is anyone here old enough to remember what the eastern suburbs used to be like? (Fresno: crime, homes)

[bruins91]

I have an interest in the history of some of the older suburbs such as HP, SG, BG, Maywood, Montebello, PR, El Monte etc. Is anyone here old enough to remember what the area was like back in the day.

I heard that those areas used to have a large population from Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee (the upper south/lower midwest in general) and many of the residents used to work in the aerospace industry. This area from what I heard was largely working class.

I also read that in the late 50s/early 60s, you had a lot of high school age kids (think of West Side Story) who were in a gang called "The Spook Hunters" who made sure that the black population from the Watts didn't come to their community and assaulted any black person that did.

Politically, this area was marginal, maybe slightly democratic. The area had a congressman for decades by the name of Chet Holifield, who was in office until the 1970s when his district was dismantled. Other areas were represented by Clyde Doyle and when he died, he was replaced by archconservative congressman Del Clawson.

Anyways, the thing I'm interested in is the mass exodus from that area in the 1970s. Was anyone old enough back then to remember that time or did anyone here live there back then? Was it the older residents dying off or a dislike for the area?

Stories and Comments are welcome.

[ferretkona]

I lived in Lakewood in the 60's, 70's and part of the 80's. It was known once as Lily white Lakewood.
Much of Lakewood was a Dutch community, which still shows its roots in names as Mayfair park and Mayfair High school. Dairy farming left Lakewood and Bellflower in the late 70's.

There really was no mass exodus. Towns expanded and more homes were available. People age and pass on.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by ferretkona

I lived in Lakewood in the 60's, 70's and part of the 80's. It was known once as Lily white Lakewood.
Much of Lakewood was a Dutch community, which still shows its roots in names as Mayfair park and Mayfair High school. Dairy farming left Lakewood and Bellflower in the late 70's.

There really was no mass exodus. Towns expanded and more homes were available. People age and pass on.

Though the dutch dairy vendors themselves remained for a bit, just tied to major dairy brands, sold, or later closed up. Van Kampens in Hawaiian Gardens finally closed up shop a few months ago after being in the area for decades(family owned and operated from what I know for the entire period). Dutch Mill up the road in Lakewood is still open, but been owned by Koreans for a long time. There were a few Rockview Dairies that are now closed as well.

[bruins91]

Originally Posted by ferretkona

There really was no mass exodus. Towns expanded and more homes were available. People age and pass on.

Well maybe not in Lakewood. But in Huntington Park and South Gate there was.

Moderator cut: links removed

There seems to have been a massive population change in the South Gate and Huntington Park area.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by bruins91

I have an interest in the history of some of the older suburbs such as HP, SG, BG, Maywood, Montebello, PR, El Monte etc. Is anyone here old enough to remember what the area was like back in the day.

I heard that those areas used to have a large population from Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee (the upper south/lower midwest in general) and many of the residents used to work in the aerospace industry. This area from what I heard was largely working class.

I also read that in the late 50s/early 60s, you had a lot of high school age kids (think of West Side Story) who were in a gang called "The Spook Hunters" who made sure that the black population from the Watts didn't come to their community and assaulted any black person that did.

Politically, this area was marginal, maybe slightly democratic. The area had a congressman for decades by the name of Chet Holifield, who was in office until the 1970s when his district was dismantled. Other areas were represented by Clyde Doyle and when he died, he was replaced by archconservative congressman Del Clawson.

Anyways, the thing I'm interested in is the mass exodus from that area in the 1970s. Was anyone old enough back then to remember that time or did anyone here live there back then? Was it the older residents dying off or a dislike for the area?

Stories and Comments are welcome.

Dustbowl refugees from the 1930s? I know certain areas in Southern California, like Bakersfield was heavily influenced by Texas-Oklahoma migrants. Perhaps the Inland Empire too maybe in some parts?

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Dustbowl refugees from the 1930s? I know certain areas in Southern California, like Bakersfield was heavily influenced by Texas-Oklahoma migrants. Perhaps the Inland Empire too maybe in some parts?

It was pretty well-known that Oklahoma folks settled in Sylmar. I only knew of one lady though, and she was quite a trip. IE and Central Valley, too - Fresno, Bakersfield.

As for the SGV eastern suburbs like Montebello, Alhambra, Rosemead, and West Covina, I could say that kids were either of the Brady Bunch variety with Maureen McCormick/Olivia Newton-John types in evidence AND Americanized-Hispanics, take that however you want, and can name the Catholic high schools they went to.

No more Maureens and Olivias to be found at West Covina Plaza or Puente Hills.

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by bruins91

Well maybe not in Lakewood. But in Huntington Park and South Gate there was. Look at this map:

Who made the maps?

There was changes due to dropped property values.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by bruins91

I have an interest in the history of some of the older suburbs such as HP, SG, BG, Maywood, Montebello, PR, El Monte etc. Is anyone here old enough to remember what the area was like back in the day.

I heard that those areas used to have a large population from Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee (the upper south/lower midwest in general) and many of the residents used to work in the aerospace industry. This area from what I heard was largely working class.

I also read that in the late 50s/early 60s, you had a lot of high school age kids (think of West Side Story) who were in a gang called "The Spook Hunters" who made sure that the black population from the Watts didn't come to their community and assaulted any black person that did.

Politically, this area was marginal, maybe slightly democratic. The area had a congressman for decades by the name of Chet Holifield, who was in office until the 1970s when his district was dismantled. Other areas were represented by Clyde Doyle and when he died, he was replaced by archconservative congressman Del Clawson.

Anyways, the thing I'm interested in is the mass exodus from that area in the 1970s. Was anyone old enough back then to remember that time or did anyone here live there back then? Was it the older residents dying off or a dislike for the area?

Stories and Comments are welcome.

James Ellroy's book MY DARK PLACES, about the murder of his mother in El Monte in 1957, talks about the El Monte of that time period. At that time it had the highest level of crime in L.A. County and was evenly divided between Hispanics and Okies.

There was a mass Okie presence virtually everywhere in Southern California, even in places which have currently no trace of Okie culture having ever existed there, like Santa Monica on one end of the economic scale (guitarist Ry Cooder, a native Santa Monican, discusses how Main Street was filled with country honky tonks catering to Okies when he grew up in his latest book), and South Central on the other end of the economic scale.

In the '70s El Monte was a big center of neo-Nazi activity. The American Nazi Party set up there to use tensions resulting from ethnic changes to try to get more membership. Their "fuhrer" was murdered in their headquarters by a member of a different white supremacist group and they died out after that.

Chet Hollifield retired and was replaced by Henry Waxman, which meant his district must have included at least parts of Hollywood and West Hollywood.

The Spook Hunters brought the drive by shooting into gang culture. The only people who did drive by shootings in L.A. before them was the Ku Klux Klan whom they were connected with.

When Boyle Heights became entirely Hispanic in the '50s, many of its Italian residents went to Montebello. Robertpolyglot's somewhat correct about this part, except most Italians don't look like Maureen McCormick or Olivia Newton John. But you had whites of Northern Euro descent there as well including but not limited to Okie descendants.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by majoun

Chet Hollifield retired and...

...they named this after him.

[bruins91]

Originally Posted by majoun

Chet Hollifield retired and was replaced by Henry Waxman, which meant his district must have included at least parts of Hollywood and West Hollywood.
.

His district according to one of the old congressional district maps took in Montebello, Pico Rivera, Norwalk, Whittier and La Mirada. When the state redrew the congressional districts in 1974, they split his district in half. Half of it went to the 30th district which stretched from Maywood to La Puente and the 33rd which stretched from Downey to Diamond Bar. His home was placed in the 30th which was the same home as George Danielson which is why he retired.

The part of Danielson's district in LA proper was combined with parts of Ed Roybal's district to create an East LA centered hispanioc majority district which Roybal ran in. This allowed the creation of a new district in the western precincts of Roybal's district and the eastern precincts of the old 26th which was called the 24th. Waxman ran here in 1974 and has been in office since.

On a side note, I may appear like someone who comes across as weird, so I might as well give you a warning that I'm an aspie.