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Neighbors, Darrell (audio interview #2 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview was conducted at Neighbors' Long Beach home. 12/30/1983
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- 2021-01-04
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- *** File: subdneighbors5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:53)... Introduction In the later 19th century, when Rancho Los Alamitos was for sale there was 27,000 acres available at $.85 or $.90 an acre. John Bixby, who managed the land, started to subdivide part of it the along Ocean Boulevard between Alamitos and Ximeno. Soon after that, when John Bixby died, the partners decided to split up. They established Alamitos Land Company to hold the east end of Signal Hill, because no one particularly wanted it, along with the subdivided property. John Bixby's family took the land east of Pacific Coast Highway; Llewellyn Bixby's family took what is now the east part of the airport down around the Traffic Circle. Jotham Bixby took all of the land that is now Lakewood. (2:53-5:53)... In 1921 oil was discovered on Signal Hill. Jotham Bixby sold his land in Lakewood to Senator Clark, from Montana, who formed the Montana Land Company. Senator Clark grew sugar beets on his land. Llewellyn and Jotham Bixby's families contributed land when they formed the Bixby Land Company. Part of the land in Los Alamitos was deeded to Clark and in return he built a sugar beet factory there. The Southern Pacific Railroad built a spur to serve the factory. The sugar beets were new to the area at this time but later became unprofitable. (5:53-9:03)... Bixby Land Company was formed in 1896 and Alamitos Land Company was formed in 1888. The sugar beets were a thriving business for a while. On Rancho Los Alamitos, Fred Bixby had 20 or 30 Mexican families that lived on the ranch and worked for him. They were not paid very little, but they had houses, food, clothing, medical care and other things provided for them. When Fred Bixby died the workers' wages were raised and they were given annuities. Later when the ranch was broken up, they were forced to move. (9:03-11:13)... When John Bixby managed Rancho Los Alamitos, he raised cattle and sheep and had a dairy. The Bixby Land Company had a dairy in Los Alamitos as well, north of the sugar factory. Their processing plant was near where the Sears Roebuck store was later built in downtown Long Beach. They had horse drawn trucks to deliver milk. The cattle were later infected with hoof and mouth disease and the government came in and shot all of them. The company was not compensated for the cattle. (11:13-15:17)... Neighbors did not know Jotham Bixby, but he knew his children and grandchildren. Jotham Bixby was a very religious man who helped to build the First Congregational Church in Long Beach. He supported prohibition. After Long Beach was incorporated in 1881-82, the city council was encouraged by local church groups to adopt an ordinance to put the only saloon in town out of business. E. C. Denio was Long Beach's first attorney. He didn't drink himself, but felt it was wrong to deny the saloon owner his right to sell alcohol. He was part of a group that managed to disincorporate he city. The city was reincorporated in 1888. (15:17-19:25)... Matt Simpson is an attorney who came to Long Beach after Denio and became, along with some other attorneys, Denio's partner. Their firm represented the Craigs and some of the other prominent people in town. Louis Denni lived on Signal Hill, where he had a dairy. Later oil was discovered on his land and he became rich. Neighbors did not know him well. He was better acquainted with Dick Loynes who was president of the Mutual Loan Company which went broke during the Depression. The savings and loans companies back then could only make loans on real estate. (19:25-23:41)... O. B.. Fuller was a cattle rancher who's family owned the Pioneer Truck Company in Los Angeles. He was a manager and stockholder of the Los Angeles Warehouse Company. Fuller and Fred Bixby owned the only Chinese theater in Los Angeles. In 1948, when Neighbors started working for the Jotham Bixby Company, they owned warehouses in Los Angeles that Jotham Bixby had built in the 1920s. At one point they had 40 or 50, but after the Depression they sold all but 6. Neighbors visited the warehouses several times a month to make sure the buildings were maintained and to take care of the leases. Fred Bixby was on the board of directors of the Jotham Bixby Company at this time. Fred Bixby owned several buildings near Los Angeles City Hall. The largest buildings was a warehouse that was leased to the Republic Storage Company. One of the other buildings had a theater on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and had smaller rooms on the 1st floor. (23:41-26:30)... Neighbors had a hard time making any good leases in the area where the theater was located. The city of Los Angeles later threatened to condemn the whole area, but later purchased the land. Fred Bixby was in high school when his father died. Half of his father's estate went to his widow, Susan, a quarter went to Fred, and a quarter went to his sister. When Susan passed away Rancho Los Alamitos was divided between Fred and his sister. (26:30-30:34)... Susan planted the eucalyptus trees in Park Estates and wanted to subdivide the land into 3-4 acres estates. Fred Bixby and his sister's husband, Dr. Bryant, had a poor relationship. They fought over Fred Bixby's mother's land when she passed away. When the Navy condemned part of Fred Bixby's land, he approached the Chamber of Commerce Board, asking them to stop the action. He stuttered when he got excited, and in this case, actually started crying over the fact that the government was taking his land. The Chamber was not able to do anything and Fred Bixby tried to bring a lawsuit himself. End of tape *** File: subdneighbors6.mp3 (0:00-4:14)... The city of Long Beach purchased the land from Fred Bixby that was then given to California to establish Long Beach State College. In 1931 the Bixby Home Property Trust was set up and endowed with a lot of money. Fred Bixby wanted to keep the Rancho as a place where his children and grandchildren could visit so he transferred title to the home to the trust. After his wife passed on, none of the children wanted to live on the property. Katharine Hotchkis, one of Fred Bixby's daughters, and her sister gave the home place as a gift to the city. The buildings were moved closer together, restored and a wall was put around them. The city bought Rancho Los Cerritos from Llewellyn's family. Kenneth Wing was the architect that planned the restoration of Rancho Los Cerritos in the 1930s. (4:14-8:03)... Llewellyn Bixby grew up in Long Beach. He went to the grammar school on 4th Street and later to Poly High School. Jotham Bixby's family lived on Rancho Los Cerritos and later moved to Los Angeles. Later still, they came back to Long Beach and built a house. Jotham Bixby's son George married and passed away after fathering 6 children. His wife's family owned some property near Signal Hill. Two of Jotham Bixby's grandsons and one of his granddaughters were still alive at the time of the interview. (8:03-12:28)... Neighbors never knew Fanny Bixby Spencer, one of Jotham Bixby's daughters. She was a socialist and a pacifist and was arrested a few times during WWI for anti-war activities. She married and lived near what is now Costa Mesa. When she drove to Los Angeles and saw Japanese children on the way, she stopped and talked to them. She liked the children and asked their parents if they could come live with her. She saw that they were clothed and educated. When Fanny Spencer died, she left them stock in the company, and when her husband died, he left them the rest. Most of the children that Fanny took in were Japanese but there were non-Japanese kids as well. The Japanese children that grew up with Fanny spoke of her with reverence. (12:28-15:41)... Florence Bixby, Fred Bixby's wife, was among the founders of the Long Beach Day Nursery. The nursery was created to care for the children of single parent families. There was a lot of friction between Florence Bixby's daughters and one son. The son tried to declare his father incompetent in order to break up the trust he established and after his father died, he constantly sued the company. Fred Bixby left his wife in control of his company when he died. When she died, the trust was broken up and the family's home was given to the city. (15:41-18:41)... Katharine Hotchkis, Fred's daughter, was the dominant one among Fred and Florence Bixby's children. After the ranch house and grounds were given to Long Beach, she wanted a docent program set-up and asked Neighbor's wife to start it. Katharine Hotchkis knew Neighbors because he was working with her father's warehouses. His wife, Markie, had been president of the YWCA and of the Community Volunteer Office so she seemed like a good choice for the job. The people who lived in the houses around the ranch grounds had to be involved because their home owners association controlled the streets that led to the ranch site. The Long Beach chapter of the Assistance League wanted to build a teahouse on the ranch site, but the city, which now owned the land, would not agree to their plan. (18:41-21:20)... A housekeeper had lived on the ranch for a long time and took care of Fred and Florence Bixby and she continued to live there after the city took over. George Salzer, who had worked for Fred as a bookkeeper, was given the job of curator of the rancho. (21:20-26:11)... Neighbors joined the Rotary Club in 1948, when he was an executive of the Community Chest; at one point, he served as president. Kiwanis was started in 1917 in Long Beach. Rotary was also big, with 350-400 members. It had a larger budget than other service clubs and got big speakers. Long Beach Rotary has had a long relationship with the Day Nursery. They raised money and put on activities for the kids. (26:11-28:10)... Neighbors was on the board of Camp Fire Girls for several years. He found it easier to raise money for boys' organizations than for the girls, but he girls were just as important as boys. (28:10-30:39)... Kenneth Wing was the first president of the University Club. Neighbors joined and encouraged Fred Bixby to also become a member. The club did not last very long and the International City Club soon took over many of their responsibilities. The Jotham Bixby Company provided Neighbors with a membership in the International City Club, but he dropped out once the company went out of business. Board members of both Alamitos and Bixby Land companies often had lunch there after board meetings. End of tape
- SUBJECT BIO - Darrell Neighbors was among the leaders in the fight to end subsidence in Long Beach. As oil was produced from deposits under Long Beach harbor, the land under the city began to sink. Those who were benefiting from the oil revenue, including the local harbor department, opposed some efforts to stop the sinking. At the same time, those who were suffering damage from the sinking or were afraid if it continued the ocean might inundate the whole city, struggled to stop it. In these three interviews, Neighbors talks about the struggle against subsidence and about his work for the Bixby companies. He describes some of the companies' histories and their impact on Long Beach's growth. In addition, he discusses his other local experiences including working for Security First National Bank during the Depression. These interviews were part of a project to study the impact of the discovery of oil on the development of Long Beach. TOPICS - Bixby companies; Rancho Los Alamitos; Matt Simpson; Signal Hill; and Los Angeles real estate investments; Bixby companies; Fanny Bixby Spencer; Rancho Los Cerritos; Long Beach Day Nursery; Long Beach Rotary Club; Rancho Los Alamitos; and Camp Fire Girls;
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