Shelley Martin Stoody (1899-1961) hailed from a small Ohio town and came to this area in the early 1920s, opening a welding business with his father and brother in Whittier. In short order, the firm, which relocated to Santa Fe Springs, became a major success by hard-facing tools with very durable alloys for oil drilling and other industrial applications, making Stoody a very wealthy figure.
As the business expanded, so did his interests, which included aviation, astronomy, fishing and hunting and raising purebred cattle. A resident of fine houses in Whittier, Hacienda Heights, Palos Verdes Estates (from where he commuted to and from his plant in a helicopter!) and Balboa Island (Newport Beach), Stoody also owned ranches in Nevada and Hemet (Riverside County) before he purchased nearly 500 acres in Carbon Canyon in the early 1950s.
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He dubbed his new rural showplace the Double S Ranch and built an expansive single-story house, which still stands, at what is known as The Summit, overlooking his spread. In addition to stocking the ranch with purebred Polled Herefords and building a more than 11,000-square foot show barn, where he housed his very expensive animals, Stoody laid out a landing strip and a hangar for his airplane.
Stoody quickly made a name for himself in the cattle business and drew a substantial crowd for a field meet and sale at Double S in 1960 before a terrible tragedy took place the following year, the aftermath of which included the ranch's sale to an Orange County syndicate that built the Western Hills Country Club, now in its 60th year of operation, on part of the property.
Learn more about Stoody, the Double S Ranch and some of Carbon Canyon's mid-20th century history at a presentation for the Chino Hills Historical Society tomorrow night, Monday the 12th, at 7 p.m. at the Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive, across from Ayala High School.
We hope to see you there!
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