Covina Valley Panorama, 1930

Recently, I found this amazing panoramic photograph showing Covina and its environs prior to development.

'Dick' Whittington Studio, photographer. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Link to full-res image.

I realize it doesn't look very amazing at this size, but below are some labeled enlargements which point out what is what in the photo.

Looking west toward the San Jose Hills and West Covina. The "Yaw/Thorpe Estates" were the hilltop properties on Cameron Avenue east of Barranca Avenue that were purchased by popular concert singer "Lark" Ellen Beach Yaw in 1915. The "Rives/Morrissey Estate" was a ranch compound built by Los Angeles businessman Judson Rives. In 1927, banker Thomas Morrissey bought the estate and the entire 421-acre Covina Highlands tract from Rives, intending to subdivide it into ranch-size lots for wealthy buyers. Had Morrissey's plans not been interrupted by a 10-year prison sentence for bank fraud, this area of West Covina might have ended up looking more like a rural version of Beverly Hills than the upper middle class suburb it eventually became.

'Dick' Whittington Studio, photographer. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Link to full-res image.

Looking northwest toward Covina. The property labeled "Nolan-Ruppert Estate" was originally owned by the aforementioned Thomas Morrissey, but the luxurious residence atop the knoll was sold before it was completed in 1928 to another Los Angeles banker, Edward J. Nolan. Nolan sold the house during the Great Depression, and around 1950, it was acquired by the Ruppert family for which the estate became best known. Today's Grand Avenue was originally called Oregon Avenue, and it ended at its intersection with Cameron Avenue on the south and on the north at Virginia Avenue. West Covina's section of Grand Avenue was not connected to Grand in Covina until March, 1962.

'Dick' Whittington Studio, photographer. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Link to full-res image.

The California Preparatory School for Boys was built in 1925-26. In 1942, the Theosophical Society Point Loma acquired the property, and in 1951, the former prep school campus became the home of the California Baptist Theological Seminary. The moving story of the Jobe Property is the subject of my next blog post. The Covina and Spadra Road (right) was the original 1870s mail route over the San Jose Hills to the Pomona Valley. Its northern terminus at this time was at the former Shouse/Hollenbeck Ranch house on the Pomona Road. Built in 1902, it is the oldest structure visible in this photo and is also currently the oldest extant structure in the Covina Hills.

'Dick' Whittington Studio, photographer. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Link to full-res image.

Today, Interstate 10 crosses directly across the middle of the following and previous photo.

Here we are standing on former Baldwin Ranch land looking toward the hills of the old Hollenbeck Ranch. I grew up in the little dale just below Featherstone Quarry. The kids in our neighborhood used to call it the "chalk mine," but it was actually a large natural deposit of diatomaceous earth. The quarry was still in operation at the time of this photo, but a worsening economy forced its closure only a few years later.

'Dick' Whittington Studio, photographer. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Link to full-res image.

Finally, what year was the panorama taken? The Huntington Library says "approximately 1930," and that seems about right. For starters, Golden Bough, Lorencita and Monte Verde Drives didn't exist until 1929, and in the top closeup, the first house built on Buenos Aires Drive in 1931 isn't there yet. So, split the difference, and 1930 pretty much nails it.

Grateful thanks to Randall Smith for his wonderfully-detailed information about the historical Yaw, Thorpe, Morrissey and Nolan properties!