Three years ago, the United States Census Bureau released the 1950 census to the public—these are done 72 years after the enumerations were undertaken, so the 1960 one will be available in seven years—and finally this post shares a little bit of information about the counting of the residents of the little hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, on the western fringe of San Bernardino County.
The census taker, George Peich, began his work on 4 May on what was called Debs Road, though this is a bit of a mystery, as there is no such thoroughfare today, but the next street encountered was Hillside Drive on the north side of the community, so it appears that Debs was in that vicinity. There appears to have been five households, including a single man, three sets of couples and a family of five, though it can be a little hard to tell where one street ends and another begins with the counting.
On that point, Peich visited five households on Hillside, three of which were occupied by single householders and all of retiree ages. There were two houses with families and these shared the same household number, but whether there was a family tie or not is not clear. Crossing Carbon Canyon Road, the enumerator went to two households, both of families, including that of Laverne and Naomi Stearns, whose son Vance (not born yet) still resides in Carbon Canyon, though not in Sleepy Hollow.
The next street counted was Hay Drive, a steep climb up the hillside, and four households were visited, all with families, before Peich made the loop down to Francis Drive—here he put a line to clearly delineate when he'd changed streets. It looks like there were five households on that street, including that of Cecil and Fanny Dixon, who were longtime residents of Sleepy Hollow.
Oak Way Lane, back on the north side of the community and running eastward along the base of the steep hill on that portion, was then traversed and there were 11 households counted, along with a half dozen structures marked as vacant (perhaps these were vacation homes?) After that street was finished, Peich headed back and went along Carbon Canyon Road and enumerated 14 households with seven structures also identified as vacant.
Among the residents counted along the state highway was David Purington, the son of Sleepy Hollow's co-founder Cleve Purington and who resided in the family house that still stands today directly across from where Rosemary Lane meets Carbon Canyon Road in the center of the community. Floyd and Dorothy Frampton were the proprietors of a café in Sleepy Hollow and were counted with their two sons.
What stands out about the 1950 census compared to the two previous ones that were taken in the community, these being 1940 and 1930, was the predominance of families and the number of children who lived there. As the region was undergoing a massive boom following World War II, Sleepy Hollow was become less isolated, especially from the west as southeastern Los Angeles and much of western and northern Orange County were becoming heavily developed.
Sleepy Hollow three quarters of a century ago contained 135 residents, of which 56% were female and 44% male, a striking variation. All but six were natives of the United States and 38% of them were California born. In terms of ages, 50 residents were under 18, comprising 37% of the residents. A quarter were from ages 18-34 and about the same percentage were in the 36-54 age range. Those from 55-72 ages were about 10% of the residents and there were five persons over 72—life expectancy was quite a bit lower then compared to now, being 68 years and now over 77.
There were about two dozen different occupations and, strikingly, only six women had jobs reported on the census. Farmers and farm and ranch hands were the positions of five persons and, given that the nearby oil fields of north Orange County were still operating, though gradually diminishing, four men worked as laborers in that industry.
There were three café workers at the Sleepy Hollow eatery, three gas company and auto mechanic workers and two persons each employed in real estate, a gas station (at least one, if not both, in the community), lumber, electric companies, and a construction company. The remaining jobs included a lawyer, newspaper editor, truck driver, tire company worker, airport mechanic. beauty shop owner (one of the few women workers), a railroad laborer, school maintenance worker (Purington), telephone operator (another female), telephone repair, a hospital nurse (a woman), water company worker, and a rubber company worker.
Those residents from other countries included two from Russia and one each from England, France and Italy. The only persons of color were the Martinez family, including James and Fanny, the bartender and cook, respectively at a café, presumably that run by the Framptons, and their two children.
If this blog is still active in 2032, we'll hope to share the 1960 census, but who knows?
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