Bixby land companies

Last updated

The Bixby land companies were a group of California-based land companies founded by various members of the Bixby and Flint families from Maine. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the firms of Flint, Bixby & Company, J. Bixby & Company, J. W. Bixby & Company, the Alamitos Land Company, and the Bixby Land Company controlled large swathes of California real estate, much of it derived from Mexican land grants. At various times their holdings included Rancho Los Cerritos, Rancho Los Alamitos, half of Rancho San Justo, and part of Rancho Palos Verdes together with other property in San Benito, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles counties. Parts of the towns of Long Beach, Bellflower, Paramount, Signal Hill, Lakewood, and Los Alamitos emerged from former Bixby-held lands. [1]

Contents

History

The history of the land companies begins with the brothers Benjamin and Thomas Flint and their cousin Llewellyn Bixby, who left Maine for California in 1851, attracted by the Gold Rush. [2] They turned from mining to ranching, and in 1852-53, the three cousins drove more than 2000 sheep from Ohio to California, the first step in what would become a highly successful ranching enterprise. [2] [3] Together with Llewellyn's brother Jotham they went into business as Flint, Bixby & Company. [3] [4]

In 1855, Flint, Bixby bought the 34,000-acre Rancho San Justo near what is now the town of Hollister in partnership with rancher William Welles Hollister. [4] In 1858, the company bought the Hero-Huero Ranch near Paso Robles, [3] and by 1859, they were running some 20,000 sheep on the ranches. [5] The partnership with Hollister dissolved in 1861, with Flint, Bixby ultimately ending up with all the Rancho San Justo land east of the San Benito River. [6]

The business especially prospered as a result of the high demand for meat and wool during the Civil War. In 1864, Flint, Bixby started acquiring land in southern California, beginning with the Rancho San Joaquin, Rancho Lomas de Santiago, and a section of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, with James Irvine (1827–1886) as a silent partner. [3] These three contiguous parcels totaled over 100,000 acres. [3] In the 1870s, Flint, Bixby sold these properties to Irvine. [3]

In 1866 Flint, Bixby expanded further, buying the 27,000-acre Rancho Los Cerritos. [4] Jotham was the manager of Rancho Los Cerritos and later bought a half interest in it through his own firm, J. Bixby & Company. [4] [1] By the 1870s, sheep ranching was in decline in southern California and Jotham Bixby began to sell off this land for development. [1]

In the 1870s, another cousin, John William Bixby, bought a portion of Rancho Canon de Santa Ana and began leasing part of Rancho Los Alamitos. Sometime between 1881 and 1883 he bought Rancho Los Alamitos with two partners, J. Bixby & Company and Isaias W. Hellman, founder of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles. [4] [7] This three-way partnership operated as J. W. Bixby & Company. [3] John managed the 29,000-acre ranch and lived there with his family. [4]

John died suddenly of appendicitis in 1887, as a result of which Rancho Los Alamitos was divided into thirds in 1891. [3] J. Bixby & Company got the acreage that adjoined Rancho Los Cerritos, and this later became the first holdings of yet another company, the Bixby Land Company, founded in 1896. [4] Part of the Bixby Land Company property was a sugar beet farm that was later redeveloped into the city of Los Alamitos. [4] The banker Hellman received a southeastern section that became a housing development, and John's family kept the rest. [3]

When John died, he and his partners had already been planning to dissolve their partnership. [3] While he was still alive, a new family-owned company was formed, the Alamitos Land Company, with an eye to developing a southwest part of the rancho property where it adjoined the city of Long Beach. [4] The Alamitos Land Company eventually developed an area that included Signal Hill. [3] The company still exists and is owned mainly by Bixby and Hellman descendants. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Long Beach, California City in California, United States

Long Beach is a city in the U.S. state of California located within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.

Los Alamitos, California City in California, United States

Los Alamitos is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,449 at the 2010 census, down from 11,536 at the 2000 census. The adjacent unincorporated community of Rossmoor uses the same 90720 Zip Code in its mailing address, but is not part of the city. The Los Alamitos Race Course is named for the city, but lies in the neighboring city of Cypress.

Irvine Company

The Irvine Company, LLC. is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of about 280,000 people mainly designed by the Irvine Company. The company was founded by the Irvine family and is currently wholly owned by Donald Bren. Since the company is private, its financials are not released to the public. However, Donald Bren is the wealthiest real estate developer in the United States, with a net worth of $16.4 billion in 2019.

Lakewood Village, or simply known as The Village, is a neighborhood in the northeast portion of the city of Long Beach, California. It is bordered on the west, north and east sides by the City of Lakewood. It is located south of Del Amo Boulevard, north of Carson Street, east of Lakewood Boulevard and west of Bellflower Boulevard.

William Welles Hollister

William Welles Hollister (1818–1886) was a native of Ohio who came west in the 1850s and became a wealthy rancher and entrepreneur in California.

Rancho San Justo

Rancho San Justo was a 34,620-acre (140.1 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Benito County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José Antonio Castro. The lands of the rancho include current day Hollister.

Isaias W. Hellman American financier of German-Jewish descent

Isaias Wolf Hellman was a German-born American banker and philanthropist, and a founding father of the University of Southern California.

The Irvine family of Southern California is a prominent Californian family of real estate developers. Through the Irvine Company, the family played an important role in the development of Orange County. The city of Irvine and the University of California, Irvine take their name from the family.

Rancho Los Alamitos United States historic place

Rancho Los Alamitos takes its name from an 1834 Mexican partition of the 1784 Rancho Los Nietos, a Spanish concession, covering an area in present-day California's southwestern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County. Los Alamitos means the Little Cottonwoods or Poplars in Spanish, after the native Fremont Cottonwood trees there.

Los Cerritos Ranch House United States historic place

Los Cerritos Ranch House, also known as Rancho Los Cerritos or Casa de los Cerritos, in Long Beach, California, was "the largest and most impressive adobe residence erected in southern California during the Mexican period". Los Cerritos means "the little hills" in English. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Abel Stearns

Abel Stearns was a trader who came to the Pueblo de Los Angeles, Alta California in 1829 and became a major landowner, cattle rancher and one of the area's wealthiest citizens.

Rancho Santa Gertrudes was a 21,298-acre (86.19 km2) 1834 Mexican land grant, in present-day Los Angeles County, California, resulting from a partition of Rancho Los Nietos. A former site of Nacaugna, the rancho lands included the present-day cities of Downey and Santa Fe Springs.

Rancho Los Cerritos was a 27,054-acre (109.48 km2) 1834 land grant in present-day southern Los Angeles County and Orange County, California The grant was the result of a partition of the Rancho Los Nietos grant. "Cerritos" means "little hills" in Spanish. The rancho lands include the present-day cities of Cerritos and Long Beach.

Rancho La Sierra was a 17,774-acre (71.93 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California, United States. In 1846 Governor Pio Pico issued the grant to Vicenta Sepulveda. The rancho includes the present-day city of Norco, and the western end of Riverside.

Rancho Huerhuero was a 15,685-acre (63.47 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California of one square league given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado and another three square leagues given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to José Mariano Bonilla. The grant extended along Huerhuero Creek and encompassed present day Creston southeast of Paso Robles.

Rancho Lompoc was a 42,085-acre (170.31 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Joaquín Carrillo and José Antonio Carrillo. The grant extended from present-day Lompoc west to the Pacific coast.

Rancho Los Guilicos was a 18,834-acre (76.22 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to John (Juan) Wilson. The grant extended along Sonoma Creek, south of Santa Rosa from Santa Rosa Creek south to almost Glen Ellen, and encompassed present day Oakmont, Kenwood and Annadel State Park.

The Bixby family is an American family that was heavily involved in the development of California ranches and real estate in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through various companies, they controlled at one time or another large swathes of California real estate, much of it derived from Mexican land grants. Over several generations, their holdings included Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos, and parts of Rancho San Justo and Rancho Palos Verdes, totaling well over 100,000 acres. Parts of the towns of Long Beach, Bellflower, Paramount, Signal Hill, Lakewood, and Los Alamitos emerged from former Bixby-held lands. Within Long Beach, the neighborhoods Bixby Hill, Bixby Knolls, and Bixby Village are named after the family, as well as Bixby Park in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood.

Sarah Bixby Smith (1871–1935) was a California writer and an advocate of women's education. Adobe Days, her memoir of growing up in southern California, is considered a classic of the genre.

Fanny Weston Bixby Spencer, also referred to as Fanny Bixby was an American philanthropist and antiwar writer. She joined the fledgling Long Beach police force in January 1908, making her one of the country's earliest policewomen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1866-1929". Rancho Los Cerritos website.
  2. 1 2 Smith, Sarah Bixby. Adobe Days. Los Angeles: Jake Zeitlin, 1931.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Woodbridge, Sally. "Architectural Narrative: Rancho Los Alamitos". Rancho Los Alamitos website.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "HIstory". Bixby Land Company website.
  5. ↑ "HIstory". California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences 12:7 (September 2, 1859).
  6. ↑ Hoover, Mildred B., Hero Rensch, Ethel Rensch, and William N. Abeloe. Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press, 1966.
  7. ↑ Herold, Ann, and Dan Harder. "The legendary Bixby Ranch in Santa Barbara County has a new owner. What's to become of ... The Last Perfect Place?". Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2007. Part 2 of 2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.