David Purington Reminiscences of Sleepy Hollow, Part Four

Today's entry is the fourth part of a series focusing on the typed (that is, with a typewriter) recollections, probably from the late 1970s or early 1980s, of David Purington, whose father, Cleve, and partners created Sleepy Hollow in 1923 when greater Los Angeles was at the peak of another of its many real estate booms.  Thanks to my neighbors who loaned these documents and other material relating to Sleepy Hollow so they could be uploaded here!

As mentioned previously in this series and elsewhere, Cleve Purington died in 1927, but his widow and family continued to manage the subdivision and live in the community for decades.  So, the narrative begins with David remembering that he "was about eight years old when my father was developing a subdivision in 1927 that was to be Lookout Ridge in Carbon Canyon which is located near Yorba Linda, California."  He went on to note that the tract "was the last to be developed out of eighty acres he had purchased in 1921." 

While the first development was Sleepy Hollow, which "was [a] handy place to have a summer cabin," the new one, Lookout Ridge, was situated on the upper slopes of the hills at the north side of the area and was given that name "because this remaining parcel consisted of a prometory [promontory] from which one could see in both direction[s] up and down the lenght [sic] of Carbon Canyon."  In addition, the rest of the land "consists of a bowl that overlooks a neighboring canyon," this probably being Lion's Canyon to the west and north where the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope religious compound is.

In what seems to be universal for almost any secluded hill location, Purington added, "it has been said that Muerietta, the early California hold-up man used the ridge as a 'lookout point.'  It is also said that he camped by the spring when he was in this area."  Joaquin Murrieta is a shadowy figure in the Gold Rush period of California, said to be the head of a large gang of desperadoes who committed robberies and other crimes throughout the state. 

At times, there were several simultaneous reports of him in varying areas of California, this reflecting the heightened state of tension many residents felt.  In 1853, it was said that Murrieta was killed and his decapitated head pickled in a jar for identification--this jar was reportedly displayed until it was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

Whether Murrieta was ever in Carbon Canyon can't be documented, though it is certainly possible, although in nearby Soquel Canyon, just to the south, a hunted murderer, Felipe Alvitre, holed up until he was discovered by Ygnacio Palomares, a rancher from what became Pomona looking for stray animals.  This was in late 1854, a year after Murrieta's death, so maybe these stories were conflated?

In any case, Purington recorded that his father "put a well down above where the spring trickled out of the side of the hill which was to be the water-supply for the Lookout Ridge tract" and that "the well tested out satisfactorily."  Moreover, "since the spring water was very soft and good tasting," Purington's father installed a concrete catchment basin in the hillside and had a 1-inch pipe lead from that down the hill.

He continued

since the water from the wells the supplied the Sleepy Hollow tracts was very hard water he had the pipe run down the hillside to the large oak tree located near Joe Tater's restaurant in Sleepy Hollow where it ran into a small tank from which people could fill five gallon bottles for drinking water.

At the Carbon Canyon talk given at the Yorba Linda Library a month ago, Joe Tater and his wife attended and talked a little with some of those in attendance about the decade or so from 1970 to 1980 when they owned the restaurant where the Party House Liquor Store building is today.   The oak tree likely still stands in the grove behind the structure.

Purington added that he was drawn to the work being done to build the roads that crawled up the steep hillside, done with mules, "fresnos" or early graders, and "lots of pick and shovel work."  He added that the location of the spring was shaded by oaks "and was a very cool and relaxing spot" for his family and the workers.

Purington was away in the service during the Second World War and returned to Sleepy Hollow to a home he had built before he left.  He, his wife Leone, and their four children lived there and, in 1954, he purchased the land where the spring and well were situated.  The purpose, he wrote, was as a backup water supply for seven acres he owned "over the hill from the spring."  Unfortunately, he built a home there that burned just the following year.  This led him to sell all of that land, except for where the spring was (for obvious reasons of future value and use) and move to Hawaii.

Twenty years passed and Purington decided to return and develop the slightly more than one acre he retained around the spring.  He christened the property Hana Ranch, after a granddaughter who was born in Maui.  What struck him, though, was that "the new piece of land I was to develop around the spring was not the same portion of the mountain side I had originally spent considerable time walking over and planning!"  Why was not stated—perhaps someone had done grading on his land illegally?

In any case, Purington said he saw other projects in the area and decided to maintain "the topography as much as possible" with as little grading as he could do.  His home was selected on the highest portion with the bowl mentioned above at the rear, so he could maximize sun exposure (possibly using solar power), winter warmth, summer breezes, and have a windmill for water.  With a permit secured and power brought to the property, it was time to address obtaining the water.

The natural flow from the spring wasn't enough, so Purington uncovered the old well his father dug fifty years before and which had a ten-foot long redwood shaft. After clearing it out, he acquired a old pump to start with and then a submersible with a timer because "the water is in a small basin and although the supply [is] adequate the recharge is slow."  His plan at the time of writing was to bore a hole up to fifty feet in and draw water out by gravity flow using a windmill.

Purington added that he had "two lady friends I stayed with alternately [who] needed more serious commitments that I was not prepared to make" so he moved to his property staying in a small building he'd put there before he went to Hawaii.  A daughter joined him there and he added another small structure as "an office and general controll [sic] center for the ranch establishment."

In spring 1977, Purington began his house below the well site, but, because there was no road for ready access, concrete for the foundation was mixed above and transported by chute down below.  Delays ensued because of repairs to the temporary buildings being used and for other reasons.  He also noted that the original water tank from the 1920s for the Lookout Ridge tract was still on the site, though it was pushed down the hill to the well site and had many bullet holes.  He hoped it could either be repaired and used for water storage or, with a door cut into it, as a storage building, so it was lowered to a spot below the well for gravity feeding of water.

He mentioned the idea of further digging out and leveling an area for a home for his daughter and "a pool or some body of water we can jump into either a hot or cold day depending how successful we are with solar water heating."  Later, he was able to get an access road cut directly to the house site.  By the time fall came, he decided to hold off completing the framing the house until the following spring because of winter weather.  So Purington spent some time with family and friends in Hawaii, returning to the canyon in mid-January 1978.

Purington noted that it rained basically from that point all the way through mid-April and wrote "I am sure in the future this period will be known as the, 'Rains of 1978.'"  In fact, that winter was one of the three wettest since official records for the region were started a century before and about the same as 2004-05.  Unfortunately, the narrative ends at the fifth page where Purington talked about erosion of the soil around his house because of the torrents of rainfall and the story leaves us, like his house-in-progress, on a cliff-hanger!

Check back periodically for part five of the Purington reminiscences.

David Purington Reminiscences of Sleepy Hollow, Part Two

When Sleepy Hollow was established in 1923 by Cleve Purington and fellow investors, the main infrastructure issue to deal with was a reliable water supply.  Sources from the immediate neighborhood were tapped first, then other locations within the canyon were located.  Eventually, outside water had to be imported, especially as the community became largely one of full-time, rather than part-time/vacation, residences.

In recent decades, we've taken it for granted that there was enough water to supply local needs and wants, but that is going to have to change given current conditions of sustained drought.  That's why reading the recollections of Purington's son David about the water history of Sleepy Hollow has interest and relevance.

These documents, provided by long-time residents of the neighborhood, were scanned, but the originals had some fading and there are a couple of areas that are difficult or impossible to make out.  Still, they provide us a rare look into the history of the community.

To see them in separate windows in an enlarged view simply click on any of the images and you can review them all and get more detail.  Enjoy!

Note:  The original water wells were drilled along Carbon [Canyon] Creek between what was most recently Party House Liquor #2 on the west and the Purington home, which still stands, next to the former community church and across from the intersection of Carbon Canyon Road and Rosemary Lane on the east.  The later well, mentioned on page four, was on land leased from the Oasis Country Club.  This club, which opened in the mid-to-late 1920s and appears to have lasted for a few decades, is where the Western Hills Oaks subdivision is situated, south of Carbon Canyon Road and across from the Western Hills golf course.  Lookout Ridge is the steeper area of the hills at the north side of Sleepy Hollow.  A water tank is still standing at the highest point of the ridge.

David Purington Reminiscences of Sleepy Hollow, Part One

Well, given that we just celebrated Thanksgiving and the last post here was about something provided by a neighbor, this is an opportune time to move to another Sleepy Hollow-related set of posts, with material provided by another neighbor--with thanks given to both!

These items consist of typescripts by Purington and appear to have been done in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  There are a total of ten of these related to Carbon Canyon history and they will be bundled together in sets over coming months.

They'll be presented through scans of the originals, cropped and touched up to enhance readability.  An occasional note will be added when needed to help clairfy certain portions of the accounts.

We're starting with a four-page piece titled "Sleepy Hollow: Some Water Development and Family History" that seemed the best way to start the series, because it gives some background on the community from its founding in 1923, two years after Purington's father bought the land, up to the date of writing in 1978 when he was planning for development of a ranch he had in Sleepy Hollow.

To better read the pages, click on them to see them in an enlarged view in a separate window.

Note 1: The Oak Grove and Joe Tatar's (originally called Ichabod's) Restaurant is the area on the north side of Carbon Canyon Road, where the Party House Liquor Store building is located.  In this document, Purington mentions that he built the building on this property--this appears to be the now-shuttered store building.

Note 2:  The original Purington house and the community church are across from the eastern intersection of Carbon Canyon Road and Rosemary Lane.  The first water well was near the house along the creek.

Note 3:  The original plat map of Sleepy Hollow, from 1923, is on file with the County of San Bernardino and was reproduced on this blog.

Note 4:  Lookout Ridge is the area at the top of the northern portion of Sleepy Hollow, north of Carbon Canyon Road.

Note 5:  The tennis court, swimming pool, and area where the 4th of July picnic and stockholders' meeting was held was between the Purington place and the current liquor store property, along the creek on the north side of Carbon Canyon Road.

Note 6:  Known also as "Tidwell Oaks", the store and restaurant were located at the east end of the community on the south side of Carbon Canyon Road, where the store still stands right off the state highway, the two-story Tidwell home is at the back, and six other units exist, although all in advancing states of decay.

Note 7:  When Purington mentions existing water reservoirs (or tanks), the one on the south side of Sleepy Hollow at the top of the hill was removed a couple of years ago by the City of Chino Hills.  There is still a tank at the top of the hill on the north end.

Note 8:  In discussing acquiring water outside the community, Purington mentions the land of Mrs. Anderson across from Western Hills Golf Course.  This was formerly the Oasis Country Club and is now the Western Hills Oaks subdivision, established in the mid-1960s.  Purington wrote a separate essay about the water supply for Sleepy Hollow, which will be posted soon.

Note 9:  Purington's discussion of the Sleepy Hollow Volunteer Fire Department is expanded upon in a separate essay, to be posted later.  The Fire Hall, on a lot assigned to the local water district, became a community building where the current Sleepy Hollow Community Building is situated south of Carbon Canyon Road on Rosemary Lane.

Note 10:  Purington's home, destroyed in the big canyon fire in 1958, was situated below Lookout Ridge on the north side of Sleepy Hollow.  He mentions the remodeling of the original family home, which, again, still stands next to the highway.  Members of the Stearns family still live in the canyon.

Note 11:  Purington's pointed criticism of the water supply in Sleepy Hollow continues to be an issue, with varied pipe sizes throughout the community, though there have been marked improvements in the last few years.

Cleve A. Purington, Sleepy Hollow Founder

Back in early August 2008 in the early days of this blog, some biographical information was presented about Cleve Alpheus Purington, founder of Sleepy Hollow along with a group of investors in 1923.  At the time, it was known that Purington was a shipyard foreman in the Seattle area as well as at San Pedro here in southern California.  The recent find of Purington's obituary, however, provides more about him.

The obit was in the 15 May 1928 edition of the Chino Champion, with the article noting that Purington died a few days prior at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland and that his funeral was held at the Congregational Church (now known as Pilgrim Congregational Church) in Pomona with burial in that city, presumably at the city cemetery in the south portion of town.

Clearly, the writer of the piece knew Purington as he was said to be "a wonderful personality and a most absorbing personage with whom to talk."  Not only was he said to be a ship builder, but also an engineer, architect and developer.  His life story was then given, with details about his upbringing in Maine, being born in the town of South Paris.

It was said in the article that Purington started in the shipbuilding business in his native state and the earlier finding from 2008 that he worked for the Bath Iron Works confirms this.  Evidently, he continued in this line of work upon his arrival in 1905 in northern California with San Francisco's Union Iron Works and, for a time, in Washington state where he was put in charge of building ships for the military.  By the end of the First World War when a massive shipbuilding effort was developed, he was supervising the building of ships for the Southwestern Shipbuilding Company (owned later by Bethlehem Steel) at San Pedro.

The headline and subhead for the Chino Champion obituary of Cleve A. Purington, 15 May 1928.  From newspapers.com.  Click on either image to see them in a larger view in a separate window.

The obituary noted that he "rendered his greatest service" while with Southwestern and "gained national acclaim for the records he established in efficiency and quantity of ocean craft constructed under his direction."  His employer cited not only his work in "time-saving devices and methods," but also "his understanding and sympathetic attitude toward the men working under him."

Another career highlighted in the article was Purington's work as an engineer and architect, specifically with the Los Angeles firm of Munson, Rouff, Roalfe and Purington.  This enterprise followed Purington's decision, in his late thirties, to quit shipbuilding because of ill-effects to his health.  By 1920, he had moved into construction engineering and it was an ideal time to do this, as the Los Angeles region was fully immersed in another of its frequent housing booms and there was plenty of work available.

Arthur Munson and Allen Ruoff were architects while Purington and George Roalfe were engineers and the quartet seems to have been active for a few years in the early 1920s, working on projects in the Los Feliz neighborhood near Griffith Park, in Venice and in Claremont.  There was a main office in the Walter P. Story Building, a 1909 structure still standing at 610 S. Broadway, but, in 1922, Building and Engineering News reported that a branch office was opened in the State Bank Building in Pomona, which was the home of a few local architects, and which also noted that Purington was the manager at the branch.

His association with Munson, Ruoff and Roalfe, however, was soon over.  The engineer who conducted the 1923 survey of Sleepy Hollow, Edward Taylor of Claremont, became a partner of Purington in a new business, Taylor & Purington, which specialized in civil and construction engineering, including land surveying, development of subdivisions and townsites, the design and building of steel and concrete structures, and reporting and appraisal services.  The firm, housed in Claremont, began advertising in the Champion in November 1924.

An advertisement for the firm of Taylor & Purington from the Champion, 14 November 1924.  From newspapers.com.

Among the projects cited in the obituary that Taylor & Purington developed were Padua Hills, in the foothills north Claremont and where a famed theater operated for many years, Evey Canyon, which is essentially the Baldy Village area in the canyon leading from Claremont and Upland to Mount San Antonio (Baldy), and Carbon Canyon (that is, Sleepy Hollow.)  The article went on to say that, "the latter development became the home of Mr. Purington during the last year-and-a-half so that he could watch the growth of the beautiful canyon to the southwestern edge of the Chino Valley."

Purington was also, at the time of his death, the Vice-President of the Vortox Company, founded in Pomona by H. H. Garner in 1922 as Pomona Air Cleaner.  This firm provided air cleaners for agricultural equipment used in the famed citrus groves that formed the economic background of the foothill regions of the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire at the time.  When the company decided to move its plant to Claremont, it was readying for its grand opening when Purington unexpectedly died, leading Vortox to postpone the event to a later date.  Vortox still operates today at that same location at 121 S. Indian Hill.

The obituary concluded with the observation that Purington's widow, Elizabeth (Heald), was "intimately associated with her husband's business activities and in later years has lifted a great portion of the responsibilities connected therewith from Mr. Purington's shoulders."  It was stated, further, that "many of the details became hers and with Prof. Taylor she will continue the work begun by her husband."

Whatever happened with the Purington & Taylor firm, it is true that Elizabeth Heald Purington became the prime mover in the Sleepy Hollow community from her husband's death and remained so for many years.  Moreover, her son David continued to live in the neighborhood for decades.  The original Purington home just across from the Sleepy Hollow Community Center along Carbon [Canyon] Creek still stands and David Purington had several parcels in the community, as well.

Purington was just forty-six when he died, but the little subdivision he started over ninety years ago still retains the rural atmosphere (for now) and a great deal of the charm that he mainly brought into being.  Hopefully, he will be remembered in the future as the founder of Sleepy Hollow.

Sleepy Hollow Founders Home for Sale

A house said to have been built by the Purington family, who established the Sleepy Hollow community in 1923, has been put up for sale within the last couple of days.

The two-bedroom, one-bath residence, built in 1930 and measuring in at a little under 1000 square feet sits on a 15,840 square foot lot, which is pretty large by Sleepy Hollow standards.  The house looks to have had some remodeling in recent years and has a nice brick fireplace near a skylight in its living room.

This 1930 Sleepy Hollow residence, said to have been built by the Purington family, developers of the community, is now up for sale.  Click on the image to see it in an enlarged view in a separate window.

It is the lot, however, that might be the most appealing part of the property.  For one, it has an in-ground pool, one of only a couple in the neighborhood.  Second, it has some pretty extensive decking and a bridge that crosses from the house over a gully that empties into Carbon [Canyon] Creek and connects to another part of the lot.  Then, the lot backs up to the creek and there is only one neighbor, which is the old Sleepy Hollow Community Church that serves now as a residence.

One of the constraints, though, is that the residence sits right on Carbon Canyon Road and at a spot where the road curves sharply.  Consequently, accidents are as frequent in this location as virtually anywhere else in the canyon.  In fact, the wood fence for the lot along the road has been plowed into a few times over recent years--leading the owners at one point to put up a hand-lettered banner reminding drivers of the 25 mph speed limit in the area!

Still, this could be a very cool place for someone looking for the type of environment the canyon offers and with the amenities listed above.  It may not matter to a prospective buyer that the home was built by the founders of Sleepy Hollow, but that's a pretty cool attribute, as well.

To see more, check out this Redfin listing here.

Founders of Sleepy Hollow: The Shipyard Six Syndicate

The third of three sheets from the original 1923 tract map of Sleepy Hollow, which includes certification of the map by the community's six founders, who appear to have known each other from working in the Long Beach naval shipyards during World War One and the early 1920s.  The map was provided by the San Bernardino County Archives with assistance from former county archivist and current Riverside County archivist James Hofer.

Last post highlighted the 1923 tract map that inaugurated the existence of the Carbon Canyon community of Sleepy Hollow.  While the first two pages showed the mapping of original lots in the subdivision, the third page consisted of several acknowledgements.  The first was a certification that the document represented the survey conducted in August by Los Angeles civil engineer Edward Taylor and dated 24 October.  Another was a statement by San Bernardino County's surveyor and assessor that they examined each lot and its commercial or residential value and recommended approval by the Board of Supervisors.  Then there was the county clerk's certifying that, on motion of Supervisor Cheney, the board approved the map and ordered it filed, dated 26 November.  County auditor Vincent Rose then certified that all property taxes owed on the new subdivision were paid. 

A detail of sheet three with the signatures of the six founders: Cleve and Elizabeth Heald Purington; Charles and Olga Milberg Hale; George Wanley; and Charles M. Witter.  Only the Puringtons and Wanley actually lived in Sleepy Hollow.

This left three separate statements by the subdivision's owners.  One was a certification that they were owners "and that we are the only persons whose consent is necessary to convey a clear title to said land and we hereby consent to the making of said map and subdivision and hereby dedicate to public use, all roads shown on said map within said subdivision."  Two others were specific statements by five of the owners and another by a single owner that were notarized attesting that they were the persons named on the tract map.  Why one of the six had a separate notarized statement may have been a matter of scheduling--perhaps he was not available on the same day as the others?

A detail showing the certification that the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors had approved the tract map for Sleepy Hollow, dated 26 November 1923.

In any case, who were these six people and what was their background?  Cleve Purington and his wife Elizabeth Heald, identified as the main figures in the creation of the community, have already been profiled here before, with respect to their backgrounds and history.  As to the other four, there was another couple:  Charles R. Hale and his wife Olga.

Charles Hale was born in August 1873 in Iowa, but moved at a young age to the town of Mineral, Illinois, a community about 30 or 40 miles east of the Iowa border, where his father John was a farmer.  By 1900, Hale was still in the area, living in the hamlet of Sheffield, a little east of Mineral and was working as a general store salesman.  He had recently married an Illinois native named Bertha, but it appears that during the ensuing decade his wife died, perhaps in childbirth.  By 1910, Hale had relocated to Duluth, Minnesota, on the shore of Lake Superior and was living at a YMCA facility.  Moreover, he had a new occupation: civil engineer, which might have made him useful in the later founding of Sleepy Hollow.

By 1920, Hale had moved again, coming west to California, and a possible factor could have been jobs available due to the outbreak of World War I and the military buildup that was quickly initiated.  In particular, there were many jobs to be had in the shipbuilding industry at Long Beach.  In that year's census, Hale was living in downtown Long Beach and working as a shipyard foreman.  He had also remarried, his second wife being German-born Olga Milberg.  Born in 1882, Olga migrated to the United States with her family in 1892 and lived first in Washburn, Wisconsin.  By 1910, her blacksmith father, Paul, had taken the family to Duluth and, obviously, she met Hale there and came west with him.    Even after their role in founding Sleepy Hollow, the Hales remained in Long Beach and were there in the 1930 census, where Charles managed the apartment house they lived in with her father and the tenants.

A notarized statement certifying that five of the six owners of Sleepy Hollow were acknowledging that status.

Another Sleepy Hollow founder was Charles M. Witter, who was born in December 1860 in Centre, Indiana, a village in eastern Indiana close to the Ohio border, where Witter's father Henry farmed.  The oldest of ten children, Charles remained on the family farm until his marriage in 1887 to a local woman named Eva and, by 1900, he was running his own farm adjacent to his father's place.  In 1910, Witter was still at the home place after nearly fifty years, though he was married for a second time a couple of years before, though whether he was widowed or a divorcee is not known.  Witter did have a daughter, Alta, by his first wife. 

Then, by the 1920 census, Witter came west and, like Charles and Olga Hale, he and his second wife, Cora, were residing in Long Beach and Witter was working as a carpenter, almost certainly in the shipyards.  He and his wife had two young daughters, as well, though the four-year old was shown as born in California (indicating that the Witters came to Long Beach no earlier than 1916) and the two-year old was born in Indiana (perhaps on a brief return back to the home state.)   In 1930, the Witters were still in Long Beach, though the 69-year old Charles was retired.

Another notatized statement for the sixth owner, Charles M. Witter, signifying his acknowledgement as an owner.

Finally, there was George Wanley, born in November 1879 in Hartlepool, England, a seaside community in the northeast part of the country.  Wanley, whose parents were William and Mary, had two sisters, and appears to ahve remained in his hometown until the age of 27.  In 1906, he left Britain for the United States and, in the 1910 census, was living in San Francisco in a residential hotel and working in that city's large shipbuilding industry as a ship's fitter.  That position entailed holding pieces of steel on the hull for welding and riveting.  By the time the United States had entered World War I, however, Wanley had relocated to Seattle, another major shipbuilding center, and was engaged in the same occupation.  Notably, Wanley was in Seattle at the same time as Cleve Purington and, undoubtedly, the two worked together in the yards.  When Purington relocated to southern California, Wanley may well have followed him.

In any case, Wanley married rather late in life, becoming wedded to a woman from Iowa named Grace in about 1925.  By then, he had participated in the founding of Sleepy Hollow and also had the distinction of being the only other founder, besides the Puringtons, of living in the community he helped establish.  it seems likely that Wanley was closer personally to Cleve and Elizabeth Purington than the other founders of the community.  Wanley lived in the Chino area, perhaps in Sleepy Hollow, until his death at age 71 in July 1949.

The founders of Sleepy Hollow were not wealthy people, but, then again, they were buying "country" property in a rustic undeveloped canyon out in the "boondocks."  Their creation was not intended as a full-time residential subdivision, but as a place for people to buy small "cabin lots" and build a modest vacation place to spend a weekend or several weeks in the summer.  While there were, actually, a few full-time residents early on, it was not until well after World War II and the growing urbanization of the Los Angeles Region was moving further into the hinterlands that Sleepy Hollow became less a vacation spot and more of an established residential community.  While they have been unknown to residents of the neighborhood, these six founders, Cleve and Elizabeth Purington, Charles and Olga Hale, Charles Witter and George Wanley, were the founders of Sleepy Hollow nearly ninety years ago and deserve remembrance for their project.