Covina Past: 2020

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Mayors of Covina

A list of the mayors of the City of Covina in the 20th century, courtesy of Glenn Reed.

E.G. Clapp 1901-1904 E.H. Lahee 1904-1910 L.L. Ratekin 1910-1912 C.S. Beardsley 1912-1916 J.N. Wilson 1916-1918 R.A. Welch 1918-1920 J.M. Stanton 1920-1922 J.P. Overholtzer 1922-1924 G.H. Maxfield 1924-1926 J.N. Wilson 1926-1928 G.H. Maxfield 1928-1940 Seth Colver 1940-1948 Paul Chapman 1948-1950 Howard Hawkins 1950-1956 Paul Welch 1956-1958 Donald Leggett 1958-1959 Maurice Upton 1959-1960 Howard Hawkins 1960-1962 Seth Colver 1962-1964 Oscar Yeager 1964-1968 Frank Haven 1968-1972 Howard Hawkins 1972-1974 Louis Brutocao 1974-1976 Elaine Donaldson 1976-1978 Karl Jaeger 1978-1980 Charles G. Colver 1980-1982 Henry Morgan 1982-1984 Charles G. Colver 1984-1986 Larry Straight 1986-1988 Robert G. Low 1988-1990 Christopher Lancaster 1990-1992 Henry Morgan (recalled) 1992-1993 Thomas O'Leary 1993-1996 Linda D. Sarver 1996-1997 Thomas O'Leary 1997-1998 Kevin Stapleton 1998-1999

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Covina Theatre Opens, 1921

Ad announcing the Grand Opening of the Covina Theatre, which appeared in the Covina Argus newspaper on December 16, 1921.

Image courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

Transcription of the accompanying news article:

NEW COVINA THEATER ANNOUNCES OPENING PERFORMANCE MONDAY Film Playhouse of Most Modern Type Will Seat Over Five Hundred — Candy Box Ready — Stores to Keep Open Evenings, Presenting Marshall Neilan's most successful drama, Bits of Life, as the main feature of the program, the Covina theater, known for years as the Star theater, will open to the public its new home on this coming Monday, December 19. Special music, and a distinctive Christmas atmosphere will be a part of the program for the entire week, and matinees will be announced for the latter part of next week in conjunction with the holiday shopping. The Covina stores will all keep open in the evening all during the week to accommodate the Christmas shoppers, and the theater will cooperate with the merchants in furnishing a first-class attraction. The Covina theater occupies the remodeled building of Dr. J. D. Reed, next to the Covina National bank. It has taken the space formerly occupied by the Covina Furniture Company, and also the upper floor that was formerly the Masonic hall. The theater is made possible through the cooperation of Dr. Reed with the theater owners, Messrs. Sink and Leonardy. Dr. Reed has invested several thousand dollars in the remodeling, and an equal amount has been put in by the theater owners. The theater has more than 500 seats, or nearly twice the capacity of the old Star theater. Exceptionally good seats are to be had in the balcony, and there are loge seats on each side of the main floor. The floor is pitched at such an angle that every person in the house will be able to get a full view of the screen, according to Frank Cox, the architect who supervised the building. Managers Sink and Leonardy announced that there will be no change of prices for the opening night. Bits of Life is a film that features Wesley Barry, the child actor, as well as an all-star cast consisting of Lon Chaney, John Bowers, Teddy Sampson, Frederick Burton, James Neil, Noah Beery, Harriet Hammond, Anna May Wong, James Bradbury, Rockliffe Fellows and Tammany Young. There are four separate stories in the film, but all related in a most sensational drama. THE CANDY BOX OPENS Simultaneous with the opening of the Covina theater will be the opening of Hervey A. Werden's The Candy Box, his new sweet shop that occupies a part of the space with the Covina theater frontage. The Palace of Sweets owner has evolved a very attractive place of business from a room twenty-five feet square. The shape of the store gave Mr. Werden the idea for the new name. The Candy Box is being given the last decorative touches this week. Its pink and white interior and mahogany colorings in furniture make it one of the most attractive shops in Southern California. A new soda fountain is also fitted with paraphernalia for the making of hot chocolate and the serving of light lunches. This place will undoubtedly be a popular rendezvous for theater patrons. In conjunction with the opening of his new shop Mr. Werden has arranged for a special dinner on Monday evening at the Palace of Sweets, where he will service a regular course dinner with all the fixings. All Covina stores will keep open until 10:30 in the evening during the coming week. Local newspapermen say that the Covina stores were never before stocked as heavily with Christmas articles as this year. All merchants say that the trade so far has been very satisfactory. From: The Covina Argus, December 16, 1921, p.1 Courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com

Ad for "The Candy Box" concession stand at the front of the new theater.
Image courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

Out with the old and in with the new! Looks like the old Star Theatre had its last showing on Thursday, December 15th, and the new Covina Theatre opened unofficially the next day. Also, it appears '(A) Midnight Bell' was actually the very first feature shown in the brand new venue; 'Bits of Life' being the Grand Opening bill-topper.

Image courtesy: Digital Archives of the Covina Public Library, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

I've never been able to find a good photo of the Covina Theatre in the 1920s, so I guess, like so many other things these days, all you get to see is ads. :-)

The Covina Theatre was demolished completely in 2004. Nothing of it remains today. The performing arts center there now is an entirely new building from the ground up.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Covina On the Cusp

Title page of the CHS Cardinal yearbook from 1954: the year I was born in Covina. It shows my home town on the cusp of its transition from citrus-growing capital to suburban residential community.

Click for full-res image.

Still more groves than subdivisions at this point, but that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

The old high school would soon be no more, as well. CHS began transitioning to a new location on Puente at Hollenbeck starting in Fall, 1956. That same year, students from West Covina attended classes at the old campus until their own new high school would be ready in 1957. In 1958-1959, it became an all-freshman high school, where students from all over the area waited for Northview, Charter Oak, and Edgewood to be completed. After closing in 1960, both the gymnasium and main building were targets of arson fires, and the entire complex was subsequently demolished.

Covina High quad, 1954. Science Hall annex at left. Click for full-res image.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

"75 Years of Covina"

Excellent video summarizing the history of our home town, originally presented in 1977 by the Rotary Club of Covina, and released on DVD in 2006 by the Covina Valley Historical Society. Historical materials compiled and presented by Vernon Jobe with narration by William B. Temple, and supervised by William Stone.

Among the topics covered are the history of irrigation, the citrus industry, rail transportation, schools, social organizations, postal service, the fire department, early telephone service, civic improvements, and a series of very interesting "before and after" views of Covina and environs over the years. Well worth a watch!

Monday, April 6, 2020

Citrus Avenue, 1938

A bright, sunny winter's day on Citrus Avenue in Covina in February of 1938.

The street clock in front of the Finch Bros. jewelry store reads high noon, and customers look to be filing in to the Covina Theatre for today's matinee. The Reed Block (1900) in which the theater resides sports a brand new art deco facade made of stucco, and both of Covina's old landmark bank buildings on the opposite side of Citrus are slathered with the same modern material, as well. The WCTU drinking fountain still stands on the corner, but with a different pedestal now. Drugs seem to be the most popular retail commodity in town these days, with cafes and bake shops taking place and show respectively.