Chino Hills Historical Society Presentation This Monday: Before Chino Hills State Park

This Monday the 8th at 7 p.m., at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive, across from Ayala High School, the Chino Hills Historical Society hosts a presentation on some history of the area that became Chino Hills State Park, as well as some of the park's history.

If you've been in this amazing local resource and wondered how Rolling M Ranch, the park's headquarters and where there is a great campground, or Telegraph Canyon got their names, you can learn that by attending the talk.

San Bernardino Guardian, 20 September 1873.

If you didn't know that an international airport was proposed for much of the parkland, come on by and hear more about that, as well.

Paul Spitzzeri will discuss some of what the land was used for prior to its preservation and Hills for Everyone President Claire Schlotterbeck, who was deeply involved in the movement for the establishment of the Park, will share some of that story, as well.

Chino Champion, 20 October 1971.

We hope to see you there!

Chino Hills Historical Society Presentation: Before Chino Hills State Park

On Monday, 8 June at 7 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center at 14250 Peyton Drive across from Ayala High School, the Chino Hills Historical Society presents a free talk on the some history of the area that became Chino Hills State Park.  

The discussion will include uses of the land by ranchers like Fenton Slaughter, Frank Pellissier and Christopher Hendra and his Rolling M Ranch, while Claire Schlotterbeck, president of Hills for Everyone and a key figure in the preservation of the property in the face of a proposed airport that led to its purchase and creation as a state park, will discuss how that all came together and its ongoing history.

We hope to see you there!

Soquel Canyon History Presentation Next Monday for Chino Hills Historical Society

Next Monday, 9 February at 7:00 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center at 14250 Peyton Drive, the Chino Hills Historical Society holds the first of three meetings for 2026, with the topic for the presentation being some history of Soquel Canyon, which lies adjacent on the south of Carbon Canyon.

Redlands Citrograph, 26 May 1900.

The presentation will cover some 150 years including an early reference to an outlaw's hiding place, the 1880s oil boomtown of Petrolia, the canyon's use as part of long-standing Chino Ranch Ride, and decades as a location of weapons testing by Aerojet Corporation starting during the Cold War years. 

We hope to see you there!

Chino Hills Historical Society Talks for 2026

The Chino Hills Historical Society has issued a press release detailing its three meetings for 2026, including the first presentation on Monday, 9 February on some history of Soquel Canyon, which is adjacent on the south to Carbon Canyon and merges with it at Olinda Village in Brea.  The talk will go as far back as the 1850s and also discuss the oil boomtown of Petrolia, the Chino Ranch Ride, and some more modern history.

On Monday, 8 June, there'll some discussion of some of the history of what, in the 1970s and 1980s, became Chino Hills State Park, including its long use for livestock grazing.  Lastly, on Monday, 12 October, the focus will return to Boys Republic, the institution for troubled teens that has been in Chino Hills for nearly 120 years, with rarely seen photos and a focus on Clyde Doyle, who had a long relationship with the facility and served many terms in the House of Representatives.

We hope you can join us for these talks on local history!

Sleepy Hollow 100th Anniversary Presentation Video Now Available

In October 2023, the Chino Hills community of Sleepy Hollow, nestled in the midst of Carbon Canyon adjacent to the border with Brea and Orange County, marked its centennial with a celebration at the Sleepy Hollow Community Center (which is now deemed surplus property and is likely to be sold, not having been used since this event).  

This included a PowerPoint slide presentation and summary of some of the neighborhood's history, reminiscences from long-time residents and descendants of Sleepy Hollow founders Cleve and Elizabeth Purington, a display of photos and artifacts and, despite a car crash along Carbon Canyon Road at the summit (this spot just hit again a few days ago with internet and phone service affected, though not electricity), a generator was quickly secured to power the event.

A Chino Hills Historical Society talk took place the following day at the city's community center and included the illustrated talk, the Purington and long-time resident recollections and displays.  Not only was there no power outage, but the evening was recorded and, along with the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope presentation shared yesterday, is now uploaded to the City of Chino Hills YouTube channel.  

Thanks to everyone involved in the recording and editing of the video, which can be viewed here.

St. Joseph's Hill of Hope Presentation Video Now Available

Last October's presentation for the Chino Hills Historical Society on some of the remarkable and little-known history of the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope community, which has been on more than 400 acres in the hills adjoining Carbon Canyon on the north for more than a half-century, was, unfortunately, unaccompanied by illustrations because of technical issues at the meeting room in the community center.

Thanks to the City of Chino Hills, however, a recording was made in late November at City Hall and has been edited and just recently uploaded on to the City's YouTube channel.  Appreciation is extended to Valerie McClung, who made the arrangements, and Edward Chan, who handled the recording and editing, for their work on the video, as well as to Roberta and Michael Haag of St. Joseph's Hill of Hope for taking part in both the live and recorded presentations.

Check out the video here.

Chino Hills Historical Society Commemorates Los Serranos Country Club's 100th Anniversary This Monday the 9th

This coming Monday the 9th @ 7 p.m., the Chino Hills Historical Society offers presentations to commemorate the centennial of the Los Serranos Country Club.  Join us at the Club, 15656 Yorba Avenue (Los Serranos Country Club Drive coming in from Soquel Canyon Parkway to the south), for this special 100th anniversary event.

In April 1925, a group of Long Beach investors, having purchased the Home Ranch and adobe house built by Joseph Bridger, opened Los Serranos and hoped to draw golf enthusiasts from greater Los Angeles to go out to the beautiful rural setting and enjoy the sport and atmosphere.  Despite a significant investment and substantial publicity, the Great Depression led to a change of ownership and the club was plagued by financial issues for years afterward.

After a brief period as the Black-owned Valparaiso Recreation Center and more changes in ownership, Paul Greening, who owned a few thousand acres in the Chino Hills area, bought the property and, in 1953 leased the Club to tennis champion Jack Kramer and partners, with Kramer becoming sole lessee eight years later.  Over seven decades later, the Kramer family continues the operation of a century-old Chino Hills institution.

There will be a pair of talks, including by David Kramer, one of Chino Hills' Unsung Heroes for 2025, as well as a display of photos and other artifacts related to the Club's history.

Chino Hills Historical Society Presentations for 2025, Starting Tomorrow Night

From the Chino Hills Historical Society:

Get ready for some great presentations by local historian Paul Spitzzeri in 2025!  

The next meeting of the Chino Hills Historical Society is coming up on Monday, February 10 at 7:00 pm at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive.  

Join us for our presentation: Village People – The People Behind the Names of Gordon Ranch and Laband Village.  Residents of Chino Hills frequently see the “village” signs reading “Gordon Ranch” and “Laband Village,” but have you ever wondered what’s behind those names?  Join us as Paul Spitzzeri shares some of the fascinating history of Huntley Gordon and Walter Laband, owners of large ranches in the northwestern parts of town.

Please save these dates for our upcoming meetings in 2025!

 Monday, June 9, 2025 

To the Fore!  A Century of Community and History at Los Serranos Country Club

2025 marks the centennial of the Los Serranos Country Club and this presentation covers some of the remarkable history of the club, including the those who struggled to keep it viable during its first quarter-century and the Kramer family, who have been successful as owners for more than 70 years.  Paul Spitzzeri and David Kramer will share the Los Serranos story with plenty of photographs and memorabilia of this longstanding Chino Hills institution.

Monday, October 13, 2025

Cult or the True Catholicism?  St. Joseph’s Hill of Hope

St. Joseph’s Hill of Hope has been mostly hidden from view, deep in Carbon Canyon, for more than a half-century. This religious compound was established in the late 1960s by Frances Klug after the Vatican II reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.  Join Paul Spitzzeri as he discusses some of the history and mystery of the site, long the subject of a raft of rumor and spates of speculation.

 

Chino Hills Historical Society Presentation on the La Vida and Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs Resorts

From the Chino Hills Historical Society: 

The next meeting of the Chino Hills Historical Society is coming up on Monday, October 14 at 7:00 pm at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive.  Join us for the last presentation of our 2024 series focused on Carbon Canyon history. The topic is In Hot Water:  The La Vida and Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs Resorts.

Carbon Canyon got its name for presumed coal deposits, but it was best-known through the 20^th century for its mineral springs.  This presentation looks at the well-known La Vida Mineral Springs Resort in Brea near Olinda Village, which offered hot mineral water baths and pools, a motel, café and a bottled-water plant. Its carbonated water was widely sold in many flavors and was promoted for its many purported health benefits. Nearby, just within San Bernardino County in Sleepy Hollow, was the far lesser known and shorter-lived Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs, which had baths, lodging and food. Today, the latter is completely gone, except for concrete tub remnants, while little is left of La Vida. Paul R. Spitzzeri will share some of the fascinating history that has flowed from the two sites.  He always mixes stories and interesting history for an enjoyable evening.

Chino Hills Historical Society Talk on Carbon Canyon History TONIGHT

Join us this evening for a presentation to the Chino Hills Historical Society on Carbon Canyon history, specifically to a site off Canyon Hills Road north of Carbon Canyon Road where the former Workmen's Circle/Kinder Ring camp went through a series of uses, including the Canyon Hills Swim and Saddle Club, the Canyon Hills Country Club, the Ponderosa Bar and Motel and Purple Haze.

The talk will large cover the period from 1964-1975, but will make brief references to the recent use of the site, including today's Canyon Hills Stables and Canyon Hills Cottages, but the most bizarre element will undoubtedly be the short and strange history of Ski Villa, with its infamous plastic needle slope and which lasted under 2 years at the location.  A special guest will be Ingrid P. Wicken, who runs the California Ski Library of Norco and who will share some Ski Villa history, as well.

The presentation is at 7 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive, across from Ayala High School and we hope to see you there!

Carbon Canyon Talk for Chino Hills Historical Society on 10 June

Chino Hills Historical Society Presents:

Camp Kinder Ring to Purple Haze, Part Two

Monday, June 10, 2024 (Rescheduled from June 17)

 

The Chino Hills Historical Society will host a presentation by Chino Hills resident and historian Paul R. Spitzzeri at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, June 10 at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive.  (Rescheduled from June 17.)

 “Our 2024 meetings focus on Carbon Canyon history,” said Denise Cattern, President. “Paul R. Spitzzeri, our local historian has put together a series of talks on the subject.”

The June 10 Chino Hills Historical Society meeting will continue the “Camp Kinder Ring to Purple Haze” series, “Part Two” – about the history of the site off Canyon Hills Road where Ski Villa was located, Canyon Hills Country Club, the Ponderosa Bar and Motel, and Purple Haze, where counterculture was in full swing in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Mr. Spitzzeri has invited special guest Ingrid Wicken, of the California Ski Library in Norco, to attend the meeting to share her knowledge about Ski Villa. 

On Monday, October 14, the next presentation will be “In Hot Water: The La Vida and Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs Resorts.”

Mr. Spitzzeri has lived in Chino Hills for 27 years. He is the Museum Director at the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum in the City of Industry, where he has worked since 1988. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree in history from California State University, Fullerton. He has also published local, regional and state history in many journals and anthologies. His book, The Workman and Temple Families of Southern California, won a 2009 Award of Merit from the

American Association for State and Local History. Since 2008, Paul has maintained the blog www.carboncanyonchronicle.blogspot.com. He also writes a monthly column about local history for Champion Newspapers.

 The Chino Hills Historical Society is a 501-c-3 non-profit organization funded through memberships and donations.  Sign up for the Historical Society’s email list by sending an email to chhistory@aol.com. For additional information, please send an email or call (909) 597-6449. 

Sleepy Hollow's 100th Anniversary Presentation This Monday the 16th

In October 1923, Cleve and Elizabeth Purington; Charles and Olga Hale; George Wanley; and Charles M. Witter filed the official tract map for the subdivision of Sleepy Hollow, nestled on 80 acres in Carbon Canyon on the southwestern edge of San Bernardino County at the border with Orange County.

That year marked the peak of a massive real estate boom in greater Los Angeles and Sleepy Hollow was unusual in that it was divided into small cabin lots for owners to build a get-away on rather than intended for a large number of full-time residents.

The community remained small, with under 150 persons through 1950, but it developed a tight-knit neighborhood spirit (sometimes literally with its Sleepy "Holloween" events complete with the headless horseman who chased the hapless and helpless Ichabod Crane in Washington Irving's 1820s story that spread the name and fame of Sleepy Hollow, New York) over the years.

With a local water district, woman's club, volunteer firefighting force, community church, stores and café, and more, Sleepy Hollow retained a distinct identity that is still maintained by those who live in its roughly 130 houses today, even as the relentless march of suburbanization has creeped up to the very edges of the community.

This Monday, the 16th, at 7:00 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center (14250 Peyton Drive, across from Ayala High), the 100th anniversary of Sleepy Hollow will be commemorated in a presentation sponsored by the Chino Hills Historical Society.  In addition to a slide-illustrated talk, there'll be some last-minute additions, so please be sure to join us for this slice of early Chino Hills history!

Chino Hills Historical Society Talk Tomorrow Night on Vada Watson Somerville

The next meeting of the Chino Hills Historical Society is on  Monday, February 27 at 7:00 pm at the Community Center at 14250 Peyton Drive, across from Ayala High School.  

For Black History Month, we would like to announce that we will learn about the life of Vada Watson Somerville.  She was a pioneering Black woman in Los Angeles in many ways, including earning her degree from USC and being the first female African-American dentist in the city.  She served in many leadership roles with organizations for the Black community and women, in particular.  

She and her husband, John Somerville, with whom she practiced dentistry, were also the builders of the Hotel Somerville, later the Hotel Dunbar, a vital South-Central Los Angeles site for African-Americans.  When she died in 1972, Vada was recognized for her many contributions to the Black community.  

Few know, however, that she spent part of her youth right here in the Chino Valley, so please join the Chino Hills Historical Society for a presentation by Chino Hills resident and historian Paul R. Spitzzeri for a review of the life and achievements of this remarkable African-American woman.

Chino Hills Historical Society Presentation on the History of Carbon Canyon Road

Hope to see you next Monday, 3 February @ 7 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center for a PowerPoint-illustrated presentation for the Chino Hills Historical Society on the history of Carbon Canyon Road.

The talk covers the opening of the road just over a century ago, its realignment and paving in the late 1920s, and some of the changes that have taken place over the decades.

This detail is from a 1920s Auto Club of Southern California "strip map" of "Automobile Roads Leading Into Brea & Carbon Canyons."

Carbon Canyon Road obviously led to the creation of early subdivisions like Sleepy Hollow and Mountain View Estates, was paved partially to allow easier access from Los Angeles and other areas to Los Serranos Country Club, and was increasingly important as an inland to coast route.

This will be the first of three talks for the Historical Society in 2020, so please come out and take in some of our interesting local history.

Chino Hills Historical Society Talk Tonight!

Tonight at 7 p.m. is the Chino Hills Historical Society sponsored presentation on Albert W. Harris and his Arabian horse breeding ranch in what became the City of Chino Hills.  Hope to see you at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive, across from Ayala High School, for the talk!

Chino Hills History Talk on 9 September

The Chino Hills Historical Society's next event is Monday, 9 September at 7 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center and features a talk on Chicago financier Albert W. Harris' Anazel Ranch, a 170-acre property for Arabian horse breeding just west of Los Serranos Country Club.

Harris, who ran one of Chicago's biggest banks, was said to be the first American to breed Arabian horses, starting with his Kemah Farm in Wisconsin.  After visiting Los Angeles, Harris was taken with the growing city and region and even organized and carried out an oxen-led covered wagon trip for the City of Angels to his Wisconsin horse ranch in 1911.

Click on the image to see it enlarged in a separate window.

Not long after Will Keith Kellogg, the Michigan cereal magnate, purchased land west of Pomona to breed horses—this now being the location of Cal Poly Pomona—Harris acquired 170 acres in 1927 from the Chino Land and Water Company, said to be the last major sale of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino land, and established Anazel Ranch to breed his prized Arabians.

Harris expended a large sum to build an expansive ranch house, barns, stables, workers' quarters and other outbuildings and maintained the ranch for about a quarter century.  Nationally known for his breeding, Harris wrote extensively about Arabian horses and held leadership positions with national associations for the breed.  Several years after selling Anazel to Paul Greening, who became one of Chino Hills' major landowners and developers, Harris died at age 91 in 1958.

Attached here is the Society's press release and hope to see you there.

Tres Hermanos Ranch History Presentation on 6 May

In light of recent developments involving the nearly 2,500-acre Tres Hermanos Ranch, the last major undevelopment parcel in this area, and a new collaboration between the cities of Chino Hills, Diamond Bar and Industry concerning the future of the ranch, the Chino Hills Historical Society has just issued a press release about an upcoming presentation on the history of Tres Hermanos.

The PowerPoint-illustrated talk will take place on Monday, 6 March at 7 p.m. and be held at the Chino Hills Community Center at 14250 Peyton Drive, across from Ayala High School.  The presentation will talk about the land's use as public land during the pre-American period and then as part of cattle raising by a variety of owners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the 1910s, the tres hermanos, or "three brothers" who were actually good friends, William B. Scott, William R. Rowland, and Harry Chandler acquired a portion of a larger property and named it Tres Hermanos Ranch.  A house was built and these powerful figures in oil, real estate and media used the ranch as a rural vacation spot.

Rowland and Scott died by the early 1930s and Chandler and his descendants continued to own the ranch until it was sold to the City of Industry in 1978.  While there were proposals for a reservoir or a solar farm at Tres Hermanos, the recent agreement between the tres ciudades, or "three cities," including the launch of a new joint powers authority introduces a new chapter in the long-running story of the ranch.

For mre information about this presentation and about the Chino Hills Historical Society, call 909.597.6449 or email chhistory@aol.com.

Rancho Santa Ana del Chino Talk Tomorrow Night

Continuing with a series of presentations starting with the granting of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, the western border of which extends into Carbon Canyon to just east of Sleepy Hollow, to Antonio María Lugo and then its ownership by Lugo's son-in-law, Isaac Williams, there will be a talk, sponsored by the Chino Hills Historical Society, tomorrow night on Williams' daughters, Merced and Francisca, when they inherited the 37,000 acre ranch after his death in September 1856.

The talk discusses the turbulent life of the sisters, who married Southern-born employees of their father and died violent deaths in the first half of the 1860s, and what happened to the Chino ranch during a decade of economic depression, floods, drought and personal turmoil.

Merced Williams Rains (1839-1907)

 Illustrated with photographs, maps, newspaper articles and other items, the presentation revolves around these teenaged girls, whose inheritance meant valuable property in their name, but the reality was that their husbands took control of the estate and it led to a strange tale that left the sisters in distinctly different circumstances later in life.

The talk, "Heirs Apparently: The Tumultuous Lives of Merced and Francisca Williams of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino," is at 7 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive (across from Ayala High School.)

Chino Hills Historical Society Talk on Isaac Williams and the Chino Ranch on the 26th

Chino Hills Historical Society Presents:

“A Look Back at Isaac Williams and the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino”

Monday, March 26^th

The Chino Hills Historical Society will host a presentation by Chino Hills resident and historian Paul R. Spitzzeri at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 26^th at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14259 Peyton Drive.  Spitzzeri will share the history of Isaac Williams and the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino. 

According to Spitzzeri, Isaac Williams married one of Antonio María Lugo’s daughters and, in the early 1840s, inherited the Chino Ranch, which he owned until his death in 1856.  This happened during the transformation of the area with the Mexican-American War and the Gold Rush.  Chino was a key location during the war through the Battle of Chino and was a rest stop for migrants during the heyday of gold seeking.

“We welcome Paul back to continue where he left off with his last presentation about Antonio María Lugo and the Early Years of the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino,” said Chino Hills Historical Society President Denise Cattern.

Mr. Spitzzeri has lived in Chino Hills for 21 years.  He is the Museum Director at the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum in the City of Industry, where he has worked since 1988. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree in history from California State University, Fullerton and has published on local, regional and state history in many journals and anthologies.  His book, The Workman and Temple Families of Southern California, won a 2009 Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History.  Since 2008, Paul has maintained the blog www.carboncanyonchronicle.blogspot.com.  He also writes a monthly column about local history for Champion Newspapers.

The Chino Hills Historical Society is a non-profit organization funded through memberships and donations.  For additional information, please call (909) 597-6449 or send an email to chhistory@aol.com. 

Tonight's Chino Hills Historical Society Presentation on Don Antonio María Lugo

Thanks to great publicity, including two articles in the Chino/Chino Hills Champion, a good crowd of nearly 150 people came out tonight for a presentation for the Chino Hills Historical Society on Don Antonio María Lugo, grantee in 1841 of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, previously a ranch under the auspices of Mission San Gabriel, and the western border of which extended into Carbon Canyon just east of Sleepy Hollow.

Approximately 150 people turned out tonight at the Chino Hills Community Center to hear the story of Don Antonio María Lugo, grantee in 1841 of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, which extended west to near Sleepy Hollow within Carbon Canyon.

The talk covered the Lugo family's migration from the state of Sinaloa in Mexico to Baja California and then to Alta California, where Don Antonio was born in 1778.

From his birth at Mission San Antonio (hence his name?), the story followed his military career, settlement on Rancho San Antonio (that name again!) southeast of Los Angeles, political involvement in the puebelo, acquisition of other ranchos, including Chino, and more.

A lively crowd included descendants of the Lugo, Rowland, Workman and Temple families, as well as local residents interested in the history of the area.

Lugo, an unusually tall man at 6 feet and known as el viejo Lugo, because he lived a longer-than-typical life of 81 years, died the last day of January 1860, and impressed a great many people with his stature, bearing and personality.

A post on this blog from 2010 about Don Antonio can be accessed here, but there is also some other information that will be posted here in upcoming days, so check back for those.