UPDATE, 7:20 P.M.: The road is open.
Carbon Canyon Road has been fully closed for about a half hour due to a two-vehicle collision in Sleepy Hollow near the old Party House Liquor Store.
A neighbor who lives next to the scene said an eastbound car took a curve too fast, skidded into the guardrail and into the opposing lane where a westbound vehicle hit it. Evidently, an ambulance is on scene, as are tow trucks.
It is estimated the closure could last about another half-hour according to City of Chino Hills alerts.
30 June 2019
The Gaines and Brown Families of Carbon Canyon, Part 12: A Trio of Photos at the Olinda Oil Field
Joyce Harrington, a descendant of the family of Edward F. Gaines and Fannie Atwater, who owned by the Flying Cow Ranch where Olinda Village and the Hollydale Mobile Home Estates are today, as well as from the Brown family who lived and worked in the Olinda oil field, generously provided access to hundreds of photos of both families.
This is the twelfth post in the series sharing these photos on the blog and comprises a trio of images of workers at the oil field, which was opened in 1897 after Edward Doheny, who with Charles Canfield brought in the celebrated Los Angeles field west of downtown, developed a partnership with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad to drill for oil on the Olinda Ranch.
Railroads were in the process of transitioning to petroleum fuels and the Santa Fe had a line running through north Orange County along modern Orangethorpe Avenue, so prospectiing for oil in the hills at the north end of the Olinda Ranch and following geological traces from the Whittier and Puente fields to the west led to success.
In fact, the first well brought on to production at Olinda is still operating today as part of the Olinda Oil Museum in the midst of the Olinda Ranch subdivision just north of Carbon Canyon Road. From there, companies flocked to the field to search for black gold. As noted, there was a substantial population of workers and their families mostly living in company-owned houses throughout the field. Stores and a fine grammar school were part of the general Olinda community, though as the automobile became more affordable, people began to move to nearby towns away from the noises and smells of the field.
There were some people, though, who continued to reside in the field even when most moved away, so that Olinda School continued to operate into the very early 1960s. Finally, the school closed and a new Olinda Elementary School was built in the Olinda Village subdivison on the former Flying Cow Ranch. The old school site, near the Carbon Canyon Dam, which was completed in 1961, later became part of Carbon Canyon Regional Park, opened in 1975.
With regard to the oil wells, they've gradually been shut down, disassembled and capped in recent decades, replaced mainly by housing developments, and those that remain will not do so for long. As noted here recently, a proposal to build a large number of homes on land on both sides of Valencia Avenue north of Rose Drive/Birch Street and both sides of Lambert Road west of Carbon Canyon is in the works.
It won't be too many years from now that the only visual remainder of the oil industry at Olinda, where petroleum prospecting was launched in Orange County over 120 years ago, will be at the oil museum. Photos like these help preserve that history for those who won't otherwise have a direct visual reference to what transpired at Olinda.
Look soon for the thirteenth part of this series of great images, courtesy of Joyce, from the Brown and Gaines families at Carbon Canyon.
This is the twelfth post in the series sharing these photos on the blog and comprises a trio of images of workers at the oil field, which was opened in 1897 after Edward Doheny, who with Charles Canfield brought in the celebrated Los Angeles field west of downtown, developed a partnership with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad to drill for oil on the Olinda Ranch.
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| This great image shows, from left to right, Andy Lyle, Earl Brown, a man listed only as Kramer, and Foster Norton at an oil well site in Olinda in 1910. |
In fact, the first well brought on to production at Olinda is still operating today as part of the Olinda Oil Museum in the midst of the Olinda Ranch subdivision just north of Carbon Canyon Road. From there, companies flocked to the field to search for black gold. As noted, there was a substantial population of workers and their families mostly living in company-owned houses throughout the field. Stores and a fine grammar school were part of the general Olinda community, though as the automobile became more affordable, people began to move to nearby towns away from the noises and smells of the field.
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| In this snapshot, Earle Brown is doing a little clowning around at the well site. With such difficult, dirty work, there must obviously have been a lot of humor displayed at Olinda! |
With regard to the oil wells, they've gradually been shut down, disassembled and capped in recent decades, replaced mainly by housing developments, and those that remain will not do so for long. As noted here recently, a proposal to build a large number of homes on land on both sides of Valencia Avenue north of Rose Drive/Birch Street and both sides of Lambert Road west of Carbon Canyon is in the works.
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| This is a particularly interesting image of seventeen well-dressed gents with a train and presumably this was the celebration of the arrival of the first train to use the Santa Fe spur line from Atwood to Olinda. Although there are numbers with the men for identification, there was no list provided. |
Look soon for the thirteenth part of this series of great images, courtesy of Joyce, from the Brown and Gaines families at Carbon Canyon.
10 June 2019
Off the Rails on Carbon Canyon Road
It's a shame to see these shiny new guardrails and then have one of them, just weeks after installation as part of the ongoing rehabilitation of Carbon Canyon Road (State Route 142), get christened by an errant driver.
This took place westbound between Canon Lane and Canyon Hills Road and clearly took place at high speed, judging by the impact which left the end of the rail look like a fruit roll.
About a week prior to that, the taller directional and suggested speed sign on the middle of the S-curve at the summit to the east got its "ankle" broken clean and the bollard to the right of it, reinstalled next to the power pole there and which has been hit as many times as the sign, was also bent back by the collision. This was just a few days after two of the three arrow signs put up by CalTrans as part of the current project to provide more advice on how to drive on the curve were flattened.
Finally, and this goes back a few weeks, the new fencing put up by the owner of the historic La Vida Mineral Springs property on the Brea side, also was welcomed to the neighborhood by a driver heading eastbound who obviously took a curve there too quickly, skidded across the westbound lane (fortunately no one was driving that way) and mowed down a good section of the fencing. Late last week, workers were out putting up new sections.
So, while it is good to see improvements like signs, rails, reflectors and the like, dangerous driving, mostly on weekend evenings, is still a common occurrence, and likely will not diminish without some kind of patrolling.
This took place westbound between Canon Lane and Canyon Hills Road and clearly took place at high speed, judging by the impact which left the end of the rail look like a fruit roll.
About a week prior to that, the taller directional and suggested speed sign on the middle of the S-curve at the summit to the east got its "ankle" broken clean and the bollard to the right of it, reinstalled next to the power pole there and which has been hit as many times as the sign, was also bent back by the collision. This was just a few days after two of the three arrow signs put up by CalTrans as part of the current project to provide more advice on how to drive on the curve were flattened.
Finally, and this goes back a few weeks, the new fencing put up by the owner of the historic La Vida Mineral Springs property on the Brea side, also was welcomed to the neighborhood by a driver heading eastbound who obviously took a curve there too quickly, skidded across the westbound lane (fortunately no one was driving that way) and mowed down a good section of the fencing. Late last week, workers were out putting up new sections.
So, while it is good to see improvements like signs, rails, reflectors and the like, dangerous driving, mostly on weekend evenings, is still a common occurrence, and likely will not diminish without some kind of patrolling.
05 June 2019
Sleepy Hollow Little Free Library Opens!
A resident of Sleepy Hollow has created Little Free Library, a concept many of us have seen in neighborhoods and which has become very popular in recent years.
Not only is there a cabinet on a wooden barrel for books to be borrowed and left, but the area, just off Rosemary Lane near the county line, has been improved with mulch, some plants, and hand-painted signs.
This makes the Little Free Library a really attractive space as well as a community benefit. Hopefully, it will be regularly used both by donors and borrowers.
Thanks to whoever put this together!
Not only is there a cabinet on a wooden barrel for books to be borrowed and left, but the area, just off Rosemary Lane near the county line, has been improved with mulch, some plants, and hand-painted signs.
This makes the Little Free Library a really attractive space as well as a community benefit. Hopefully, it will be regularly used both by donors and borrowers.
Thanks to whoever put this together!
03 June 2019
Carbon Canyon Road Brush Clearance Work Next Week
The annual brush clearance work done along Carbon Canyon Road (State Route 142) by District 8 of CalTrans will take place next week.
The flyer shown here explains that work will happen from Monday the 10th through Wednesday the 12th in both directions from Chino Hills Parkway to the Orange County line.
Work will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and there will be one-way flagging. CalTrans asks drivers to remember to reduce speed when approaching work zones and that delays are expected.
The flyer shown here explains that work will happen from Monday the 10th through Wednesday the 12th in both directions from Chino Hills Parkway to the Orange County line.
Work will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and there will be one-way flagging. CalTrans asks drivers to remember to reduce speed when approaching work zones and that delays are expected.