In mid November the History Press will publish my new (and first) book, A Brief History of Los Alamitos & Rossmoor. I’m very proud of this work – and not just because some of it is accurate. Anyway, I’ve shamelessly listed 10 reasons why you should think about buying this book when it goes on … 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
One of Ross Cortese’s strengths was his marketing skills. The homes were okay, construction was better than most but as a developer he paid attention to the little things and then made sure everybody knew about them. Cortese hired top name designers and architects — as much for their name as their work. He made … Read more
1966 Jet Bomber crash between Yellowtail and Rowena probably the worst One of the hazards of residing so close to a major (at least, at one-time) military airport is that sometimes the planes that are going up have on very rare occasions gone down — that has happened at least three times in Rossmoor.l There … Read more
Originally printed in the Enterprise, 27 OCT 1957 Rossmoor Homeowners Assn. formed at Sunday night meeting at Congregational Church. Ross Dorsett is appointed temporary chairman. Appointed as temporary executive board of the association are: Luther Robinson, Willis Clark, John Both, Mrs. Tom Tripp, David Battin, Robert Fullaway, B.W. Gilfillian, Ellis Warmpler, Dr. Goodwin-Malmouth, Lawrence Michealsen, … Read more
Originally printed in the Enterprise, 27 OCT 1957 Rossmoor Homeowners Assn. formed at Sunday night meeting at Congregational Church. Ross Dorsett is appointed temporary chairman. Appointed as temporary executive board of the association are: Luther Robinson, Willis Clark, John Both, Mrs. Tom Tripp, David Battin, Robert Fullaway, B.W. Gilfillian, Ellis Warmpler, Dr. Goodwin-Malmouth, Lawrence Michealsen, … Read more
The earliest mention of a public library in Los Alamitos goes back to Feb. 13, 1922 [ref]News Notes of California Libraries, Oct. 1922 , p.608-612; p. 613, Laurel [/ref]. A state directory listing for the new Orange County Free Library System, says it serves the entire county except Anaheim, Buena Park Library District, Fullerton, Huntington … Read more
This obituary below appeared in the North County Times (San Diego County), February 23, 2006. Garland Stephens was a very involved personality in the Los Alamitos-Rossmoor area. He apparently became more involved with the Race Track affairs after the death of Frank Vessels, Sr. in 1963. He was very involved with the track during the … Read more
The headline could almost be from 1961 or from 2011. The Rossmoor-Los Al annexation discussion has been going on for a long time. Here are some articles from the 1981 version of the dialog. Orange County Register, May 31, 1981 (page C2) Los Alamitos Drops Plan to Annex Rossmoor by Rod Speer Register Staff … Read more
30 SEP 1956 — 3 FLYERS DIE IN CRASH. — a twin-engine Navy anti-submarine plane from VS 772 crashed into a sugar beet field shortly after taking off from the NAS Los Alamitos at 10:30am Saturday. The three men in its crew were killed instantly. The plane was a Grumman S2F Sentinel radio training mission. Killed … Read more