Home Town of Brea

 

A home town is defined as the town where one was born or grew up, or the town of one-‘s present fixed residence.  I was born in Fullerton, California at St. Jude Hospital.  In my early years I lived in Anaheim; however, I consider Brea as my home town because I grew up there.  Although I have lived in other places since then such as Ensenada, Mexico (1994), Santa Cruz, Bolivia (1995/1996), Paris, France (1997), Costa Mesa (2000/2001), and Fullerton (intermittently from 2004 to present).  I love Fullerton, Anheim and other above aforementioned cities but Brea is truly my home town!

 

Brea is a city in Orange County, California, United States, which is nestled in the foothills of Puente Hills on a plateau at the northern tip of the county, and is situated within the heart of the fertile La Habra Valley at the mouths of Brea Canyon, Tonner Canyon and Carbon Canyon, adjoining the eastern part of Fullerton on the north within the Los Angeles-Long Beach Metropolitan area of Southern California (City of Brea, Brea - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Brea: http://www.cityofbrea.net/page.cfm?name=about_hist). 

 

Brea is conveniently located approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of downtown Los Angeles (Encyclopedia Britannica, Brea, California, United States, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/78396/Brea).  The geographical coordinates of Brea are latitude 33.916N and longitude -117.899W.  The official elevation of Brea is 375 feet, however, this varies conversely depending on where in Brea the observer is situated (Cramer, Esther Ridgway, Brea The City of Oil, Oranges and Opportunity, City of Brea: Brea, 1992, pg. 3).

 

Brea is naturally endowed with several canyons, a natural tributary, rolling terrain, and copious trees, plants and wildlife.  The canyons of Brea have long afforded an easy passage for horse and wagon back then and today automobiles from the interior valleys of San Gabriel and the Inland Empire to the coastal plains.

 

Physically, Brea is bordered by unincorporated Orange County and Los Angeles County to the north and is adjacent to the neighboring cities of La Habra to the west, Fullerton to the southwest, Placentia to the south and Yorba Linda to the southeast.

 

Brea has a total area that consists of 10.6 square miles or 27.3 square kilometers while water comprises only 0.09% of the total area.  The population of Brea, according to the most recent published census of 2000, was 35,410 people, thus ranking Brea as Orange County’s 25th most populous city out of 34 cities.  Brea is acclaimed as one of the five best places to live in the Western United States by Sunset magazine. 

 

From its early roots as a California “Black Gold” oil boomtown, the ninety-plus year-old City of Brea has matured from a small oil town into a burgeoning city full of rich history, culture, businesses, residence, and people that with a great future!  It obtained its name “Brea”, which means “tar” or “pitch” in Spanish (Castilian) (Canfield, D. Lincoln, The University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary, University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1987, 4th Edition, pg. 71), from the tar seeping out of the foothills and the subsequent oil fields of the early 1900s.  In the early days of southern California, settlers from Pomona and the Santa Ana valleys would come to Brea Canyon to cut chunks of the oil-soaked earth from the canyon floors and walls: tar, which settlers typically used as fueld for heating their homes and waterproofing their roots.

 

The history of Brea dates back about 10,000 years to the Native American Indian people who inhabited the La Habra Valley.  The indeigenous people were known in the Indian tongue as tongva, which means “people of the earth.”  Today, they are officially called the Bariolino Mission Indian Tribe, as originally referred to by the Spanish pursuant to the establishment of the San Gabriel Mission in the 18th century.  Brea was then within the ethnographic boundaries of the Tongva; their village was called nacaunga in the Tongva language and was strategically located at the mouth of Brea Canyon next to Brea Creek.  The Tongva utilized the La Habra Valley area of hills and valleys for hunting and gathering food, supplies, and medicinal herbs for the sustenance of the tribe.

 

The Brea story continues back in time almost 250 years when a small company of Spanish solders and priest led by the explorer Don Gaspar de Portola I Rovira, along with Father Junipero Serra and others such as Jose Antonio Yorba (from whom the City of Yorba Linda was eventually named) camped in Brea Canyon in 1769 after having crossed the Santa Ana River on their famed march from San Diego to Monterey.

 

The roat that Portola and the Spanish explorers took were dirt trails originally used by the Indians and became known as “El Camino Real”, which means “The Real Road” literally, or “Royal Road” figuratively.  El Camino traversed through Brea on the inbound route heading north.  During the time of the Portola Expedition from 1769 to 1850, there was a brief settlement under Spanish/Mexican control through the Mexican Missions and the Rancho system, which lasted some 79 years. 

 

Mexico won independence from Spain in 1822. After this time, colonization efforts in Alta California [California] decreased; in those days, land was plentiful.  Through the Spanish concessions which were patentend under Mexican lawas of 1824, the Mexican government issues lands grants, kwown as Ranchos.  By the 1830s, the face of the Brea landscape began to change.  The broad expanses of mustard fields and cactus became part of the vast 35,000-acre land grant of the San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana rancho of Don Josef Antonio Ontiveros, a Spanish soldier.  Portions of Puente Wells, Brea Canyon, Tonner Caynon, Petrolia, Carbon Canyon, and Olinda formed part of various grants.  During later surveying of land near Brea in the 1860s, it was determined that there was a large parcel of land that had not been granted to any of the ranchos.  Therefore, it was deemed as sobrante, or leftover land.  Olinda was one of these leftover areas.  In 1841, another portion of northern Brea was specifically ganted to Gil Ybarra from Governor Jaun Alvarado as part of thee Rincon de la Brea, or Cañada de la Brea Grant.

 

In 1848, the United States acquired California by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, triggering a rush of homesteaders and businessmen, and with the discovery of gold in 1849, the arrival of thosuands of gold miners ot California with an appetite for red meat.  Therefore, the rancheros began to focus their ranching activities on beef cattle.  The gold rush subsided by the late 1850s and the 1860s and the demand and price for beef dropped.  Ranching began to diminish in the area, and the rancheros commenced to sell their estates to new settlers and pioneers.  This resulted in the ownership of most of the ranchos passing from Californios to the Euro-Americans, ending California’s romantic Mexican Rancho days.

 

Juan Pacifico Ontiveros began selling his Ranchos San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana land to those newcomers, one of whom was Abel Stearns.  “Don” Abel Stearns was a prominent ranchero stockraiser who had acquired a fotune in land in Southern California.  IN the 1860s, Stearns having suffered a severe financial setback, saved his land from foreclosure by subdiving and selling it.  In 1894, the Stearns Ranch Company sold 1,200 acres of the original Brea land to the newly created Union Oil Company.  Other oil companies also began to purchase land in the area as well: Brea Canon Oil, Western Oil, Shell Oil, Columbia Oil Production Company, E.L. Doheny, and Birch Oil Company.  In 1882, the first successful oil drilling occurred in the Brea area wher oil was struck at 100 to 300 feet below the surface at the junction of Tonner Canyon and Brea Canyon.  The search for oil was well underway.

 

The town of Olinda was founded in present-day Carbon Canyon after an 1890 oil boom.  Prior to the oil boom, however, the Olinda area of Carbon Cayon was orginally settled by farmers and ranchers.  Cattle and sheep were pastured in the open field, which is now Carbon Canyon Regional Park.  Farming, which existed for decades, gradually disappeared and was replaced by the new cash commodity “oil”.  Olinda lured people from all over the country when Edward J. Doheny struck oil in the region in 1897.  Oil-Boom conditions existed in the Bera area and the drilling began.  Many entrepreneurs came to the area in search of petroluem or “black gold”.  By 1898, many nearby hills began sporting wooden oil-drilling towers “Wildcats”, oil wells, and oil tnaks, which dotted the landscape, peacefully coexisting with grazing cattle and sheep.

 

The influx of oil field workers of oil field workers inspired the Ontario Investment Company to file a subdivision map in 1908 for a town called Randolph, the percursor to Brea.  Randolph, a small agricultural town, was named after Epes Randolph, an egnineers and general manager of the Pacific Electric Railway.  By this time the town of Randolph had established a basic infrastructure, which looked good on paper but was lacking water and the railway.  Major ads were placed to attract people and companies to the town, but few people purchased land.

 

Union Oil built a one-room school house in 1903 for 30 students on Brea Canyon Road, and the Ontario Investment Company filed a subdivision map for the townsite.  In 1910, thr Randolph School was constructed on the corner of what is now Brea Boulevards and Lambert Road.  Randolph School consisted of four classrooms ranging from grades one through eight.  Randolph School was soon crowded and a new school was planned across the street from the old school.  In 1915, the district approved a $140,000 bond issued for the new school.  The Brea Grammar School was officially opened in 1916, with eleven teachers for eight grades.  The school later became Brea Junior High, still in use today.  The Randolph School building became the Union Oil Headquarters.

 

The official founding date for the town of Brea was January 19, 1911, when the old map of the twon of Randolph was refiled under the new name of Brea.  Now, the only trace of Epes Randolph and the original town’s name is today’s major midtown street of Randolph.  Houses and small industries sprang up to serve the oil fields; churches were built, a newspaper was founded, and a business district established.  Brea became a booming community.

 

In March 1916, a petition was filed with the Orange County Board of Supervisors for Brea to incorporate.  At that time, Union Oil owned two-thirds of all taxable property inside of the revised city limits of Brea.  Union Oil and the other oil companies objected to the inclusion of their properties to the incorporated area.  On February 15, 1917, an election was held and local voters approved the incorporation of Brea – 204 in favor and 45 opposed.  With a population of 752, Brea was officially incorporated as the eighth city of Orange County.

 

The new City of Brea was made profitable by a booming oil industry and a successful agriculutre industry to stimulate the local economy.  Brea had a bright future.  City officials were elcted and council members were selected.  The upper-floor rooms of the Sewell Building were rented as council chambers and the city clerk’s office until the City Hall was built in 1929. 

 

The 1920 US Census was the first official census for Brea as a newly incorporated muncipality.  According to the census, Brea had a population of 1,037 in 1920.  The assessed valuation of Brea was $718,880, with a tax rate of $1.00 for an area of one and three quarter miles.  The first year’s taxes that were collected by the City of Brea amounted to a mere $5,889.40.  The early council faced numerous challenges, including the construction of sewer lines and the installation of lights and roads.

 

The 1920s brought growth and prosperity to Brea.  Comprised of 1.5 miles of cement sidewalks and 3 miles of paved streets and a growing population, Brea matured in many ways.  Many professions and services moved to town.  There were no saloons in Brea because it was a dry town but there were tent shows, minstrel shows, and an occacional Chautauqua.  A branch of the Ornage Coutny Library was established and the Red Lantern Theatre was opened in 1922.  The great baseball player, a local Brea boy from Olinda, Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators team who had grwon up on the Santa Fe Oil Lease, and retruned to Brea with Babe Ruth to play an exibition game that attracted thousands of locals. 

 

On the negative side, the nightmare of all oil men occurred in 1926 when the Stewart Tank Farm was struck by lighting, causing an explosion that shattered windows a mile away and set off a three-day fire and brought national attention to Brea.  A new 23-acre, $400,000 campus and high school was opened to students on September 14, 1927, adding Brea-Olinda Union High School to a growing city.

 

The 1930s and the Great Depression decreased activities in Brea as elsewhere in the United States.  Even so, some changes occurred: Carbon Canyon Road was opened as a paved highway and in 1934, the City of Brea erected the “Welcome to Brea” sign that has greeted people in the downtown area ever since.  Brea was also known as a citrus growing region.  The Union Oil Company planted “set aside for future oil drilling” land, which became great orchards of ranges, lemons, and avocados to be shipped to eatern markets.

 

After World War II, many veterans who had been in California returned and some chose to settle in Brea.  The City of Brea grew steadily throughout the years.  As oil production declined, the 40s, 50s and 60s brought many new developments in industry, housing and new businesses to the area.  Agriculture was a huge development in this time period; namely: lemon and orange groves.  In 1950, Brea had a population of 3,208 people.  The citrus grove gave way gradually to industrial parks and residential development.  The first wide-scale building progam commenced in 1949 when 110 acres of citrus trees were converted to 500 homes and a modern shopping center.  Subdivisions followed in the 1950s and 1960s, encircling the orignal townsite until it now included ten square miles within the city limits. 

 

In 1956, Carl N. Karcher opened the first two Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Anaheim and Brea, California. 

 

The 70s saw big changes in Brea with the opening of the Orange (57) freeway, which was completed in 1972: taffic flow opened between Orange County, the San Gabriel Valley, San Bernardino County and the great Los Angeles metropolitan area.  The Orange Freeway increased commercial exposure and the construction of the Brea Mall, which was opened in 1977; Brea became a destination shopping city, which spurred major residential and commerical development.  The dominant north Orange County regional shopping complex was built on a 99-acre plot on land adjacent to the 57 Freeway.  Brea is also known for its extensive public art program, which started in 1975 and continues to this day with over 140 artworks in the collection placed and located throughout the city.  Moreover, Brea’s public art program has been used as a model and inspiration for many Public Art programs nationwide.  The Neal family (Tom, Joyce, Scott & Kevin) moved to Brea in 1976.

 

Industrial parks and retail areas thrived in Brea during the 70s and 80s, as more and more companies took advantage of the city's strategic location in the center of Southern California.  Adjacent to the mall, the Brea Civic and Cultural Center was opened in 1980 and is a venue for many public meetins and community events.  It includes an art gallery, library, conference center, and the Curtis Theatre, and also accomodates the Brea-Olinda Unified School District, Chamber of Commerce, police and fire deparments and city offices.

 

The Brea Community Center opened on July 27, 1996, and is the true center for community activities.  In December of 1989, Brea dedicated a new high school located in the Brea Hills, north of Lambert Road and adjacent to the 57 freeway.  The new Brea-Olinda High School contineus the award-winning tradition of the old Brea-Olinda High School but with new state-of-the-art facilities.

 

Today, Brea is a thriving city of 40,000+ residents with more than 100,000 people visting the city to work, shop and play during the day.  Brea is proud of its new downtown with over 50 acres of shopping and entertainment.  Brea continues its Public Arts Program with over 140 artworks in the collection located throughout the city.  Brea’s Public Arts Program has been used as a model and inspiration for many Public Arts Programs nationwide.  Brea’s new 26-acre Sports Park, located on the northwest corner of Valencia and Birsh, opened in 2009.  A new elementary school ‘Olinda’ located adjacent tot eh Sports Park opened in 2012.  Committed to responsible growth, which includes protection of nearby open space, Brea is protective of the significant natural wildlife corridor that also serves as a rare scenic break within the area’s urban setting.  The community that began as an oil town has grown into an important industrial center, offering not only opportunity and safety, but also a family-oriented community that is worthy of its people. 

 

Brea is a city large enough to be beneficial to outlying communities as a shopping and distribution hub and yet still small-town enough to allow its citizens indivudality, seasoned with close-knit friendliness.

 

The city began as a center of crude production, was later propelled by citrus production, and is now an important retail center because of the large Brea Mall and the recently redeveloped 50-acre swath of Brea Downtown, centered on Brea Boulevard and Birch stread, which resulted into a trendy and fashionable shopping and entertainment area with movie threaters, sidewalk cafes, a live comedy club from the Improv chain, numerous shops and restaurants, and a weekly farmer’s market.  Brea is also known for its extensive public art program which began in 1975 and continues today with over 140 artworks in the collection placed and located throughout the city. Brea's public art program has been used as a model and inspiration for many Public Art programs nationwide.

 

Brea is a thriving city of 40,176 residents.  More than 100,000 people visit the city daily to work, shop or play.  Brea Mall, conveniently located just off the 57 freeway, has five major anchor stores:  Nordstrom, Macy's, Robinson-May, Sears and JC Penney, with over 175 specialty stores and restaurants and Glen Ivy Day Spa.  Located adjacent to Brea Mall, the full-service 299-room Embassy Suites Hotel attracts visitors, conferences and small conventions from domestic and foreign locales. Homestead Village, an extended stay hotel, opened in 1998.

 

Brea is also very proud of its new, bustling downtown popularly known as "Birch Street," with over 50 acres of shopping and entertainment.  This village-style pedestrian-oriented promenade features Taps Fish House & Brewery, Old Navy, Market City Cafe, Pan e Vino Trattoria, the Improv Comedy Club and Edwards Stadium Cinema Complex, to name a few.

 

City Hall Park, located on Brea Boulevard, includes a large community plunge and hosts a popular summer Concerts in the Park series, as well as the annual July 4 Country Fair.  The Brea Scout Center, housed in the renovated old City Hall at the park, is now open.  The renovation project was a labor of love spearheaded by the Brea Lions Club to benefit many community service groups including the Brea Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.  Monetary donations are always welcomed to offset operating expenses.

 

The Brea Marketplace, Brea Gateway Shopping Center, Union Plaza and East Imperial Center offer residents extensive choices for specialty retail and services, and create more reasons to "Shop Brea" and keep tax dollars working in their own community.  Brea Boulevard and Imperial Highway, both retail corridors, host a number of smaller neighborhood shopping centers, all conveniently located. 

 

Brea's housing market is booming with new developments like Olinda Ranch (662 housing units) located at the corner of Lambert Road and Valencia; Walden Estates (54 single family homes) located on the north side of Lambert Road just east of Kraemer; and Tonner Hills (795 housing units) proposed for an unincorporated area of Orange County just north of Brea that is expected to be annexed into the City in the future.

The Brea Sports Park opened on February 2009 and is located on the northwest corner of Valencia and Birch.  Moreover, several of the testimonies and some of the history, which are contained in this book were posted for public view by the City of Brea at the Brea Sports Park adjacent to the restrooms and rest area in proximity to the batting cages.  Furthermore, Sunset magazine named Brea one of the five best suburbs to live in the Western United States in early 2006.