 1952, opening a small
enterprise in El Monte, California.
At the age of thirty-seven, Smay worked to
build his business, which started in a small
building, moving twice to larger facilities. By
1963, when Dellacor occupied a ten-thousandsquare-foot
building in South El Monte, Smay
decided to incorporate his company, joining
with two employees, tool and die makers Jean
Fatzaun, originally from Belgium, and Gunter
Koch, who was from Germany.
With its growth in production and in the
variety of products offered, Dellacor’s payroll
increased from the original 12 employees to 40.
Smay’s choice of a name for his corporation
honored his wife, Dorothea Dell Miller. He
had met her in Carnegie, Pennsylvania while
he was renting a room in her aunt’s home. In
1940, almost a year after their first date, they
married and moved to Ashtabula, Ohio.
Smay was then working for a company that
used quantities of fiberglass in designing the
mechanics of the Corvette automobile. When
he developed a life-threatening allergy to the
fiberglass, breaking out in a rash all over his
body, Smay’s physician advised him to move
immediately to a drier climate and to stay
away from all Styrofoam and nylon products.
He moved at once, leaving his wife to sell
their residence in Ohio before joining him in Los
Angeles, where Smay designed and built the
house in which they would reside for the next
forty years. Working together, they earned the
money to pay for the property by surveying land,
and then financed the construction by selling
avocados from trees located on that property. The
family still sells avocados seasonally.
Dorothea Smay, who served as Dellacor’s
secretary while the company operated in its first
two locations, passed away in December of 2000.
The Smay family includes daughter,
Kathleen Strudwick, son-in-law Martin, and
three grandchildren—Daniel, Jonathan, and
Matthew. On Saturdays during her teen years,
Kathleen worked in the business assembling
sanding shoes for auto body repair.
Dellacor designed and made such varied
products as thermostat covers, swimming pool
and spa light rings, recreational stoves for
campers and boats, sanding shoes for auto body
reconstruction, pipe supports, and many other
parts for numerous companies, including
Pentair Pool Products, Seaward, Gaffers &
Sattler, and Brewmatic.
Loyal employees, a key element in
Dellacor’s success, included Ferman Suarez,
Hugo “Willie” Lugo, and Rogelio Murillo, all
of whom remained with Dellacor for more
than thirty years.
The company was sold in December of
2001 to Roderick Industries of Santa Fe
Springs, California.
DELLACOR
COMPANY
✧
Above: Jean Fatzaun, Gunter Koch, and
John Smay in 1963.
Below: Dellacor’s shop in South
El Monte, California.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
79

VINCENT
JEWELRY
DESIGN
CENTER
✧
Left: Irene Vargas Felix.
Right: Margaret de la O Silva.
When Vincent Jewelry Design Center coowner
Irene Vargas Felix says her foray into
the business was by divine appointment, she
isn’t just paying lip service to the role faith
plays in her success.
Irene started in the jewelry business with a
single transaction: the resale of a ring she’d
purchased from a gentleman when she was
seventeen years old. Some thirty years later,
she has repeated that simple process over and
over again, identifying quality designs and
craftsmanship and pairing the creation with an
appropriate buyer.
Today, along with childhood friend and
partner Margaret de la O Silva, Irene owns and
operates two full service centers—one which
opened in El Monte in early 2002—offering
premium, one-of-a-kind pieces with “service,
service, service” as their hymn for success.
And while each location serves a large client
base, the personal touch Irene employed as a
young woman back in the 1960s is the hallmark
of the success of their West Covina store, and led
to the opening the twelve-hundred-square-foot
El Monte store, called the San Gabriel Valley
Tesoros Jewelry Design Center.
Irene and Margaret met as children and
attended school together in El Monte. As
adults, they went their separate ways—Irene
to her calling as a merchant of fine jewelry,
and Margaret to a stable eighteen-year tenure
with a pizza product distribution company.
Both women also raised families during
that time. Irene has one son, Steven Moses
Shanks, 22, while Margaret has three sons:
Paul Rodriguez, 32, and twins, Michael and
Louis Rodriguez, 30.
The jewelry business took Irene all over
Southern California and the High Desert. She
also operated businesses in Northern California.
But Irene held the belief that having roots
in an area makes for better business. Because
of that, she eventually returned to her native
San Gabriel Valley where she eventually
reconnected with her childhood friend and
future partner, Margaret.
Neither woman minces words when it
comes to the role their Christian faith has
played in their success. They see their one-onone
contact with clients as a stepping-stone to
a greater mission—service to mankind—and
believe their success is in direct correlation to
that demonstration of faith.
That belief system also calls for service to
others in charitable matters. To that end, the
partners volunteer with the West Covina
Rotary’s Service Club. They are also members
of West Covina “Team One,” a leadership
arm of that city’s Chamber of Commerce,
and are involved with the Strategic Alliance
Networking group. Irene also serves as a
motivational speaker at West Covina High
School, and with the Children’s Ministry at
her church, Valley Community Church in
El Monte.
Like everything else in their business, Irene
and Margaret believe that faith and hard, hard
work will help them reach their ambitious
goal of opening a 6,000 square foot store in
West Covina before the close of 2003.
Until that time, they have dedicated
themselves to continuing to offer the quality
service and selection that customers old and
new have come to expect and receive.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
80

MORAN
MOTORS
Charles V. Moran, owner of Moran Motors
Incorporated, spent his childhood in Detroit,
Michigan, “the motor city.” His maternal
grandfather, William Herbert Murphy, was
one of a group of financiers that, in 1901,
helped to establish the Henry Ford Company,
establishing Murphy—and his descendants—
as key players in the history of the burgeoning
American automotive industry.
Murphy and his partners later changed the
name to the Cadillac Automobile Company.
General Motors eventually purchased that
company in 1911. And just over three
decades later in 1945, with the help of his
parents J. Bell and Serena Moran, Charles–or
“Charley” as he is known–invested in a
Chrysler-Plymouth dealership located in a
small but growing El Monte, California.
Charley Moran eventually bought out the
other investors in the business. His original
staff of six would grow to almost thirty
employees. In 1945 Moran partnered with
Hoyt Curtis of El Monte Ford, R.V. Dorweiler,
a Chevrolet dealer, and seven other local
businessmen to reestablish the El Monte
Chamber of Commerce, with the purpose of
drawing more business to the growing area.
Explaining that this period was just after
WWII, Charley said the area needed an
economic boost. Their Garvey Avenue location
was prime for drawing businesses to the area,
as the east-west thoroughfare served as a main
artery into and out of nearby Los Angeles.
In 1968, after over twenty years of offering
the Chrysler line of cars and GMC Trucks,
that era ended. Moran Motors took on the
Italian sports car, Fiat, and began conducting
business as Cavalier Sport Cars. The name
Cavalier came from the University of Virginia
where Charley attended college.
In addition to continuing an active
membership in the El Monte/South El Monte
Chamber of Commerce that he helped to
restart, Charley was also a member of Elks
Lodge 1739; the Chrysler Dealers Association;
the National Automotive Dealers Association;
and the Motor Car Dealers Association of
Southern California.
Charley and his wife Lorene raised four
sons—Charley Jr., George, Michael, and John
(who passed away in 1989). All of the boys
worked for their father as teenagers. Michael
returned to the business on a full-time basis
in 1975, and serves as president with his
father, who continues in the role of chief
executive officer.
Today, Moran Motors carries a full line of
parts and services for many foreign cars,
including Fiat, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, and
offers service for the vehicles they once sold.
In fact, Moran Motors offers the widest
selection of parts for Fiat cars in Southern
California. And because of that exclusivity, the
company has loyal customers from as far away
as New Zealand, while continuing to service
some of the same vehicles sold during the
family’s successful history as one of the San
Gabriel Valley’s oldest businesses.
✧
Above: Moran Motors with the new
California-style open air service set-up and
adjoining showroom and parts department
in El Monte, California, c. 1945.
Below: President Michael B. Moran (left),
CEO Charles V. “Charley” Moran
(right), with portrait of J. Bell Moran
in background.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
81

AZUSA PACIFIC
UNIVERSITY
✧
Above: Early photograph of APU campus,
c. 1945.
Below: Striking aerial shot of Azusa Pacific
University’s fifty-two-acre main campus on
the corner of Citrus and Alosta Avenues.
The origins of Azusa Pacific University date
back to 1899, when a group of spiritual leaders
from various denominations met in Whittier,
California, and established a Bible college
geared to training students for service and
missionary endeavors. This was the premier
Bible college founded on the West Coast. The
first class of students met on March 3, 1900,
with Mary A. Hill serving as president.
The school moved three times in its first
seven years, settling in Huntington Park in
1907. The school maintained the name of the
Training School for Christian Workers until
1939, when it was changed to Pacific Bible
College and four-year degrees were offered.
Also in 1939, Cornelius P. Haggard, Th.D., was
appointed president, serving for thirty-six years
until his death in 1975.
By the mid-1940s, Pacific Bible College had
outgrown its Huntington Park campus. In late
1945 the school acquired the twelve-acre
Maybelle Scott Rancho School for Girls in Azusa,
and in 1956, the college’s name was changed to
Azusa College. The college merged in 1965 with
Los Angeles Pacific College, and was renamed
Azusa Pacific College. In 1968 Azusa Pacific
College merged with Arlington College.
After Haggard’s death, Paul E. Sago, Ph.D.,
became the president, serving until 1989. In
1982 the college achieved university status
and the Board of Trustees adopted the name
Azusa Pacific University. During his tenure,
Sago encouraged the development and
growth of off-site educational regional
centers, and presided over the addition of
master’s degree programs and development of
schools within the university.
Richard E. Felix, Ph.D., became president in
1990. As additional graduate programs debuted,
the institution renewed emphasis on scholarship
and reaffirmed its Christian mission and
commitment to community building and
service. Felix reframed these values as the
cornerstones of the university—Christ,
scholarship, community, and service. Under his
leadership, APU constructed seven new
buildings, doubled student enrollment, and
quadrupled its graduate offerings, adding three
doctoral degrees. Upon his retirement, the Board
of Trustees unanimously selected Executive Vice
President Jon R. Wallace, DBA, to fill the role of
president, effective November 27, 2000.
Today, Azusa Pacific stands as a
comprehensive Christian university that seeks to
serve its diverse constituencies throughout the
world. Accredited by the Western Association of
Schools and Colleges and the National Council
for Accreditation of Teacher Education, Azusa
Pacific secured a place in the top twenty-five on
the U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best
Colleges, Western universities-Master’s
classification. In that same year, Azusa Pacific
created the All-Access Program, expanding the
learning environment through the availability of
wireless computer technology.
More than a century has passed since its
founding and Azusa Pacific is still operating
on its motto of God First. By valuing
academic excellence and effective Christian
leadership, the university continues to
prepare young men and women to serve
Christ throughout the world.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
82

Ramona Care Center celebrates twelve
years of commitment and service to the senior
citizens of the greater San Gabriel Valley. An
all-encompassing commitment to caring is
paramount in the philosophy and activities of
Ramona Care Center. Its greatest assets are its
people, capital, and reputation. If any of these
is ever diminished, the last is the most
difficult to restore. The center’s staff is
dedicated to comply fully with the letter and
spirit of laws, rules, and ethical principles that
govern us. Their work is never done.
We realize most individuals needing longterm
care prefer it in a more home-like,
noninstitutional setting. Therefore, at Ramona
Care Center the focus of resident care-giving
efforts is on compassion and kindness, in
addition to providing quality clinical services
day to day.
With a staff of over one hundred professionals,
headed by Administrator Jan Stine,
M.A., and Barbara Chichester, R.N., the Director
of Nursing, the center has blossomed into a
shining example of what can be accomplished
by dedication and hard work. Ramona Care
Center has received joint commission
accreditation with quality distinction.
Registered nurses are on duty twenty-four
hours a day. The goal of the 148-bed facility is
to help restore individuals to their highest
functional potential, promote in them a sense
of well being and achieve a satisfying level of
independence. Able professional staff
members offer physical, occupational and
speech therapies to foster greater flexibility
and to keep residents interested and busy,
nudging them gently toward better health,
physically and mentally, toward selfacceptance
and self-mastery.
Daily activities for Ramona Care Center
residents are varied and include music,
games, educational classes and just “fun”
monthly outings, weekly entertainment, and
candlelight dinners. The facility also helps
the community by preparing food for the
Meals on Wheels program, which delivers to
seniors and shut-ins. We have served over
120,000 meals.
The El Monte Chamber of Commerce
named Ramona Care Center the “Business of
the Year” in 1999. Thank you for considering
Ramona Care Center when shopping for
long-term care and rehabilitation for you or
your loved one.
Ramona Care Center is located at 11900
Ramona Boulevard in El Monte, California,
just one mile west of the 605 Freeway and
two miles north of the 10 Freeway. For more
information about Ramona Care Center,
please visit www.ramonacarecenter.org.
RAMONA
CARE CENTER
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
83

CIRCLE
MACHINE
COMPANY
✧
Front row (from left to right): Jan Carlson,
administrative manager; Rick Bullock,
President; Harvey Patterson, plant
manager; and Lourdes Uribe,
manufacturing analyst. Back row: Randy
Cox, information systems manager, Tom
Downs, national sales manager; Ed
DeGuzman, manufacturing support
manager; and Kerry Cranford, multimedia
projects manager.
Circle Machine Company’s tools are now
used to manufacture parts for items ranging
from Space Shuttles to artificial hips and
knees—including the knees of former New
York Jet Quarterback Joe Namath. They
are also used in the manufacture of all Boeing
airplanes, as well as by industries manufacturing
such diverse things as power tools,
hydraulic fittings and actuators, pumps,
computers, small motors, automobile and
motorcycle parts and accessories, farm
equipment, ball bearings, fiber optics,
firearms, missiles, spray nozzles, job shops,
heavy equipment, and plumbing fixtures.
Circle began in 1947 as a small job shop in
Long Beach, California, specializing in the
manufacture of small metal parts. Founded by
two brothers, Walter and Clarence Brock, the
company’s first job was to manufacture a part
for a float in the Rose Parade.
During the 1950s, Circle operated as a
machine shop serving large West Coast
defense contractors. Many of the processes
required boring small diameter holes, as well
as milling, turning and threading
sophisticated, close-tolerance parts. Unable
to find ready-made metal cutting tools
capable of holding the close tolerances
required in its operations, Circle began
designing and manufacturing its own unique,
indexable boring and threading bars—the
smallest indexable tools in the industry.
After moving in 1958 to Monrovia,
California, Circle began selling these unique,
close-tolerance, high-precision cutting tools
through industrial distributors in the United
States. Although it made a good living for the
Brock brothers, their marketing approach was
non-aggressive, and Circle did not grow
appreciably. In 1986, their general manager,
Fred Sparling, purchased the Brocks’ interest
and served as the company’s president until
1993, when current President and CEO Rick
Bullock was elected. Harvey Patterson, plant
manager, who joined Circle in 1989, is
responsible for manufacturing, engineering,
and research and development. Jan Carlson
serves as Circle’s administrative manager and
Tom Downs is national sales manager.
Kennametal, Inc. of Latrobe, Pennsylvania
purchased the company in 1996.
Since 1986 Circle’s sales have increased
from $2.1 million to $12 million. Its 75
employees include seven direct outside sales
personnel and 12 manufacturer representatives
who manage sales in every state,
through 270 industrial distributors.
International business, mostly in Europe,
represents six percent of total sales.
Circle’s products and services include
small, indexable tooling and precision-ground
inserts; boring bars, threading and grooving
bars, profiling bars, reverse boring bars,
chamfering and back-chamfering bars; and
steel and carbide shanks down to 0.062-inch
minimum bore. Metric dimensions are also in
stock. Plans for the future include development
of unique products and increasing international
sales in Europe and Asia.
A responsible citizen of the community,
Circle Machine Company supports local
schools, libraries, parks and recreation,
police, and fire departments
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
84

The Holiday Inn Monrovia is a
commanding ten-story structure conveniently
located just off the Foothill (210) Freeway.
Opened in 1986, the Holiday Inn was the first
full service hotel to provide accommodations
to travelers to the San Gabriel Valley area.
Monrovia’s Holiday Inn features 170
guestrooms and a magnificent 1,000 square
foot suite. A recent $3.5-million renovation
has placed the facility in first-class condition.
Each guestroom features dataports, voice
messaging, and workstations, perfect for the
business traveler. Incoming faxes are available
at no charge. Rooms also feature coffee
makers and in-room movies. Other hotel
amenities include an exercise center, outdoor
pool, coin laundry and free parking.
The hotel’s San Gabriel ballroom
accommodates up to four hundred guests for
dinners, weddings, seminars and other
functions. Four additional meeting spaces will
nicely accommodate as many as 40
participants. A professional, friendly on-site
catering staff is available to assist with the
planning of customer events.
A “Quality Excellence Award” winner on
multiple occasions, the Monrovia hotel has been
recognized among the top 10 percent of some
2,900 hotels bearing the Holiday Inn name. This
recognition is based on guest satisfaction,
customer relations and quality evaluation
inspections. The number of awards received,
combined with the approval of frequent guests;
reflects the commitment to service and
friendliness extended by each and every member
of the hotel’s staff of seventy-seven employees.
The hotel’s ideal location and easy access
from each of the area’s three main airports—
Burbank, Los Angeles, and Ontario—makes it a
good choice for both business and leisure travelers.
In addition to being close to several of the
areas major business centers, the hotel is located
just a few blocks away from the Santa Anita
Racetrack, and is freeway close to Irwindale
Speedway, Universal Studios and several other
popular attractions. Additionally, visitors attending
Pasadena’s annual Rose Parade and Rose
Bowl game enjoy the hotel’s more reasonable
rates without sacrificing comfort or proximity.
The owners and managers of the Holiday
Inn Monrovia participate fully in the
economic development of the Monrovia/San
Gabriel Valley area, and are also involved with
charitable organizations such as the Boys &
Girls Club and the Santa Anita YMCA. The
hotel also provides breakfasts for several other
youth organizations.
The Holiday Inn Monrovia’s ideal location
and first class accommodations ensure its
prominence in the San Gabriel Valley, and
stability in an ever-changing industry.
HOLIDAY INN
MONROVIA
✧
Above: One of Holiday Inn Monrovia’s
tastefully appointed guestrooms.
Below: Holiday Inn Monrovia.
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
85

EL MONTE
UNION HIGH
SCHOOL
DISTRICT
✧
Below: El Monte High School was
established in 1901.
Bottom: The EMUHSD offices today.
The start of the new millennium marked a
time of celebration for the century-old El Monte
Union High School District. Both the District
and El Monte High School were established in
1901 after the Los Angeles County Board of
Education decided to establish a local high
school for graduates of the city’s grammar
schools and also for students residing in
portions of surrounding communities. For over
a hundred years, the District has provided
excellent service to education.
In its initial year of operation, high school
classes were held in a single, upstairs classroom
in the old Lexington Grammar School. That
first year, the high school boasted an enrollment
of 12 to 15 students. By 1908 the campus was
relocated near what is now Valley Mall. There
were sixty-five students enrolled at that time.
In 1933 the Long Beach earthquake caused
considerable damage to the campus. Rather
than rebuild on the damaged site, a new school
was built on a vacant lot approximately onehalf
mile south of that location. Construction
began in 1938, and the building opened just a
year later at 3048 Tyler Avenue, where the
school remains today. By this time, there were
1,250 students and a staff of 38 teachers.
Attendance swelled in the years
immediately following World War II, and by
1948, just a decade after the school opened,
enrollment figures more than doubled.
The District established a second school,
Rosemead High School, in 1949. To meet the
demands of an increased student population,
three additional high schools were built:
Arroyo High School opened its doors in 1955,
followed by Mountain View High School in
1971, and the District’s newest school, South
El Monte High, which opened in 1992. The
District also operates Valle Lindo High, a
continuation school, and the El Monte-
Rosemead Adult School.
The District has grown from 12 students in
one classroom to an enrollment of over
25,000 students at eight different sites.
Our teachers have been recognized
nationally and statewide for their curriculum
efforts, authoring textbooks and magazine
articles, and in many other areas.
Over the years, our post-graduation college
attendance rates have reached a high of
eighty-three percent of our entire senior class.
Our students have succeeded in innumerable
areas, which is a reflection of the quality
education they received from the District.
Many awards and honors have been
bestowed on our schools, such as:
• Model School Programs
• California Distinguished School Honors
• National Blue Ribbon School Honor
Today, as public schools in California
continue to face significant reform measures,
the El Monte Union High School District
continues to raise the bar of excellence and
has implemented goals that include increasing
student achievement in order to ensure even
more success in future years.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
86

WorkSource California is comprised of a
network of fifty Los Angeles area centers that
provide a wide range of resources for
businesses looking for qualified workers.
Five WorkSource Centers in the San
Gabriel Valley stand ready to meet the needs
of members of the business community who
are seeking qualified candidates, customized
training resources, and downsizing support.
WorkSource Centers help businesses meet
staffing needs by listing job openings on a hightraffic
Internet site, pre-screening candidates,
conducting pre-employment testing, and
scheduling interviews in WorkSource meeting
rooms when needed. Each center also offers upto-date
economic and labor market information,
skill assessments, information about local
education and training providers, and assistance
with filing claims for unemployment insurance
in the event of downsizing.
Most WorkSource Centers are equipped to
develop customized training programs for
existing or new employees, and also offer
ongoing open workshops on critical
workplace issues and business practices.
Both large and small business owners benefit
from the wide range of technical resources
available at most WorkSource locations,
including phones, FAX machines, computers,
and available copy machines. Business
resources also include Internet access, and prescreening
of available video training courses.
Each WorkSource Center has staff
members who work with businesses that may
be downsizing, helping to coordinate services
and job placements for employees affected by
layoffs, which are often an inevitable outcome
in uncertain economic times.
WorkSource California transition experts
can help to make the process of downsizing
less painful for businesses and employees.
These experts are available to businesses that
need assistance explaining on-site placement
options. They can also provide counseling,
and can help affected employees navigate the
unemployment claims process.
The majority of services provided by
WorkSource California are available at no cost
to businesses. Business clients may also
receive tax incentives by helping to navigate
government regulations, and by providing
information about available tax credits and
incentives for eligible workers and on-the-job
training programs that can help to defray
training costs.
San Gabriel Valley area WorkSource
Centers have offices in the following cities:
El Monte, Irwindale, Pasadena, Pomona,
and Rosemead. When combined with a
full range of employment assistance and
career building resources for job seekers,
WorkSource California is the San Gabriel
Valley’s first stop for meeting business and
career needs.
WORKSOURCE
CALIFORNIA
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
87

HANSON
AGGREGATES-
LOS ANGELES
✧
Above: Hanson’s dual eighteen-cubic-yard
bucket dredge, the main source of material
to the triple tower, 2,500-ton per hour
production plant.
Below: Close-up view of one of the buckets
used in mining an underwater environment.
Hanson Aggregates-Los Angeles is one of
several divisions of Hanson. Worldwide,
Hanson is one of the leading building
materials companies, the largest producer of
aggregates and the third largest producer of
ready-mixed concrete with over 31,000
employees and operations in 19 countries
across four continents.
As part of the company’s Pacific Southwest
Region, Hanson Aggregates-Los Angeles
operates four aggregate facilities in the Los
Angeles basin that, along with nine recycled
material sites, supplies rock, sand, gravel, rip
rap, ballast and base to area construction
communities. The company’s management,
sales and production teams assist businesses
with product selection, testing procedures, and
on-site inspections to ensure their customer’s
projects run smoothly. The qualified staff and
unsurpassed product capability makes Hanson
Aggregates a leader in the field of construction
aggregates and building materials.
Major metropolitan areas such as Los
Angeles benefit greatly from the proximity of a
major aggregate source to help facilitate the
production of extensive building projects.
Hanson Aggregates-Los Angeles’ main plant is
conveniently situated on over five hundred
acres located in Irwindale, just off the San
Gabriel (605) Freeway.
In addition to management, the facility
employs heavy equipment operators,
mechanics and repair persons, and features
underwater and dry mining operations of sand,
gravel and other materials used in commercial
buildings and roadways throughout the Los
Angeles area. Hanson Aggregates Pacific
Southwest Region’s corporate offices are
located in San Diego.
Each of the production facilities that comprise
the region has formed a “community relations
teams” to make sure that the company keeps in
touch with the needs of its neighbors. Each team
educates and responds to members of the local
communities of which the company is a part.
Area school children are regularly invited to visit
rock quarries so that they may learn about the
production of heavy building materials, and to
see how typical rock quarries work. Children
also learn the importance of aggregates to their
community and the environmental responsibility
that each site is committed to preserve. Local
school officials are invited to contact Hanson
Aggregates’ local sales office to schedule site visits
for students and other groups.
With its development of the finest quality
construction aggregates and building materials,
and ongoing commitment to educating the
communities served, Hanson Aggregates-Los
Angeles enjoys and will likely remain the
preferred source for many leading contractors,
manufacturers and government agencies for
decades to come.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
88

Founded in 1915 and incorporated in
1921, the El Monte/South El Monte Chamber
of Commerce continues to grow to meet the
challenges of today's business environment.
It is a voluntary nonprofit corporation
comprised of five hundred-plus businesses in
the two cities. The policies and programs of
the Chamber are determined by the
membership through a board of directors,
they harness the potential of the private
enterprise system and enables the members
to accomplish collectively what no member
could do individually.
Chambers of commerce are increasingly
more involved in non-business issues, such as
education, environment, cultural, and
political. These challenges have caused
Chambers of Commerce to become a viable
force in seeking solutions to today's social
problems. The main objective of the Chamber
is to promote the free enterprise system and to
enhance the economic health of the
communities. The Chamber strongly believes
belonging to a chamber of commerce is good
business for your business.
Membership in the Chamber provides
advantages designed to meet business needs in
areas such as business promotion, networking,
advertising, education, and legislative
representation. The Chamber members who
serve on the board of directors, on the
committees, and as the ambassadors are
business leaders who volunteer their valuable
time working for a better community and
better business climate. The El Monte/South El
Monte Chamber of Commerce maintains an
office with a paid chief executive and full-time
staff to provide the services to members,
visitors, and the communities.
El Monte/South El Monte
Chamber of Commerce activities
and benefits include:
• An annual golf tournament
• The annual installation and
awards banquet
• Legislative Luncheons
• State of City Luncheons
• News and Views, a business
newspaper mailed to sixty-five
hundred businesses
• Strictly Business, a Chamber
newsletter inserted in the Mid Valley
News monthly which is distributed
and mailed to chamber members
• Grand opening ribbon-cutting
ceremonies
• Certificates of origin
• Business referrals
• Networking opportunities
• An e-mail newsletter
For more information about the El
Monte/South El Monte Chamber of
Commerce, please contact 10505
Valley Boulevard, Suite 312, El Monte
CA 91731 or P.O. Box 5866, El Monte,
CA 91734. The Chamber can also be
reached by phone at (626) 443- 0180,
by fax at (626) 443-0463, by email at
chamber@ksb8.com, and on the
Internet at www.emsem.com.
EL MONTE/
SOUTH
EL MONTE
CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
PARTNERS IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
✧
The lobby of the El Monte/South El Monte
Chamber of Commerce.
89

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
E NRIQUE
D IAZ
Enrique Diaz has been writing since he was eight years old. By the time he was ten, he had written
several children's stories. He continued to write through high school and college. College brought
many more opportunities for him to write and edit, including Glyph Magazine, Rainbow, and The Germ,
among others. Diaz has also written for radio and film. But it was Nuvein Magazine, which he began in
1982 while on board the battleship New Jersey (BB-62) with the help of fellow sailors, that has been his
greatest project.
Currently, Diaz is a very busy person. In addition to editing Nuvein Magazine, he writes for and edits
various business and literary publications, teaches writing, and runs a small private school in El Monte
California (Digital Business & Design College). He is active in the communities of the San Gabriel
Valley, being a member of the El Monte/South El Monte Chamber of Commerce and a member of
Rotary Club of El Monte/South El Monte. He lives in Baldwin Park, California with his family and
their cats.
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
90

ABOUT THE COVER
D ONALD “PUTT” P UTMAN
A world-famous Western artist, Donald Putman grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. He attended
Alhambra High School. The painting used for the dustjacket is a 100-foot-by-12-foot mural on the
side of the Mission Art Center in San Gabriel near the San Gabriel Mission. The mural is entitled
Mission Life.
ABOUT THE COVER
91

For more information about the following publications or about publishing your own book, please call
Historical Publishing Network at 800-749-9790 or visit www.lammertinc.com.
Black Gold: The Story of Texas Oil & Gas
Historic Abilene: An Illustrated History
Historic Amarillo: An Illustrated History
Historic Anchorage: An Illustrated History
Historic Austin: An Illustrated History
Historic Beaumont: An Illustrated History
Historic Bexar County: An Illustrated History
Historic Brazoria County: An Illustrated History
Historic Charlotte: An Illustrated History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Historic Corpus Christi: An Illustrated History
Historic Denton County: An Illustrated History
Historic Edmond: An Illustrated History
Historic El Paso: An Illustrated History
Historic Erie County: An Illustrated History
Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History
Historic Gainesville & Hall County: An Illustrated History
Historic Henry County: An Illustrated History
Historic Houston: An Illustrated History
Historic Kern County: An Illustrated History of Bakersfield and Kern County
Historic Laredo: An Illustrated History of Laredo & Webb County
Historic Louisiana: An Illustrated History
Historic Midland: An Illustrated History
Historic Montgomery County: An Illustrated History of Montgomery County, Texas
Historic Oklahoma: An Illustrated History
Historic Oklahoma County: An Illustrated History
Historic Omaha: An Illustrated History of Omaha and Douglas County
Historic Overland Park: An Illustrated History
Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History
Historic Passaic County: An Illustrated History
Historic Philadelphia: An Illustrated History
Historic Prescott: An Illustrated History of Prescott & Yavapai County
Historic Richardson: An Illustrated History
Historic Rio Grande Valley: An Illustrated History
Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land
Historic Shreveport-Bossier: An Illustrated History of Shreveport & Bossier City
Historic Texas: An Illustrated History
Historic Victoria: An Illustrated History
Historic Williamson County: An Illustrated History
Iron, Wood & Water: An Illustrated History of Lake Oswego
Miami’s Historic Neighborhoods: A History of Community
Old Orange County Courthouse: A Centennial History
Plano: An Illustrated Chronicle
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
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