After the Sugar Company moved its refining operations down to the Santa Ana Sugar plant, the factory buildings were home to diverse enterprises. Dr. Ross Pet food was probably the best known, but the factory was also used by Douglas Aircraft, and the warehouse was used to store cotton. One of the more interesting ventures … Read more
This ran in the Long Beach Press-Telegram on Jan. 13, 1960. Henryu Lucas was one of the very first employees of the Los Alamitos Sugar Factory and he ascted as a watchman at the plant through the company’s final days. After it was sold, he continued as the plant’s watchman for the new owners, at … Read more
This obituary ran in the Long Beach Press, January 2, 1915 Death date not given. Born in Vermont Nov. 16, 1851.Married Miss Emma Hall of Barton, Vt., in 1877 and they came to California 20 years ago, living in Los Alamitos for 17 years. He worked for the Los Alamitos Sugar company, becoming sales manager … Read more
This obituary ran in the Long Beach Press, January 2, 1915 Death date not given. Born in Vermont Nov. 16, 1851.Married Miss Emma Hall of Barton, Vt., in 1877 and they came to California 20 years ago, living in Los Alamitos for 17 years. He worked for the Los Alamitos Sugar company, becoming sales manager … Read more
Nellie Butterfield and her brother Harry left two of the earliest first person remembrances of life in early Los Alamitos. While some details differ4 (Nellie says the family came in 1898, Harry says it was 1897 and Harry is probably right) overall, they provide a consistent record of how things were in the young town. … Read more
The beginning of the end of the Los Alamitos Sugar Factory began with the release of a report by Orange County officials detailing all the potential hazards of the abandoned facility. With all the negatives laid out, and the place being labeled a “death trap,” the absentee landlord (he apparently lived in Pasadena) had no … Read more
Los Alamitos sugar factory General Manager E.C. Hamilton, who assumed control of the factory in 1914, continued to update and modernize the Los Alamitos factory and the town seem to get into the act as well. The war in Europe no doubt had some affect on the price of beets and its availability. Government quotas … Read more
printed in LA Times, August 11, 1903 and Covina Argus, Saturday, August 15 In these days when the fertile valleys of Southern California are cut up into small holdings and the large ranches are fast disappearing, the casual observer is apt to think that the business of cattle raising in Los Angeles County is a … Read more
One of the most persistent local myths is that the original wall surrounding Rossmoor was built from the bricks of the demolished Los Alamitos Sugar Factory. While a nice story with some pleasant symmetry, this, unfortunately, seems to be untrue. The wall was built by Ross Cortese’s Frematic Development Company in 1956 and 1957 during … Read more
Local oldtimers have cited that the Los Alamitos Sugar Factory would kick off its annual campaign — the opening of the factory to take in the just-harvested sugar beet crop — with a big barbecue picnic and celebration. This would usually occur in mid July to early August, depending on that year’s crop. But the … Read more