The Founder's House

In the early 20th century, the citizens of Covina all recognized this ornate manse formerly standing at the southwest corner of San Bernardino Road and Hollenbeck Street as the house of the city's founder: Joseph S. Phillips (1840-1905). Despite its past status as a local landmark, over time its origins became obscured, and confusion has arisen in recent years about exactly whose house this was.

Painting by Melbourne Sumpter, image courtesy Glenn Reed/Covina Valley Historical Society.

Two specific facts about the place are undisputed:

• The first house on that site was built by pioneer José Julián Badilla after he and his elder brother Pedro bought the land in 1876.^1,2,3

• In 1882, after Joseph Phillips agreed to buy 2,000 acres of then ex-Badilla land from J. Edward Hollenbeck (1829-1885), Phillips moved into Julián Badilla's former home.^1,3,4

Most latter-day historians have also presumed that this two-storey Queen Anne Victorian is the same house built by Julián Badilla.^1,4 However, could it be that Phillips replaced the original structure with a home of his own? Fact is, we don't know for certain one way or another, because there is no surviving record of who actually built the old landmark, or when.

In this article, I will attempt to answer the "who and when" with information that is now available, specifically maps that were published in the 1870s and 1880s, modern-day photographic and descriptive evidence, logical deduction and parsimony.

Citrus Avenue, 1938

Looking north on Citrus Avenue...

...from Workman Avenue:

...and from Badillo Street:

But when?

Covina Schools Timeline

When I compiled the Covina History Timeline almost ten years ago, I included several entries that pertained to local educational institutions, but the number and scope of those mentions was necessarily limited. This new timeline delves into the history of Covina's schools in much greater detail. Most of the information presented here concerning schools of the postwar era was drawn from a book published in 1996 by the Covina-Valley Unified School District entitled "Centennial 1896-1996." Other references include Donald Pflueger's histories of Glendora (1951) and Covina (1964), Dr. Barbara Ann Hall's Covina (2007), and newspaper articles of the day found in the online archive Newspapers.com. Citations for specific entries are available upon request. Please bear in mind: this timeline is an ongoing work in progress. Corrections, additions, and their supporting documentation are always welcome.

Circa 1850 – "Don Enrique" Dalton sets aside a room on his Rancho Azusa where the children of the upper valley's earliest settlers can learn their Three Rs.

Second Street Park

For the past eight decades, Covina's Second Street has been a rather bleak expanse of asphalt, but look how pretty it used to be! From 1923-1949, Second had a 16-foot-wide median strip^1,2 running from San Bernardino Road south to Badillo that was graced by 48 Queen palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana). They called it "Second Street Park."³

Looking north on Second Street from College Street, c.1940. Photo courtesy Covina Valley Historical Society c/o Powell Camera Shop.

So why was this visually-appealing landscaping done away with? You guessed it: parking.² Initially, the palms were replanted along the sidewalks and elsewhere,³ but eventually all but one of them were removed. This single, solitary palm at the northeast corner of the Badillo alley is now all that remains of old Second Street Park.

Source: Google Street View.

Kind of sad, isn't it? Wouldn't it be nice if Covina were to re-beautify Second in the 21st century? I can hardly think of another major street in town that is more in need of aesthetic improvement.

References:

¹ Covina Argus, July 28, 1922, p.1.
² Covina Argus-Citizen, April 4, 1947, p.8.
³ Covina Argus-Citizen, June 18, 1948, p.1.

 

Covina's Old Neighbors

The localities described below would have been household names to Covinans during the the town's first half-century, but most are unfamiliar today.

USGS map from 1908 showing Covina and environs in the early 20th century. (Note the original alignments of roads in the area of present-day West Covina.)
Click on the image for an enlargement.

The Baseball Champs of '09

In 1909, Covina made big sports headlines. That year, the town boasted a semi-pro baseball team that went undefeated its entire first season. A remarkable feat in itself, but what followed was arguably the most momentous sporting event to ever take place in Covina, when the major league Chicago White Sox came here to play the amateur champs. Yet surprisingly, this remarkable story was mostly lost to history... until now.

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Our story begins with George E. Covert, a bona fide real estate wunderkind. He closed his first sale when he was only 17, and in 1908, at the age of 23, he sold almost $100,000 worth of orange and walnut groves in a single month.¹ So what does a young hot shot do with that kind of money? Well, George just happened to be a sports fan, so he organized a ball club to represent and promote his adopted town of Covina.²

His first team–which he called the White Squadron–was formed in December, 1908,^3,4 and was manned mostly with homegrown raw talent.⁵ Home games were played at the ball grounds located on leased land^4,5 at the foot of Citrus Avenue,⁶ which at that time was where the I-10 freeway is today.⁷ Admission was 25¢,⁸ and the popular Sunday afternoon games attracted hundreds of fans.⁹

Covert's financial support also paid for much-needed improvements to the field and bleachers,⁶ and snazzy new uniforms that were clearly tailored to impress.³ According to the Los Angeles Herald:

The body of [Covina's] suits will be white, with green trimmings, and the same color scheme will be carried throughout, the coat being green with white cuffs, white pearl buttons, white old English "C" on left breast. Small green "C" showing through white diamond on sleeves of coat. Breeches will have a small green bead running down outside seam, the caps having the same kind of bead on the seams. Stockings will be green, with a broad white band.⁴

And here are the Covina boys, all gussied up in their fancy new finery.

The Covina White Squadron, March, 1909.
Standing: Stewart, 2b; Pitts, p,1b; Covert (Manager); "Bab" Fairly, rf; Shirley, 3b.
Seated: King, c; ?Hooker, cf; Hughes, ss; "Ping" Fairly, p,of; Libby, 1b (Captain);⁴ team mascot; Montague, lf.
Photo courtesy Mark Thiel, Powell Camera Shop, Covina.