Custer's

It was a household name to just about everybody who lived, worked or grew up in Covina in the latter half of the 20th century, but the story behind the store and its familiar landmark location has largely been lost to history.

It all started with Reginald F. Buller (1840-1913):¹ a banker and former state senator from Idaho who retired to southern California in 1908.² Although he initially intended to settle in Covina, his only enduring contribution to the city turned out to be the erection of a business block at 126 N. Citrus Avenue: the address of the gift shop known to later generations of Covinans as "Custer's."

The Buller block was still as-built with its crowning cornice when this photo was taken in 1925.
Click image for an enlargement.

Buller bought the land for his planned 2-storey commercial structure in May, 1908.³ The parcel was originally the site of the 1891 Warner Brothers grocery,⁴ and its successor company would become the new building's primary tenant. Pioneer contractor Clarence Allison constructed the Buller block in early 1909,^5,6 and Warner, Whitsel & Co. opened their new store to great local fanfare that June.⁴

The Warner, Whitsel & Co. grocery store in the Buller Building (left) c.1910.

Only ten years later, however, Warner-Whitsel announced it had been unable to renew its lease with Buller's estate, so the grocery moved two doors south to the Webb Building at 118 N. Citrus.⁷ Thenceforth, from 1921 until after the Second World War, the Buller Building would be occupied by a series of furniture stores: Gillett's (1921),⁸ Trippel's (1922),⁹ Scofield's (1928)¹⁰ and Sawyer's (1936).¹¹

Meanwhile, on September 7, 1909, just up the street at 142 N. Citrus,¹² a Mr. J. H. Shafe opened the book and stationery store that would eventually become Custer's.¹³ In 1911, it changed hands and its name to the Covina Book Store,¹⁴ and then again in 1921 to the Covina Book and Art Shop.¹⁵ Under that name, it passed through a series of owners until 1928 when it was bought by Clyde C. Custer (1899-1955),¹⁶ son of pioneer undertaker William Q. Custer (1860-1936).¹⁷

After Warner, Whitsel & Co. closed for good in 1928,¹⁸ Clyde Custer moved the Covina Book and Art Shop into the grocery's former space at 118 N. Citrus.¹⁹ Then, in February, 1945, he bought 126 N. Citrus,²⁰ and moved his business there in the second week of March, 1946, renaming it Custer's Gift and Stationery Store.²¹ After Mr. Custer died in 1955,²² it continued to be operated under the family name well into the early 21st century.

Custer's Gift & Office Supply, 1960.²³

Fast forward into the future...

Postmarked Covina

These adjacent buildings at 117-121 East Badillo once comprised the communications hub of the city: the post office, the telephone company, and the hometown newspaper, all within a few steps of each other.

The Home Telephone building (1906)¹ and the plant of the Covina Argus (1907)² in Fall, 1908.

Although this post office was less than a half block from the main street, that was the extent of its convenience, because before 1918, there was no such thing as home delivery.³ People had to go into town and pick up their mail in person.

Postmaster Matthews at his desk, December, 1913.
Courtesy Covina Valley Historical Society, reproduced from Hall, B. A. (2007), p.81.⁴

A true pillar of the community for half a century, James Lewis "Louie" Matthews (1871-1945)⁵ was postmaster from 1903⁶ to 1915, but he is best remembered as the owner/editor/publisher of the Covina Argus newspaper; his long tenure there extending from 1895 to his dying day.³ (I mention Matthews only in passing now, but the man is certainly worthy of an article in his own right.)

By the Thirties, Covina had grown substantially, but as you can see above, the post office didn't keep pace. In 1936, recognizing the need, Chamber of Commerce president James G. Hodges, Jr. personally lobbied Washington for an expanded facility.³ His and others' efforts finally bore fruit, and the new federal post office at 170 East College Street so familiar to most of us opened for business on May 6, 1940.⁷

In the lobby is displayed the cedar New Deal relief sculpture "Covina Desert Orange Groves" by Atanas Katchamakoff (1941). Photo by Glenn Reed, 2016.

Following is an article about the dedication of the 1940 facility, and the history of the Covina post office in general:

Who Really Named Covina?

Back in 2018, the late Glenn Reed told of finding new information about how Covina originally got its name: a previously unknown contemporary account that the elder historian believed credible enough to make the following statement:

I think that is a better story for the naming of Covina than any that I have heard, and besides, it is an account from someone alive at the time; I am accepting it.¹

And now, it just so happens that I've found corroborative evidence for that alternate take on Covina history.

First, though, let me quote the traditional story that's been retold in virtually every recounting of the city's past: that it was Joseph Phillips' surveyor Fred Eaton who authored the name.

...Mr. Eaton observed that because of the embracing mountains and hills the subdivision seemed to lie in a cove. He noted, too, the productive vineyards that had been planted by the settlers. From cove and vine he formed the word "Covina," cove of vineyards, and it struck him that this would be a good name for the new town.²

Frederick S. Eaton in the mid-1880s when the Phillips Tract was surveyed. He was elected City Surveyor of Los Angeles in 1885.^3,4
Image source: Hal Eaton on Find a Grave.

It is factually true that the first time the word "Covina" ever saw print was on the original plat map of the Phillips Tract. But is there actual documentary proof that Eaton was the true author of the name? Or could this be a case of a tale that's been told so many times that people simply assume it's a historical fact?

It turns out, however, that there are other long-forgotten stories of how Covina was christened, and one of those is backed with documentary evidence: that the name originated with a group of German Baptist Brethren, and that their original spelling was "Covena"⁵...

Photo Sleuthing

Whenever I find a picture of old Covina that I've never seen before–like this one from a postcard–I enjoy trying to figure out exactly when it was taken.

Looking north on Citrus Avenue from its intersection with Badillo Street. The original canopy of the Covina Theatre can be seen at right.
Click on image for a larger view.

Just eyeballing the cars and the star-spangled bunting hanging over Citrus, my first thought was the photo might be from a 4th of July in the late 1920s. The postcard was mailed April 28, 1930, so obviously the photo couldn't have been taken any later than that.

I also recognized signage seen in this earlier post showing Citrus Avenue in the mid-Twenties (below)–in particular the McPeake cigar sign at 125 N Citrus–so I knew I had to be looking at sometime between 1925-1929.

North Citrus Avenue in 1925.

Looking more closely, I noticed a distinctive roof line, just barely visible in the distance. Known as the Logan-Stead Building in my day, this was the earliest view of Citrus I could remember seeing it there.

So when was it built? Searching the online archives of the Covina Argus, I found out that site-clearing for what was originally known as the Oddfellows Building had commenced in July, 1929,¹ so that ruled out Independence Day of that year. Then I thought it might be Armistice Day–what we now call Veterans Day–but that didn't become a national holiday until 1938. So if it wasn't July 4th or Armistice Day, why all the patriotic decorations?

This called for a much closer look. Examining my 1200dpi scan, I could make out some diagonal LETTERS near the top of the center banner:

A-ha! Seeing "DEDICATION" there brought to mind one of the first photos of old Covina that I ever added to my digital collection, also of that same building:

No date on it, but it clearly shows the dedication ceremony of the new Oddfellows Building, and there, strung across Citrus, can be seen banners identical to those in the original postcard photo!

So now I feel virtually certain that my mystery picture was taken during the first week of December, 1929, immediately prior to the official opening of the Oddfellows Building on December 7:² 94 years ago today.

Covina Argus, November 29, 1929.

Some additional history on this once-important downtown edifice.

The Oddfellows Building was purchased by Thomas P. Logan and Sam Stead in 1941.³ For many years thereafter, it housed Logan Hardware and several other retail businesses, and was a meeting place for a number of fraternal organizations and service clubs.

The Logan-Stead Building in the mid-Sixties. Source: Facebook, I Grew Up In Covina; photographer unknown.

In its final years, the structure fell into disrepair and was ultimately abandoned. It was destroyed by arson and the site cleared in the early Nineties.⁴

The northeast corner of Citrus and Italia today:

Photo by J Scott Shannon, March 20, 2023.

I really must apologize for the long hiatus. There were so many things I had in mind to write about Covina history this year, but the business of life has kept me almost continuously occupied. I hope to do better in 2024.

References:

¹ Covina Argus, July 12, 1929, p.1.
² Covina Argus, November 29, 1929, p.1.
³ Covina Argus-Citizen, November 29, 1946, p.1.
⁴ Bob Findley on the "I Grew Up In Covina" Facebook group.
Newspaper clipping courtesy Newspapers.com.

 

The First Lady of Covina History

I continue to discover new (or rather, forgotten) stories of old Covina in my searches of online newspaper archives. This one I found especially fascinating. It tells of how Covina's first historian, on the verge of completing a book on her decade of research, was subsequently written out of the history books herself...

Published in 1964, Covina: Sunflowers, Citrus, Subdivisions by Donald H. Pflueger¹ is still regarded as the definitive scholarly treatment of the city's history. In the book's introduction, Pflueger cites long-time Covina resident Gladys Ratekin as a primary source; in so doing intimating that she was the early town's principal chronicler. I have only recently learned, however, that such was not the case. Another woman who preceded Ratekin–Harriett Russell Head–was in actuality the first to garner local recognition and praise for her years-long efforts to document Covina's past.

Harriett R. Head (1860-1936): Covina's first lady of history.
Photo courtesy Mr. Larry Head.

I became aware of Mrs. Head's work only incidentally while attempting to research Gladys Ratekin. I was curious if the latter had written any articles about early Covina for the town newspapers. I was dismayed to find none, and moreover, apparently only once during her lifetime was Miss Ratekin mentioned in the local press as having anything to do with Covina history. This is that single instance:

Covina Citizen, June 7, 1935.²

So, Gladys Ratekin had actually been someone else's understudy? And who was "Mrs. Pardon Head?" I could not recall seeing that name before. So I did another search. I was amazed to find a dozen detailed scholarly articles on Covina history, and an even greater number of news items which reported on Head's curation efforts. Perhaps understandably, this revelation came as quite a surprise.

One search result in particular attracted my attention. In this newspaper article, published in 1952 at the very beginning of his Covina project, Donald Pflueger revealed that he was indeed aware of Harriett Head...

Covina Argus-Citizen, September 26, 1952.³

...and yet nowhere in his completed book is there any mention of Mrs. Head or her extensive prior work.

How extensive? See for yourself below.

Covina Present

Because I live 700 miles away, I don't get to visit Covina very often. Last week, however, I was in L.A. for some eye appointments, and while in the area I spent an afternoon driving and walking around my old home town.

The last time I was here, Citrus Avenue had been transformed into an outdoor dining area which shall we say was not exactly conducive to sightseeing. So I was pleased to now see that the main street had returned to normal; or at least normal for Covina in this day and age.

All photos © J Scott Shannon.