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.

Sleepy Hollow Items in Chino Valley Champion

There are two items in the latest edition of the Chino Valley Champion, our local weekly that has been continuously published since 1887 and deserves the support of all the residents in this area, concerning Sleepy Hollow.

The first is that the City of Chino Hills is mulling options for what to do with the Community Center, which is considered surplus property and has not been used since the 100th anniversary of Sleepy Hollow was celebrated there in October 2023.  It looks as if a sale is being pursued, but the question is what to do with a building not easily convertible to a residence, but may be hard to sell for commercial purposes.  

It has been suggested that it be taken over by non-profits, but maintenance costs will be significant, including the fact that it lacks sewers and septic and has a holding tank instead.  The drainage on both sides of the structure is also natural and there have, in heavy rains, been some issues with that.  As for the 11-space unpaved parking area across from the building, the idea was to include that for disposition, as well, but it appears the sentiment is to keep it for public parking.

So far, the issue has been the subject of City staff study and reporting to the Council and there will next be a Planning Commission hearing at which it will be discussed.  At a recent Council meeting, resident David Miller, who lives adjacent to the building and who was joined by other Sleepy Hollow residents, spoke  about the issues with the building, as reported by Marianne Napoles.

Napoles also wrote about a recent undisclosed settlement between the City and an unnamed owner of property of vacant land adjacent to long-shuttered apartments at the east end of Sleepy Hollow and on the south side of Carbon Canyon Road.  A couple of years ago, residents noted the wholesale removal of trees, including oaks protected by a City ordinance, and the destruction was halted, but not before a significant number of them were either removed or severely cut.  

The City could not provide details to Napoles concerning the agreement reached with the owner, who , apparently, claimed ignorance of the ordinance, but it seems likely that at least part of the settlement was a requirement to replant trees on the lot, which has had a small concrete foundation, though whether a house or other structures are part of a plan for the use of the property is not known.

Happy New Year to our readers!

Sleepy Hollow and the 1950 Census

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?

Sleepy Hollow Home Open House This Saturday

Having received this flyer (click on the image to see it enlarged in a separate window) earlier today, it seemed like worth sharing out in case anyone out there is looking for a house in Sleepy Hollow and Carbon Canyon.  It was built in 2010, being one of the newer and larger residences in this century-old community, and has had one owner.

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

The open house is this Saturday the 6th, though no hours are listed on the flyer.  It's a little faint, due to gold lettering, but the house is about 2,733 square feet on a 7,631 square foot lot and the asking price is $970,000.

Sleepy Hollow Centennial: Historic Photo #1

Following up on the Sleepy Hollow 100th Birthday commemoration held a couple of weeks ago, we'll be sharing historic photos of the community that were part of slide presentations during that festive weekend.

This first one, provided by long-time neighborhood residents Dee and Ron Nadeau, is a great panorama,  likely from the 1930s or 1940s, of the south side of the tract and taken from an elevation called Lookout Ridge for an obvious reason.

Courtesy of Dee and Ron Nadeau. Click on the image to see it in a separate window.

Several of the structures are still standing, especially at the right of center along Hay Drive as that street does a switchback up the steep slope of the hill as well as one residence on the aptly-named Grandview Lane at the center, just to the left of the largest building in the photo.  As many of the houses were weekend cabins, the 1930 census counted just 40 residents in Sleepy Hollow, while the 1940 enumeration saw just a 15% increase to all of 46 denizens.  

Note also the little Pueblo-style cabin or cottage at the bottom right because just below that at the bottom of the photo is just a hint of Carbon Canyon Road.  Rosemary Lane is more discernible above that building, while off to the left center is another portion of Hay Drive, but in a largely undeveloped section.

Check back soon for the second installation of this little series of Sleepy Hollow Centennial posts.

Sleepy Hollow Centennial Commemorative Poster Available Now!

It was quite a two-day celebration of them 100th anniversary of the founding of Sleepy Hollow, with a community event held on Sunday afternoon and a Chino Hills Historical Society presentation at the city community center on Monday evening.

In addition to sharing historical artifacts, a carousel of great photos spanning most of the neighborhood's history, reminiscences of some long-time residents, and a slide-illustrated talk about the community, descendants of Sleepy Hollow founders Cleve and Elizabeth Purington came in from Hawaii, Oregon and elsewhere in California to take part and share memories of their years living in this remarkable Carbon Canyon enclave.

A great way to keep the celebration going is to have your very own limited edition commemorative poster by Sleepy Hollow resident and artist Lena Sekine.   This beautiful design evokes the feeling of residing in a special place and looks great in a gold-edged frame.  Included is a brief history of the neighborhood with a pair of very rare circa 1930s photos.

There were only 100 copies of this signed print, which can be yours for $22, so be sure to head over to Lena's Etsy store to get one before they run out.

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!

Recent Carbon Canyon News from the Champion

In the last couple of issues of the Chino/Chino Hills Champion, there have been some noteworthy items of news relating to the Chino Hills portion of Carbon Canyon.

Last week's edition of 25 October, featured a front-page article by Marianne Napoles concerning three older properties and upcoming changes regarding them.  A 2.6-acre property that Napoles noted has been called "The Haze" since the 1970s and which is off Canyon Hills Road just north of Carbon Canyon Road and behind the Circle K convenience store was sold.  

John Klavins owned the property since 1962 and died two years ago and his heirs sold the parcel to Alchemy Acquisitions, LLC this past July.  Napoles reported that the firm has been engaged in cleaning of the property, though nothing was said about future plans.  She did note that the zoning is low density residential, allowing no more than eight housing units.

The photos here are a sample of incidents in the last several weeks where drivers have drifted from Carbon Canyon Road and damaged guardails, signs and fences along the state highway.  Click on any image to see them enlarged in a separate window.

What was not stated in the article, likely for reasons of available space, was that Klavins acquired the property when it was being used as a social club under several names.  The first was Club El Circulo, which was opened by the Olinda Development Corporation in August 1961 and lasted until about spring 1964.  

Then, the same company opened the Canyon Hills Swim and Saddle Club, with Olinda's subsidiary the Circle C [get it?  El Circulo?] Development Company as manager, with the new version opening in July 1964.  Soon, however, there was another change and the facility was rechristened as the Canyon Hills Country Club, apparently during 1965.

The following year came another transformation as the site was repurposed into the strange novelty known as Ski Villa, in which club buildings were turned into offices and other uses while, across Canyon Hills Road, the steep hillside was carved out into a ski slope with a concrete base with plastic tiles with needles on them affixed to the base.  Though the oddity got some wide coverage, including in Sports Illustrated, during 1966, it only lasted a season.

A Carbon Canyon Country Club followed and operated in the late Sixties before "The Purple Haze" came on to the scene for a few years around the early Seventies.  Klavins then maintained the existing structures for residential uses over many years until he passed in 2017.

Those buildings, however, predated all of these variations and before Klavins' purchase.  For thirty years, the site was the Camp Kinder Ring, operated by the Arbeter Ring of the Workmen's Circle, a left-leaning Jewish organization that sill exists in Los Angeles.  Established in 1928, the facility was solely for children in its early years, though it became an all-ages camp later.  

By 1958, with changes in the organization and its community, as well as unreliable water sources in the Canyon, the Workmen's Circle sold the property.  A devastating fire broke out shortly thereafter and ravaged much of the property.  Klavins then acquired the section where many of the remaining structures from the Camp Kinder Ring period and then reused by the various clubs during the 1960s remain today—though for how much longer remains to be seen.

This blog has many posts related to the history of the property and these can be viewed by putting in the several names (Camp Kinder Ring, El Circulo, Ski Villa, etc.) into the search bar at the right of the main page.

Napoles' article also mentioned the red-tagged apartments at the east end of Sleepy Hollow, south of Carbon Canyon Road.  The eight units are situated where the was once a store along the road and a two-story home for the family remains at the rear of the parcel.  In the 1970s, the property was owned by the Norris family and, in the 1990s, Fred Gentry operated the store there. 

The place were shuttered in January because of health and safety code violations and the owner retained an architect to revamp the units to current standards.  Work was fairly consistent for a period, though it now seems very sporadic.  There was no response from the owner or the City of Chino Hills on requests by the paper for updates.

Finally, another historic structure was featured in the piece.  What was last operated as the Canyon Market and before that was a store and gas station under many names over the decades, including Party House Liquor #2 (the first was on Chino Hills Parkway at Pipeline Avenue until recently), Ichabod's and Joe Tatar's, has been purchased the City of Chino Hills.  

The store property is on a little over an acre, while an adjacent undeveloped three-acre tract is already owned by the City along Carbon [Canyon] Creek.  Long advocated by council member Ray Marquez, the parcel is being considered for relocation of the Sleepy Hollow Community Center, which has been on a former community center and volunteer fire house off Rosemary Lane to the east for over fifteen years, or for other community uses.  Marquez stated that community meetings will be held to solicit input on the property's future.

Today's edition of the Champion contains the news that a man's body was found in Carbon [Canyon] Creek adjacent to the former liquor store site.  A call was made Thursday afternoon and the incident was obviously still under investigation by press time. The Chino Hills Police Department is asking for anyone with information to call 909.364.2000.  Notably, this is not the first time bodies have been found in that area.

In the "Community News" section is a reader-submitted photo of a damaged guardrail on the S-curve east of the summit along Carbon Canyon Road with the caption observing that this section, recently replaced during the ongoing rehabilitation project for State Route 142, has been hit twice recently by eastbound drivers speeding downhill and crossing the westbound lane before crushing the rail.

While this blog used to be very active in reporting such incidents, social media platforms of various types tend to be faster in posting and sharing this information, so less has been done here in noting these activities.  There, however, have been more incidents than just this one in recent weeks, including on the Chino Hills side:

• A 50mph sign flattened on the highway east of Old Carbon Canyon Road.
• More signs damaged on the S-curve, including at the summit and the first curve just east of it.
• A section of fence at a private home in Sleepy Hollow demolished (this property has had this happen several times over the years.)

And, on the Brea portion:

• A guardrail end crushed by a wastbound driver who crossed the eastbound lane to hit that object and another guardrail "nudged" near the San Bernardino County line in the same direction.
• Two advisory speed signs just east of the Chino Hills State Park Discovery Center,
• A car that plowed through the recently erected chainlink fence at the former La Vida Mineral Springs property.
• Two spots where eastbound vehicles skidded off the road and hit the embankment on the south side of the highway leaving undercarriage pieces and other debris.

There are undoubtedly more incidents and, as has been noted here many times over eleven years, dangerous driving is a frequent occurrence, especially weekend evenings.  Moreover, CalTrans is deliberating on whether to ban trucks over 50-feet in length on the highway.  Twice in October, school buses had to either stop or pull over where there is virtually no shoulder, to make way for big rigs that crossed the yellow divider and into the opposing lane to try and negotiate the S-curve.

While many needed improvements have been made in the Carbon Canyon Road rehabilitation project to try and improve safety, the smashing of guardrails and signs, as well as some private property, and continuing reckless driving are, once again, reminders that a consistent, on-going patrol presence is needed if any expectation of reducing dangerous driving is to be met.

Western Carbon Canyon and Brea Area Map, 1964

Following the recent post that highlighted a United States Geological Map from 1967 showing the eastern portion of the Carbon Canyon Road corridor and the future City of Chino Hills, this entry takes us to the west and the portion of the newly numbered state highway (142) in a 1964 edition of the Yorba Linda Quadrangle.

The map basically covers, from west to east, eastern Fullerton, western Placentia and eastern Brea to Yorba Linda and much of the Chino Hills range and, from north to south, a section of City of Industry, southern Diamond Bar and Tres Hermanos ranch to downtown Placentia and southern Yorba Linda.

Being over half a century ago, there is not much development in Diamond Bar, which was then about a half dozen years old.  Yorba Linda only went as far east as about Fairmont Boulevard and Yorba Linda Boulevard.  The portion of Brea shown, essentially from Placentia Avenue east had no residences at all--everything in this section consisted of oil fields.  Much of Placentia was either oil fields, orange groves, or housing tracts that were plotted out, but not yet built.

This 1964 United States Geological Survey map of the Yorba Linda Quadrangle includes the Carbon Canyon area from the S-curve in what is now Chino Hills west to Olinda and Brea (and a lot more.)  Click on any image to see them enlarged in a separate window.

In the Carbon Canyon area, the dam was about six years old and the regional park was a decade or so from opening.  Olinda Village, which was developed from 1964, is not shown on the map.  La Vida Mineral Springs was still very much in operation.

Sleepy Hollow and the Mountain View Park tract just over the San Bernardino County line were well established, but Western Hills Country Club was still in development and the Western Hills Oaks housing tract was a couple years off yet.

In fact, the Shelly Stoody Ranch, where the golf course would soon be developed is still shown with its airplane hangar about where the clubhouse is today and Stoody's residence, which still stands, up on the hill overlooking the hangar site.  Stoody and passengers were killed when his airplane crashed into a hillside on his ranch a few years before the publication of the map.

This detail shows the area from La Vida Mineral Springs to the S-curve and up to  portions of Tonner Canyon.

As far as Carbon Canyon Road is concerned, it extended from Valencia Avenue north past the junction of Rose Drive and what was then Brea-Olinda Boulevard (now Birch Street) and then went at an angle to the northeast and curved toward the east.  The remnant of this old roadway is still visible to the east of the current Valencia Avenue path before Lambert Road, which not exist at the time.

Once Carbon Canyon Road properly began after this curve, its pathway is almost completely the same as today, except for one little jog on the San Bernardino County portion where it took a sharp curve before ascending the summit where the Carriage Hills tract is now.  That jog also still exists as Ginseng Road, just south of today's road path.

At the S-curve, the current roadway is shown, but so, too, is the Old Carbon Canyon Road, which veered sharply to the right and then ascended down and curved left. This old roadway is also in existence and goes just between the modern road and the Carriage Hills tract before abruptly ending before Old Carbon Canyon Road, which then intersected with today's highway.

A closer detail of the map covers the area from La Vida to Sleepy Hollow and the coming together of the three counties of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino.

Also of interest given recent activity is the area encompassing the Tres Hermanos Ranch in Tonner Canyon north of Carbon Canyon.  The Firestone Boy Scout Reservation is shown at the lower portion of the ranch and the Arnold Reservoir is shown towards the upper end.

In 1964, the heirs of Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler, one of the tres hermanos (three brothers, who actually weren't siblings, but friends) including William Rowland and William B. Scott who bought the ranch in the 1910s, were still owners of Tres Hermanos.  They were leasing the property, however, to Hal Arnold, who grazed cattle on the ranch.

In 1978, the Chandlers sold Tres Hermanos to the City of Industry, which allowed Arnold to continue the lease until it went to others.  Cattle are, for now, still roaming the ranch pending its future transformation, whatever that entails.

Brea canyon at the left and upper left and Tonner Canyon, including the Firestone Boy Scout Reservation, running from lower left to upper right are notable in this detail.

There are other notable elements, including the old Brea Canyon Road being the only access between Brea and Diamond Bar, several years before the construction of the 57 Freeway.  The old Pacific Electric Railway streetcar line parallels Imperial Highway.

The former Anaheim Union Water Company canal, an irrigation channel that ran from the company's reservoir where Tri-City Park is today off Kraemer Avenue (then Carolina Avenue), ran southeast--this pathway is largely a multiuse trail within the City of Yorba Linda running from about the intersection of Rose Drive and Bastanchury Road (which didn't exist westward past that point and east it was Citrus Avenue) down into the outskirts of downtown and beyond.

In the early 1970s, Frances Klug, who was dismayed by the direction taken by the Roman Catholic Church after the Vatican II transformation, bought some ranch land adjacent to Sleepy Hollow and established St. Joseph's Hill of Hope, but, of course, the only indication of what would be there on this map is an access road to what an earlier ranch.

The upper portion of Tonner Canyon includes the area where Tres Hermanos Ranch is located in and around Arnold Reservoir, which is now just south of Grand Avenue (that roadway did not appear until years later.)  The future of this large ranch of about 2,500 acres is uncertain.

Then there are vast stretches of the Chino Hills that were still largely used as ranch land, including the Rolling M Ranch, which was owned by Christopher Hendra and his Mollin Investment Company until the 1720-acre property was sold to the state for the development of Chino Hills State Park.  There was also the McDermont Ranch, which was discussed in the recent post concerning the 1967 map.

This map and its sister 1967 edition for land to the east allow us to see what the Carbon Canyon area and surrounding regions were like in the transitional period between oil production, citrus growing and cattle raising and spreading suburban development that ramped up increasingly in the decades following the publication of these valuable documents.

L.B. Joralmon and the Rancho Lindero in Carbon Canyon

Over the years, Carbon Canyon has been home to a number of ranches, large and small.  One of the bigger examples was Rancho Lindero, a 400-acre property that was owned by Louis Bogart Joralmon, a major figure in Chino Valley real estate for nearly a half-century.

An advertisement from Louis B. Joralmon's Campbell-Joralmon Company for farm and ranch sales assistance in the Chino Valley, from the 21 January 1927 edition of the Chino Champion.

Joralmon was born in December 1870 in Fairview, Illinois, a rural village in the west-central part of the state near Peoria.  His father, John, was from New York City and related to an old, well-known family from Brooklyn where a Joralemon Street memorializes the family name.  John graduated from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1852, becoming a minister with the Reformed Church of America (formerly the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church).  His mother, Martha Condit, also grew up in Newark and after she married John, the two volunteered to be missionaries in Amoy (now Xiamen) China for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

John and Martha Joralmon stayed in China for four years before returning to the United States in 1860 "on account of sickness."  In fact, after John was assigned to be the pastor of a church in Fairview just after their return, the couple's first child died of an unspecified illness.  Aside from Louis, there was another son, Henry, who became a banker and mining millionaire in Denver and then lived in New York.

A Champion article from 24 December 1937 reporting on the approval of a land swap proposed by L.B. Joralmon on Marshall Estate Properties he was liquidating to the City of Chino in exchange for forgiving delinquent taxes.

After some thirty years in Fairview, John Joralmon became a minister in Norwood Park, which was a suburb of Chicago until it was annexed in 1893.  During the family's stay there, Louis attended the University of Chicago, where he graduated that same year.  By the end of the decade, however, the family relocated to Denver, where Louis joined his brother in the banking business and also worked in real estate, while their father finished out his ministerial career.  In 1902, Louis migrated to Salt Lake City to further his real estate career, but he doesn't appear to have stayed in Utah for long.

It is not known exactly how Louis Joralmon came to Chino, but, in 1905, as E. J. Marshall was developing the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino through his Chino Land and Water Company, Joralmon was hired to be a land agent for the company.  He continued in this capacity for several years and moved up to be the chief agent by the early 1910s, overseeing all sales for properties of the company in the Chino area.

An 13 April 1934 ad from the Joralmon Land Company about contacts to local land owners from the Champion.

Sometime around mid-decade, Joralmon joined forces with Los Angeles realtor Thomas Campbell as a partner specializing in Chino Valley property, as well as other real estate deals in the Los Angeles region.  In 1919, the firm became known as the Campbell-Joralmon Company with Campbell as president, Joralmon as vice-president, and Jared S. Torrance, a Chino Land and Water Company officer and founder of the city of Torrance as an unspecified officer or partner.

Campbell (1882-1966) was a native of Grand Forks, North Dakota and studied mechanical engineering, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of North Dakota and then doing post-graduate work at Cornell University,  In addition to running his family farm in Grand Forks, he owned a concrete company and built the first streetcar in his hometown.  In 1910, he relocated to Los Angeles, which was then on the cusp of another of its many real estate and population booms.  He established the realty firm Thomas D. Campbell and Company in a downtown Los Angeles office, while residing in a tony neighborhood in Pasadena.

A Champion article from 1 December 1933 about Louis B. Joralmon's acquisition of the control of the Campbell-Joralmon Company, renamed the Joralmon Land Company.

Campbell became quite a real estate mogul as he not only was very successful in Los Angeles, but owned a 95,000-acre Montana ranch that made him the biggest American farmer of any kind and one of the largest wheat farmers in the world.  This distinction earned him a front cover photo in Time magazine at the beginning of 1928 and his Montana Farming Corporation was given a feature story.  He was also the owner of a staggering 500,000 acres in New Mexico.

The archival holdings of famed humorist Will Rogers included correspondence between Rogers and Campbell in which the latter, who served as an advisor to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin starting with Stalin's first five-year plan in the late 1920s and who was one of the first Americans to meet with the strongman.  Campbell helped organize the creation of millions of acres of wheat and the mechanization of these farms for the Soviets and Rogers sought to meet Stalin on a proposed trip to the Soviet Union, which did not take place.  He also consulted with the governments of England and France on agricultural techniques.

Campbell was also a brigadier general in the Air Force, serving in both World Wars and was the prime mover in the development of napalm, used first in the Pacific Theater in World War II and notorious for its application during the Vietnam War.  He served as a special consultant at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 that coordinated Allied plans for the conclusion of the war.  His boyhood home in Grand Forks, North Dakota, built by his Scotch-Canadian immigrant parents, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

An ad for the sale of bulls at L.B. Joralmon's Rancho Lindero at the San Bernardino/Orange counties line in Carbon Canyon from the 7 February 1941 edition of the Champion.

When the Campbell-Joralmon Company was established in 1919, it was because Campbell, though retaining the presidency was turning over the day-to-day management to Joralmon while he focused on his Montana wheat empire.  The business did realty work throughout the Los Angeles region and had a branch office in Fullerton for its Orange County transactions, while Joralmon used his experience with Chino Land and Water Company to continue marketing properties in the Chino Valley through his firm.  In 1925, Joralmon moved up on the marquee as the company was retitled Joramon-Campbell-Rowley, Inc. and a new partner, Walter J. Rowley, taken on.

Among the major deals consummated by Campbell-Joralmon and Joralmon-Campbell-Rowley in this area were:

• the 1922 sale of 800 acres of land off Carbon Canyon Road, out near where Peyton Drive and Chino Hills Parkway meet today, to dairy farmer A.V. Handorf, who had his main dairy business in today's City of Industry; 
• the sale of the 1187-acre McAllister Ranch in 1929 to Louis Abacherli in what is now the southern extremity of Chino Hills and some of which has been the subject of recent debate on rezoning for potential future residential and commercial development;
• a 1924 sale of the old "Home Ranch" of Joseph Bridger, later owned by E.J. Marshall, to the Long Beach syndicate that developed Los Serranos Country Club and a tract subdivision on the 716-acre property; 
• and what was touted as the last major sale of the former Rancho Santa Ana del Chino lands, a 400-acre property near Los Serranos sold in 1927 to F.W. Harris, a Chicago tycoon who was developing an Arabian horse breeding ranch.

One deal that appears to have fallen through, but would have been very notable, was one that involved William Jennings Bryan, a three-time Democratic Party candidate for president, a well-known "populist" supporting small farmers and laborers against big corporations and other moneyed interests, a renowned orator, and an attorney who won the famed "Scopes Monkey Trial" case, which led to the conviction of a Tennessee high school substititute teacher who discussed evolution in the classroom.

An Orange County Register ad for the sale of Holstein Friesian bulls at Rancho Lindero, 23 May 1941.

In early 1924, the Champion announced that Bryan, then in the thick of the Scopes trial, had purchased 100 acres in what is now Chino Hills for a country residence, though details were not available.  Even if Bryan bought the land, he would probably have had to wait until the trial was ended before developing his new estate--but, Bryan died just five days after the momentous decision in the case was handed down.

Joralmon was also active in selling land in Soquel Canyon, which started, like Carbon Canyon, to be a desirable place for country homes and weekend retreats during the 1920s.  In fact, Joralmon was a prime mover in appealing to the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 1926 to study the possibility of building a road through the canyon where it meets Carbon Canyon at today's Olinda Village eastward to the new Los Serranos Country Club, which had opened the previous year.  A projected Soquel Canyon Road, while never built, remained on county maps as a possible project until just within the last several years or so.

A 13 April 1926 article from the Register covers a proposal from L.B. Joralmon and James Macklin of Huntington Beach to the Orange County Board of Supervisors for the consideration of a county highway through Soquel Canyon.

At the end of 1933, Campbell decided to bow out completely from the real estate business and Joralmon assumed complete control of the firm (Rowley had evidently only been a partner for a short period), which was refashioned into the Joralmon Land Company.  Even during the depths of the Great Depression, Joralmon, who was well into his mid to late sixties, was a very active and prominent person in local real estate.

An ad for the lease of 200 acres of what appears to be the Rancho Lindero, 19 March 1926, from the Champion.

One of his most interesting transactions was the liquidation of the holdings of E. J. Marshall, who transformed the Chino Land and Water Company into The Marshall Properties and then passed away in 1937 with some considerable unsold property in Chino.  From an office at Central and Chino avenues, Joralmon worked aggressively to dispose of the remaining lands. 

Late in 1937, Joralmon made a novel proposal to the Chino city council:  some choice property in downtown could be essentially traded from Joralmon's firm to the city in exchange for forgiving all delinquent property taxes on the property.  Articles in the Chino Champion detailed the acceptance of the plan because the city could use the parcels for civic and park purposes.  Today's civic center complex is largely situated on the land transferred to the city by Joralmon at that time.

Joralmon's work in local real estate continued until just after the conclusion of World War II and his final ad in the Champion was in March 1946 when he announced he was liquidating Marshall Estate property in downtown that he unsuccessfully tried to swap in a second tax eradication scheme with the city.  By then, he was 75 years old, though he remained in contact locally by continuing his subscription of a half-century with the Champion and by maintaining ownership of a ranch in Carbon Canyon, which he called Rancho Lindero.

A Champion ad from 22 March 1940 for pasture for rent at Rancho Lindero.

The word lindero in Spanish means boundary and, between 1923 and 1926, Joralmon and partner John C. Miles, an attorney whose office was in the same Los Angeles office building as Joralmon's, acquired 400 acres from the Chino Land and Water Company that was situated on both sides of the boundary line of San Bernardino and Orange counties, just north and west of the new subdivision of Sleepy Hollow, laid out in 1923.  

The first transactions, in April and September 1923, were for the San Bernardino County section and others, in January, June and September 1924, included the section within both counties as well as in San Bernardino County.  In October 1924, Sleepy Hollow's founder Cleve Purington and his associates sold property within their subdivision, probably as an easement for access from Catrbon Canyon Road, to Joralmon and Miles.  Finally, in April 1926, S.W. Smith sold additional land adjacent to the others to Joralmon and Miles, which appears to have been the final consolidation of their total holdings.

Joralmon, who maintained a residence in Hollywood for most of his life, appears to have both ran his own cattle and sheep on the Rancho Lindero, as well as leased the ranch out for those purposes.  Unfortunately, there is not much information available about the ranch or its uses, aside from an occasional advertisement taken out in the Champion by Joralmon for leasing opportunities on it.

A public notice statement establishing the name of L.B. Joralmon's Rancho Lindero Stock and Poultry Farms on the San Bernardino/Orange counties line from the Champion, 10 May 1940.

Among the tidbits located was that in 1928, Joralmon repoted to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors that a house was built on the easement to Carbon Canyon Road near his access to the ranch and that the building could be removed as a nuisance.  In 1936, the Chino Fire Department received the donation by Miles of a pig from the ranch for a banquet and it was noted that Miles, the guest of honor, spoke to the crowd and thanked the department for using Rancho Lindero as a place to demonstrate fire prevention work,   The year afterward, a water well was brought in on the ranch.  In 1940-41, Joralmon advertised for land to lease and for the sale of cattle from the property.

Beyond that, the ranch seems to have been owned by Miles and Joralmon until the former died at age 65 in 1955 and then Joralmon passed away a couple of years later in September 1957 at the age of 87.  The status of Rancho Lindero over the next fifteen years has not been tracked so far, but, in 1972, the ranch was sold to Frances Krug, leader of the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope religious community that has occupied the property for the last forty-five or so years.

A Sleepy Hollow Holiday Wish

Best wishes for the Christmas holiday and here's to a great 2016!

Candlelight Walk for Former Sleepy Hollow Resident

Friday night, a group of about twenty Sleepy Hollow residents gathered together to honor the memory of Darlene Walters, a former member of the community who passed away last week after battling cancer.

A group of Sleepy Hollow residents take part in a candlelight procession around the neighborhood in memory of Darlene Walker, a former resident who passed away a few days ago from cancer.

Darlene lived on Rosemary Lane for several years with a son and daughter and really loved living in Sleepy Hollow.  The sale of the home she rented, however, forced her to move and she hoped to buy something in the neighborhood, but this proved unworkable.  Not long after leaving the area, the cancer she had overcome before recurred.  She was living with her mother in Corona at the time of her passing.

Friends and neighbors, including several who remained in touch with Darlene after she moved, met at a nearby house to eat, drink and share memories of Darlene.  A photo board showing her with family and friends was part of an altar in the backyard.

About 9:00, everyone got together, lit votive candles, and went on a walk through the quiet, dimlit streets of Sleepy Hollow in recognition of Darlene's love of walking through the neighborhood.  It was a really nice way for those who knew her to pay their respects.

A full moon shines over the hills above Sleepy Hollow, illuminating banks of clouds, while the yellow glow of a streetlight bathes the foreground during the candlelight procession.

Places like Sleepy Hollow do provide an atmosphere that fosters a sense of community for many who live in it.  On Rosemary Lane, for example, many of the residents will get together for Super Bowl, Halloween and Christmas parties or for other functions.

This wasn't a celebration in the same way, though it was a celebration of the memory and life of someone who was special to those who took part in tonight's vigil.  There is a sense of loss when a friend and neighbor is gone so quickly and unexpectedly, but a sense of community enabled tonight's remembrance to happen and there's probably no better way to pay tribute to someone than that.

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.

Still Another Ramble in the Hills Above Carbon Canyon

Carbon Creek as it runs through a recently cleared area in Sleepy Hollow just east of the former Canyon Market property.

It was a gorgeous day with temperatures warmer than the recent cold spell, but the blood still ran cold when the (de)grading of the Canyon Hills development, undertaken by its current owner Forestar (which, evidently, intends to sell the property once basic utilities and grading are done) was visited on a hike today in and around Sleepy Hollow.

The walk, with a longtime resident of the community, started by descending into the recently-cleared area along Carbon Creek at the center of Sleepy Hollow.  Among interesting tidbits mentioned by my companion was that there used to be something of a park in the area just east of the former Canyon Market, including a swimming pool.  Today, however, there is only the cleared area, the small flow of the creek, but also two remnants of earlier days.

The inscription on the cement plug, probably for an old well just below Carbon Canyon Road and next to Carbon Creek in Sleepy Hollow reads, "8 FT. DEEP / PLUG."

The first is a cement plug for what must have been a well--etched into the cement is the lettering "8 Ft. Deep Plug" at the site located immediately below Carbon Canyon Road.  A few feet to the west is what is left of a gate and stairs that led to the site.

Emerging from the creek near the shuttered store, the walk led eastward leaving Sleepy Hollow and climbing a steep trail up the hill to the top of the old Ski Villa cement ski slope.  From there, it was a stark visit to the (de)grading for the Canyon Hills project of 76 houses.

A view on a trail from Sleepy Hollow to Canyon Hills.

So far, graders have mainly focused on areas with oak trees, brush and other plant material, though some razing of sidewalks and structures built for the Camp Kinder Ring facility, sometime between the late 1920s and late 1950s, has been taking place.  Other remnants of buildings will, however, soon be razed, leaving little or no physical traces of the Jewish recreational facility, operated by the leftist Workmen's Circle for thirty years.

What is striking is that there was evidently no interest whatsoever by San Bernardino County or the City of Chino Hills in documenting the history of the site, whether from Camp Kinder Ring, its successor recreational entities, or Ski Villa.

One section of the (de)grading of Canyon Hills, begun in late December, as part of the development for the future 76-home project just north of Carbon Canyon Road and east of Sleepy Hollow.

As noted here previously, there is one particularly interesting relic:  the handprint, name and date of someone associated with Camp Kinder Ring.  On a rock-faced pillar to one of the buildings is etched into the cement cap the first name of "Miriam", the surname, which might be "Posner", and the date 19 July 1946.  The hand print appears to be that of a small child, perhaps seven or so years of age.

Otherwise, there are a few other remnants, broken ceramic, floor tiles (some made by the longtime firm of Gladding McBean, which operated in Los Angeles and Glendale), red bricks, and other little items--all soon to be plowed over or carted away to a landfill.

Panoramic views abound on the Canyon Hills site, including this one taken from the largest structure once part of the Camp Kinder Ring facility and looking eastward.

Sadder, though, is the immense of amount of destruction to the oak and walnut woodland habitat, which is being diminished increasingly in our region.  As discussed here before, this site is one of the few in the canyon not disturbed in recent decades by cattle grazing, so the relative lushness of the landscape was notable--until now.

Again, many of the remains of Camp Kinder Ring structures are still in place, but it can't be very long, perhaps within a week or two, before all of it is gone.  There is even the rusted remnants of what appears to be a 1970s model Ford Mustang, which has, however, been adaptively reused as the site of a wood rat's nest.

One of dozens of piles of razed oak trees and other plant material dislodged by the (de)grading of the Canyon Hills site.

The jaunt continued to the summit of the Canyon Hills development site, where the 360-degree views of the canyon, surrounding areas, and, to the north and northeast, the San Gabriel Mountains are something to behold.

It was also a reminder, however, that the windswept hilltops of the canyon are exactly those places where occasional wildfires burn the quickest, drawing flames up the canyons and gullies and then fanned by those strong gusts.  Developers promise that fire-resistant planning will protect homes, though.  Ask the folks whose homes were lost in Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills in the 2008 Freeway Complex fire whether these promises always hold up.

A view from the highest point on the Canyon Hills project site taking in part of the beautiful views found in all directions.

Speaking of fire planning, the walk then headed back towards Sleepy Hollow and, specifically, the area about Hillside Drive and Sunset Way, two of the narrow roads in the 1920s-developed community that lead up to the fringes of Canyon Hills.  My companion pointed out Hillside Drive could be linked up as an emergency access road to the future tract, allowing residents of the north side of Sleepy Hollow or those of Canyon Hills a secondary escape route when future fires take place.  Whether this will be amenable to local officials, however, is another matter.

The walk concluded by descending down Sunset Way, at the extreme northwest of Sleepy Hollow and where, indeed, the sunsets are probably spectacular.  There was a beautiful little spot in that general area where, for many years, the son of Sleepy Hollow's founders, Cleve and Elizabeth Purington, lived.  It is pretty isolated and generally open, giving a sense of what the community was like in the years before development came in a big way to the canyon.

A pretty spot within the Sleepy Hollow community, highlighting some of the oak trees that are a significant part of the Carbon Canyon landscape.

That development is now manifesting itself in one of the biggest projects to come to Carbon Canyon in about 25 years, though the Pine Valley project above Western Hills Country Club may be viewed in a way as a canyon development, though access is from the north.

The (de)grading of the project site is only a portent of what may be coming, provided the 162-unit Madrona project's approval by the City of Brea is upheld in court (more on this soon) and that the 100-plus unit Hidden Oaks project, soon to come before the City of Chino Hills, is given approval on its site just east of Sleepy Hollow and directly across Carbon Canyon Road from Canyon Hills.  The smaller 24-unit Stonefield development, east of Western Hills Country Club, has been approved, as well.

Looking southeast from the top of Hillside Drive over Sleepy Hollow and towards the proposed Hidden Oaks site.

A little simple math means that, potentially, the canyon could see in upcoming years over 360 new houses--of larger-than-average size in homes and lots and meaning more-than-usual water use.  These approximately 1,500 new residents will bring thousands more daily car trips on a two-lane state highway that cannot be widened or improved (new signals will only assist those residents trying to access an increasingly-congested Carbon Canyon Road.)  And, those homes and people add a further burden for fire protection and fire fighting, as we deal with long-term drought, decreasing water supply and the challenges of dealing with that many homes on windy hilltop sites prone to frequent burning in wildfires.

This looks from the western edge of Canyon Hills across Lions Canyon and to the Madrona project site in Brea.