Agenda packet — Paramount City Council, March 11, 2025 (part 1 of 2)

Agenda
City Council
March 11, 2025
Regular Meeting - City Hall Council Chamber - 6:00 PM
16400 Colorado Avenue Paramount, CA 90723 (562) 220-2000 www.paramountcity.gov

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION NOTICE
In-person Attendance: The public may attend the City Council meetings in-person.

View the City Council meeting live stream:
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• In-Person
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• E-mail public comments must be received by 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting. The e-mail should specify the following information: 1) Full Name; 2) City of Residence; 3) Phone Number; 4) Public Comment or Agenda Item No; 5) Subject; 6) Written Comments.

All public comments are limited to a maximum of three (3) minutes unless an extension is granted. No action may be taken on items not on the agenda except as provided by law. All public comments will be recorded and rules of decorum and procedures for the conduct of City meetings will apply when addressing the City Council.

Any document distributed to a majority of the City Council regarding any item on this agenda after distribution of the agenda packet will be made available in the City Clerk’s office during normal business hours at City Hall located at 16400 Colorado Ave., Paramount, CA 90723. In addition, such documents will be posted on the City’s website at www.paramountcity.gov/government/city-council/meeting-agendas-minutes/.

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Joseph Dominguez, Adaptive Recreation Program Participant INVOCATION: Pastor Grady Jones, New Commandment Missionary Baptist Church

ROLL CALL OF
COUNCILMEMBERS:

Councilmember Isabel Aguayo
Councilmember Brenda Olmos
Councilmember Vilma Cuellar Stallings
Vice Mayor Peggy Lemons
Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo
Agenda March 11, 2025
Regular Meeting City Council Page 2

PRESENTATIONS

1. VIDEO WATER WELL 16 TANK WRAP

2. PRESENTATION MAYOR’S GOLD KEY AWARD

3. PROCLAMATION AMERICAN RED CROSS AWARENESS MONTH

4. PROCLAMATION NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

5. PROCLAMATION DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AWARENESS MONTH

6. CERTIFICATE OF

RECOGNITION
PARAMOUNT HIGH SCHOOL CHEER TEAM – CIF CHAMPIONS
AND 2025 UNIVERSAL CHEERLEADERS ASSOCIATION (UCA)

NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADING CHAMPIONS

7. CERTIFICATE OF

RECOGNITION
PARAMOUNT YOUTH SOCCER ORGANIZATION 2024 SOCAL
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS – 2012 AND 2014 BOYS

8. CERTIFICATE OF

RECOGNITION

HONORING FIRST RESPONDERS FOR THEIR HEROIC

EFFORTS DURING THE DEVASTATING SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA FIRES.

9. RECOGNITION CITY OF PARAMOUNT RETIREE – LASHAN SHANNON – 31 YEARS

CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC COMMENT UPDATES

PUBLIC COMMENTS

CONSENT CALENDAR
All items under the Consent Calendar may be enacted by one motion. Any item may be removed from the Consent Calendar and acted upon separately by the City Council.

10. APPROVAL MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 11, 2025 (SPECIAL MEETING), FEBRUARY 11, 2025 AND FEBRUARY 25, 2025
Recommended Action: Approve the City Council meeting minutes of February 11, 2025 (Special Meeting), February 11, 2025 and February 25, 2025.

11. APPROVAL REGISTER OF DEMANDS – FEBRUARY 2025 (CITY) Recommended Action: Approve the Register of Demands for February 2025.

Agenda March 11, 2025
Regular Meeting City Council Page 3

12. ACCEPTANCE OF
WORK
SUBSTATION ROOF REPLACEMENT (CITY PROJECT NO. 9470)
Recommended Action: Accept the work performed by Bishop, Inc., Orange, CA, for the Substation roof replacement project and authorize payment of the retention.

13. ORDINANCE
1194

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 10.04.010 AND 10.04.020

OF THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE INCORPORATION OF

THE COUNTY TRAFFIC CODE REGARDING
Recommended Action: Read by title only, waive further reading, and adopt Ordinance No. 1194.

14. ORDINANCE
1195

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 8.04.010 AND 8.04.040

OF THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING

INCORPORATION OF THE COUNTY HEALTH AND SAFETY
CODE
Recommended Action: Read by title only, waive further reading, and adopt Ordinance No. 1195.

15. RESOLUTION
25:008

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

PARAMOUNT AUTHORIZING A LETTER OF AGREEMENT

AMENDING THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN THE CITY AND TEAMSTERS LOCAL 911
(JUNETEENTH HOLIDAY)
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 25:008 authorizing a Letter of Agreement amending the Memorandum of
Understanding between the City of Paramount and Teamsters Local 911 to incorporate the Juneteenth Holiday, and authorize the City Manager to execute the Letter of Agreement.

16. APPROVAL REQUEST FOR INSTALLATION OF A DISABLED PARKING ZONE IN FRONT OF 8421 ELBURG STREET
Recommended Action: Approve the request for installation of a disabled parking zone in front of 8421 Elburg Street.

17. ACCEPTANCE OF
WORK
TRAFFIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS 2023 (CITY PROJECT NO.
9235)
Recommended Action: Accept the work performed by Elecnor Belco Electric, Inc., Chino, CA, for the Traffic Safety Improvements 2023 project and authorize payment of the retention.

18. ACCEPTANCE OF
WORK
DILLS PARK RESTROOM (CITY PROJECT NO. 9259)
Recommended Action: Accept the work performed by 3M
Construction Corporation, Anaheim, CA for the Dills Park Restroom project and authorize payment of the retention.

Agenda March 11, 2025
Regular Meeting City Council Page 4

19. ACCEPTANCE OF
WORK
WELL 16 PERIMETER LANDSCAPE (CITY PROJECT NO. 9116)
Recommended Action: Accept the work performed by SGD
Enterprises DBA Four Seasons Landscaping, Van Nuys, CA for the Well 16 Perimeter Landscape project and authorize payment of the retention.

NEW BUSINESS

20. ORAL REPORT CARE SOLACE, INC. PROGRAM OVERVIEW

21. RECEIVE AND
FILE

CONSIDERATION OF A HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT AND

HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY
Recommended Action: Provide feedback about the Historic Context Statement and Survey and receive and file this report.

22. RESOLUTION
25:009

RECOMMENDED ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION OF

NECESSITY OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

PARAMOUNT FOR THE ACQUISITION BY EMINENT DOMAIN

OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY INTERESTS FOR PUBLIC

PURPOSES IN CONNECTION WITH THE CIVIC CENTER

IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (THE HAY TREE PROPERTY,
LOCATED AT 16471 PARAMOUNT BLVD., AND MORE
PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS ASSESSOR PARCEL NOS.
7120-027-019 & 020, IN THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT,

CALIFORNIA)
Recommended Action: Consider adoption of Resolution No. 25:009, a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Paramount declaring certain real property interests necessary for public purposes and authorizing the acquisition thereof in connection with the Civic Center Improvement Project (The Hay Tree property, located at 16471 Paramount Blvd., and more particularly described as Assessor Parcel Nos. 7120-027-019 & 020, in the City of Paramount, California)

23. RECEIVE AND
FILE
UPDATED GUIDELINES – RESIDENTIAL AIR PURIFIER AND

FILTER REBATE PROGRAM
Recommended Action: Receive and file the update on the
Residential Air Purifier and Filter Rebate Program and provide feedback to staff.

24. APPROVAL PROPOSED EDUCATION/MILITARY BANNER LOCATION

CHANGES
Recommended Action: Approve the proposed Education/Military Banner location changes and provide staff direction to move them accordingly.

Agenda March 11, 2025
Regular Meeting City Council Page 5

25. APPROVAL FRIDAY NIGHT POP-UP TRAFFIC CONTROL PLANS AND

EQUIPMENT RENTAL SERVICES WITH MERIDIAN RAPID

DEFENSE GROUP LLC DBA MERIDIAN RAPID DEFENSE

GROUP RENTALS LLC
Recommended Action: 1) Approve the traffic control plans for the Friday Night Paramount popup events at Orange Avenue and at the intersection of Gundry Avenue and Jackson Street; and 2) Authorize the use of Meridian Rapid Defense Group LLC DBA Meridian Rapid Defense Group Rentals LLC for the Meridian barrier equipment rental services.

26. AWARD OF

CONTRACT

MEDIAN ENHANCEMENTS ON ALONDRA BOULEVARD AND

ROSECRANS AVENUE FROM WEST CITY BOUNDARY TO
ORANGE AVENUE (CITY PROJECT NO. 9435)
Recommended Action: 1) Approve the plans and specifications as detailed in the bid documents, with respect to design criteria; 2) Find the project exempt from CEQA; and 3) Award the contract for the reclaimed irrigation line median enhancement on Alondra Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue project to Marina Landscape, Inc., Orange, California in the amount of $49,500, and authorize the Mayor or her designee to execute the agreement.

SUCCESSOR AGENCY FOR THE PARAMOUNT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY - CONSENT

CALENDAR
SA1. APPROVAL REGISTER OF DEMANDS – FEBRUARY 2025 (SUCCESSOR

AGENCY)
Recommended Action: Approve the Successor Agency Register of Demands for February 2025.

COMMENTS/COMMITTEE REPORTS

CLOSED SESSION

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION
Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1) – One (1) case
Shadowood Development v. City of Paramount; Case No. 22STCV09407

ADJOURNMENT
To a Joint Meeting with the Planning Commission on March 25, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 16400 Colorado Ave., Paramount, CA. The next regular meeting of the City Council will be held on March 25, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.

Americans with Disabilities Act: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s office at (562) 220-2225 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting to enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.

Note: Physical hard copies of agenda items are on file in the City Clerk’s office and are available for public inspection during normal business hours. Materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted after distribution of the agenda packet are also available for public inspection during normal business hours in the City Clerk’s office. The office of the City Clerk is located at City Hall, 16400 Colorado Avenue, Paramount.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: WATER WELL 16 TANK WRAP
A video highlighting the Water Well 16 Tank Wrap will be presented.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: MAYOR’S GOLD KEY AWARD
The Mayor’s Gold Key Award recognizes Paramount residents, individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations that have gone to extraordinary lengths to have a significant positive impact on the lives of Paramount community members. At tonight’s meeting, Mayor Delgadillo will present the March 2025 Mayor’s Gold Key Award to Pastor Grady Jones.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Margarita Matson, Public Safety Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: AMERICAN RED CROSS AWARENESS MONTH
The City Council will proclaim March as American Red Cross Awareness Month in the City of Paramount.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Yecenia Guillen, Community Services
Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
The City Council will proclaim March National Women’s History Month in the City of Paramount.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Yecenia Guillen, Community Services
Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AWARENESS MONTH
The City Council will proclaim March as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in the City of Paramount.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Yecenia Guillen, Community Services
Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: PARAMOUNT HIGH SCHOOL CHEER TEAM – CIF CHAMPIONS AND 2025 UNIVERSAL CHEERLEADERS ASSOCIATION (UCA) NATIONAL

HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADING CHAMPIONS
A certificate of recognition will be presented to the Paramount High School Cheer Team for their CIF Championship and 2025 UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship
To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Yecenia Guillen, Community Services
Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: PARAMOUNT YOUTH SOCCER ORGANIZATION 2024 SOCAL TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS – 2012 AND 2014 BOYS
Certificates of recognition will be presented to the Paramount Youth Soccer Organization 2012 and 2014 boys soccer teams for their outstanding achievement in being awarded the title of SOCAL Tournament Champions.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Margarita Matson, Public Safety Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: HONORING FIRST RESPONDERS FOR THEIR HEROIC EFFORTS DURING THE DEVASTATING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRES.

The City Council will honor our local first responders for their extraordinary efforts during the recent devastating fires in Southern California. We are proudly recognizing the invaluable contributions of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Station 31, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Grissel Chavez, Assistant City Manager
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: CITY OF PARAMOUNT RETIREE – LA SHAN SHANNON – 31 YEARS The City Council will recognize recent retiree LaShan Shannon for his dedicated service to the City of Paramount.

City Council Public Comment Updates
March 11, 2025
From the February 25th City Council Meeting:

Commenter Request/Issue/Concern Action/Comment
Robert Cruz Requesting changes to the
City’s summer concert
programming that included
diversifying music, moving
to another venue, and
shifting timing.

Under previous City Council
direction, staff has already been
working on including different
musical performers for added
diversity. Regarding the venue,
the City Council explained to
Mr. Cruz that we had previously
held Summer Concerts at
Paramount Park and we
experienced low attendance.

Progress Park tends to have
better attendance.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 11, 2025 (SPECIAL MEETING), FEBRUARY 11, 2025 AND FEBRUARY 25, 2025

BACKGROUND
The City Council meeting minutes are prepared by the City Clerk and presented to the City Council for review and approval.

DISCUSSION
The City Council meeting minutes of February 11, 2025 (Special Meeting), February 11, 2025 and February 25, 2025 are attached for review and approval.

FISCAL IMPACT
None.

VISION, MISSION, VALUES, AND STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
The City’s Vision, Mission, and Values set the standard for the organization, establish priorities, uniformity and guidelines; and provide the framework for policy decision making. The Strategic Outcomes were implemented to provide a pathway to achieving the City’s Vision. This item aligns with Strategic Outcome No 6: Efficient, Effective, and Fiscally Responsible - Deliver an efficient and effective City government in a fiscally responsible, transparent and collaborative manner.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve the City Council meeting minutes of February 11, 2025 (Special Meeting), February 11, 2025 and February 25, 2025.

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
City of Paramount, City Hall Council Chamber, 16400 Colorado Avenue, Paramount, CA 90723 CALL TO ORDER: The special meeting of the Paramount City Council was called to order by Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo at
5:02 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 16400
Colorado Avenue, Paramount, California.

ROLL CALL OF
COUNCIL:

Present: Councilmember Isabel Aguayo
Councilmember Brenda Olmos
Councilmember Vilma Cuellar Stallings
Vice Mayor Peggy Lemons
Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo
CITY STAFF PRESENT: John Moreno, City Manager
Nicholas R. Ghirelli, City Attorney
Grissel Chavez, Assistant City Manager
Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Kim Sao, Finance Director

PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were none.

CLOSED SESSION
At 5:03 p.m., the City Council recessed into closed
session to discuss the matter listed below.

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL –

ANTICIPATED LITIGATION
Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to
Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2) – One (1)
case At 5:42 p.m.

There was no reportable action.

ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the
City Council, Mayor Delgadillo adjourned the meeting
at 5:56 p.m. to a meeting on February 11, 2025 at 6:00
p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 16400
Colorado Avenue, Paramount, CA 90723
Minutes of a Special Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 2
Annette C. Delgadillo, Mayor
ATTEST:

Heidi Luce, City Clerk
HTTPS://PARAMOUNTCITY1957.SHAREPOINT.COM/SITES/CITYMANAGERS/SHARED DOCUMENTS/CITY CLERK/AGENDA/MINUTES/2024 MINUTES/10-29-2024 MINUTESSPECIAL-CC.DOCX;3/7/2025 1:09 AM

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
City of Paramount, 16400 Colorado Avenue, Paramount, CA 90723 CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Paramount City Council was called to order by Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo at
6:02 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 16400
Colorado Avenue, Paramount, California.

PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE:

Jessica Emerson from the Paramount High School
Black Student Union, led the pledge of allegiance.

INVOCATION: Pastor Lorenzo Archuleta, Unshackled Ministries delivered the invocation.

ROLL CALL OF
COUNCILMEMBERS:

Present: Councilmember Isabel Aguayo
Councilmember Brenda Olmos
Councilmember Vilma Cuellar Stallings
Vice Mayor Peggy Lemons Mayor
Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo
STAFF PRESENT: John Moreno, City Manager
Nicholas R. Ghirelli, City Attorney
Grissel Chavez, Assistant City Manager
Adriana Figueroa, Public Works Director
Yecenia Guillen, Community Services Director
John King, Planning Director
Margarita Matson, Public Safety Director
Kim Sao, Finance Director
Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Danny Elizarraras, Management Analyst
Gustavo Nunez, Senior Accountant
Eduardo Vaca, Communications Specialist

PRESENTATIONS

1. VIDEO
Clutter-Free
Paramount Event
CF 39.7
A video highlighting the recent Clutter-Free Paramount
Event was presented.

2. PRESENTATION
Mayor’s Gold Key
Award
CF 39.7
Mayor Delgadillo presented the Mayor’s Gold Key
Award to Deputy District Attorney Kelly Tatman. Ms.

Tatman was present to accept the award and
expressed sincere appreciation for the recognition.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 2

3. CERTIFICATE OF

RECOGNITION
Winter 2024 Special
Event Volunteers
CF 39.6
Mayor Delgadillo, on behalf of the City Council,
recognized the following groups that provided
volunteer services at the City’s Winter 2024 Special
Events: MUSA, Paramount High School Cheer and
Song, and Paramount Team.

4. PROCLAMATION
National Children’s
Dental Health Month
CF 39.12
Mayor Delgadillo, on behalf of the City Council,
proclaimed February as National Children’s Dental
Health Month. Dental Director Dr. Mackenzie Kate
Martin and Advancement Associate Amairani Padilla
were present to accept the proclamation on behalf of
the Children’s Dental Health Clinic.

5. PROCLAMATION
National Black History
Month
CF 39.12
Mayor Delgadillo, on behalf of the City Council,
proclaimed February as National Black History Month.

Jessica Emerson and fellow students from the
Paramount High School Black Student Union were
present to accept the proclamation.

6. CERTIFICATE OF

RECOGNITION
Luis Rodriguez,
Paramount Youth
Baseball Organization
CF 39.6
Mayor Delgadillo, on behalf of the City Council,
recognized Luis Rodriguez for his dedicated service to
the Paramount Youth Baseball Organization. Mr.

Rodriguez was present to accept the certificate and
expressed sincere appreciation for the recognition.

CF 10.4 CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC COMMENT UPDATES
City Manager Moreno responded to comments made
by Adrian Landa, World Energy; Carolina Rios, Maria
L. Castellon, and Maria Amaya (Rio Puente Mobile
Home Park Residents); Adela Herrera (Golden State
Mobile Home Park); and Valentin Avelar, Gabriela
Arambula, and Consuela Avena (Cherryfield Village
Residents).

PUBLIC COMMENTS
CF 10.3 The following individual addressed the City Council and provided public comments: Andrea Crow,
Paramount Library.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 3

CONSENT CALENDAR
It was moved by Vice Mayor Lemons and seconded by
Councilmember Cuellar Stallings to approve Consent
Calendar Items 7, 8, 9, and 10 as shown below. The
motion was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

7. APPROVAL
Minutes of January 11,
2025 (Special
Meeting), January 14,
2025, and January 28,
2025
Approved.

8. APPROVAL
Treasurer’s Report for
the Quarter Ending
December 31, 2024
CF 47.3
Received and filed.

9. APPROVAL
Register of Demands
January 2025
CF 47.2
Approved the Register of Demands for January 2025.

10. APPROVAL
Chargepoint EV
Charging Station
Maintenance/Service
agreement and
equipment
procurement for Dills
Park
CF 43.1288
1) Appropriated $86,450, for which $44,300 will come
from Air Quality Management District (AQMD) AB
2766 funds for the purchase of the EV equipment, and
$42,150 will come from Capital Project Fund to cover
the service maintenance costs; and 2) Authorized the
City Manager or his designee to execute service
agreements with ChargePoint, Inc. for Paramount
Park, Progress Park, and Dills Park, and procure EV
charging equipment for Dills Park.

At 6:30 p.m., Mayor Delgadillo recessed the meeting
to a brief break. The meeting was called back to order
at 6:40 p.m.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 4

NEW BUSINESS

11. ORAL REPORT
2024 Annual Uniform
Crime Report
CF 79
Captain Dan Holguin from the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department, Lakewood Station gave the
report and presented a PowerPoint presentation
summarizing the 2024 Annual Uniform Crime Report
statistics for the City of Paramount and the response
times for calls for service.

12. ORDINANCE 1196
Amending the
Paramount Municipal
Code to revise
regulations for mobile
food vendors to further
extend mobile vending
hours and update
mobile food vendor
permitting and
operation requirements
in the City of
Paramount
CF 70.2 & 75.9
Planning Director King gave the report and presented
a PowerPoint presentation.

It was moved by Councilmember Cuellar Stallings and
seconded by Councilmember Olmos to read by title
only, waive further reading, introduce Ordinance No.
1196, "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF

THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING SECTIONS

12.24.030, 12.24.050, 12.24.070, 12.42.080,

12.42.090, 12.42.140, AND 12.42.160 OF THE

PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE, REVISING

REGULATIONS FOR MOBILE FOOD VENDORS TO

FURTHER EXTEND MOBILE VENDING HOURS

AND UPDATE MOBILE FOOD VENDOR

PERMITTING AND OPERATION REQUIREMENTS
IN THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT," and place it on the
February 25, 2025 agenda for adoption. The motion
was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

13. PUBLIC HEARING
ORDINANCE 1194
Amending Chapters

10.04.010 and

10.04.020 of the
Paramount Municipal
Code regarding
incorporation of the
County Traffic Code
CF 98.1
City Manager Moreno gave the report.

Mayor Delgadillo opened the public hearing and asked
if there was any public testimony for this item.

There being no one in the audience wishing to testify,
it was moved by Councilmember Cuellar Stallings and
seconded by Councilmember Aguayo to close the
public hearing.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 5
AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
It was moved by Vice Mayor Lemons and seconded by
Councilmember Aguayo to read by title only, waive
further reading, introduce Ordinance No. 1194, "AN

ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY

OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS

10.04.010 AND 10.04.020 OF THE PARAMOUNT

MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING INCORPORATION
OF THE COUNTY TRAFFIC CODE," and place it on
the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption. The motion
was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

14. PUBLIC HEARING
ORDINANCE 1195
Amending Chapters

8.04.010 and 8.04.040
of the Paramount
Municipal Code
regarding incorporation
of the County Health
and Safety Code
CF 61.23
City Manager Moreno gave the report.

Mayor Delgadillo opened the public hearing and asked
if there was any public testimony for this item.

There being no one in the audience wishing to testify,
it was moved by Councilmember Cuellar Stallings and
seconded by Vice Mayor Lemons to close the public
hearing.

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
It was moved by Vice Mayor Lemons and seconded by
Councilmember Aguayo to read by title only, waive
further reading, introduce Ordinance No. 1195, "AN

ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 8.04.010
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 6
AND 8.04.040 OF THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL

CODE REGARDING INCORPORATION OF THE
COUNTY HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE," and place
it on the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption. The
motion was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

15. RESOLUTION 25:002
Amending the
Administrative Fine
Schedule for Social
Host Fireworks
Violations under
Chapter 8.12 of the
Paramount Municipal
Code.

CF 70.3 & 75.2
Management Analyst Elizarraras gave the report and
presented a PowerPoint presentation.

It was moved by Vice Mayor Lemons and seconded by
Councilmember Cuellar Stallings to read by title only
and adopt Resolution No. 25:002, “A RESOLUTION

OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

PARAMOUNT AMENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE

FINE SCHEDULE FOR SOCIAL HOST FIREWORKS
VIOLATIONS UNDER CHAPTER 8.12 OF THE
PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE.” The motion was
passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

16. AWARD OF

CONTRACT
Civic Center Fountain
Project
(City Project No. 9276)
Public Works Director Figueroa gave the report and
presented a PowerPoint presentation.

In response to Vice Mayor Lemons, Public Works
Director Figueroa noted that the project should start by early May and conclude by the end of August.

It was moved by Councilmember Olmos and seconded
by Vice Mayor Lemons to 1) Approve the plans and
specifications as detailed in the bid documents, with
respect to design criteria; 2) Find the project exempt
from CEQA; and 3) Award the contract for the Civic
Center Fountain project to ARC Construction, Inc., La
Crescenta, California in the amount of $1,921,563.28,
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 7
and authorize the Mayor or her designee to execute
the agreement. The motion was passed by the
following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

SUCCESSOR AGENCY FOR THE PARAMOUNT
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY – CONSENT

CALENDAR
It was moved by Vice Mayor Lemons and seconded by
Councilmember Cuellar Stallings to approve Consent
Calendar Item SA1 as shown below. The motion was
passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
SA1. APPROVAL
Register of Demands –
January 2025
(Successor Agency)
CF 47.2
Approved.

COMMENTS/COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilmembers
Vice Mayor Lemons did not have anything to report.

Councilmember Aguayo reported on her participation,
along with Councilmember Cuellar Stallings, in an
advocacy trip to Sacramento where they met with
legislators to advocate for the Southeast Gateway
Line, as well as her attendance at the Southeast Water
Coalition meeting with the Water Replenishment
District Board.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 8
Councilmember Olmos reported on her participation,
along with Vice Mayor Lemons, in the Mobile Home
MOU meeting and commented that she is hopeful that
the issues between the residents and owners can be
resolved through good communication. She
congratulated Paramount High School Cheer for
winning the National High School Cheerleader
Championship. Lastly, suggested that the City
consider hosting a viewing party for the 2028 LA
Olympics.

Councilmember Cuellar Stallings reported on her
participation in the advocacy trip to Sacramento with
Councilmember Aguayo. She noted that she and other
Councilmembers attended the memorial service for
the son of Pastor Grady Jones. She also reported on
her attendance at the Gateway Cites COG Board of
Directors meeting. She requested an update on the
outdoor dining projects. Planning Director King
provided an update on the status of projects noting that they should be done in the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, she wished everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Mayor Delgadillo did not have anything to report.

Staff
City Manager Moreno congratulated Councilmember
Olmos on being appointed to the South Coast Air
Quality Management District Board. He also reported
that John King has officially been appointed Planning
Directo and is longer interim.

Mayor Delgadillo recessed the City Council meeting to
Closed session at 7:27 p.m. to discuss the matter listed below.

CLOSED SESSION

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL -

EXISTING LITIGATION
Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1)
One (1) case
Shadowood Development v. City of Paramount; Case
No. 22STCV0940
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 11, 2025; Page 9
HTTPS://PARAMOUNTCITY1957.SHAREPOINT.COM/SITES/CITYMANAGERS/SHARED DOCUMENTS/CITY CLERK/AGENDA/MINUTES/2025 MINUTES/01-14-2025 MINUTES-CC.DOCX; 3/7/2025 1:09 AM Mayor Delgadillo called the meeting back to order in
open session at 8:08 p.m.

City Attorney Ghirelli reported that the City Council met in closed session to discuss the items listed above and there was no reportable action taken.

ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the
City Council, Mayor Delgadillo adjourned the meeting
at 8:09 p.m. to a meeting on February 25, 2025 at 5:00
p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 16400
Colorado Ave., Paramount, CA.

Annette C. Delgadillo, Mayor
ATTEST:

Heidi Luce, City Clerk

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
FEBRUARY 25, 2025
City of Paramount, 16400 Colorado Avenue, Paramount, CA 90723 CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Paramount City Council was called to order by Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo at
5:02 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 16400
Colorado Avenue, Paramount, California.

PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE:

Student Mayors Phoenix Sanders and Zxavier Rivas
Zamora, led the pledge of allegiance.

ROLL CALL OF
COUNCILMEMBERS:

Present: Councilmember Isabel Aguayo
Councilmember Brenda Olmos
Councilmember Vilma Cuellar Stallings
Vice Mayor Peggy Lemons
Mayor Annette C. Delgadillo
STAFF PRESENT: John Moreno, City Manager
Nicholas R. Ghirelli, City Attorney
Grissel Chavez, Assistant City Manager
Adriana Figueroa, Public Works Director
Yecenia Guillen, Community Services Director
John King, Interim Planning Director
Margarita Matson, Public Safety Director
Kim Sao, Finance Director
Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Danny Elizarraras, Management Analyst
Eduardo Vaca, Communications Specialist

PRESENTATIONS

1. CERTIFICATE OF

RECOGNITION
Student Mayor for the
Day
CF 39.6
Mayor Delgadillo, on behalf of the City Council,
recognized Student Mayors Phoenix Sanders and
Zxavier Rivas Zamora.

CF 10.4 CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC COMMENT UPDATES
There were no public comment updates.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 2025; Page 2

PUBLIC COMMENTS
CF 10.3 The following individuals addressed the City Council and provided public comments: Andrea Crow,
Paramount Library and Robert Cruz. Additionally, the
following submitted a written public comment via email
which was ready by the City Clerk: Mike Radis.

CONSENT CALENDAR
It was moved by Councilmember Cuellar Stallings and
seconded by Vice Mayor Lemons to approve Consent
Calendar Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 as shown below.

The motion was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

2. ACCEPTANCE OF
WORK
Spane Park Facility
Improvement
(City Project No. 9358)
Accepted the work performed by Estate Design and
Construction, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, for the Spane
Park Facility Improvement project and authorized
payment for the retention.

3. APPROVAL
Engineering Design
Services for the
Alondra Boulevard
Widening Project
(City Project No. 9136)
1) Appropriated $618,100 in Measure R (I-710 Early
Action) funding to the Alondra Boulevard Widening
project (City Project No. 9136) for design; and 2)
Approved final engineering design services by Willdan
Engineering for the Alondra Boulevard Widening
project (City Project No. 9136).

4. RESOLUTION 25:003
Approving the renewal
of the General Services
Agreement with the
County of Los Angeles
through June 30, 2030
CF 43.292
Adopted Resolution No. 25:003 approving the renewal
of the General Services Agreement with the County of
Los Angeles through June 30, 2030 and authorized the
Mayor or her designee to execute the agreement.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 2025; Page 3

5. ORDINANCE 1196
Amending Sections

12.24.030, 12.24.050,

12.24.070, 12.42.080,

12.42.090, 12.42.140,
and 12.42.160 of the
Paramount Municipal
Code, revising
Regulations for Mobile
Food Vendors to
further extend Mobile
Vending Hours and
Update Mobile Food
Vendor Permitting and
Operation
requirements in the
City of Paramount
CF 70.2 & 75.9
Read by title only, waive further reading, and adopted
Ordinance No. 1196, “AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT
AMENDING SECTIONS 12.24.030, 12.24.050,

12.24.070, 12.42.080, 12.42.090, 12.42.140, AND

12.42.160 OF THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL

CODE, REVISING REGULATIONS FOR MOBILE

FOOD VENDORS TO FURTHER EXTEND MOBILE

VENDING HOURS AND UPDATE MOBILE FOOD

VENDOR PERMITTING AND OPERATION
REQUIREMENTS IN THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT.”

6. RESOLUTION 25:005
Amending the City’s
Personnel Manual to
incorporate a New
Holiday (Juneteenth)
CF 76.5
Adopted Resolution No. 25:005 amending the City’s
Personnel Manual to incorporate a new holiday
(Juneteenth).

7. RESOLUTION 25:006
Appointing Paul
Espinoza as Interim
Finance Director and
approval of an
Employment
Agreement
CF 43.1289
Adopted Resolution No. 25:006 appointing Paul
Espinoza as Interim Finance Director and authorized
the City Manager to execute the employment
agreement.

8. APPROVAL
Amendment No. 1 to
Agreement with Studio
One Eleven for
Professional Design
Services for the Civic
Center Fountain
Project
(City Project No. 9276)
1) Appropriated $33,500 from the Capital Project
Fund; and 2) Approved Amendment No. 1 to the
agreement with Studio One Eleven for an additional
$33,500 for a revised not-to exceed total amount of
$73,478 for additional professional design services
related to the Civic Center Fountain project, and
authorized the City Manager, or designee, to execute
the Amendment.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 2025; Page 4

NEW BUSINESS

9. PRESENTATION
Gateway Cities
Regional Fiber Network
Project Update
CF 37.8
Gateway Cities Council of Governments Executive
Director Hector De La Torre gave the presentation
providing an update on the Gateway Cities Regional
Fiber Network Project.

10. AWARD OF

CONTRACT
City Hall Parking Lot
(City Project No. 9387)
Public Works Director Figueroa gave the report and
presented a PowerPoint presentation.

It was moved by Vice Mayor Lemons and seconded by
Councilmember Aguayo to 1) Approve the plans and
specifications as detailed in the bid documents, with
respect to design criteria; 2) Find the project exempt
from CEQA; and 3) Award the contract for the City Hall
Parking Lot project to ARC Construction, Inc., La
Crescenta, California in the amount of $930,873.16,
and authorize the Mayor or her designee to execute
the agreement. The motion was passed by the
following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

11. APPROVAL
Agreement with Studio
One Eleven for
Construction and
Design Plans for the
Century Greenway
Project
(City Project No. 9460)
CF 43.1290
Community Services Director Guillen gave the report
and presented a PowerPoint presentation.

Discussion ensued concerning options for
incorporating traffic calming and additional safety
measures in the final design plans for the Century
Greenway project. With City Council concurrence, staff
was directed to work with the architect to incorporate
the changes.

Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 2025; Page 5
It was moved by Cuellar Stallings and seconded by
Councilmember Olmos to 1) Approve the design
concept plan provided by Studio One Eleven for the
Century Greenway project; and 2) Approve an
agreement with Studio One Eleven in the amount of
$161,800, and an additional $16,180 in contingency
funds, for construction drawing design services, for the Century Greenway project and authorize the Mayor or
her designee to execute the agreement. The motion
was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

12. RESOLUTION 25:004
Approving the Midyear
Budget Adjustments
Amending the Fiscal
Year 2024-2025
Adopted Operating and
Capital Improvement
Budget
CF 28.1
Finance Director Sao gave the report and presented a
PowerPoint presentation.

It was moved by Councilmember Aguayo and
seconded by Vice Mayor Lemons to read by title only
and adopt Resolution No. 25:004, “A RESOLUTION

OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

PARAMOUNT APPROVING THE MIDYEAR

BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS AMENDING THE FISCAL
YEAR (FY) 2024-2025 ADOPTED OPERATING AND
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET.” The motion
was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

13. APPROVAL
Fourth Amendment to
the City Manager’s
Employment
Agreement and
Resolution No. 25:007
Amending the FullTime Salary Schedule
CF 43.1026 & 76.5
City Attorney Ghirelli gave the report providing an
overview of the proposed amendments to the City
Manager’s Employment agreement.

It was moved by Vice Mayor Lemons and seconded by
Councilmember Olmos to 1) Receive oral report
regarding the proposed amendment; 2) Approve the
Fourth Amendment to the Amended and Restated City
Manager Employment Agreement between the City of
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 2025; Page 6
Paramount and John Moreno; and 3) Adopt Resolution
No. 25:007 Amending the Full Time Salary Schedule.

The motion was passed by the following roll call vote:

AYES: Councilmembers Aguayo, Olmos,
Cuellar Stallings; Vice Mayor Lemons;
and Mayor Delgadillo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None

COMMENTS/COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilmembers
Vice Mayor Lemons reported on her attendance at the
monthly SEAACA Board meeting noting that
negotiations are moving along with the employee
union. She also reported on her attendance at the
Station Cities JPA meeting with the cities of Bellflower and Lakewood where they are working on strategies to
improve quality of life issues for residents. She also
reported that she attended the celebration of life
service for former PUSD employee Dee Stephens.

Councilmember Olmos reported on her attendance
and the event CalCities hosted for Assemblymember
Solache where the Assemblymember discussed his
legislative platform and heard from the cities in his
district about the important issues facing their
communities. She also reported that she attended the
Historical Society meeting where Fred Hill, Paramount
High School Class of 1961 and founder of the Ronald
McDonald House was the special guest.

Councilmember Aguayo reported on her attendance at
the PUSD Ad Hod Committee meeting noting the
Committee came to an agreement on the student
boulevard banner program.

Councilmember Cuellar Stallings reported that she
also attended the Historical Society meeting and the
celebration of life for Dee Stephens. She reported on
her attendance at the Los Angeles County Library
Commission meeting at Bilbrew Library where they
host a Black History Month celebration each year. She
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 2025; Page 7
also noted that Paramount High School was featured
on Channel 5 news in recognition of the cheer team
winning a National Championship. Lastly, she
suggested that when the student mayors walk up to
take their photograph with City Council, they shake
each Councilmembers hand on the way.

Mayor Delgadillo reported that she also attended the
CalCities meeting with Assemblymember Solache.

She also reported that she continued the Storytime
with the Mayor program at the Paramount Library, on
February 19, reading It’s Raining Hearts in February.

She invited the public to the next event which will be
held on March 19 and the story will be The Littlest
Leprechaun.

Staff
City Manager Moreno shared a sneak peek of a video
highlighting one of the PEP Scholarship recipients and
the impact the scholarship had on her life.

Vice Mayor Lemons suggested including the link on
the City’s website to the previous videos that were
created.

City Manager Moreno commented that Finance
Director Kim Sao is leaving the City to take another job and tonight is her last meeting. He thanked her for her service to the City over the last three plus years and
wished her well as she moves on,
Mayor Delgadillo recessed the City Council meeting to
Closed session at 6:36 p.m. to discuss the matter listed below.

CLOSED SESSION

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING

LITIGATION
Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1) – One (1)
case
Shadowood Development v. City of Paramount; Case
No. 22STCV09407
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the

PARAMOUNT CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 2025; Page 8
HTTPS://PARAMOUNTCITY1957.SHAREPOINT.COM/SITES/CITYMANAGERS/SHARED DOCUMENTS/CITY CLERK/AGENDA/MINUTES/2025 MINUTES/01-28-2025 MINUTES-CC.DOCX; 3/7/2025 1:09 AM Mayor Delgadillo called the meeting back to order in
open session at 7:48 p.m.

City Attorney Ghirelli reported that the City Council met in closed session to discuss the item listed above and
there was no reportable action taken.

ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the
City Council, Mayor Delgadillo adjourned the meeting
at 7:49 p.m. The next meeting of the Paramount City
Council will be held on March 11, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in
the Council Chamber at City Hall, 16400 Colorado
Ave., Paramount, CA.

Annette C. Delgadillo, Mayor
ATTEST:

Heidi Luce, City Clerk
To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Paul Espinoza, Interim Finance Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: REGISTER OF DEMANDS – FEBRUARY 2025 (CITY)

BACKGROUND
The register of demands is presented to the City Council monthly.

DISCUSSION
Attached is the Register of Demands for February 2025.

FISCAL IMPACT
None.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve the Register of Demands for February 2025.

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337498 5 STAR GLASS & MIRROR 700.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS 150.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
150.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 1,000.00
1000000068 ABREGO, JAIME 100.00 PW - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (JA)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337339 ACC BUSINESS 798.96 IT - CH SECONDARY FIBER INTERNET (1/25) Vendor Tota 798.96
337501 ADOPT A HIGHWAY 5,593.00 PW - LITTER REMOVAL SVCS (1/25) Vendor Tota 5,593.00
337364 ADVANCED AQUATIC TECHNOLOGY 975.00 PW - CIVIC CENTER FOUNTAIN MNTC (1/25) Vendor Tota 975.00
1000000069 AGUILAR, RITA 100.00 PW - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (RA)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337559 AKESO OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH 260.00 HR - HEALTH SCREENINGS (12/24-1/25) 165.00 HR - HEALTH SCREENINGS (12/24)
Vendor Tota 425.00
337516 ALERT CLEANERS 612.00 CSR - LAUNDRY SVCS (2/18)

28.70 PS - LAUNDRY SVCS (2/14)
Vendor Tota 640.70
337451 ALESHIRE & WYNDER LLP 97.50 CA - LEGAL SVCS (SB9) - 12/24 Vendor Tota 97.50
337340 ALIN PARTY SUPPLY CO. 458.04 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES 135.76 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

45.26 CSR - ADAPTIVE RECREATION SUPPLIES
337517 548.00 CSR - MLC PROGRAM SUPPLIES
523.37 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
463.36 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
336.25 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
284.26 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
232.74 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
152.79 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 3,179.83
337502 ALL CITIES LOCK & SAFE 150.00 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SVCS Vendor Tota 150.00
337278 ALL CITY MANAGEMENT SERVICES 8,459.95 PS - CROSSING GUARD SVCS (1/5-1/18) 337472 19,068.05 PS - CROSSING GUARD SVCS (1/19-2/1)
Vendor Tota 27,528.00
337365 ALPHA POWDER COAT LLC 100.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 100.00

Page 1 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17721 AMAZON.COM 73.85 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

25.15 CSR - STORYTIME WITH MAYOR

10.68 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES
144.93 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

12.97 CSR - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
1,770.70 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES
288.84 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

46.41 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES

3.78 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES
651.24 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
-29.54 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
884.40 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

18.84 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES

36.36 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

23.36 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

8.81 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

45.57 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

77.73 CSR - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

35.26 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

21.99 CSR - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
500.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE

52.36 CSR - PATHFINDERS EXCURSIONS SUPPLIES
1,172.61 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
900.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE
500.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE

83.64 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
500.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE

74.34 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
119.11 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
241.43 CSR - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

22.02 CSR - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

12.67 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

40.40 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

21.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
143.31 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
648.18 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

40.78 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

36.96 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

40.78 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
123.71 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
308.68 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
136.70 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
239.10 CSR - EQUIPMENT MNTC SUPPLIES
220.49 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

10.90 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
274.50 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

60.62 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

84.07 CSR - PARAMOUNT ON WHEELS SUPPLIES

57.76 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
281.04 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

34.55 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

33.28 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
688.33 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
-55.11 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
-22.02 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
-14.32 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
-27.55 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
259.92 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
119.58 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

24.64 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

Page 2 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17721 AMAZON.COM 300.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE

24.31 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

49.48 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
200.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE
383.07 CSR - PARAMOUNT ON WHEELS SUPPLIES
314.53 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
182.55 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

49.04 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES
163.60 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

43.94 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

99.18 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

35.44 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
1,782.48 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
154.62 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
410.83 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

41.49 CSR - PATHFINDERS REFRESHMENTS

40.67 CSR - PARAMOUNT ON WHEELS SUPPLIES
147.70 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
213.76 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

23.97 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

8.76 CSR - PARAMOUNT ON WHEELS SUPPLIES

97.67 CSR - PATHFINDERS REFRESHMENTS
104.63 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

76.72 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

27.55 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
125.86 PS - EQUIPMENT MNTC SUPPLIES
388.04 PS - EQUIPMENT MNTC SUPPLIES

48.46 CSR - PATHFINDERS EXCURSION SUPPLIES

35.98 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
154.32 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES
906.29 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

77.10 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

88.08 CSR - ENP SUPPLIES
273.18 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

31.76 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES
1,684.02 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

25.09 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

33.06 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

37.72 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
447.68 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

48.32 AS - OFFICE SUPPLIES

84.88 PW - GENERAL SMALL TOOLS
100.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE
144.19 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

40.78 PW - GENERAL SMALL TOOLS
495.45 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
200.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE

22.04 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
325.84 CSR - ENP SUPPLIES

49.60 CSR - EQUIPMENT MNTC SUPPLIES

66.14 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
113.92 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
119.30 CSR - ENP SUPPLIES
921.16 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

68.94 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
1,865.72 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

87.60 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

58.32 PS - CLUTTER FREE PARAMOUNT

10.42 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

74.88 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

Page 3 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17721 AMAZON.COM 200.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE 272.87 PS - YAL SUPPLIES
124.57 PS - YAL SUPPLIES

93.60 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
175.30 PS - YAL SUPPLIES

44.08 HR - OFFICE SUPPLIES
238.03 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
151.72 PS - YAL SUPPLIES
154.34 PS - YAL SUPPLIES
110.19 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

32.62 PS - EMERGENCY PREP SUPPLIES
253.38 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
175.94 CSR - ENP SUPPLIES

66.12 CSR - PATHFINDERS SEMINAR SUPPLIES
118.82 PS - CLUTTER FREE PARAMOUNT
376.78 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
737.96 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

91.83 PS - YAL SUPPLIES

60.03 HR - OFFICE SUPPLIES
400.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE
600.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE
-28.56 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
1,673.86 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
142.18 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
174.63 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES

87.10 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

52.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
1,538.20 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

78.42 AS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
135.20 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
762.81 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES

92.50 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

55.86 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES

36.36 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

75.96 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES

65.97 CSR - ADAPTIVE RECREATION SUPPLIES

80.91 AS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
211.36 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

40.78 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
219.47 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
148.96 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
108.16 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

26.23 PL - OFFICE SUPPLIES

45.89 CP - MAYOR FOR THE DAY EVENT
220.49 PS - YAL SUPPLIES

91.83 PS - YAL SUPPLIES

15.42 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

18.73 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

93.72 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

99.58 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

18.68 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
743.62 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
220.56 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

88.19 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
182.40 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
276.79 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

92.58 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
154.34 PS - YAL SUPPLIES
240.27 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

74.03 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

Page 4 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17721 AMAZON.COM 103.60 PS - ACTION PROGRAM SUPPLIES
104.73 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
1,810.40 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
151.72 PS - YAL SUPPLIES

86.94 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

92.42 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

57.30 CSR - PATHFINDERS EXCURSION SUPPLIES
151.05 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

42.78 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
109.73 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
375.45 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

59.04 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

51.76 PS - COMMUNITY PROMO SUPPLIES
484.97 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

26.45 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
336.81 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
164.86 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

11.01 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

98.88 CSR - PATHFINDERS EXCURSION SUPPLIES
216.31 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

19.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

44.04 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

30.09 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
-26.30 CSR - ENP SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
267.68 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
701.18 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
490.18 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
127.88 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
264.60 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

14.32 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES

19.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
148.39 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

10.89 CSR - EQUIPMENT MNTC SUPPLIES
958.97 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
203.87 CSR - ENP SUPPLIES
148.83 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

18.41 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
230.40 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

29.64 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

14.87 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES
131.76 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

61.68 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

21.99 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
184.50 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

90.88 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

45.50 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

66.98 CSR - ADULT RECREATION EVENT (WE)

17.63 CSR - ADULT RECREATION EVENT (WE)
147.68 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES
125.60 CSR - ADULT RECREATION EVENT (WE)
266.54 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

53.43 CSR - ADULT RECREATION EVENT (WE)
653.03 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
800.00 HR - CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF EXCELLENCE

32.99 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

87.08 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

31.99 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

91.94 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

42.85 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
267.78 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

Page 5 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17721 AMAZON.COM 81.96 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES

26.45 CSR - ENP SUPPLIES

26.18 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
574.40 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
244.34 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
136.71 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

39.56 PL - OFFICE SUPPLIES

88.53 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES
168.38 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
141.08 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
385.82 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

79.14 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

16.50 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

56.20 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES

69.92 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES

44.09 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
762.88 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
352.42 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES
188.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

18.72 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

44.04 CSR - PATHFINDERS EXCURSION SUPPLIES

75.92 PW - UNIFORMS

43.92 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

34.13 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES

31.96 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SUPPLIES

23.88 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
220.48 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
990.93 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
679.47 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
116.74 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

32.99 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES
156.68 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES

43.92 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

3.00 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES

86.42 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
430.57 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
198.12 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

39.90 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES

98.77 CSR - PATHFINDERS EXCURSION SUPPLIES

18.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

46.99 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
100.18 HR - OFFICE SUPPLIES
392.94 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

74.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 58,344.31
17720 AMERICAN EXPRESS 75.00 GEN-AMEX ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE Vendor Tota 75.00
337279 ANYTIME ROOFING INC 192.89 CONSTRUCTION PERMIT REFUND

1.00 STATE GREEN FEE

32.62 STORM DRAIN REFUND

23.19 GENERAL PLAN REFUND
.91 SMI REFUND
Vendor Tota 250.61
337366 APOLLO WOOD RECOVERY, INC 1,258.00 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 1,258.00

Page 6 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
1000000070 ARCEO RUIZ, GEORGINA GUADALUPE 100.00 PW - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (GA)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337320 ARTESIA FERTILIZER 135.00 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES

73.00 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
337503 35.00 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 243.00
337341 AT & T 128.40 IT - COM CTR INTERNET (2/25)
337452 74.90 IT - PARAMOUNT POOL INTERNET (2/25)
337406 1,063.38 IT - TELEPHONE SVC (1/25)
1,150.72 PW - WATER SYSTEM SVC (1/25)
Vendor Tota 2,417.40
337518 ATHENS SERVICES 2,012.54 PS - PITCH-IN PARAMOUNT (1/18) Vendor Tota 2,012.54
337560 ATKINSON, ANDELSON, LOYA 908.50 HR - LEGAL SVCS (1/25) Vendor Tota 908.50
337420 AZTECA LANDSCAPE 3,264.00 PW - IRRIGATION REPAIRS SVCS 337504 83,975.53 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SVCS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 87,239.53
337250 BACA 24.30 WTR REF - 6623 MARK KEPPEL
Vendor Tota 24.30
337519 BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST 1,500.00 FIN - 2010A BOND REFUNDING COUNSEL FEE 500.00 FIN - 2010A BOND REFUNDING ESCROW FEE
Vendor Tota 2,000.00
337421 BARR COMMERCIAL DOOR REPAIR 2,867.88 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS (CITY HALL) 881.25 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS (CITY HALL)
Vendor Tota 3,749.13
337422 BEIGHTON, DAVE 2,150.00 PS - DETECTIVE SPECIALIST (1/25 - 2/7) 337561 2,250.00 PS - DETECTIVE SPECIALIST (2/8 - 2/21)
Vendor Tota 4,400.00
337562 BIOMETRICS4ALL, INC 139.00 HR - FINGERPRINTING SVCS (1/25) Vendor Tota 139.00
337423 BISHOP INC 59,285.19 CIP - STATION ROOF REPLACEMENT 3,120.27 CIP - STATION ROOF REPLACEMENT (RET)
-3,120.27 BISHOP (CIP 9470-FY25)
Vendor Tota 59,285.19
1000000063 BRIDGES, MARCELINA GARCIA 100.00 PS - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (MB)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337367 BROWN BOLT & NUT CORP. 22.05 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 22.05
337368 BROWNY PEST CONTROL 250.00 PW - STREET MNTC SVCS 125.00 PW - STREET MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 375.00
337369 BRYAN EXHAUST SERVICE, INC 1,425.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS Vendor Tota 1,425.00
337505 BUCKNAM & ASSOCIATES, INC 3,600.00 PW - WATER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (1/25) Vendor Tota 3,600.00
337370 C DESIGN CO 754.11 PW - UNIFORMS
Vendor Tota 754.11

Page 7 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337520 CADENA, AKAYLA 207.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 207.00
17689 CALIFORNIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' 42,227.25 PERS RETIREMENT - PPE 1/10 17690 25,221.77 PERS RETIREMENT - PPE 1/10
17691 539.31 PERS RETIREMENT (1/25)
17702 42,142.01 PERS RETIREMENT - PPE 1/24
17703 25,314.50 PERS RETIREMENT - PPE 1/24
17713 42,220.57 PERS RETIREMENT - PPE 2/7
17714 25,648.12 PERS RETIREMENT - PPE 2/7
17718 126,194.47 MEDICAL INSURANCE (ACTIVE) - 3/25
11,218.00 MEDICAL INSURANCE (RETIRED) - 3/25
513.07 MEDICAL INSURANCE (ADMIN FEE) - 3/25
Vendor Tota 341,239.07
337473 CALMATE YOGA LLC 375.00 CSR - 55+ SENIOR FITNESS (1/25) 337474 225.00 CSR - 55+ SENIOR FITNESS (12/24)
Vendor Tota 600.00
337453 CALPERS LONG-TERM CARE PROGRAM 65.38 CALPERS LTC - PPE 2/7 (AF) 337582 65.38 CALPERS LTC - PPE 2/21 (AF)
Vendor Tota 130.76
337321 CASA ADELITA 330.75 CSR - MEETING EXPENSE (SPANE) Vendor Tota 330.75
337424 CASTRO, ANGELA 120.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 120.00
337407 CDW GOVERNMENT, INC. 804.98 IT - DELL MONITOR
274.86 IT - COMPUTER MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 1,079.84
337322 CENTRAL BASIN MUNI WATER DIST 287,296.35 PW - PURCHASED WATER (12/24) Vendor Tota 287,296.35
337521 CERDA, RAYMOND 350.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 350.00
337522 CEREUS BLOOM LIFE COACHING 250.00 PS - YAL SUPPLIES (1/25) Vendor Tota 250.00
337454 CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS 7,815.08 IT - INTERNET SVCS (2/25) 154.99 GEN - CITY HALL CABLE (2/25)
154.99 GEN - CITY YARD CABLE (2/25)
Vendor Tota 8,125.06
337342 CINDY'S JUMPERS, LLC 262.50 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 262.50
337371 CINTAS FIRE PROTECTION 191.00 PW - FIRE PROTECTION SVCS Vendor Tota 191.00
17680 CITY OF PARAMOUNT PAYROLL 613.90 NET PAYROLL - SPEC 2/3 17692 374,243.87 NET PAYROLL - PPE 02/07
17719 407,412.10 NET PAYROLL - PPE 02/21
Vendor Tota 782,269.87

Page 8 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337455 CITY OF PARAMOUNT WATER DEPT 18,615.52 GEN - PARKS & FACILITIES (11/24-12/24) 52,183.64 PW - MEDIAN IRRIGATION (11/24-12/24)
454.48 GEN - ASSESSMENT DISTRICT (11/24-12/24)

42.47 GEN - CLRWTR BLDG (11/24-12/24)
376.48 GEN - PARAMOUNT PARK (11/24-12/24)
3,223.81 PW - PARAMOUNT PARK (11/24-12/24)
Vendor Tota 74,896.40
337251 COLLAZO 19.35 WTR REF - 8039 1ST
Vendor Tota 19.35
337372 COMMERCIAL BUILDING MANAGEMENT 13,525.36 PW - JANITORIAL SVCS (12/24) Vendor Tota 13,525.36
337280 CONTINENTAL INTERPRETING 350.00 PL - TRANSLATION SVCS (CLWTR PLAN) 1/16 350.00 PL - TRANSLATION SVCS (CLWTR PLAN) 1/16

75.00 PL - TRANSLATION SVCS (PH - 2/5)
337343 350.00 CC - COMMUNITY INTERPRETER (1/14)
350.00 CC - COMMUNITY INTERPRETER (1/14)
350.00 CC - COMMUNITY INTERPRETER (1/28)
350.00 CC - COMMUNITY INTERPRETER (1/28)
350.00 CC - COMMUNITY INTERPRETER (1/30)
350.00 CC - COMMUNITY INTERPRETER (1/30)
297.50 CC - COMMUNITY INTERPRETER (1/30)
100.00 CC - TRANSLATION SVCS (AGENDA - 1/14)
100.00 CC - TRANSLATION SVCS (AGENDA - 1/28)
Vendor Tota 3,372.50
337373 CORONA'S BODY 2,400.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 2,400.00
337344 COTA, CLARISSA 280.00 CSR - YOGA INSTRUCTOR (1/25-WE) Vendor Tota 280.00
337425 COUMPAROULES, STEVE 123.29 PS - STAFF REIMBURSEMENT (SC) - 1/18

26.40 PS - STAFF REIMBURSEMENT (SC) - 1/14
Vendor Tota 149.69
337506 CRAFTWATER ENGINEERING, INC 7,226.65 CIP - SPANE PK STORMWATER CAPTURE (7/24 5,060.46 CIP - SPANE PK STORMWATER CAPTURE (1/25
Vendor Tota 12,287.11
337426 CRIME SCENE STERI-CLEAN, LLC 950.00 PS - CRIME SCENE CLEANING (1/29) 750.00 PS - CRIME SCENE CLEANING (1/30)
Vendor Tota 1,700.00
1000000064 CRUZ, ROBERT 100.00 PS - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (RC)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337296 CUELLAR-STALLINGS 58.28 CC - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR (VCS) Vendor Tota 58.28

Page 9 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337281 DATA TICKET, INC 5,643.83 PS - PARKING CITATION SVCS (12/24) 3,187.69 PS - PARKING TICKET ROLLS
200.00 PS-SIDEWALK VENDOR CITATION SVCS (12/24
200.00 PS - NOISE DISTURBANCE SVCS (12/24)
138.00 PS - CODE ENF CITATION SVCS (12/24)
337475 200.00 PS - NOISE DISTURBANCE SVCS (1/25)
145.00 PS - SPECTATOR CITATION SVCS (11/24)
134.08 PS - SPECTATOR CITATION SVCS (9/24)

76.00 PS - SPECTATOR CITATION SVCS (1/25)
337523 6,616.55 PS - PARKING CITATION SVCS (1/25)
304.00 PS - CODE ENF CITATION SVCS (1/25)
200.00 PS-SIDEWALK VENDOR CITATION SVCS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 17,045.15
337427 DEARK E&C INC 117,237.60 CIP - DILLS PARK RENOVATION (P68C) 6,170.40 CIP - DILLS PARK RENOVATION (RET-P68C)
-6,170.40 DEARK (CIP 9259-FY25)
104,900.00 CIP - DILLS PARK RENOVATION (P68C)
5,521.10 CIP - DILLS PARK RENOVATION (RET-P68C)
-5,521.10 DEARK (CIP 9259-FY25)
Vendor Tota 222,137.60
337252 DELGADO 7.71 WTR REF - 6611 SAN MATEO
Vendor Tota 7.71
337374 DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER 41.67 PW - RIGHT-OF-WAY USE (2/25) Vendor Tota 41.67
337428 DIAZ BARRAZA, CRISTIAN JOBANI 123.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 123.00
337297 DISCOUNT SCHOOL SUPPLY 930.30 CSR - MLC PROGRAM SUPPLIES 227.54 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
110.19 CSR - MLC PROGRAM SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 1,268.03
337282 DJ CATRACHO ENTERTAINMENT, INC 400.00 CSR - SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT (2/13) 337476 400.00 CSR - SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT (2/28-WE)
337514 2,500.00 CP - CHRISTMAS TRAIN EVENT
Vendor Tota 3,300.00
337375 DUNN EDWARDS PAINTS 218.12 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES 198.49 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES

43.27 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 459.88
337477 ECONOMIC & PLANNING SYSTEMS 13,245.00 PL - DEV IMPACT FEE STUDY (1/25) Vendor Tota 13,245.00
337323 EKA 787.50 PW - LOBBYING SERVICES FOR WSAB (12/24) 337507 2,550.00 PW - LOBBYING SERVICES FOR WSAB (1/25)
Vendor Tota 3,337.50
17683 ELAVON, INC 612.99 GEN-CS CREDIT CARD TERMINAL SVCS (1/25) 17684 529.58 GEN-PL CREDIT CARD TERMINAL SVCS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 1,142.57
337508 ELECNOR BELCO ELECTRIC INC 33,956.75 CIP - TRAFFIC SAFETY IMP 1,787.20 CIP - TRAFFIC SAFETY IMP (5% RET)
-1,787.20 ELECNOR BELCO (CIP 9235-FY25)
Vendor Tota 33,956.75

Page 10 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17693 EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPT 13,913.76 STATE PAYROLL TAX - PPE 2/7 17722 14,823.93 STATE PAYROLL TAX - PPE 2/21
337408 8,780.00 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE (10/24 - 12/24)
Vendor Tota 37,517.69
17681 EMPOWER TRUST COMPANY 65.95 PT DEF COMP 457 - SPEC 2/3 17695 16,823.41 FT DEF COMP 457 - PPE 2/7
17696 12,480.96 PT DEF COMP 457 - PPE 2/7
17697 1,320.00 DEF COMP 457 ROTH - PPE 2/7
17724 16,576.58 FT DEF COMP 457 - PPE 2/21
17725 12,161.41 PT DEF COMP 457 - PPE 2/21
17726 1,320.00 DEF COMP 457 ROTH - PPE 2/21
17698 141.38 401A EXEC LOAN PAYMENT - PPE 2/7
17699 609.89 401A LOAN PAYMENT - PPE 2/7
17700 2,199.52 457 LOAN PAYMENT - PPE 2/7
17727 141.38 401A EXEC LOAN PAYMENT - PPE 2/21
17728 609.89 401A LOAN PAYMENT - PPE 2/21
17729 3,421.93 457 LOAN PAYMENT - PPE 2/21
17701 868.95 FT 401 QUAL COMP - PPE 2/7
17730 868.95 FT 401 QUAL COMP - PPE 2/21
Vendor Tota 69,610.20
337298 EMPOWER TRUST COMPANY, LLC 287.00 HR - 401A EXEC INVESTMENT FEE 250.00 HR - 457 PT INVESTMENT FEE (10/24-12/24)
250.00 HR - 457 FT INVESTMENT FEE (10/24-12/24)
337409 250.00 HR-401A GEN INVESTMENT FEE(10/24-12/24
250.00 HR-401A EXEC INVESTMENT FEE(10/24-12/24
Vendor Tota 1,287.00
337283 ENDING ROOFING 276.79 CONSTRUCTION PERMIT REFUND

1.00 STATE GREEN FEE

46.80 STORM DRAIN REFUND

33.28 GENERAL PLAN REFUND

1.37 SMI REFUND
337284 276.79 CONSRUCTION PERMIT REFUND

1.00 STATE GREEN FEE

46.80 STORM DRAIN REFUND

33.28 GENERAL PLAN REFUND

1.37 SMI REFUND
Vendor Tota 718.48

Page 11 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337346 ENTERPRISE FM TRUST 15,410.76 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (28FMJH) - PRINCIPAL 4,575.17 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (28FMJH) - OTHERS
12,886.66 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (2555RW) - PRINCIPAL
2,228.18 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (2555RW) - INTEREST
4,463.55 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (25597T) - PRINCIPAL
500.73 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (25597T) - INTEREST
-50.00 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (25597T) - OTHERS
4,463.55 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (2556WG) - PRINCIPAL
500.73 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (2556WG) - INTEREST
-50.00 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (2556WG) - OTHERS
12,419.42 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (26MM27) - PRINCIPAL
2,942.74 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (26MM27) - INTEREST
-152.95 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (26MM27) - OTHERS
6,590.78 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (276LGQ) - PRINCIPAL
1,561.66 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (276LGQ) - INTEREST
-107.10 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (276LGQ) - OTHERS
6,100.18 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (276M6P) - PRINCIPAL
1,445.42 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (276M6P) - INTEREST
5,096.68 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (278NPD) - PRINCIPAL
1,207.64 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (278NPD) - INTEREST
5,283.91 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (278NPJ) - PRINCIPAL
1,252.01 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (278NPJ) - INTEREST
5,377.43 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (278NPK) - PRINCIPAL
1,274.17 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (278NPK) - INTEREST

55.66 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (278NPK) - OTHERS
7,480.77 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F6ZT) - PRINCIPAL
1,772.55 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F6ZT) - INTEREST
1,248.87 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F6ZT) - OTHERS
7,504.74 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F6ZW) - PRINCIPAL
1,778.22 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F6ZW) - INTEREST
1,248.68 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F6ZW) - OTHERS
7,504.74 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F722) - PRINCIPAL
1,778.22 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F722) - INTEREST
-134.71 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (27F722) - OTHERS
100.00 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (24MGVD) - OTHERS
100.00 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (24MGVN) - OTHERS
745.00 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (283G2M) - OTHERS
240.00 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (28CMV6) - OTHERS
840.00 PW - VEHICLE LEASE (28JCML) - OTHERS
337524 17,623.44 PW - 28FM6X LEASE (PR)
2,545.79 PW - 28FM6X LEASE (OTH)
5,248.92 PW - 28KCQ2 LEASE (PR)
1,077.80 PW - 28KCQ2 LEASE (OTH)
7,581.48 PW - 255622 LEASE (PR)
1,310.88 PW - 255622 LEASE (INT)
-65.67 PW - 255622 LEASE (OTH)
7,581.48 PW - 2555ZV LEASE (PR)
1,310.88 PW - 2555ZV LEASE (INT)
-66.01 PW - 2555ZV LEASE (OTH)
4,490.31 PW - 25597P LEASE (PR)
503.73 PW - 25597P LEASE (INT)
-95.54 PW - 25597P LEASE (OTH)
4,490.31 PW - 25597S LEASE (PR)
503.73 PW - 25597S LEASE (INT)
-95.20 PW - 25597S LEASE (OTH)
5,934.59 PW - 26PRR7 LEASE (PR)
1,026.13 PW - 26PRR7 LEASE (INT)
-249.60 PW - 26PRR7 LEASE (OTH)
5,937.66 PW - 26PRT6 LEASE (PR)
1,026.66 PW - 26PRT6 LEASE (INT)

Page 12 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337524 ENTERPRISE FM TRUST -208.89 PW - 26PRT6 LEASE (OTH) 5,934.59 PW - 26Q3DM LEASE (PR)
1,026.13 PW - 26Q3DM LEASE (INT)
-208.92 PW - 26Q3DM LEASE (OTH)
-2,005.00 PW - 24MGVJ LEASE (GAIN)
-3,550.00 PW - 24MGW4 LEASE (GAIN)
Vendor Tota 196,093.74
1000000071 ESPARZA, ERNESTO 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (EE)-1/25 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (EE)-2/25
Vendor Tota 500.00
337285 ESPIN, JUAN J 200.00 PS - HOME SECURITY REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 200.00
337429 ESTRADA, BALTAZAR 300.00 CSR - SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT (1/9) 300.00 CSR - SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT (2/6)
337525 300.00 CSR - SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT (3/20)
Vendor Tota 900.00
17715 EVERBANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 150,000.00 FIN - 2010A BOND REFUNDING COST OF INS Vendor Tota 150,000.00
337376 FACILITY WERX, INC 202.51 PW - HOUSEHOLD SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 202.51
337526 FAIR HOUSING FOUNDATION 1,220.80 PL - FAIR HOUSING SVCS (1/25) Vendor Tota 1,220.80
337478 FAIRPLEX 668.00 CSR - ENP EXCURSION (5/23)
Vendor Tota 668.00
337581 FEAGIN, REANNAN 104.50 PS - CITATION REFUND (FEAGIN) Vendor Tota 104.50
337299 FEDEX 33.58 GEN - POSTAGE EXPENSE
Vendor Tota 33.58
337377 FERGUSON ENTERPRISES, INC 303.43 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

81.09 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 384.52
337286 FERNANDO TOURS INC 50.00 CSR - ENP EXCURSION (1/15) 1,350.00 CSR - RECREATION EXCURSION (1/15)
337347 700.00 CSR - PATHFINDERS EXCURSION (1/25)
337479 950.00 CSR - RECREATION EXCURSION (2/8)

40.00 CSR - ENP EXCURSION (12/20)
900.00 CSR - RECREATION EXCURSION (12/20)

35.00 CSR - ENP EXCURSION (2/1)
900.00 CSR - RECREATION EXCURSION (2/1)
Vendor Tota 4,925.00
337527 FIRST-CITIZENS BANK & TRUST CO 527.84 PS - COPIER (2/25) Vendor Tota 527.84
337456 FRANCHISE TAX BOARD 70.17 PAYROLL DEDUCTION - PPE 2/7 337583 70.17 PAYROLL DEDUCTION - PPE 2/21
Vendor Tota 140.34
337253 FUENTES 11.36 WTR REF - 6815 SAN MIGUEL
Vendor Tota 11.36

Page 13 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337480 FUN EXPRESS LLC 2,505.14 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
700.42 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
570.65 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
253.69 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
184.58 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 4,214.48
337528 GAIL M GOLDMAN ASSOCIATES LLC 10,000.00 PL - PUBLIC ART MASTER PLAN (PHASE 3) Vendor Tota 10,000.00
337430 GALVAN, CANDACE 1,680.00 CIP-NEIGHBORHOOD ENHANCE(16317 GARFIELD Vendor Tota 1,680.00
337254 GARCIA 5.95 WTR REF - 6618 SAN MARCUS
Vendor Tota 5.95
337410 GAS COMPANY 9,766.44 GEN - FACILITIES NATURAL GAS (1/25) 250.17 PW - WELL #14 NATURAL GAS (1/25)
266.98 GEN - CLRWTR NATURAL GAS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 10,283.59
337509 GOLDEN STATE WATER COMPANY 565.71 PW - MEDIAN IRRIGATION (1/25) 2,209.76 GEN - ALL AMERICAN PARK WATER (1/25)
Vendor Tota 2,775.47
337255 GONZALEZ 24.50 WTR REF - 7018 SAN MARCUS
Vendor Tota 24.50
1000000072 GONZALEZ, JAVIER 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (JG)-2/25 Vendor Tota 250.00
337348 GOTO COMMUNICATIONS, INC 2,324.49 IT - VOIP TELEPHONE SVC (2/25) Vendor Tota 2,324.49
337378 GRAINGER 1,753.65 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
825.81 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 2,579.46
1000000073 GRAYSON, SHIRLEY MARIE 100.00 CSR - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (SG)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337431 GREENFIELD LANDSCAPING & MNTC 8,890.00 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SVCS Vendor Tota 8,890.00
1000000060 GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE CO 1,774.52 LIFE INSURANCE - 2/25 7,679.25 DISABILITY INSURANCE - 2/25
9,337.09 DENTAL INSURANCE (PPO) - 2/25
480.64 DENTAL INSURANCE (HMO) - 2/25
2,322.24 VISION INSURANCE - 2/25
2,148.39 SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE - 2/25
943.90 VOLUNTARY LIFE INSURANCE - 2/25
Vendor Tota 24,686.03
337256 GURMEET KAUR 27.45 WTR REF - 6512 ALONDRA
Vendor Tota 27.45
337324 GUS'S DELI BBQ & GRILL 1,210.55 CSR - MEETING EXPENSE (SPANE) Vendor Tota 1,210.55
337257 HARTFIELD CONSTRUCTION CORP 666.86 WTR REF - 13726 CONST FLORINE Vendor Tota 666.86
337300 HDL COREN & CONE 3,465.00 SA - PROPERTY TAX SVCS (1/25 - 3/25) Vendor Tota 3,465.00

Page 14 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337301 HDL SOFTWARE LLC 684.79 FIN - BUSINESS LICENSE SVCS (12/24) 519.39 FIN - BUSINESS LICENSE COLLECTIONS
Vendor Tota 1,204.18
337259 HERNANDEZ 19.05 WTR REF - 6740 MARCELLE
337260 11.05 WTR REF - 6742 MARCELLE
337258 29.80 WTR REF - 6613 SAN MATEO
Vendor Tota 59.90
337481 HERNANDEZ, BRENDA 200.00 FACILITY DEPOSIT REFUND (HERNANDEZ 9354 Vendor Tota 200.00
337529 HERNANDEZ, ERICK 245.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 245.00
337510 HI-WAY SAFETY INC 2,264.54 PW - TRAFFIC SAFETY SUPPLIES 127.67 PW - TRAFFIC SAFETY SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 2,392.21
337411 HOLDAAK PARAMOUNT 196.09 RM - CJPIA TRAINING (2/11) 337457 261.46 RM - CJPIA TRAINING (2/11)
Vendor Tota 457.55

Page 15 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337413 HOME DEPOT/GECF 14.31 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES

39.44 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES

77.48 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

26.33 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
168.25 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES

40.38 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES

82.00 PW - STREET MNTC SUPPLIES

22.49 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
116.36 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
533.24 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
177.49 PW - STREET MNTC SUPPLIES
514.65 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
514.65 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
514.65 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
381.08 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

26.40 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
1,846.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
1,906.62 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
184.07 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
103.69 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

40.86 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
182.87 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

42.69 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

53.25 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
473.27 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES

81.43 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
213.42 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
136.71 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
549.30 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

27.67 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
269.16 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
157.43 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
323.85 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
700.26 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SUPPLIES

61.74 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES

31.13 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
608.71 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

57.18 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 11,300.51
337261 HU 30.33 WTR REF - 14950 TEXACO
Vendor Tota 30.33
337482 HUMAN SERVICES ASSOCIATION 654.00 ENP SPECIAL EVENT MEALS (1/23) 650.00 CSR - ENP EVENT SUPPLIES (1/31-WE)
Vendor Tota 1,304.00
337379 IDR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES 2,197.10 PW - HAZARDOUS WASTE SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 2,197.10
337458 INFINITY TECHNOLOGIES 30,394.00 IT - IT CONSULTANT SVCS (11/24) 6,793.75 IT - SMART CITY HALL (11/24)
371.25 IT - MS OFFICE 365 CLOUD BACKUP (11/24)
Vendor Tota 37,559.00

Page 16 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337302 INK HEAD DESIGN & PRINTS 6,122.73 CP - CHRISTMAS TRAIN EVENT 2,368.12 CP - CHRISTMAS TRAIN EVENT
981.02 CP - CHRISTMAS TRAIN EVENT
736.03 CP - STORE MERCHANDISE
608.64 CSR - BANNER UPDATE
337303 5,078.39 CSR - YOUTH UNIFORMS
337459 1,413.13 CP - PHONE NUMBER MAGNETS
337530 1,891.05 PS - PITCH-IN PARAMOUNT (1/18)
Vendor Tota 19,199.11
17682 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 19.56 MEDICARE PAYMENT - SPEC 2/3 17694 34,917.80 FED PAYROLL TAX - PPE 2/7
14,272.30 MEDICARE PAYMENT - PPE 2/7
17723 38,504.91 FED PAYROLL TAX - PPE 2/21
15,429.94 MEDICARE PAYMENT - PPE 2/21
Vendor Tota 103,144.51
337287 JANKOVICH COMPANY, LLC 1,243.82 PS - FLEET FUEL (1/15 - 1/21) 277.73 PS - FLEET FUEL (1/15 - 1/21)

73.77 CSR - FLEET FUEL (1/1 - 1/7)

62.28 CSR - FLEET FUEL (1/15 - 1/21)
337304 16.84 CSR - FLEET FUEL (1/8 - 1/14)
337349 231.01 CSR - FLEET FUEL (1/22 - 1/31)
337432 1,662.50 PS - FLEET FUEL (1/22 - 1/31)
1,598.86 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/8 - 1/14)
1,320.08 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/1 - 1/7)
1,059.61 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/8 - 1/14)
665.42 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/1 - 1/7)
372.39 PS - FLEET FUEL (1/22 - 1/31)
367.42 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/8 - 1/14)
226.33 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/8 - 1/14)
190.77 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/1 - 1/7)
147.05 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/8 - 1/14)
141.72 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/8 - 1/14)
116.56 PS - FLEET FUEL (1/22 - 1/31)

93.78 PW - FLEET FUEL (1/1 - 1/7)

83.31 PL - FLEET FUEL (2/1 - 2/7)
337483 1,167.25 PS - FLEET FUEL (2/1 - 2/7)
240.26 PS - FLEET FUEL (2/1 - 2/7)
337531 971.06 PS - FLEET FUEL (2/8 - 2/14)
318.86 PS - FLEET FUEL (2/8 - 2/14)

45.13 PS - FLEET FUEL (2/8 - 2/14)
Vendor Tota 12,693.81
337305 JAUREGUI, PAULINE 151.20 AS - MMASC CONFERENCE (PJ) Vendor Tota 151.20
337262 JD FUEL INC 27.25 WTR REF - 7512 ALONDRA
Vendor Tota 27.25
337484 JIMENEZ, EUSEBIO 200.00 CSR - ENP EXCURSION REFUND (JIMENEZ) Vendor Tota 200.00
337350 JOE GONSALVES & SON INC 3,300.00 CC - STATE LEGISLATIVE LOBBYIST (2/25) Vendor Tota 3,300.00
337460 JONES MAYER 387.06 CA - ZERO BAIL PROGRAM LITIGATION(1/25) Vendor Tota 387.06
337485 JOSE TEJADA 240.00 CSR - SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT (2/27) Vendor Tota 240.00

Page 17 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337288 JUANEZ, VERONICA 200.00 PS - HOME SECURITY REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 200.00
337306 JUNIOR'S CONSTRUCTION, INC 2,400.00 CIP - COUNCIL CHAMBER IMP 2,050.00 CIP - COUNCIL CHAMBER IMP
Vendor Tota 4,450.00
337532 KEN MATSUI IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY 425.00 CP - RENDON APPRECIATION DINNER Vendor Tota 425.00
337325 KEN'S WELDING 2,300.00 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS 1,650.00 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS
1,500.00 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS
600.00 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 6,050.00
337461 KILEY & ASSOCIATES, LLC 3,500.00 CC - FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE LOBBYIST (1/25 Vendor Tota 3,500.00
337380 KNOTT'S BERRY FARM 1,715.00 CSR - .ENP EXCURSION (3/12) Vendor Tota 1,715.00
337381 KONE, INC 1,520.82 PW - CLRWTR ELEVATOR MNTC (1/25 - 3/25) Vendor Tota 1,520.82
337563 KOSMONT REALTY 102.70 AS - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SVCS(1/25) Vendor Tota 102.70
337433 L A COUNTY DEPT OF PUBLIC WORK 6,415.80 PW - INDUSTRIAL WASTE SVCS (12/24) Vendor Tota 6,415.80
337564 L A COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY 14,089.54 PS - D.A. LEGAL SVCS (12/24) Vendor Tota 14,089.54
337511 L A COUNTY SHERIFF 553,385.32 PS - GENERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT (1/25) 196,514.65 PS - SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT OFFICER (1/25)
25,636.44 PS - SWORN SUPERVISION (1/25)
593.32 PS - VEHICLE MDC (1/25)
Vendor Tota 776,129.73
337307 L.N. CURTIS AND SONS 164.07 PS - UNIFORMS (VR)
337533 185.62 PS - UNIFORMS (YM)
Vendor Tota 349.69
1000000061 LA-RICS 340.00 PS - LASD RADIOS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 340.00
1000000074 LANDRY, CHARLENE 100.00 CSR - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (CL)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337414 LAURINCO 15,360.00 CIP - CITY HALL PLANNING DEPT IMP 5,915.00 CIP - CITY HALL PLANNING DEPT IMP
Vendor Tota 21,275.00
337534 LAW OFFICES DAPEER,ROSENBLIT 462.00 PS - CITY PROSECUTOR SVCS (1/25) Vendor Tota 462.00
337565 LELEDINA LLC 1,200.00 PS - RENTAL ASSIST (CAZARES-3/25) PLHA Vendor Tota 1,200.00
337535 LEMUS, GARDENIA ABIGAIL 170.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 170.00
337536 LEMUS, LAURA GABRIELA 276.61 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 276.61

Page 18 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337308 LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE 2,295.00 HR - LEGAL SVCS (12/24) 337566 1,710.00 HR - LEGAL SVCS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 4,005.00
337382 LONG BEACH TRANSIT 116,650.00 CSR - LB TRANSIT SVCS (10/24 - 12/24) 22,500.00 CSR - LB TRANSIT TAP (10/24 - 12/24)
Vendor Tota 139,150.00
337434 MAGANA, MELISSA ERCELY 350.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 350.00
1000000075 MALDONADO, ALEJANDRO 100.00 CSR - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (AM)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337537 MANZO, SERGIO 56.96 PL - AIR PURIFIER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 56.96
337415 MARQUEZ, JORGE RODRIGUEZ 300.00 CSR - SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT (2/20) Vendor Tota 300.00
337538 MARTINEZ, JAVIER 250.80 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 250.80
337539 MARTINEZ, MARIA LUZ 275.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 275.00
17686 MATRIX TRUST TPA 000363 66,452.37 RETIREE HEALTH TRUST (3/25) Vendor Tota 66,452.37
337486 MATSON, MARGARITA 157.42 PS - ECRHA MEETING EXPENSE (MM) 337540 101.82 PS - MEETING EXPENSE (1/27)
Vendor Tota 259.24
337541 MDG ASSOCIATES, INC 8,466.25 PL - PLHA HOP ADMIN (1/25) 7,904.00 PL - CDBG PROGRAM ADMIN (1/25)
5,292.00 PL - CDBG HIP ADMIN (1/25)
2,530.00 PL - AL FRESCO MONITORING (1/25-ARPA)
796.25 PL - HOME PROGRAM ADMIN (12/24)
337542 828.00 PS - HOME ARP ADMIN (12/24)
Vendor Tota 25,816.50
337435 MEZA, MARJORIE 1,064.00 PS - YAL SVCS (1/25 - 2/7) 337567 1,064.00 PS - YAL SVCS (2/8 - 2/21)
Vendor Tota 2,128.00
337309 MICHAEL BAKER INTERNATIONAL 9,850.50 CIP - MEDIAN ENHANCEMENTS (12/24) Vendor Tota 9,850.50
337326 MMASC 125.00 PW - MMASC MEMBERSHIP (MM)
Vendor Tota 125.00
337263 MOBARAK 26.68 WTR REF - 8404 OLANDA
Vendor Tota 26.68
1000000076 MOODY, DAVID THOMAS 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (DM)-1/25 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (DM)-2/25
Vendor Tota 500.00
337289 MORALES, PEDRO BAHENA 366.74 CONSTRUCTION PERMIT REFUND

1.00 STATE GREEN FEE

53.90 STORM DRAIN REFUND

38.33 GENERAL PLAN REFUND

1.63 SMI REFUND
Vendor Tota 461.60

Page 19 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
1000000077 MORENO, AUSTIN RICHARD 100.00 CSR - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (AM)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337436 MUNOZ, JOANNA G 1,140.00 PS - YAL SVCS (1/25 - 2/7) 337568 1,050.00 PS - YAL SVCS (2/8 - 2/21)
Vendor Tota 2,190.00
337383 NAPA AUTO PARTS 73.43 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 73.43
337264 NAVARRETE 10.73 WTR REF - 15725 GEORGIA
Vendor Tota 10.73
337310 NAVARRO, JOSE 400.00 CSR - YOUTH BASKETBALL LEAGUE TRAINING 337512 300.00 CSR - OFFICIAL FEE (VOLLEYBALL 2/6)
200.00 CSR - OFFICIAL FEE (VOLLEYBALL 2/10)
337515 300.00 CSR - ADULT OFFICIAL FEE(SOFTBALL 10/17
Vendor Tota 1,200.00
337416 NEOGOV 16,013.38 HR - INFORMATION SYSTEMS (3/25 - 3/26) Vendor Tota 16,013.38
337462 NEW CITY AMERICA INC 8,000.00 AS - BUSINESS IMP DISTRICT (1/15-2/14) Vendor Tota 8,000.00
337543 NOW DOCS INTERNATIONAL, INC. 242.55 FIN - CHECK STOCK Vendor Tota 242.55
337584 OCEAN BLUE ENVIRONMENTAL SVCS 7,409.28 'PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS 5,565.78 'PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS
5,525.67 'PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS
4,408.95 'PW - ROADS MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 22,909.68
337351 OFFICE DEPOT, INC. 976.39 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
955.87 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
955.87 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
822.28 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
695.80 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
319.78 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
267.09 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
140.30 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 5,133.38
337384 OFFICE SOLUTIONS 719.77 GEN - OFFICE SUPPLIES
303.67 GEN - OFFICE SUPPLIES
150.27 GEN - OFFICE SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 1,173.71
337544 OLEA, GIOVANNA 121.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 121.00
337311 OLMOS, BRENDA 120.43 CC - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR (BO) Vendor Tota 120.43
337265 ON HARCOURT LLC 56.89 WTR REF - 7030 MOTZ
Vendor Tota 56.89
337266 OPENDOOR LABS INC 45.57 WTR REF - 6806 ALONDRA
Vendor Tota 45.57
17685 OPENEDGE 17,588.72 GEN - UB WEB BANK CHARGES (1/25) Vendor Tota 17,588.72

Page 20 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337545 PACIFIC COAST RACE TIMING 1,699.00 CP - 5K/1K EVENT Vendor Tota 1,699.00
337437 PACIFIC COAST WATER SYSTEMS 69.45 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS

69.45 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 138.90
337385 PACIFIC DOOR & FRAME, INC. 671.76 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 671.76
337569 PARAMOUNT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 240.00 CC - STATE OF THE CITY (IA, BO, VCS)

72.00 CM - STATE OF THE CITY (HL)

72.00 CA - STATE OF THE CITY (NG)

72.00 AS - STATE OF THE CITY (PJ)
216.00 FIN - STATE OF THE CITY (KS, AM, CA)
144.00 PL - STATE OF THE CITY (JK, SB)
144.00 PS - STATE OF THE CITY (MM. EW)
144.00 CS - STATE OF THE CITY (YG, VO)
216.00 PW - STATE OF THE CITY (AF, MT, MM)
435.00 CP - PULSE BEAT CITY SCAPE (2/25)
Vendor Tota 1,755.00
337327 PARAMOUNT EDUCATION 250,000.00 CIP - PEP SCHOLARSHIP (ARPA) Vendor Tota 250,000.00
337513 PARAMOUNT HIGH SCHOOL 100.00 CP - DONATION (DS)
Vendor Tota 100.00
337290 PARAMOUNT JOURNAL 192.50 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/16) 115.50 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/16)
337352 379.50 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/23)
374.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/23)
313.50 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/23)
297.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/23)
337463 363.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/30)
132.00 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/30)
132.00 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/30)
112.75 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (1/30)
337570 374.00 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/13)
374.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/20)
302.50 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/20)
297.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/20)
126.50 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/13)
107.25 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/13)
107.25 CM - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/13)
Vendor Tota 4,100.25
337353 PARAMOUNT UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST 366.75 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES 243.50 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 610.25
1000000078 PARKS, ALVIN 100.00 PW - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (AP)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337438 PARSAM CONSTRUCTION, INC 164,160.00 CIP - DILLS PARK ORCHARD (POLB) 12,946.20 CIP - DILLS PARK ORCHARD (RET-POLB)
-8,640.00 PARSAM (CIP 9258-POLB)
-4,306.20 CIP - DILLS PARK ORCHARD (RET-CPRS)
Vendor Tota 164,160.00
337312 PBP PROPERTIES I.P. 250.00 PS - CITATION REFUND (PBP PROPERTIES IP Vendor Tota 250.00

Page 21 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337267 PEREZ 4.65 WTR REF - 8244 3RD
Vendor Tota 4.65
337354 PEREZ, DAILEEN 560.00 CSR - FOLKLORICO BEYOND SPECTRUM(1/25) Vendor Tota 560.00
337571 PEREZ, LUIS F 700.00 PS - RENTAL ASSIST (VAZQUEZ-1/25) PLHA 700.00 PS - RENTAL ASSIST (VAZQUEZ-2/25) PLHA
Vendor Tota 1,400.00
337355 PEREZ-LEON, DANALY 560.00 CSR - FOLKLORICO TOTS CLASS (1/25) 240.00 CSR - FOLKLORICO BEGINNER CLASS (1/25)
200.00 CSR - FOLKLORICO INTER/ADV CLASS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 1,000.00
337487 PERKINS, JANICE M 100.00 PL - AIR PURIFIER REBATE PROGRAM

31.95 PL - HVAC FILTER REBATE PROGRAM
Vendor Tota 131.95
337291 PETTY CASH 522.06 PETTY CASH REPLENISHMENT
Vendor Tota 522.06
337356 PIECE BY PIECE 770.00 CIP - PARAMOUNT PARK ENTRY IMP Vendor Tota 770.00
337572 PONCE, ANDREW 37.49 PL - AIR PURIFIER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 37.49
337386 POOL & ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS,INC 118.78 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 118.78
337387 PRECISION ELEVATOR 193.00 PW - ELEVATOR MNTC SVCS (2/25) 193.00 PW - ELEVATOR MNTC SVCS (1/25)
Vendor Tota 386.00
337268 PRESSURE VESSEL TECH 36.21 WTR REF - 7342 PETTERSON Vendor Tota 36.21
337439 PRUDENTIAL OVERALL SUPPLY 76.22 PW - UNIFORM SVC

25.39 PW - UNIFORM SVC

36.82 PW - UNIFORM SVC

21.07 PW - UNIFORM SVC

19.37 PW - UNIFORM SVC

26.01 PW - UNIFORM SVC

11.72 PW - UNIFORM SVC

12.83 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

74.88 PW - UNIFORM SVC

25.39 PW - UNIFORM SVC

36.82 PW - UNIFORM SVC

21.07 PW - UNIFORM SVC

19.37 PW - UNIFORM SVC

12.91 PW - UNIFORM SVC

11.72 PW - UNIFORM SVC

12.83 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

74.88 PW - UNIFORM SVC

25.39 PW - UNIFORM SVC

36.82 PW - UNIFORM SVC

21.07 PW - UNIFORM SVC

19.37 PW - UNIFORM SVC

12.91 PW - UNIFORM SVC

11.72 PW - UNIFORM SVC

12.83 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 659.41

Page 22 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337313 PUNKYS ICE CREAM 525.00 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
337357 297.00 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 822.00
337573 QUADIENT, INC 274.41 FIN - OFFICE SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 274.41
337440 R & R FIRE PROTECTION 1,203.25 PW - FIRE EXTINGUISHER SVCS Vendor Tota 1,203.25
337488 RAMON MEDELLIN 400.00 CSR - ADAPTIVE SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 400.00
337388 RAYVERN LIGHTING SUPPLY CO INC 149.23 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 149.23
337358 RAZZOUK, MARC 1,050.00 CSR - PHIT INSTRUCTOR (1/25) Vendor Tota 1,050.00
337314 RDC-S111, INC 15,860.00 CIP - PARAMOUNT PARK COM CTR EXP 2,650.00 CIP - CIVIC CENTER FOUNTAIN UPGRADE
337417 2,050.00 CIP - PARK DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT (CENTURY Vendor Tota 20,560.00
337489 READY AMERICA INC 2,719.54 PS - DISASTER PREPAREDNESS EQUIPMENT Vendor Tota 2,719.54
337441 RED WING SHOE STORE 600.00 PW - WORK BOOTS
Vendor Tota 600.00
337490 REGISTRAR-RECORDER/L.A. COUNTY 75.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/12)

75.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/12)

75.00 PL - PUBLISHED NOTICE (2/12)
Vendor Tota 225.00
337328 RETAIL MARKETING SERVICES 25.00 PW - CART SERVICES (12/24) Vendor Tota 25.00
1000000062 RICHARDS, WATSON & GERSHON 10,174.50 CA - CITY ATTORNEY SVCS (12/24) Vendor Tota 10,174.50
337329 RIVERA'S POWER EQUIPMENT 370.41 PW - GENERAL SMALL TOOLS Vendor Tota 370.41
337499 RIVERO, REBECCA 187.57 WTR REF - 13726 FLORINE
Vendor Tota 187.57
337389 ROADLINE PRODUCTS INC 2,122.31 PW - STREET MNTC SUPPLIES 1,885.28 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
1,589.53 PW - TRAFFIC SAFETY SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 5,597.12
337270 RODRIGUEZ 30.30 WTR REF - 16437 GEORGIA
337269 4.32 WTR REF - 8039 1ST
Vendor Tota 34.62
337442 RODRIGUEZ, EFRAIN 850.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS 650.00 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 1,500.00
337390 ROSE EQUIPMENT REPAIR, INC 209.71 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 209.71
337391 ROYAL PAPER CORPORATION 1,079.33 PW - HOUSEHOLD SUPPLIES 297.51 PW - HOUSEHOLD SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 1,376.84

Page 23 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337392 RPW SERVICES, INC. 4,000.00 PW - WEED CONTROL SVCS 1,800.00 PW - WEED CONTROL SVCS
1,100.00 PW - PEST CONTROL SVCS
390.00 PW - PEST CONTROL SVCS
585.00 PW - PEST CONTROL SVCS
275.00 PW - PEST CONTROL SVCS
Vendor Tota 8,150.00
1000000065 RUIZ, GERARDO 100.00 PS - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (GR)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337315 S & S WORLDWIDE 2,446.01 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
2,320.54 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

23.14 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
337359 2,465.58 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
1,367.32 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
637.27 CSR - MLC PROGRAM SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 9,259.86
337574 SAFE-T-PROOF 2,000.00 PS - EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS EXPO Vendor Tota 2,000.00
337546 SALDANA LANDSCAPE DESING INC 146,300.00 CIP - DILLS PARK IRRIGATION REPAIRS 7,700.00 CIP-DILLS PARK IRRIGATION REPAIRS (RET)
-7,700.00 SALDANA (CIP 9574-FY25)
Vendor Tota 146,300.00
1000000066 SANCHEZ, DORA ALICIA 100.00 PS - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (DS)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337271 SARRIS 27.94 WTR REF - 8225 ALONDRA
Vendor Tota 27.94
337393 SARRIS, INC 1,033.83 PW - A/C SYSTEM SVCS (COM CTR) 762.03 PW - KITCHEN REF MNTC
720.63 PW - A/C SYSTEM SVCS (STATION)
255.00 PW - A/C SYSTEM SVCS (GYM)
172.50 PW - A/C SYSTEM SVCS (STATION)
337443 7,650.00 PW - A/C SYSTEM SVCS (CITY YARD)
Vendor Tota 10,593.99
337491 SAUCEDO, INGRID 225.00 CSR - 55+ SENIOR FITNESS (1/25 - YOGA) Vendor Tota 225.00
337360 SCHOOL HEALTH CORPORATION 992.21 CSR - 1660 ADULT SPORTS SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 992.21
337547 SCOTT FAZEKAS & ASSOCIATES INC 29,142.29 PL - PLAN CHECK SVCS (11/24) 6,985.00 PL - PERMIT TECHNICIAN SVCS (11/24)
500.00 PL - BLDG OFFICIAL SVCS (11/24)
337548 20,545.20 PL - PLAN CHECK SVCS (9/24)
10,340.00 PL - PERMIT TECHNICIAN SVCS (9/24)
750.00 PL - BLDG OFFICIAL SVCS (9/24)
337549 10,003.15 PL - PLAN CHECK SVCS (10/24)
9,240.00 PL - PERMIT TECHNICIAN SVCS (10/24)
500.00 PL - BLDG OFFICIAL SVCS (10/24)
337550 6,821.55 PL - PLAN CHECK SVCS (1/25)
500.00 PL - BLDG OFFICIAL SVCS (1/25)
337551 6,400.00 PL - PERMIT TECHNICIAN SVCS (8/24)
6,252.17 PL - PLAN CHECK SVCS (8/24)
500.00 PL - BLDG OFFICIAL SVCS (8/24)
Vendor Tota 108,479.36

Page 24 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337575 SECTRAN SECURITY INC 795.78 GEN - ARMORED CAR SVC (2/25) Vendor Tota 795.78
337492 SEQUEL CONTRACTORS, INC 53,004.13 SEQUEL CONST (CIP 9430) Vendor Tota 53,004.13
337394 SHOETERIA 111.62 PW - WORK BOOTS
337444 196.79 PW - WORK BOOTS
Vendor Tota 308.41
337361 SMART & FINAL IRIS CO 427.84 GEN - CC MEETING EXPENSE (1/28) 126.31 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

75.10 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
337445 214.95 PS - CLUTTER FREE PARAMOUNT (1/18)
Vendor Tota 844.20
337395 SMITH PAINT 443.84 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 443.84
337552 SOTO, HECTOR 290.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 290.00
337464 SOURCE GRAPHICS 71.66 GEN - BUSINESS CARDS (NG)
337553 287.55 PS - RED TAG FORMS
Vendor Tota 359.21
337316 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CO. 7,333.73 PW - WATER PIPELINE LICENSE(11/24-10/25 337465 36,752.18 GEN - FACILITIES & PARKS (1/25)
2,143.54 GEN - CLRWTR BLDG (1/25)
12,060.58 PW - STREET LIGHTS & MEDIANS (1/25)
34,771.95 PW - WATER PRODUCTION WELLS (1/25)
1,227.36 GEN - PARAMOUNT PARK (1/25)
Vendor Tota 94,289.34
337292 SOUTHWEST PATROL, INC 11,160.00 PS - PATROL SVCS (1/1-1/15) 180.00 CC - CC MTG PATROL SVCS (1/14)
337446 11,655.00 PS - PATROL SVCS (1/16-1/31)
337466 180.00 CC - CC MTG PATROL SVCS (1/28)
Vendor Tota 23,175.00
337467 STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT 145.96 PAYROLL DEDUCTION - PPE 2/7 337585 145.96 PAYROLL DEDUCTION - PPE 2/21
Vendor Tota 291.92
337396 STEAMX - SIGNAL HILL 418.84 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 418.84
337586 STEVEN ENTERPRISES, INC 242.13 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 242.13
337397 SUNBELT RENTALS, INC 941.45 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS 337447 5,832.06 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
2,815.78 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
-35.10 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS (CREDIT)
-35.36 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS (CREDIT)
Vendor Tota 9,518.83
337448 SUNOUT MOBILE WINDOW TINTING 937.98 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS 696.77 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
499.91 PW - FACILITY MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 2,134.66

Page 25 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337398 SUPERCO SPECIALTY PRODUCTS 2,347.10 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES 2,347.10 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
668.90 PW - GRAFFITI REMOVAL SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 5,363.10
337554 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA 15,576.00 PS - PARKING VIOLATIONS (1/25) Vendor Tota 15,576.00
337493 TACOS GIYO 642.85 CSR - PATHFINDERS REFRESHMENTS (2/22) Vendor Tota 642.85
337272 TAWADROUS 17.05 WTR REF - 8404 OLANDA
Vendor Tota 17.05
337399 TAYLOR'S LOCK & KEY SVCS 70.00 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES

22.05 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 92.05
337468 TEAMSTERS LOCAL 911 525.00 UNION DUES - PPE 2/7
337587 525.00 UNION DUES - PPE 2/21
Vendor Tota 1,050.00
337273 THE LEVIN CO .37 WTR REF - 7711 SOMERSET
Vendor Tota .37
337418 THE PUN GROUP, LLP 6,695.00 FIN-STATE CONTROLLER'S REPORT (FY 2024) Vendor Tota 6,695.00
337494 THE SALVATION ARMY 36,270.00 PS - (20) SHELTER BEDS - (12/24) 36,270.00 PS - (20) SHELTER BEDS - (1/25)
Vendor Tota 72,540.00
337419 THINK TOGETHER 63,228.79 CSR - STAR PROGRAM SVCS 63,228.79 CSR - STAR PROGRAM SVCS
Vendor Tota 126,457.58
337555 THOMPSON, SARA 106.00 PS - CAT SPAY/NEUTER REBATE PROGRAM Vendor Tota 106.00
1000000079 TIMMONS, LINDA 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (LT)-1/25 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (LT)-2/25
Vendor Tota 500.00
337274 TOAST TRADING 38.03 WTR REF - 14524 GARFIELD
Vendor Tota 38.03
337400 TONY'S GLOVES & SAFETY SUPPLY 1,489.20 PW - HOUSEHOLD SUPPLIES Vendor Tota 1,489.20
17688 TOTAL ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 1,394.51 FT FSA - PPE 1/24 17716 1,394.51 FT FSA - PPE 2/7
Vendor Tota 2,789.02
337449 TRINITY CONSULTANTS, INC 13,611.61 PL - AIR MONITORING SVCS (1/25-EPA) Vendor Tota 13,611.61
337293 TRIPEPI SMITH & ASSOCIATES 9,535.05 AS - COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT (1/25) 337317 4,517.50 CC - CITY ATTORNEY RECRUITMENT (9/24)
337576 783.75 AS - BROADCASTING SVCS (1/25)
403.75 AS - COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT (1/25)
Vendor Tota 15,240.05
337294 TYLER TECHNOLOGIES, INC 225.00 IT - EDEN UPGRADE Vendor Tota 225.00

Page 26 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17704 U S BANK CORPORATE PAYMENT 157.00 CP - E-NEWSLETTER 1,601.40 CP - E-NEWSLETTER
625.00 AS - CAPIO CONFERENCE (PJ)
120.00 AS - SMUGMUG ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
324.82 HR - EMPLOYEE HEALTHY SNACKS
490.36 AS - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR (GC)

99.87 CP - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

90.00 AS - CCMF MEETING EXPENSE (2/6)

21.00 CP - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

24.00 CP - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

21.00 CP - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

27.00 CP - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
144.00 CP - SOCIAL MEDIA FREEPIK SUBSCRIPTION

30.00 CP - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
190.45 IT - COMPUTER MNTC SUPPLIES
119.07 GEN - KITCHEN SUPPLIES
695.00 AS - MOBILE HOMES ADDRESS LIST
-87.40 IT - COMPUTER MNTC SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
500.00 AS - EXPLORE PARAMOUNT
500.00 AS - EXPLORE PARAMOUNT
150.00 AS - EXPLORE PARAMOUNT
139.86 RM - CJPIA TRAINING
119.88 RM - CJPIA TRAINING
257.26 CIP - COUNCIL CHAMBER IMP

27.00 CIP - SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
17705 72.90 CM - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR

10.04 CM - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR
247.07 CM - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR (JM,GC,VCS)

10.90 CM - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR

38.95 CM - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR

82.72 CM - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR
490.36 CM - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR

90.00 CM - CCMF MEETING EXPENSE (2/6)
-650.00 CC - CCCA LEGISLATIVE TOUR (PL)-CREDIT
.40 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE
.40 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE

32.99 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE

51.99 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE

40.00 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE

40.00 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE
-40.00 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE (CREDIT)
-40.00 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE (CREDIT)
-32.99 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE (CREDIT)
-51.99 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE (CREDIT)

25.75 CM - ACCIDENTAL CHARGE

8.00 CM - MEETING EXPENSE (1/16)

8.00 CM - MEETING EXPENSE (1/20)
17706 1,720.76 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
1,502.62 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
730.30 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
17707 61.50 CSR - ADAPTIVE REC EXCURSION (12/26-WE)
130.25 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

29.95 CSR - SPORTS SCHEDULING APP
609.44 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

5.00 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
571.79 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

78.48 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

52.29 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
117.98 CSR - STAFF SCHEDULING APP
334.40 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

Page 27 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17707 U S BANK CORPORATE PAYMENT 191.76 GEN - CC MEETING EXPENSE (1/14)

67.15 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

27.56 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

5.00 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
423.01 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

6.60 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

33.02 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

13.21 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

33.08 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

11.03 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

20.93 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
191.52 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

52.83 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

13.21 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
348.91 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
103.19 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
144.32 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

13.21 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
323.15 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

20.00 CSR - CPRS WINTER BROCHURE EXCHANGE
318.30 GEN - CC MEETING EXPENSE (1/11)
177.78 GEN - CC MEETING EXPENSE (1/11)
140.54 GEN - CC MEETING EXPENSE (1/14)
531.96 GEN - CC MEETING EXPENSE (1/14)
321.21 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
180.77 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
330.72 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
1,161.15 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES
500.00 CSR - ENP EXCURSION (2/19)
922.41 CSR - RECREATION SUPPLIES

70.57 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
437.68 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

84.67 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

61.21 CSR - SPANE PARK REDEDICATION EVENT
385.26 CSR - SPANE PARK REDEDICATION EVENT
347.50 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

74.74 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

6.59 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES

6.00 CSR - PATHFINDERS REFRESHMENTS
146.12 CSR - SPANE PARK REDEDICATION EVENT
323.15 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
439.92 CSR - PATHFINDERS REFRESHMENTS
17708 210.60 FIN - TEAM BUILDING LUNCH (1/16)
17709 610.00 FIN - GFOA CERTIFICATION APPLICATION

60.00 FIN - CSMFO MEMBERSHIP (GM)
17710 675.00 PC - ANNUAL PL COMM ACADEMY (LT)
675.00 PC - ANNUAL PL COMM ACADEMY (GW)
17711 77.15 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
286.64 PS - EQUIPMENT MNTC SUPPLIES
988.23 PS - CLUTTER FREE PARAMOUNT (1/18)

66.00 PS - CLUTTER FREE PARAMOUNT (1/18)
525.88 PS - OFFICE SUPPLIES
17712 276.24 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
1,025.15 GEN - KITCHEN SUPPLIES

14.42 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

11.67 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
328.41 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
292.12 PW - OFFICE SUPPLIES

73.32 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
121.25 PW - OFFICE SUPPLIES

Page 28 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
17712 U S BANK CORPORATE PAYMENT 28.91 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES 125.00 PW - MMASC MEMBERSHIP (CS)
192.88 PW - UNIFORMS
Vendor Tota 28,441.63
17717 U S POSTAL SVC/ U S POSTMASTER 2,500.00 GEN - POSTAGE METER (2/19) 337556 3,000.00 FIN - BULK MAIL PERMIT #3
Vendor Tota 5,500.00
337469 UBEO WEST LLC 179.72 FIN - COPIER USAGE (1/25)
411.56 IT - COPIER USAGE (1/25)
307.98 PL - COPIER USAGE (1/25)
178.50 PS - COPIER USAGE (1/25)
730.32 CSR - COPIER USAGE (1/25)
162.84 PW - COPIER USAGE (1/25)

84.84 FIN - COPIER USAGE (1/25)

80.00 IT - XMEDIUS CLOUD/FAX SVC (1/25)

38.10 IT - XMEDIUS CLOUD/FAX USAGE (1/25)
Vendor Tota 2,173.86
337330 UNDERGROUND SERVICE ALERT 102.50 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SVCS (12/24) Vendor Tota 102.50
337577 UNISHIELD 396.78 RM - FIRST AID SUPPLIES (COM CTR) 309.96 RM - FIRST AID SUPPLIES (PS)
Vendor Tota 706.74
337331 UNITED PLANT GROWERS 959.18 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES 573.30 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
515.97 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
271.22 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
223.81 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
210.58 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
198.45 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
337401 859.95 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
360.52 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 4,172.98
337332 UNIVAR USA 1,838.74 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SUPPLIES 956.61 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
934.79 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SUPPLIES
337402 1,399.90 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 5,130.04
337318 UNIVERSITY TROPHIES 49.46 CC - NAMEPLATES
337578 85.44 CP - PLAQUE (LS)

72.77 CP - MAYOR'S AWARD (3/25)

72.77 CP - MAYOR'S AWARD (2/25)
Vendor Tota 280.44
337275 UPTOWN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT INC 11.41 WTR REF - 15158 ORANGE #3 Vendor Tota 11.41
337500 US BANK VOYAGER FLEET 164.24 PW - CNG FUEL (12/24)

91.03 PW - CNG FUEL (12/24)
Vendor Tota 255.27
337495 V V & G CONSTRUCTION 3,110.50 PL - HIP REHAB (8527 CHESTER) Vendor Tota 3,110.50
1000000080 VASQUEZ, ROSEMARY 100.00 PW - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (RV)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00

Page 29 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337295 VESTIS GROUP 125.13 CSR - LAUNDRY SVCS (1/16)
125.13 CSR - LAUNDRY SVCS (1/2)
337496 104.13 CSR - LAUNDRY SVCS (1/30)
Vendor Tota 354.39
337470 VIDIFLO, LLC 7,464.73 IT - A/V SYSTEM MNTC (CONSOLE) 4,976.49 IT - A/V SYSTEM MNTC (CONSOLE)
1,650.00 IT - A/V SYSTEM MNTC (1/25)
Vendor Tota 14,091.22
337471 VITAL RECORDS HOLDINGS, LLC 86.68 IT - SHREDDING SVCS (2/25) Vendor Tota 86.68
337333 W. A. RASIC CONSTRUCTION 14,450.00 PW - EMERGENCY REPAIR (WELL #15) Vendor Tota 14,450.00
337557 WALMART COMMUNITY 213.77 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
211.21 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
149.06 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
106.53 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
100.40 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
141.23 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
109.32 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
163.74 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
134.01 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
109.62 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
226.44 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
108.90 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

61.25 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

34.48 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

67.97 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

78.94 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
117.04 CSR - ADAPTIVE RECREATION SUPPLIES

6.79 CSR - ADAPTIVE RECREATION SUPPLIES
363.77 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

97.66 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
201.50 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
131.20 CSR - FACILITY SUPPLIES
904.22 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
421.22 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
538.11 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
674.87 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
411.88 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
160.27 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
236.52 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES
269.45 CSR - STAR SUPPLIES

82.11 CSR - PEP SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 6,633.48
337334 WATER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT 100,662.95 PW - GROUNDWATER PRODUCTION (11/24) Vendor Tota 100,662.95
337403 WATERLINE TECHNOLOGIES, INC 2,226.89 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES 1,883.40 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES

29.11 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES
-29.11 PW - FACILITY MNTC SUPPLIES (CREDIT)
Vendor Tota 4,110.29
337497 WEBSTAURANT STORE, INC 3,851.09 CSR - STACKABLE BANQUET CHAIRS (70) Vendor Tota 3,851.09

Page 30 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337335 WECK LABORATORIES, INC. 467.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING 467.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING
467.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING
467.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING
298.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING

70.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING

70.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING
337404 467.00 PW - WATER CHEMICAL TESTING
Vendor Tota 2,913.00
1000000081 WEISENBURGER JR., GORDON R 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (GW)-1/25 250.00 PL - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (GW)-2/25
Vendor Tota 500.00
337336 WEST COAST ARBORISTS, INC 24,902.20 PW - TREE MNTC SVCS (12/1 - 12/15) 10,049.40 PW - TREE MNTC SVCS (12/16 - 12/31)
1,302.70 PW - LANDSCAPE MNTC SVCS
Vendor Tota 36,254.30
337558 WESTCOAST REBELS 432.00 CP - YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Vendor Tota 432.00
337337 WHITE CAP, L.P. 129.98 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SUPPLIES 111.01 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SUPPLIES
337405 24.12 PW - WATER OPER MNTC SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 265.11
337276 WILDAN GROUP INC 685.24 WTR REF - 14018 CONST GARFIELD Vendor Tota 685.24

Page 31 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337319 WILLDAN ASSOCIATES, INC 450.00 CIP - NEIGHBORHOOD STREET RESURF (12/24 50,750.00 CIP - NEIGHBORHOOD STREET RESURF (12/24
40,545.75 CIP-PARAMOUNT PK COM CTR EXPANSION(9/24
30,664.34 CIP - WSAB BIKEWAY PHASE 3 (12/24)
24,462.00 PW - GENERAL ENG SVCS (12/24)
1,200.00 CIP-DILLS PARK IRRIGATION REPAIRS(12/24
18,600.00 CIP-DILLS PARK IRRIGATION REPAIRS(12/24
19,114.50 CIP-PARAMOUNT PK COM CTR EXPANSION(9/24
3,900.00 CIP - SPANE PARK FACILITY IMP (12/24)
12,950.00 CIP - SPANE PARK FACILITY IMP (12/24)
2,000.00 CIP - DILLS PARK RENOVATION (P68)
7,650.00 CIP - DILLS PARK RENOVATION (P68)
9,262.80 CIP - ALLEY IMP (12/24)
8,150.50 PW - TRAFFIC ENG SVCS (12/24)
2,250.00 CIP-DILLS PARK COMMUNITY ORCHARD (12/24
5,000.00 CIP-DILLS PARK COMMUNITY ORCHARD (12/24
3,585.60 CIP - ALLEY IMP (11/24)
464.80 CIP - ALLEY IMP (11/24)
1,000.00 CIP - WSAB BIKEWAY PHASE 2 (12/24)
3,000.00 CIP - WSAB BIKEWAY PHASE 2 (12/24)
3,000.00 CIP - TRAFFIC SAFETY IMP (12/24)
1,000.00 CIP - PROGRESS PLAZA EXT IMP (12/24)
2,000.00 CIP - PROGRESS PLAZA EXT IMP (12/24)
1,500.00 CIP - ARTERIAL STREET RESURF (12/24)
1,000.00 CIP - ARTERIAL STREET RESURF (12/24)
1,240.00 CIP - WEST PMT UTILITY EASEMENT (12/24)
800.00 CIP-PROGRESS PK EXTERIOR LIGHTING(12/24
750.00 CIP-TRAFFIC SAFETY IMP (HUNSAKER) 12/24
400.45 CIP - WSAB BIKEWAY PHASE 4 (12/24-CNRA)
325.00 CIP - WATER MAIN IMP DESIGN (12/24)
300.00 CIP-WELL #16 DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION (12/24
225.00 CIP - TRAFFIC SAFETY IMP (12/24)
337450 2,175.00 PW - GENERAL ENG SVCS (12/24)
1,540.00 PW - GENERAL ENG SVCS (12/24)
1,385.00 PW - GENERAL ENG SVCS (12/24)
764.00 PW - GENERAL ENG SVCS (12/24)
664.00 PW - GENERAL ENG SVCS (12/24)
337579 56,192.05 CIP-PARAMOUNT PK COM CTR EXP(10/24-P68) 48,169.85 CIP-PARAMOUNT PK COM CTR EXP(12/24-P68)
7,605.50 CIP-PARAMOUNT PK COM CTR EXP (8/24-P68)
Vendor Tota 376,036.14
337362 WILLIAMS, ANIYAH 172.80 CSR-K/T KIDDIE TUMBLING/GYMNASTIC(1/25) 144.00 CSR - K/T KIDDIE BALLET/JAZZ (1/25)
403.20 CSR - K/T BEG TUMBLING/GYMNASTIC (1/25)
Vendor Tota 720.00
17687 XPRESS BILL PAY 25.00 PL - ONLINE PERMIT SVCS (1/25) Vendor Tota 25.00
1000000067 YANEZ, STEVE JOSE 100.00 PS - COMMISSIONER'S STIPENDS (SY)-2/25 Vendor Tota 100.00
337277 ZELAYA 16.97 WTR REF - 6834 SEVERN
Vendor Tota 16.97
337363 ZOLL MEDICAL CORPORATION 2,033.10 RM - AED EQUIPMENT (1) 337580 3,715.72 RM - AED EQUIPMENT (2)
Vendor Tota 5,748.82

Page 32 ends

Check Number Vendor Name Amount Description

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

FINAL CHECK REGISTER
February 28, 2025
Pre-issue Checks
337338 ZUMAR INDUSTRIES, INC. 261.46 PW - TRAFFIC SAFETY SUPPLIES 216.62 PW - TRAFFIC SAFETY SUPPLIES
Vendor Tota 478.08
A total of 409 checks were issued for $5,824,966.13

Page 33 ends

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Adriana Figueroa, Public Works Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: SUBSTATION ROOF REPLACEMENT (CITY PROJECT NO. 9470)

BACKGROUND
Included in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Capital Improvements Project Budget was funding for the Substation roof replacement project. This project consisted of the replacement of the existing roofing material to prevent leaks and repair of water damage.

On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, the Director of Public Works opened bids for this project, and the project was awarded to Bishop, Inc. for $401,980 at the City Council meeting on April 23, 2024. A Notice to Proceed was issued with a start date of October 14, 2024.

DISCUSSION
The work performed under this contract has been inspected under the supervision of the Public Works Director, in conformance with Section 6-8 of the Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction.

The Notice of Completion will be sent to the Los Angeles County RegistrarRecorder/County Clerk’s office for recordation after approval by the City Council. The contract retention of $20,685.82 will be held for thirty-five (35) days from the date of recordation. The total project cost, including any necessary change orders, is $413,716.32.

FISCAL IMPACT
None. The Substation Roof Replacement project was included in the Fiscal Year 2024- 25 City Council approved budget. No additional appropriation is needed.

VISION, MISSION, VALUES, AND STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
The City’s Vision, Mission, and Values set the standard for the organization, establish priorities, uniformity and guidelines; and provide the framework for policy decision making. The Strategic Outcomes were implemented to provide a pathway to achieving the City’s Vision. This item aligns with Strategic Outcome No 5: Attractive and Well- Agenda Report March 11, 2025
SUBSTATION ROOF REPLACEMENT (CITY PROJECT NO. 9470) Page 2 Maintained Infrastructure - Develop and maintain City-owned infrastructure, parks, facilities, and amenities that enhance quality of life and the attractiveness of the community.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Accept the work performed by Bishop, Inc., Orange, CA, for the Substation roof replacement project and authorize payment of the retention.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 10.04.010 AND 10.04.020 OF THE PARAMOUNT

MUNICIPAL CODE INCORPORATION OF THE COUNTY TRAFFIC CODE

REGARDING

BACKGROUND
The City Council, at its regularly scheduled meeting on February 11, 2025, introduced Ordinance No. 1194 and placed it on the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption.

ORDINANCE NO. 1194
“AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 10.04.010 AND 10.04.020 OF

THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE INCORPORATION OF THE
COUNTY TRAFFIC CODE REGARDING”

DISCUSSION
Ordinance No. 1194, as shown above, is presented for adoption at tonight’s meeting. The agenda report from the February 11, 2025, meeting is attached for reference.

FISCAL IMPACT
None.

Agenda Report March 11, 2025
ORDINANCE NO. 1194 Page 2

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Read by title only, waive further reading, and adopt Ordinance No. 1194.

13. ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 10.04.010 AND

10.04.020 OF THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE

REGARDING INCORPORATION OF THE LOS ANGELES

COUNTY TRAFFIC CODE
Recommended Action: Read by title only, waive future
reading, introduce Ordinance No. 1194, and place it on the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Margarita Matson, Public Safety Director
Date: February 11, 2025
SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 10.04.010 AND 10.04.020 OF THE PARAMOUNT

MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING INCORPORATION OF THE LOS

ANGELES COUNTY TRAFFIC CODE

BACKGROUND
Chapters 10.04.010 and 10.04.020 of the Paramount Municipal Code incorporate the Los Angeles County Traffic Code as the City’s Traffic Code. We readopt the County Code annually to ensure that we are using the most current version. State law requires a specific procedure for adopting the County codes by reference.

The City Council must conduct a first reading of the ordinance and set a date for a public hearing. The first reading took place during the City Council meeting on January 14, 2025, and the public hearing is scheduled for this evening

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Read by title only, waive future reading, introduce Ordinance No. 1194, and place it on the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption.

CITY OF PARAMOUNT
16400 COLORADO AVENUE

PARAMOUNT, CALIFORNIA

PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE OF PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 1194
Notice is hereby given that the City of Paramount will conduct a hearing to consider adopting by reference the Los Angeles County Traffic Code.

The Public Hearing will be held at the regular meeting of the City Council to be held at 6:00 p.m. on February 11, 2025, in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 16400 Colorado Avenue, Paramount, California. Participants may provide their comments orally, in writing, or via email at [email protected]. E-mail comments must be received by 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.

Additional options for public participation may be provided at the time the agenda is posted.

Comments will be limited to those issues raised at the Public Hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence to the City of Paramount at, or prior to, the Public Hearing.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s office at (562) 220-2220 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting to enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting.

If you challenge the Ordinance in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Paramount at, or prior to, the public hearing.

Any correspondence regarding this matter should be sent to the City Clerk, City Hall, 16400 Colorado Avenue, Paramount California. For information, please contact the Public Safety Director, Margarita Matson, at (562) 220-2002. ___________________________
Heidi Luce, City Clerk

PARAMOUNT JOURNAL
DATE OF PUBLICATION: January 30, 2025
3 affidavits please

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
ORDINANCE NO. 1194

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 10.04.010 AND 10.04.020 OF

THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING

INCORPORATION OF THE COUNTY TRAFFIC CODE

THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Chapters 10.04.010 and 10.04.020 of the Paramount Municipal Code is hereby amended in its entirety as follows:

10.04.010 County Traffic Code Adopted.

Title 15 of the Los Angeles County Code, entitled "Vehicles and Traffic," being a code regulating traffic upon public highways, is hereby adopted by reference as the Traffic Code of the City.

10.04.020 Penalties - Continuing Violations.

A. The first and second violation of any provision of this title may be cited as an infraction or punished as a misdemeanor. The third such violation shall be punished as a misdemeanor by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Such violations may also be redressed by civil action.

B. Each day that any violation of this title continues shall constitute a separate offense.

SECTION 2. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase in this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is for any reason held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the ordinance or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall be adopted thereby. The City Council hereby declares it would have passed this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases or the application thereof to any person or circumstance be held invalid.

SECTION 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty days after its adoption, shall be certified as to its adoption by the City Clerk, and shall be published as required by law, together with the names and members of the City Council voting for and against the Ordinance.

ORDINANCE NO. 1194

Page 2 ends

PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Paramount this 11th day of March 2025.
________________________________
Annette C. Delgadillo, Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________
Heidi Luce, City Clerk
To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Heidi Luce, City Clerk
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 8.04.010 AND 8.04.040 OF THE PARAMOUNT

MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING INCORPORATION OF THE COUNTY

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

BACKGROUND
The City Council, at its regularly scheduled meeting on February 11, 2025, introduced Ordinance No. 1195 and placed it on the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption.

ORDINANCE NO. 1195
“AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 8.04.010 AND 8.04.040 OF THE

PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING INCORPORATION OF
THE COUNTY HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE”

DISCUSSION
Ordinance No. 1195, as shown above, is presented for adoption at tonight’s meeting. The agenda report from the February 11, 2025, meeting is attached for reference.

FISCAL IMPACT
None.

Agenda Report March 11, 2025
ORDINANCE NO. 1195 Page 2

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Read by title only, waive further reading, and adopt Ordinance No. 1195.

14. ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 8.04.010 AND

8.04.040 OF THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE

REGARDING INCORPORATION OF THE LOS ANGELES

COUNTY HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
Recommended Action: Read by title only, waive future
reading, introduce Ordinance No. 1195, and place it on the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption.

MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING INCORPORATION OF THE LOS

ANGELES COUNTY HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

BACKGROUND
Since its incorporation, the City of Paramount has relied on the Los Angeles County Health Department for inspections and other health and sanitation services. Chapters

8.04.010 and 8.04.040 of the Paramount Municipal Code adopt the Los Angeles County Health and Safety Code as the city’s Health Code.

To ensure we are using the most up-to-date version of the County Code, we readopt it by reference each year. State law requires a specific procedure to adopt County codes by reference. The City Council must first conduct a reading of the ordinance and then set a date for a public hearing on it. The first reading took place at the City Council meeting on January 14, 2025, and the public hearing is scheduled for this evening.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Read by title only, waive future reading, introduce Ordinance No. 1195, and place it on the March 11, 2025 agenda for adoption.

CITY OF PARAMOUNT
16400 COLORADO AVENUE

PARAMOUNT, CALIFORNIA

PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE OF PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 1195
Notice is hereby given that the City of Paramount will conduct a hearing to consider adopting by reference the Los Angeles County Health and Safety Code.

Additional options for public participation may be provided at the time the agenda is posted.

Comments will be limited to those issues raised at the Public Hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence to the City of Paramount at, or prior to, the Public Hearing.

PARAMOUNT JOURNAL
DATE OF PUBLICATION: January 30, 2025
3 affidavits please

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
ORDINANCE NO. 1195

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARAMOUNT AMENDING CHAPTERS 8.04.010 AND 8.04.040 OF

THE PARAMOUNT MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING

INCORPORATION OF THE COUNTY HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Chapters 8.04.010 and 8.04.040 of the Paramount Municipal Code is hereby amended in its entirety as follows:

8.04.010 County Health Code Adopted.

Title 11 of the Los Angeles County Code, entitled "Health and Safety Code," being a code regulating public health and sanitation, is hereby adopted by reference as the Health Code of the City.

8.04.040 Penalty.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, violation of any of the provisions of this chapter incorporating the County Health Code and portions of the County Consumer Protection Code is punishable as misdemeanor by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months, or both.

Each day during any portion of which any violation herein is committed or continued to be permitted makes such violation a separate chargeable offense.

ORDINANCE NO. 1195

Page 2 ends

PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Paramount this 11th day of March 2025.

Annette C. Delgadillo, Mayor
ATTEST:

Heidi Luce, City Clerk
To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Grissel Chavez, Assistant City Manager
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT

AUTHORIZING A LETTER OF AGREEMENT AMENDING THE

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY AND
TEAMSTERS LOCAL 911 (JUNETEENTH HOLIDAY)

BACKGROUND
The City of Paramount’s only labor unit formed in 2019 and is represented by Teamsters Local 911 (bargaining unit). The bargaining unit consists of 23 non-management employees of the Public Works Department. The City Council authorized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the bargaining unit on June 8, 2022 for a three-year agreement ending June 30, 2025. On July 13, 2023, the City and Teamsters approved a Letter of Agreement (LOA) to extend the term of the 2022-25 MOU to June 30, 2026; increased the July 2023 base salary to five percent (5%); and provided a base salary increase for July 2025 to a minimum of two percent (2%) and up to a maximum of four percent (4%).

On June 25, 2024, the City Council approved the additional benefits as follows: one mental health day granted annually; deferred comp 457 match up to $700 in FY 2024-25; annual vacation cashout up to 60 hours; and the swap of the 2025 Cesar Chavez holiday with December 23, 2024

DISCUSSION
On February 25, 2025, City Council approved the addition of the Juneteenth holiday to be observed on June 19, starting in 2025. Staff met with the Teamsters Local 911 and reviewed this proposed update to benefits; the Teamsters provided their approval.

The change in benefits requires that the City Council adopt a Resolution approving a Letter of Agreement between the City and the Teamsters Local 911 to memorialize the change in terms (Attachment).

FISCAL IMPACT
None.

Agenda Report March 11, 2025
RESOLUTION NO 25:008 Page 2

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt Resolution No. 25:008 authorizing a Letter of Agreement amending the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Paramount and Teamsters Local 911 to incorporate the Juneteenth Holiday, and authorize the City Manager to execute the Letter of Agreement.

CITY OF PARAMOUNT

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
RESOLUTION NO. 25:008

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT

AUTHORIZING A LETTER OF AGREEMENT AMENDING THE

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF
PARAMOUNT AND TEAMSTERS LOCAL 911
WHEREAS, the City of Paramount (“City”) and Teamsters Local 911 (“Teamsters”) (collectively “Parties”) reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding covering the period June 8, 2022 to June 30, 2025 (“2022-25 MOU”); and WHEREAS, the City passed Resolution No. 23:025 on June 23, 2023 that provided an increase to Deferred Compensation Match, Personal Holiday Leave Policy, and Draw Down, Payout and Archive Banked Hours Policy; and
WHEREAS, on July 13, 2023, the City and Teamsters approved a Letter of Agreement to extend the term of the 2022-25 MOU to June 30, 2026; increased the July 2023 base salary to five percent (5%); and provided a base salary increase for July 2025 to a minimum of two percent (2%) and up to a maximum of four percent (4%); and WHEREAS, on June 25, 2024, the City and Teamsters approved a Letter of Agreement to add the following benefits: one mental health day granted annually; deferred comp 457 match up to $700 in FY 2024-25; annual vacation cashout up to 60 hours; and the swap of the 2025 Cesar Chavez holiday with December 23, 2024; and WHEREAS, on February 25, 2025, the City Council approved the addition of the Juneteenth holiday (June 19) as an additional employee observed holiday starting in 2025; and
WHEREAS, the City and Teamsters have met and conferred to amend the terms of the 2022-25 MOU to reflect the addition of the Juneteenth holiday; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARAMOUNT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. The above recitations are true and correct.

SECTION 2. Therefore, the Parties agree as follows:

1. The benefits set forth in Resolution No. 25:005 that provides the addition of the Juneteenth holiday and incorporated into the City’s personnel manual, are also provided to Teamsters-represented employees.

RESOLUTION NO. 25:008

Page 2 ends

2. The City and Teamsters agree with the terms and conditions included in this Letter of Agreement (Attachment “A”).

SECTION 3. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.

PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Paramount this 11th day of March 2025.

Annette C. Delgadillo, Mayor
ATTEST:

Heidi Luce, City Clerk
RESOLUTION NO. 25:008

Page 3 ends

ATTACHMENT A
CITY OF PARAMOUNT AND TEAMSTERS LOCAL 911

LETTER OF AGREEMENT
RE: EXTENSION OF 2022-25 MOU and PROVISION OF OTHER BENEFITS WHEREAS, the City of Paramount (“City”) and Teamsters Local 911 (“Teamsters”) reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding covering the period June 8, 2022 to June 30, 2025 (“2022-25 MOU”); and
WHEREAS, the 2022-25 MOU Article Four Section 1.B and 1.C provided that in July 2023, the base salary ranges for the represented classifications was increased three percent (3%) and that in July 2024, the base salary ranges for the represented classifications was increased two and one-half percent (2.5%); and WHEREAS, the City passed Resolution No. 23:025 that provides an increase to Deferred Compensation Match, Personal Holiday Leave Policy, and Draw Down, Payout and Archive Banked Hours Policy on or about June 23, 2023; and WHEREAS, on July 13, 2023, the City and Teamsters approved a Letter of Agreement to extend the term of the 2022-25 MOU and increase base salaries; and WHEREAS, on June 25, 2024, the City and Teamsters approved a Letter of Agreement to add the following employee benefit changes: Mental Health Day Off, Vacation Cash Out benefit; and swapping the 2025 Cesar Chavez holiday with December 23, 2024.

WHEREAS, on February 25, 2025, the City Council approved the addition of the Juneteenth holiday to be observed on June 19, starting in 2025; and WHEREAS, the City has determined that it will offer the same to its unrepresented employees and Teamsters has an interest in having those same benefits provided to its represented employees; and
THEREFORE, THE PARTIES AGREE AS FOLLOWS:

1. The benefit set forth in Resolution No. 25:005 that provides the addition of the Juneteenth holiday and incorporated into the City’s personnel manual, is also provided to Teamsters-represented employees.

RESOLUTION NO. 25:008

Page 4 ends

IT IS SO AGREED
DATE: ________ ________________________
TEAMSTERS LOCAL 1911
DATE: ________ _________________________

CITY OF PARAMOUNT
To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Adriana Figueroa, Public Works Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR INSTALLATION OF A DISABLED PARKING ZONE IN FRONT OF 8421 ELBURG STREET

BACKGROUND
Requests may be made to the Public Works Commission for installation of items such as disabled parking zones, limited-time parking zones, speed humps, and stop signs. Each of these traffic safety requests are required to meet a set of criteria specific to the requested item. These include a review by City staff and traffic engineer, submission of an application and any additional material requested to the Public Works Department, review for consideration by the Public Works Commission, and then review and approval by the City Council. Eligibility criteria for the approval of the installation of a disable parking zone are as follows:
• Property shall not have any on-site parking available to the disabled person via an ADA-accessible driveway or garage.
• There is only one disabled parking zone allowed per block. • Requests must be made by the property owner or have the property owner’s consent via a signed letter in support of the application. • Must submit a one-time non-refundable fee.
• Subject to a bi-annual review and resubmittal of proof of valid disabled parking placard.

DISCUSSION
Staff received a request from Ms. Margarita Morales for the installation of a disabled parking zone in front of the property located at 8421 Elburg Street. Ms. Morales is the applicant and property owner who submitted the blue curb zone parking request. The applicant has a disabled parking placard and is requesting that the disabled parking zone be installed in front of this property due to limited accessible parking options in the neighborhood.

Staff’s inspection found that parking is limited in this residential neighborhood. The residence does have some off-street parking via a driveway and garage; however, the Agenda Report March 11, 2025
DISABLED PARKING ZONE – 8421 ELBURG STREET Page 2
driveway and garage are too narrow to provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility to a vehicle.

If approved, the curb in front of 8421 Elburg Street would be marked for disabled parking only. This parking zone will be available for use by anyone that possesses a valid disabled person placard.

At its regularly scheduled meeting last month, the Public Works Commission reviewed the request and recommended that the City Council approve the request for the disabled parking zone. A notice indicating that the City Council would hear this item was sent to all properties on Elburg Street, between Downey Avenue and Anderson Street.

FISCAL IMPACT
There is no additional fiscal impact to the City. Funding for this type of activity is included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Public Works Roads Division budget utilizing General Funds.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve the request for installation of a disabled parking zone in front of 8421 Elburg Street.
8421 ELBURG STREET

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Adriana Figueroa, Public Works Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: TRAFFIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS 2023 (CITY PROJECT NO. 9235)

BACKGROUND
Included in the FY 2023-24 Capital Improvement Project Budget was funding for Traffic Safety Improvements for 2023. This project consisted of the installation of new Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB), high visibility signage, striping, a HAWK pedestrian crossing signal on Orange Avenue at Myrrh Street, and the installation of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible curb ramps.

On Tuesday, November 28, 2023, the Director of Public Works opened bids for this project, and the project was awarded to Elecnor Belco Electric, Inc., Chino, CA for $518,888 at the City Council meeting on January 23, 2024.

The Notice of Completion will be sent to the Los Angeles County RegistrarRecorder/County Clerk’s office for recordation after approval by the City Council. The contract retention of $26,460.63 will be held for thirty-five (35) days from the date of recordation. The total project cost, including any necessary change orders, is $529,212.55.

FISCAL IMPACT
Acceptance of the work performed for the Traffic Safety Improvements was included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 City Council approved budget. No appropriation is required.

VISION, MISSION, VALUES, AND STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
The City’s Vision, Mission, and Values set the standard for the organization, establish priorities, uniformity and guidelines; and provide the framework for policy decision making. The Strategic Outcomes were implemented to provide a pathway to achieving Agenda Report March 11, 2025
TRAFFIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS 2023 (CITY PROJECT NO. 9235) Page 2 the City’s Vision. This item aligns with Strategic Outcome No 5: Attractive and WellMaintained Infrastructure - Develop and maintain City-owned infrastructure, parks, facilities, and amenities that enhance quality of life and the attractiveness of the community.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Accept the work performed by Elecnor Belco Electric, Inc., Chino, CA, for the Traffic Safety Improvements 2023 project and authorize payment of the retention.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Adriana Figueroa, Public Works Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: DILLS PARK RESTROOM (CITY PROJECT NO. 9259)

BACKGROUND
Included in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Capital Improvements Budget was funding for the Dills Park Restroom project. This project included the construction of a new additional public restroom near the center of the park at Ralph C. Dills Park, near San Juan Street.

On Tuesday, April 16, 2024, the City Engineer opened and examined the bids for the Dills Park Restroom project and was subsequently awarded to 3M Construction Corporation for $213,975.12 at the City Council meeting on May 14, 2024.

The Notice of Completion will be sent to the Los Angeles County RegistrarRecorder/County Clerk’s office for recordation after approval by the City Council. The contract retention of $12,416.87 will be held for thirty-five (35) days from the date of recordation. The total project cost, including any necessary change orders, is $248,337.46.

FISCAL IMPACT
None. The Dills Park Restroom Project was included in the FY 2024-25 City Council approved budget. No additional appropriation is required.

VISION, MISSION, VALUES, AND STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
The City’s Vision, Mission, and Values set the standard for the organization, establish priorities, uniformity and guidelines; and provide the framework for policy decision making. The Strategic Outcomes were implemented to provide a pathway to achieving the City’s Vision. This item aligns with Strategic Outcome No 5: Attractive and Well- Agenda Report March 11, 2025
DILLS PARK RESTROOM (CITY PROJECT NO. 9259) Page 2
Maintained Infrastructure - Develop and maintain City-owned infrastructure, parks, facilities, and amenities that enhance quality of life and the attractiveness of the community.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Accept the work performed by 3M Construction Corporation, Anaheim, CA for the Dills Park Restroom project and authorize payment of the retention.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Adriana Figueroa, Public Works Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: WELL 16 PERIMETER LANDSCAPE (CITY PROJECT NO. 9116)

BACKGROUND
Included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Capital Improvement Budget was funding for the Water Well 16 perimeter landscape project that included the installation of an irrigation system, as well as planting in the planter areas directly next to the perimeter wall on Jackson Street and Garfield Avenue.

On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, the Director of Public Works opened bids for this project, and the project was subsequently awarded to SGD Enterprises DBA Four Seasons Landscaping, for $132,007 at the City Council meeting on August 13, 2024.

The Notice of Completion will be sent to the Los Angeles County RegistrarRecorder/County Clerk’s office for recordation after approval by the City Council. The contract retention of $7,181.15 will be held for thirty-five (35) days from the date of recordation. The total project cost, including any necessary change orders, is $143,623.

FISCAL IMPACT
None. Funding for the work performed on the Well 16 perimeter landscape was included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 City Council approved budget. No appropriation is required.

VISION, MISSION, VALUES, AND STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
The City’s Vision, Mission, and Values set the standard for the organization, establish priorities, uniformity and guidelines; and provide the framework for policy decision making. The Strategic Outcomes were implemented to provide a pathway to achieving the City’s Vision. This item aligns with Strategic Outcome No 5: Attractive and Well- Agenda Report March 11, 2025
WELL 16 PERIMETER LANDSCAPE (CITY PROJECT NO. 9116) Page 2 Maintained Infrastructure - Develop and maintain City-owned infrastructure, parks, facilities, and amenities that enhance quality of life and the attractiveness of the community.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Accept the work performed by SGD Enterprises DBA Four Seasons Landscaping, Van Nuys, CA for the Well 16 Perimeter Landscape project and authorize payment of the retention.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: Margarita Matson, Public Safety Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: CARE SOLACE, INC. PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Care Solace is an online platform designed to help individuals navigate the mental health care system and find available providers for mental health and substance use treatment services. While they do not provide services directly, they assist users in navigating the complex array of public and private mental health providers. The platform offers various online resources, including a 24/7 live coordinator who helps individuals locate local mental health programs, substance use treatment providers, and counseling services.

Care Solace is also a vital resource that supports our unhoused population seek various social services and serves as an essential part of the City’s ongoing homeless outreach efforts. During tonight’s presentation, Anita Ward, Chief Growth Officer, will review the services the program has provided to the Paramount community thus far.

To: Honorable City Council
From: John Moreno, City Manager
By: John King, AICP, Planning Director
Date: March 11, 2025
SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF A HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT AND

HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY

BACKGROUND
In November 2023, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with Historic Resources Group (HRG) to prepare a citywide Historic Context Statement and historic resources survey.

A historic context statement establishes themes that outline important development patterns, events, and historical people in the history of a given place. A survey helps identify potential historic resources. In addition to informational and practical benefits to residents, business owners, property owners, and others, a professional historic context statement and historic resources survey of the approximately 8,807 parcels in the City of Paramount supplements the work of the Paramount Historical Society.

The Historic Context Statement, which covers the history of the area up to 1980, provides a framework for the process of identifying historic, architectural, and culturally or socially significant resources important within the context of the development of Paramount. It may also serve as a guide for residents, planners, and decisionmakers in their ongoing efforts to evaluate the significance and integrity of individual properties.

The survey reviews all potentially significant property types, including residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial properties; significant nonstructural resources, sites, and landscape features.

DISCUSSION
Outreach
Following the preparation of an initial draft of the Historic Context Statement in September 2024, HRG and Planning Department staff gave a presentation to the Historical Society general membership (and interested members of the public at-large) in October 2024.

This event highlighted the themes developed for the Historic Context Statement, including the Native American Period; European Exploration and Colonization; the Rancho Era; Early Clearwater and Hynes; Expansion and Industrial/Agricultural Growth; World War II; Agenda Report March 11, 2025
HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT AND SURVEY Page 2
and Postwar Prosperity, the Birth of Paramount & Urban Renewal. Other outreach has included a succession of social media posts, information on the City website, and direct outreach to individuals and businesses.

Eligibility Standards
The Historic Context Statement is intended to provide guidance for the future evaluation of properties that may be eligible for historic designation. The document includes eligibility standards for identifying and evaluating properties that may be eligible under each theme.

The eligibility standards will conform to the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources, and will make recommendations for properties that may be eligible at the local level should Paramount adopt a preservation ordinance in the future.

Research
Archival sources included: annexation records, city directories, U.S. Census and voter registration records, contemporary historical accounts and memoirs, historical newspapers, land patent records, secondary histories and biographies, and scholarly works including theses, dissertations, and journal articles. Visual records consulted included historical aerials and photographs as well as various historical maps, including county assessor maps, fire insurance maps, irrigation maps, land ownership and patent maps, land use maps, rail maps, and tract maps.

Additional property-specific research was conducted on properties identified as potentially eligible during a reconnaissance study, identified as part of research for the Historic Context Statement, or had been previously identified by the City or community in order to confirm construction dates (when possible), identify significant architects and builders, identify original or potentially significant owners, and confirm site history and alterations.

Survey Recommendations
The survey identified a total of 98 individual properties that appear eligible for local designation should Paramount adopt a historic preservation ordinance in the future. The individually significant properties are located throughout the city. These properties represent the major development periods as identified in the Historic Context Statement and a variety of property types and architectural styles.

Next Steps
Options for more detailed research into the history of Paramount and the possibility of a historic preservation ordinance will be presented at an upcoming City Council meeting.

Agenda Report March 11, 2025
HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT AND SURVEY Page 3

FISCAL IMPACT
None.

VISION, MISSION, VALUES, AND STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
The City’s Vision, Mission, and Values set the standard for the organization, establish priorities, uniformity, and guidelines; and provide the framework for policy decisionmaking. The Strategic Outcomes were implemented to provide a pathway to achieving the City’s Vision. This item aligns with Strategic Outcome No. 2: Community Health - Provide diverse recreational and cultural amenities that support healthy lifestyles and a sense of community.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Provide feedback about the Historic Context Statement and Survey and receive and file this report.

HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT

CITY OF PARAMOUNT
MARCH 2025

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 HISTORIC CONTEXT OVERVIEW ................................................................................................ 9 I. NATIVE AMERICAN PERIOD .................................................................................................. 13 II. EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION (1542-1783) ........................................ 18 III. THE RANCHO ERA (1784-1885) ............................................................................................ 23 IV. EARLY CLEARWATER AND HYNES (1886-1919) ............................................................... 31 THEME: COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT (1896-1919) .............................................................................. 41 THEME: CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (1896-1919) .................................................. 43 THEME: INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT (1896-1919) .................................................................................. 48 THEME: INFRASTRUCTURE (1886-1919) ........................................................................................................ 53 V. EXPANSION AND GROWTH (1920-1940) ............................................................................. 59 THEME: COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT (1920-1940) .............................................................................. 70 THEME: CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (1920-1940) .................................................. 79 THEME: INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT (1920-1940) .................................................................................. 90 THEME: INFRASTRUCTURE (1920-1940) ...................................................................................................... 103 VI. WORLD WAR II, 1941-1945 .................................................................................................. 107 THEME: RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT (1941-1945) .............................................................................. 111 THEME: CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (1941-1945) ................................................ 112 THEME: INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT (1941-1945) ................................................................................ 114 THEME: INFRASTRUCTURE (1941-1945) ...................................................................................................... 118 VII. THE BIRTH OF PARAMOUNT, POSTWAR PROSPERITY, AND REDEVELOPMENT (1946-1979) .................................................................................................................................. 120 THEME: RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT (1946-1979) .............................................................................. 124 THEME: COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT (1946-1979) ............................................................................ 134 THEME: CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (1946-1979) ................................................ 141 THEME: INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT (1946-1979) ................................................................................ 152 THEME: INFRASTRUCTURE (1946-1979) ...................................................................................................... 158 VIII. PARAMOUNT TODAY (1980-PRESENT) .......................................................................... 162 IX. ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN .................................................................................................. 163 THEME: 19TH CENTURY METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURAL STYLES ....... 164 THEME: CRAFTSMAN ............................................................................................................................................ 168 THEME: PERIOD REVIVAL ARCHITECTURAL STYLES .......................................................................... 169 THEME: ART DECO ................................................................................................................................................. 175 THEME: MINIMAL TRADITIONAL ................................................................................................................... 176 THEME: POST-WORLD WAR II MODERNISM/REGIONAL MODERNISM .................................... 177 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 183 APPENDIX A: BIOGRAPHIES OF ARCHITECTS & BUILDERS ................................................. 188 APPENDIX B: GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION & ELIGIBILITY STANDARDS ...................... 201 APPENDIX C: SURVEY FINDINGS ............................................................................................. 227 Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 1

INTRODUCTION
This draft Citywide Historic Context Statement was prepared at the request of the City of Paramount. In January 2024, the City contracted with Historic Resources Group (HRG) to prepare a citywide Historic Context Statement and conduct a historic resources survey. This project will serve as a foundation for potential historic preservation planning efforts in the City going forward.

The Historic Context Statement represents the first comprehensive study of the history of the built environment in Paramount. It is a compilation of existing information, including published histories and historical narratives about Paramount’s history, supplemented with new research and analysis. The Historic Context Statement identifies important periods of development, historical trends and development patterns, and important persons in the history of Paramount.

The period of study for the context statement dates from the earliest inhabitants of the area that would become Paramount through 1980. The period of study for the historic resources survey, which focuses on the built environment, dates from the earliest extant resources in the late nineteenth century through 1980.

The project follows guidance and standards developed by the National Park Service and the California State Office of Historic Preservation for conducting historic resources studies; specifically, the project is being developed using the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) Multiple Property Documentation (MPD) approach. Guiding documents include:
 The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation Planning  National Register Bulletin No. 15: How to Apply the National Criteria for Evaluation  National Register Bulletin 16A: How to Complete the National Register Nomination Form  National Register Bulletin No. 16B: How to Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form
 National Register Bulletin No. 24: Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for Preservation Planning
 The California Office of Historic Preservation’s Instructions for Recording Historical Resources
Purpose
In order to understand the significance of the historic and architectural resources in the City of Paramount, it is necessary to examine those resources within a series of contexts. By placing built resources in the appropriate historic, social, and architectural context, the relationship between an area’s physical environment and its broader history can be established.

A historic context statement analyzes the historical development of a community according to guidelines written by the National Park Service and specified in National Register Bulletin 16A.

The Bulletin describes a historic context as follows:

Historic context is information about historic trends and properties grouped by an important theme in pre-history or history of a community, state, or the nation during a particular period of time. Because historic contexts are organized by theme, place, and time, they link historic Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 2 properties to important historic trends. In this way, they provide a framework for determining the significance of a property.1
A historic context statement is linked with tangible, built resources through the concept of “property type,” a grouping of individual properties based on shared physical or associative characteristics. It should identify the various historical factors that shaped the development of the area, which may include historical activities or events; historic personages; building types, architectural styles, and materials; and patterns of physical development. The historic context statement provides a framework for the continuing process of identifying historic, architectural, and culturally or socially significant resources important within the context of the development of Paramount. It may also serve as a guide for citizens, planners, and decision-makers in their ongoing efforts to evaluate the relative significance and integrity of individual properties.

A historic context statement is not a comprehensive history of an area. Rather, it is intended to highlight trends and patterns critical to the understanding of the built environment. This historic context statement is intended to inform planning and land use decisions for the built environment in the City of Paramount.

Contributors
This historic context was prepared by Historic Resources Group. The historic context was authored by Alexandra Perlman, Sian Winship, and Emily Varley with support from Christine Lazzaretto and Robby Aranguren. All are qualified professionals who meet or exceed the relevant Secretary of the Interior’s Standards Professional Qualification Standards. The project was completed under the direction of the City’s Planning Division and managed by John King, Interim Planning Director, with assistance from Sol Bejarano, Management Analyst.

The project team is indebted to members of the community who contributed information, research, and suggestions related to historical development patterns in Paramount as well as specific properties. In particular, the team would like to extend their sincere gratitude to the members of Paramount Historical Society for their feedback and advice, and extensive knowledge of Paramount’s history.
1 U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 16A: How to Complete the National Register Nomination Form (Washington, DC: 1997), accessed March 2024, https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB16AComplete.pdf.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 3

SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
Description of the Study Area
The study area for the project is the current boundary of the City of Paramount (the City). The City is located in the Gateway Cities region in the southeast area of Los Angeles County.

Regional access to Paramount is via Interstate 105 between Interstate 710 (I-710), and State Route 19 (SR-19). It is bordered by the communities of Downey and Hollydale to the north, Bellflower to the east, North Long Beach to the south, and Compton, East Rancho Dominguez, and Lynwood to the west.

The geography and topography of the City are defined by its location within the southern flood plains of the Los Angeles Basin, nestled between the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers.

Water is naturally available via numerous springs and artesian wells throughout the area. The region has several plant communities including coastal sage scrub, riparian (streamside) forests, alkali meadows, wet meadows, and a perennial freshwater pond. The area’s topography is mostly flat.

Research Methodology
Sources consulted as part of this investigation included primary and secondary literature regarding the history and development of the City of Paramount and the larger region, including historic photographs and archival sources at the Paramount Library Local History Collection. Other archival sources included: annexation records, city directories, U.S. Census and voter registration records, contemporary historical accounts and memoirs, historical newspapers, land patent records, secondary histories and biographies, and scholarly works including theses, dissertations, and journal articles. Visual records consulted included historical aerials and photographs as well as various historical maps, including county assessor maps, fire insurance maps, irrigation maps, land ownership and patent maps, land use maps, rail maps, and tract maps. Additional background research was conducted at the South Central Coastal Information Center at California State University, Fullerton.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps were available online through the Library of Congress and the Los Angeles Public Library, although they were limited in scope and content. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps were reviewed for the area for the following years: 1924, 1927, and 1930. Tract maps associated with the area, available online through the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, were reviewed. Land use maps and chamber maps from 1936 and 1947, respectively, were available through the Huntington Library. Additional miscellaneous records, which documented the earliest subdivisions of land and deed maps for original parcels, were also reviewed.

HRG also completed research utilizing online resources, which included the following sites and organizations:
 Ancestry.com
 California Office of Historic Preservation Built Environment Directory (BERD) Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 4  California Office of Historic Preservation Los Angeles Country Historic Resources Inventory (HRI)
 California State University, Dominguez Hills
 Calisphere
 Historical California newspapers, including the Long Beach Telegram, Press-Telegram, Tidings, Long Beach Sun, Lynwood Press, Lynwood Tribune, Hollydale Press, Whittier News, Wilmington Daily Press, South Gate Daily Press, Independent, Los Angeles Herald, Los Angeles Evening Express, Los Angeles Times, Heraldo de Mexico, and La Opinion  Historical City Directories for Downey, Compton, Watts, and Paramount  JSTOR
 Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Land Records Information  Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor
 Online Archive of California
 Paramount Historical Society
 Paramount City Website
 Paramount Library Local History Collection
 Sanborn Map Company fire insurance maps
 U.S. Census records
 University of California, Los Angeles
Historic photographs and maps were also obtained online from the following sites:
 California Historical Society
 California State Library
 Huntington Library
 Library of Congress
 Los Angeles Public Library
 Newspapers.com
 Online Archive of California
 University of California, Irvine
 University of California, Los Angeles
 University of Southern California
Guidelines for Evaluation
A property may be designated as historic by national, state, and local authorities. In order for a building to qualify for listing in the National Register, the California Register of Historical Resources (California Register), or as a local landmark, it must meet one or more identified criteria of significance. The property must also retain sufficient integrity to continue to evoke the sense of place and time with which it is historically associated.

This Historic Context Statement provides guidance for potential designation according to standard preservation practice and established criteria and integrity thresholds. The City of Paramount does not have a Historic Preservation Ordinance that provides for local designation.

However, the survey identifies those properties that appear eligible for local designation should the City adopt an ordinance in the future. In general, a higher integrity threshold is needed for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; properties that may not retain sufficient Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 5 integrity for listing in the National Register may be eligible for the California Register or for local designation. Based on the survey findings, most properties appear eligible for local designation and do not meet thresholds required for listing in the National or California Registers. In addition, properties that have achieved significance within the past 50 years must be “exceptionally important” as outlined in National Register Criteria Consideration G.

A description of each designation program and the evaluation criteria is included in Appendix B of this report. In general, evaluation criteria focus on four overarching concepts:
 Properties associated with historic events.
 Properties associated with significant people.
 Properties that are significant for their design, architectural style, or association with a significant architect.
 Properties that have potential archaeological significance.2 These concepts are included in the designation criteria for listing at the federal and state levels, and would inform the development of any local criteria. Appendix B also includes “Eligibility Standards” for each theme to assist in the identification and evaluation of potential historic resources from each period of development. Note that these are guidelines that are intended to assist in the evaluation of historic resources; other considerations including professional expertise and comparative analysis of similar properties are also taken into account in the evaluation of historic properties. Appendix C includes a list of properties identified as potentially eligible for local designation.

Intersectionality
The concept of intersectionality attempts to address the diverse voices within a community, and the layers of nuanced history of specific communities. By their very nature, in thematic studies such as this one, cross-group connections and intersectional identities are often not adequately addressed. Associating resources or buildings with one group of people over another “…runs the risk of denying the layering of history and the shared streets of the present.”3 As described by historians Donna Graves and Gail Dubrow, “applying a single lens of gender, race or ethnicity, sexuality or any category of social analysis to the practice of historic preservation risks misrepresenting the layered histories of place and forecloses possibilities for political mobilization across identity lines in the interest of fostering greater social cohesion.”4 As such, resources included in this document have a more nuanced history that deserves in-depth exploration impractical to fully realize as part of this study.

This is particularly true in a city like Paramount, where agrarian farms, ranches, and early industrial operations – which were often supported by ethnic or migrant labor – were later transformed into postwar suburban housing and larger industrial sites, and neighborhoods were often home to multiple ethnic communities. These patterns of ethnic and cultural migration 2 Archaeological significance is outside of the scope of this project. 3 Donna Graves and Gail Dubrow, “Taking Intersectionality Seriously: Learning from LGBTQ Heritage Initiatives for Historic Preservation,” Public Historian 41, no. 2 (2019), 310.
4 Graves and Dubrow, 313.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 6 have been minimally documented in previous historical accounts and studies, and understanding these trends requires a more comprehensive research effort. This document presents the findings of this research.

A Note Regarding Language
The following outlines some important aspects of the approach to terminology included in this document:

The term “African American” is used interchangeably with the term “Black,” as has been suggested by Keith Mayes, Associate Professor of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota.5 Historically, the term “African American” has been used to refer to those who were direct descendants of slaves. Over time, the U.S. has experienced the migration of Black people from other parts of the diaspora and other parts of the continent, including East Africans, West Africans, and Caribbean Blacks. For these groups, some may identify as American Blacks, rather than African Americans.

Over time, several terms to describe the Latino community have evolved. The use of the term “Latinx” has increased in popularity as a non-gendered term describing both men and women whose heritage is tied to Latin American countries, including Mexico. However, recent studies have shown that many Latinos do not identify with the term Latinx. In 2019, the Associated Press stylebook, a standard-bearer for language and style, was revised to acknowledge that “‘Latino is often the preferred noun or adjective’ for people of Spanish heritage. ‘Latina’ is the feminine form.”6 Therefore, this context utilizes “Latino/Latina,” unless another preference is expressed by the local community.

The historic term “Chicano/Chicana” is used in this context to represent the chosen identification of some persons of Mexican American descent, emphasizing an indigenous/mestizo heritage and anti-establishment political views during the 1960s and 1970s.

The term “Chicano” was adopted by people of Mexican descent who did not fully identify as either as Mexican or American. At the time, the vast majority of Latinos in Los Angeles were of Mexican American descent. In recent years, immigrants from Latin America have created vibrant Guatemalan and Salvadoran communities in Southern California, contributing to the wider adoption of the term Latinx.

For the Japanese American community, generational terms are important in the understanding of Japanese culture and history. The first-generation immigrants are known as Issei. They came to the U.S. between 1890 and 1924 and were steeped in Japanese culture and tradition. Few attended American schools, except for those who came specifically to pursue a college education. English proficiency varied among this generation. The children of Issei are the Nisei, or second generation. Nisei were born in the United States, primarily between 1910 and 1940.

They grew up during the Great Depression and were teenagers during World War II. They attended local schools and many attended Japanese language schools (gakuen). The third 5 “African American or Black, Which Term Should You Use,” accessed April 22, 2024, https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/breaking-the-news/african-american-or-black-which-term-should-you-use/89- 0364644d-3896-4e8b-91b1-7c28c039353f.
6Associated Press Stylebook, as quoted in Merrill Perlman, “AP tackles language about race in this year’s style guide,” Columbia Journalism Review, April 1, 2019, accessed April 22, 2024.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 7 generation is the Sansei, or members of the post-World War II baby boom. Many Sansei have American first names. Most Sansei came of age at the height of the student protest movement of the 1960s. Many attended universities and became working professionals. The fourth generation is the Yonsei. They were born in the mid-1960s, came of age in the post-Watergate years, and have the highest rates of interracial marriage of any Japanese American generation.

Nikkei refers generally to individuals of Japanese ancestry born in the United States, regardless of generation.

Over time, the preferred vocabulary for describing events relating to World War II and Japanese Americans has evolved to reflect a more accurate and authentic terminology. As such, the terms “forced removal,” “incarceration,” “temporary detention center,” and “incarceration camp,” are used to describe events and actions that may appear in previous historic documentation as “internment,” “evacuation,” and “relocation.” As scholarship related to the Native American experience in Southern California has advanced, so has the understanding of how such experiences should be addressed with respect to discussions of related historic resources and/or tribal cultural resources. As awareness of the unique significance of these resources evolves in concert with scholarship, a need has arisen to identify appropriate language that may be used to address the history of Native Americans as a marginalized and disenfranchised community in Southern California.

The State of California has provided information regarding the reference to Native American populations in the National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, “Native Americans and the California Mission System, 1769-1848.”7 The City of Los Angeles has also developed guidance to aid consultants in preparing technical reports and historic and cultural resource studies that may possess informational and/or educational value to the general public regarding Native American history and activities. The guidance notes that authors of such reports should “recognize Native American tribes as stewards of land within and beyond the boundaries of Los Angeles, and commit to an honest and true representation of the events that occurred and make no attempt to diminish or editorialize the very real events and impacts that have transpired.”8 Although prepared for studies in Los Angeles, this guidance is applicable to discussion of Native American history throughout Southern California and beyond. As part of this guidance, specific language is also proposed for the terms most commonly used when describing the history and contributions of Native Americans, as instructed in the table below.9
7 “Native Americans and the California Mission System, 1769-1848,” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, prepared by Naomi Scher, Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc. for the State of California, January 2023, rev. April 2023, May 2023.
8 Los Angeles City Planning, “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource,” accessed March 12, 2024, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/ab9e5647-1d96-4db7-aab1- 2905984fbd1e/TechnicalReports_Studies-TribalCulturalResources.pdf, 1. 9 Los Angeles City Planning, “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource,”

2. Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 8 TABLE 1: GUIDANCE FOR LANGUAGE RELATED TO TRIBAL CULTURAL RESOURCES

DEFER FROM USING THE FOLLOWING TERMS USE THE FOLLOWING TERMS Encountered/Contacted/Settled Colonized
Recruited Enslaved
Organized Displaced
Employed Servitude/Forced labor
Participated Disenfranchised
Cult Religion
In order to accurately represent the “events, policies, and activities” that have impacted the Native American community in Southern California, acknowledge the lasting impacts of these policies and programs, and highlight their importance to the history and development of Paramount and Southern California as a whole, this historic context statement will utilize the language noted above in discussions related to Native American history and activities.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 9

HISTORIC CONTEXT OVERVIEW
As noted above, the period of study for this historic context statement dates from the earliest inhabitants of the area that would become Paramount, through 1980. For purposes of identifying properties that are potentially eligible for historic designation, this study is focused on the built environment; therefore, potentially eligible properties date from the earliest extant built resources (dating to the late nineteenth century), through 1980. According to County of Los Angeles tax assessor data, there are approximately 8,807 parcels in the City of Paramount; of those, approximately 6,034 parcels, or 68 percent of all parcels, were constructed by 1980. This data provides a baseline for understanding overall development patterns in the city and identifying the comparative rarity of properties from each period.

Table 2 shows the number of extant properties from each decade according to tax assessor data.10 The reference map on the following page shows the city’s development by decade.

TABLE 2: PARCEL DEVELOPMENT BY DECADE
DECADE # OF PARCELS
No Data11 563
19th Century 3
1900-1909 26
1910-1919 69
1920-1929 364
1930-1939 509
1940-1949 1518
1950-1959 1847
1960-1969 950
1970-1979 748
1980-1989 1173
1990-1999 818
2000-2009 124
2010-2019 95
10 It is acknowledged that tax assessor data is not 100% accurate, and there is often missing or incomplete information. For example, sometimes the original construction date is replaced with an “effective date” if significant alterations or improvements are undertaken on a property. Paramount has many buildings that have also been relocated from other areas, making precise construction dates difficult to confirm.
11 The tax assessor does not include data for parcels that are not subject to property taxes, including schools and other municipal properties.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 10 Map Illustrating Development of Paramount by Decade, Historic Resources Group, 2024.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 11 Organization
This historic context statement covers the area that currently lies within the Paramount City limits. The historic context statement provides a narrative historical overview of the broad patterns of events and trends that have shaped land use patterns and the development of the built environment of the City of Paramount over time. The narrative history starts with the earliest inhabitants of the area that would become the City of Paramount, and then addresses each significant phase of the city’s development as it relates to the existing built environment from the late nineteenth century through 1980.

The historic context statement is a narrative development history organized by chronological periods, within which are the relevant associated themes and sub-themes based on extant built resources. Discussion of the earliest periods – Native American Period, European Exploration and Colonization, and the Rancho Era – are provided here for reference purposes only, to provide historical background and context for the later development of the built environment.

Later periods, beginning with the Early Clearwater and Hynes (South Clearwater), lay the framework for the growth and development of Paramount beginning in the late-nineteenth century and continuing throughout the twentieth century to 1980.

The themes within each chronological period describe the historical development patterns, important events and/or activities, and important individuals and groups that influenced Paramount’s history during that period, in order to establish the potential historic significance of properties associated with that theme. Each theme is then divided into a series of subthemes, organized primarily by development type (civic and institutional, commercial, industrial, and/or residential) within each chronological period. The last chronological period brings the history of Paramount to the present day.

It should be noted that properties mentioned in the narrative are intended to illustrate development patterns or provide examples of specific property types; however, inclusion in the narrative does not necessarily indicate eligibility for designation. Properties that have been demolished are noted as such, when known. Information regarding demolished properties is included to tell the full story of Paramount, which includes the loss of some historic buildings.

Because of address changes over time, the chronological development of some properties was unable to be ascertained through available resources.

Additionally, early narrative of the area is included to inform the history of development, even though there are limited extant resources from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This history is included to provide context and set up the discussion of later development in the area.

The present-day City of Paramount was historically composed of the early communities of Clearwater and Hynes (earlier known as South Clearwater), both of which were formed in the late nineteenth century. These communities were distinct towns, but also worked together with several shared municipalities over the decades. As the communities grew, in population and geography, they became increasingly intertwined to the extent that they were often considered both by residents and visitors to functionally relate as a single town. Increasingly over the early twentieth century, the area became known as “Clearwater-Hynes,” or “Hynes-Clearwater,” as a cohesive singular community. This cohesion became official in 1948, when the towns officially combined as the community of “Paramount,” a name chosen after a central arterial street Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 12 shared by the two towns. In 1957, Paramount was incorporated as a City in the County of Los Angeles.

Because of this complex history of the independent but increasingly inter-related communities, the names of “Clearwater,” “South Clearwater,” “Hynes,” and “Paramount,” are used in each section as they would have existed at that time. For example, early sections of the historic context statement use “South Clearwater” and “Hynes” to refer to the southern region of Paramount that was historically a separate, but related community to the south of Clearwater.

Additionally, the term “Clearwater-Hynes,” is used regularly in the earlier sections as these communities were frequently conjoined and considered collectively. The name “Paramount” is used in the post-World War II section, after the communities combined and adopted the name.

ELIGIBILITY STANDARDS
The historic context statement is intended to provide guidance for the future evaluation of properties that may be eligible for historic designation. Therefore, Appendix B includes eligibility standards for identifying and evaluating properties that may be eligible under each theme. The eligibility standards will conform to the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources, and will make recommendations for properties that may be eligible at the local level should Paramount adopt a preservation ordinance in the future. Each set of eligibility standards will include a discussion of the relevant criteria, integrity considerations, and registration requirements for determining whether a property may be eligible for designation under that theme. A general discussion regarding historic significance and integrity as they apply to the evaluation process as well as federal and state criteria for listing are also included for reference in Appendix B.

OUTLINE OF CONTEXTS AND THEMES
Chronological development periods and themes included in the historic context statement are outlined below.

I. Native American Period
II. European Exploration and Colonization (1542-1783)
III. The Rancho Era (1784-1885)
IV. Early Clearwater and Hynes (1886-1919)
V. Expansion and Growth (1920-1940)
VI. World War II (1941-1945)
VII. The Birth of Paramount, Postwar Prosperity, and Redevelopment (1946- 1979)
VIII. Paramount Today (1980-Present)
IX. Architecture and Design (1886-1979)
Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 13 I. NATIVE AMERICAN PERIOD
Summary Statement
The City of Paramount is located within the Los Angeles Basin, which is the ancestral home of the Native American group today referred to as the Tongva, Kizh, and/or Gabrielino/Gabrieliño/Gabrieleno/Gabrieleño.12
This context examines the historical background of Native American groups in Paramount.

There are no extant built resources in the City of Paramount dating from the pre-1542 period.

The study of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this project.

Historical Background
Located in a large coastal floodplain forest between Los Angeles and the San Pedro Bay, the area that now comprises the City of Paramount was historically an ecologically rich, wellpopulated community. The area’s earliest known inhabitants belonged to the Native American group known today as the Gabrielino/Gabrieliño/Gabrieleno/Gabrieleño, Tongva, and/or Kizh.13 The local indigenous population has been identified by various names over the past two centuries.14 The term “Gabrieleño” or “Gabrieliño” was assigned by the Spanish settlers who colonized the area and developed the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.15 The name was used to indicate Native Americans associated with the Mission, although some descendants choose this term for its unifying history.16 Other people indigenous to the region choose to refer to themselves as either Tongva or Kizh because they are terms of native, rather than Spanish, origin.17
This historic context statement acknowledges and respects that each indigenous band/tribe has the right for self-identification and for that choice to be honored. Because the area that now comprises the City of Paramount is included in the ancestral home of several indigenous bands/tribes that identify by different names, this historic context statement acknowledges the names Gabrielino, Tongva, and/or “Kizh” when referring to Paramount’s original native inhabitants, who may identify with one or more of those names.

Historically, the Gabrielino, Tongva and/or Kizh were not a single “tribe,” but a collection of lineages (a group of families with a common ancestor) that shared an Uto-Aztecan language, 12 Claudia Jurmain and William McCawley, O, My Ancestors: Recognition and Renewal for the Gabrielino-Tongva People of the Los Angeles Area (Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 2009).
13 This section is not intended to be a comprehensive history, but rather an overview. This historic context statement recognizes that tribes are the ultimate authority on their cultural history. 14 Naomi Scher, Native Americans and the California Mission System, 1769-1848, National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, rev. May 2023; Jurmain and McCawley, O, My Ancestors: Recognition and Renewal for the Gabrielino-Tongva People of the Los Angeles Area; and Lowell John Bean and Charles R. Smith, “Gabrieliño,” in California, ed. Robert F. Heizer, vol. 8, Handbook of North American Indians, ed. Robert F. Sturtevant (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978): 538-549. 15 The history of the mission is discussed in greater detail in the Spanish and Mexican Periods section below. 16 Terms such as “colonization” and similar language will be utilized in this historic context statement in discussions related to the history of the Native American community and their experiences in Southern California. For further information please refer to Los Angeles City Planning, “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource.” 17 William McCawley, The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles (Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press, 1996), 9-10; E.

Gary Stickel, Why the Original Indian Tribe of the Greater Los Angeles Area is Called Kizh not Tongva, (San Gabriel: Kizh Tribal Press, 2016); Andy Salas interview by Phil Ethington, “This is Where We Came From,” Vimeo video, accessed August 1, 2024, https://vimeo.com/865730182.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 14 culture, religion, and lifestyle that distinguished them from neighboring groups. This group did not have a single unifying name, and it was common for a tribe to refer to themselves in their own language simply as “people” or “men,” although they likely would have assigned names to other tribes.18
Native Americans of the Los Angeles Basin traced their origins to the creation myth of Wiyot, the creator, and Chinigchinich, a “captain of great power,” who were responsible for making the earth and all of its aspects. Chinigchinich created
people from “clay found upon the borders of a
lake. Both male and female he created, and the
Indians of the present day are the descendants of
these.”19 Chinigchinich taught them the law and
instructed them to observe its rites and
ceremonies. The creation story of Wiyot and
Chinigchinich establishes the foundations of local
indigenous identity and sovereignty. Wiyot and
Chinigchinich continue to be important
mythological figures for the traditional caretakers
of the Los Angeles Basin. These stories detail the
formation of the land and tie native peoples to
specific places within it.

The indigenous population occupied a vast
territory that comprised much of Los Angeles
and Orange Counties. Their world, defined as
Tovaangar, occupied several ecological zones,
including coastal marsh, chaparral, prairie, oak woodland, and pine forest. Subsistence patterns varied slightly within each zone based on micro-environmental conditions. The watersheds of the Rio Hondo, the Los Angeles, and the Santa Ana rivers as well as many tributaries and creeks were within their territory.

Like for other Native American groups in California, over time acorns became a food staple for the local inhabitants, supplemented by the roots, leaves, seeds, and fruits of a variety of flora (e.g., islay, cactus, yucca, sages, and agave), as well as both large and small mammals.20 Studies indicate that local habitation sites were hierarchically organized around estuaries and varied in size based on resource availability. While some estuaries supported large settlements, other estuaries supported linked but separate smaller habitation sites. Recent research implies that groups living near smaller estuaries practiced a strategy of mobility, employing foraging when resources were scarce.21 Villages were located near water sources, and often shifted to 18 Bernice Eastman Johnston, California’s Gabrielino Indians (Los Angeles: Southwest Museum, 1962), 15. 19 Geronimo Boscana, Chiningchinich: Origin, Customs & Traditions (Lexington: Forgotten Books, 2008), 247; James R. Moriarty, Chinigchinix: An Indigenous California Indian Religion (Los Angeles: Southwest Museum, 1969), 14-20. 20 Brian Fagan, Before California: An Archaeologist Looks at Our Earliest Inhabitants (New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003), 145-146; Bean and Smith, 539; McCawley 119-123. 21 Donn R. Grenda and Jeffrey H. Altschul, “A Moveable Feast: Isolation and Mobility Among Southern California Hunter-Gatherers,” 128-129, in Islanders and Mainlanders: Prehistoric Context for the Southern California Blight, ed. J. H. Atschul and D. R. Grenda (Tucson, AZ: SRI Press, 2002).

Four generations of indigenous inhabitants of the Los
Angeles Basin, 1883. Source: The Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 15 accommodate yearly changes in the river’s course.22 The present-day area of Paramount was fed by two major—and often unpredictable—waterways: the Los Angeles River to the west and the San Gabriel River to the east.23 While it is difficult to estimate the population over time, evidence suggests that at the time of European contact in the sixteenth century there may have been more than fifty to one hundred mainland villages, each reflecting a range in population sizes.24
Villages were politically autonomous and organized
through shared kinship ties. Each village was led by a
chief who typically spoke multiple languages,
negotiated social relations, and directed the
community’s seasonal migrations. In addition to the
chief, spiritual leaders also had authority over the
tribal community.25 It appears that the local
indigenous population also shared some rituals with
the Chumash to the north, based on the distribution
of similar stone effigies in the prehistoric period.26
Residences were mostly circular, domed27 structures
constructed of thatched tule over a frame of wood
poles, typically willow. Tools included bow and arrow,
traps, nets, spears, and hooks, among others.

Indigenous populations used oceangoing plank
canoes for travel and fishing; these were typically waterproofed using asphalt.28 Neighboring indigenous tribes—including the Chumash and the Tataviam/Alliklik to the north, the Serrano and Cahuilla to the east, and the Luiseño and Juaneño/Acjachemen to the south— were connected to the Gabrielino, Tongva and/or Kizh through intermarriage, matrilocal residence, and/or trade. Interactions were frequent and generally peaceful.29 22 Blake Gumprecht, The Los Angeles River: Its Birth, Death, and Possible Rebirth (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2001), 142-143.
23 T. Longcore and P.J. Ethington, Ed., “Los Angeles Potential Natural Vegetation,” map, Mapping Los Angeles Landscape History: The Indigenous Landscape, Prepared for the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation (Los Angeles: Spatial Sciences Institute, 2023).
24 Bean and Smith, 540; Heather Valdez Singleton, “Surviving Urbanization: The Gabrieleno, 1850-1928,” Wicazo Sa Review 19, no. 2, Colonization/Decolonization, I (Autumn 2004): 49-59, 50. 25 McCawley, 133-140; Bean and Smith, 544.
26 Lynn Hunter Gamble and Glenn S. Russell, “A View from the Mainland: Late Holocene Cultural Developments Among the Ventureno Chumash and the Tongva,” in Catalysts to Complexity: Late Holocene Societies of the California Coast, ed. J. M. Erlandson and T. L. Jones (Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 2002). 27 After European contact these residences were mostly rectangular in shape. 28 McCawley, The First Angelinos, 123, 136.
29 John R. Johnson, “Social Responses to Climate Change Among the Chumash Indians of South-Central California,” in The Way the Wind Blows: Climate, History, and Human Action, ed. R. J. McIntosh, J. A. Tainter, and S. K. McIntosh (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000).

Native American Residence, 1877. Source:

California State Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 16

NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES IN PARAMOUNT
The area of present-day Paramount is characterized by its coastal sage scrub, riparian (streamside) forests, alkali meadows, wet meadows, and perennial freshwater pond.30 Historically, the vegetation of the area was a “tangle of marsh willows, larch, blackberry vines and other tangled undergrowth,” with “a great many springs in the side hills and peat bogs.

These springs were surrounded by tules, willows, and other brambles.”31 Several Native American villages were located within the general vicinity of present-day Paramount. These villages were located near water sources, likely shifting to accommodate yearly changes in the river’s course.32 Villages include Tevaaxa’anga (Tibahangna; Tibajabit), Ahaungna (Abahagna), Chokiishnga (Chokishngna; Chokish-gna), and Huutnga.33 The village of Tevaaxa’anga (Tibahangna; Tibajabit) was located in “Serritos,” or the Rancho Los Cerritos, near the Los Angeles River.34 One possible etymology for the name was “Kivahaƞa” meaning “in the old houses.”35 A second settlement, Ahaungna (Abahagna; ‘Ahwaanga)36 was also identified as located in “Los Alamitos, Cerritos.”37 Chokiishnga (Chokishngna; Chokish-gna) was located on the west bank of the Rio Hondo near Telegraph Road in the vicinity of present-day Downey and Bell Gardens.38 The settlement was likely arranged along the banks of the river and set back from the riverbed as a precautionary measure against flooding.39 It was situated near, and associated with, La Jabonería, or “soap factory,” established by Lemuel Carpenter in 1833. However, the village’s exact location is difficult to identify because La Jabonería refers not only to the soap factory, but also to a 2,400- acre rancho owned by Vicenta Lugo.40
The village of Huutnga, meaning “en los sauces” (in the willows), was also on the “Ranchito de Lugo,” to the east of the Jabonería.41
30 Longcore and Ethington.
31 George H. Bixby as quoted in James W. Reagan, “A Report on Floods, River Phenomena and Rainfall in the Los Angeles Region,” (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Board of Engineers, Flood Control, 1939), 363-364. 32 Blake Gumprecht, The Los Angeles River: Its Birth, Death, and Possible Rebirth (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2001), 142-143.
33 Some information regarding the location of these villages is contradictory. For example, the Kirkman-Harriman map shows Abahagna as north of Hynes, whereas the village appears further south on Kroeber’s Plate 57 map (1925) and the Southwest Museum’s Map of the Gabrielino Indians (1962).
34 Hugo Reid, “Los Angeles County Indians, Los Angeles Star 1(41)-2(11), February 21-July 24. Reprinted The Indians of Los Angeles County: Hugo Reid’s Letters of 1852, ed. Robert F. Heizer (Los Angeles: Southwest Museum, 1986), 8; Alfred L. Kroeber, Shoshonean Dialects of California 4 (Berkeley: University Press, 1907), 143; Alfred L. Kroeber Handbook of the Indians of California (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institutional, 1925), Plate 57.
35 John P. Harrington, John Harrington Papers, Vol. 3: Southern California/Basin (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1986), R102, F375-377; William McCawley, The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles (Banning: Malki Museum Press, 1996),

59. 36 It is unclear whether this was one village or two separate communities (Amaunga and ‘Ahwaanga). For example, the names are used interchangeably in some sources but are distinct in others. 37 Kroeber, Shoshonean Dialects of California, 144; Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, Plate 57; McCawley, 69. 38 Kroeber, Shoshonean Dialects of California, 142.
39 William McCawley, John Romani, and Dana Slawson, The Los Angeles County Drainage Area Subsequent Environmental Impact Report, prepared for Woodward-Clyde Consultants (Pacific Palisades: Greenwood and Associates, 1994), 4. 40 McCawley, 58.
41 Harrington, R 104 F35; R102 F128.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 17 Detail of Kirkman-Harriman Pictorial and Historical Map (left, 1937) and Map of the Gabrielino Indians at the Time of the Portolá Expedition (right, 1962) showing villages near present-day Paramount. Source: Los Angeles Public Library.42
Eligibility Standards
There are no extant built resources from this period of development in Paramount.

The identification of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this study. 42 For a map with separate villages for Amaunga and ‘Ahwaanga, see: David Deis and Cindi Moar Alvitre, “Coyote Tours: Unveiling Native LA,” in Latitudes: An Angeleno’s Atlas, ed. Patricia Wakida (Berkeley: Heyday, 2015), 42.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 18 II. EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION (1542-
1783)
Summary Statement
This context examines early European exploration and colonization of Southern California. The colonization of this area was one of the most transformational events in California’s history.

Alta California, or “Nueva California,” was a province of New Spain that was explored as early as the sixteenth century. Despite this early interest, it wasn’t until 1769 that the mission system was established by the Spanish and colonization began in earnest. During the Spanish and Mexican colonial period, present-day Paramount was located closest to the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (San Gabriel Mission), which is in present-day San Gabriel.

This context examines the history of Spanish and Mexican colonization of Alta California, the establishment of settlements near present-day Paramount, and relationships with nearby Native American populations. There are no extant built resources in the City of Paramount dating from the period of European exploration and colonization. The study of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this project.

Historical Background

EARLY EXPLORATION
Although the territory known today as California was already inhabited by Native Americans, by the 1500s Spain sought to take possession of the Pacific Coast. King Carlos dispatched Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo to explore the West Coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire. Cabrillo set sail in June 1542 and arrived in what is now San Diego Bay in September of that year. In doing so, Cabrillo became the first European to set foot on Californian soil, claiming the territory for the Spanish Empire by “right of discovery.” Cabrillo sailed northward along the coast, eventually encountering coastal Native American tribes on Catalina Island. He also visited the Chumash village of šišolop, located in present-day Ventura, and provided the earliest written record of land use patterns established by the indigenous peoples in the area. Cabrillo continued his voyage north, laying claim to the Pacific Coast as far as the 42nd parallel before returning to Catalina Island for the winter. He died unexpectedly in December 1542 as a result of complications from an injury sustained during an altercation between his party and Native Americans. His deputy later returned the ship to Spain. The official report of Cabrillo’s expedition was subsequently lost, and for many years his discoveries went unnoticed.

In 1579, a competing claim of the Pacific Coast was made for England by Sir Francis Drake, which prompted two more expeditions to be dispatched by Spain. The first was headed by Sebastián Rodríguez Cermeño, who set sail in in 1596 carrying Cabrillo’s writings and revisited some of the same coastline. The second expedition was made by Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602; this time, contact was made once more with the Chumash, but the party did not journey further inland. Instead, Vizcaíno continued to venture along the coast as far north as Monterey, mapping the coastline as he went and assigning place names to prominent geographical and Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 19 ecological features, such as San Pedro Bay, Catalina Island, San Clemente Island, and Monterey Bay.43 However, despite his efforts, no ideal harbor was identified from which Spain could facilitate its maritime trade with Japan and Mexico. As a result, the Spanish Empire made no further effort to explore or colonize the Pacific Coast for another 160 years.

By the 1760s, political and economic conditions – as well as leadership – had changed in Spain.

The Spanish Crown made the transition from exploration to permanent settlement of Alta California following the Seven Years War (1756-63). In this war, Great Britain gained several territories in the Americas, including Canada, thereby undermining Spain’s dominance in the region.44 At the same time, Russia also laid claim to Alaska and Jesuit missionaries had begun to establish a series of missions along the Baja California Peninsula. The Jesuits were actively forcefully evangelizing Native Americans – another threat to Spain’s control of California.

As part of a coordinated effort to suppress the Jesuit influence, in February 1767 King Carlos III of Spain issued a proclamation ordering all Jesuits to be expelled from Spanish territories.

Gaspar de Portolá was named “Governor of the Californias” and dispatched to the Pacific Coast to dispossess the Jesuits and turn the California missions over to the Spanish Franciscans.45 At the same time, King Carlos, aware of the growing threat of Russian advancement, also ordered the viceroy of New Spain to “take effective measures to guard that part of his dominions from danger of invasion and insult.”46

SETTLEMENT IN ALTA CALIFORNIA
In 1769, Captain Gaspar de Portolá, the newly appointed governor of Baja California, and Franciscan Father Junipero Serra, religious leader, led an expedition to establish the first Spanish settlement in Alta California. Portolá established a military outpost at the Presidio of San Diego, thereby claiming Alta California as Spanish territory. Shortly thereafter, Serra founded the Mission San Diego de Alcalá at Presidio Hill, the first of the twenty-one missions that would be established in Alta California by the Spanish and the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823.47 These efforts marked the beginning of a coordinated campaign by the Spanish to impose European religious beliefs and social and cultural ideals upon the existing Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh population, leading to the widespread abuse of, and injury to, Native Americans through enslavement, forced religious conversion, and the introduction of infectious diseases.

Following establishment of the Presidio of San Diego, Portolá set out with a small group of explorers on an overland expedition along a route now known as El Camino Real (“The Royal Road”). The expedition reached the present-day boundaries of Los Angeles County on July 30, 1769. Franciscan Fray Juan Crespí named the area after “Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de la Porciúncula,” or “Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Porciúncula.”48 43 Zoeth Skinner Eldredge, The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco (San Francisco: The California Promotion Committee, 1909), 21-22.
44 Eldredge, 23.
45 Eldredge, 23.
46 Eldredge, 23.
47 Theodore E. Treutlein, “The Portolá Expedition of 1769-1770,” California Historical Society Quarterly 47, no. 4 (University of California Press, 1968): 291-313.
48 Raymund F. Wood, “Juan Crespí: The Man Who Named Los Angeles,” Southern California Quarterly, 53, no. 3 (September 1971):
199-234.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 20 While the route does not directly lead through present-day Paramount, the general area was described in early historical accounts:

At the date of the settlement of Los Angeles City, a large portion of the country, from the central part of the city to the tide water of the sea, through and over which the Los Angeles River now finds its way to the ocean, was largely covered with a forest, interspersed with tracts of marsh. From that time, it was seldom, if in any year, that the river discharged, even during the rainy season, its waters into the sea. Instead of having a river-way to the sea, the waters spread over the country… forming lakes, ponds and marshes. The river water, if any, that reached the ocean, drained off from the land at so many places, and in such small volumes, that no channel existed...49

MISSION SAN GABRIEL
Founded on September 8, 1771, the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (Mission San Gabriel), which is located approximately 15 miles north of
present-day Paramount, became the fourth
in the chain of missions established along
the California coast by the Franciscans.

Initially sited along the banks of the Rio
Hondo, it was moved in 1776 to a location
above the floodplain of the Los Angeles
River. Due to its proximity, this mission
impacted development on the area that
would become Paramount.

The mission practiced a form of penal
servitude that exploited the local
indigenous population, and often forced
their conversion through coercion or
violence. These converts were referred to
as “Gabrieliños” or “Gabrieleños” by the
Spanish in regard to the mission, or other
times “neophytes,” or “new converts.”50 Exploitation of native labor included the physical construction of the Mission San Gabriel, as well as specialized trades. Neophytes labored at such positions as saddlers, blacksmiths, tailors, millers, bakers, shepherds, masons, soap makers, and winemakers, among others.51 They were also forced to labor in the agricultural and ranching activities that ensured the Mission’s economic success. 49 Col. J. J. Warner, Judge Benjamin Hayes, and Dr. J. P. Widney. An Historical Sketch of Los Angeles County, California from the Spanish Occupancy by the Founding of Mission San Gabriel Archangel, September 8, 1771 to July 4, 1876 (Los Angeles: Louis Lewin & Co, 1876), 10.
50 Benjamin Madley, “California’s First Mass Incarceration System: Franciscan Missions, California Indians, and Penal Servitude, 1769– 1836,” Pacific Historical Review 88, no. 1 (2019): 14–47. 51 Hiram Reid, History of Pasadena (Pasadena: Pasadena History Company Publishers, 1895), 25-26.

Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, western entrance, 1910. Source:

Los Angeles Public Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 21 Over time, the San Gabriel Mission came to control some 1.5 million acres of land. While some of this land was used for ranching and herding, much of it was owned by the Mission in name but was not settled by the Spanish in the eighteenth century.

Even though the valley in which Paramount was located was not settled by the Spanish, and despite its geographic distance from the San Gabriel Mission, the lives of Native Americans in present-day Paramount were dramatically impacted by the Mission. Native Americans from all over the Los Angeles Basin were brought to the mission, sometimes through violence and force.

Mission records recount inhabitants from various villages located near present-day Paramount, including several of those mentioned in Section I (Native American Period). The introduction of the Rancho system in the late eighteenth century further altered the lives of indigenous, Spanish, and Mexican populations in the area.

Eligibility Standards
There are no extant built resources from this period of development in Paramount. The identification of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this study.

Native American House at the Mission San Gabriel, c. 1844. Source: University of Southern California Libraries and California Historical Society.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 22 El Camino Real; outline map of California showing missions and principal settlements prior to secularization of the missions in 1834, drawn by Mabel Emerton Prentiss, c. 1903. Source: Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 23 III. THE RANCHO ERA (1784-1885)
Summary Statement
The Rancho Era spans the Spanish, Mexican, and early American colonial periods for presentday Paramount. The area that would become the City of Paramount was part of one of the earliest and largest land grants by the Spanish government in 1784. It continued to function as a collective rancho (first as Rancho Los Nietos and later as Rancho Los Cerritos) while under Spanish, Mexican, and eventually American governmental rule.

Because there are no extant built resources in the City of Paramount dating from the rancho period, no themes were developed for this context. The study of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this project.

Historical Background
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Spain and Mexico established a system of land grants that divided land into large tracts known as ranchos, or ranches, in Alta California. The majority of land grants awarded under the rancho system were given to prominent Spanish or Californio families,52 who accumulated great wealth during this period, largely through cattle ranching.

Native Americans, whose labor was originally exploited by the missionaries and soldiers stationed at the missions, often became the labor source for the growing ranchos. The result was that most Native Americans either labored on ranchos, went to live among other indigenous populations in non-coastal areas, or had to fend for themselves with no assets. In addition to these early Spanish ranchos, mission lands were also divided to create ranchos during the later Mexican era.

In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and Alta California became a Mexican province. At that time, about thirty land grants throughout the territory had already been presented to Spanish soldiers and government officials by the King of Spain. However, no titles were actually transferred as part of this effort; Spanish governors were authorized to give concession to the individuals, which allowed them to run stock in certain areas without a formal deed.53 The “rancho system” as it is known today was instead unique to California under Mexican rule in the 1830s and 1840s.

By the 1830s, an increasing number of Mexicans were migrating and settling in the region, and the focus on secular agricultural settlement increasingly overshadowed the mission system.

Consequently, in 1833, the Mexican Congress passed the Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California. Franciscan padres abandoned the missions, and the new Mexican government seized most mission lands from the Catholic Church. As a result, the Mission San 52 Californio refers to people of Hispanic descent who were born in what would become the state of California, generally between 1683 and 1848, when California became a U.S. territory. The Californios were powerful landholders, receiving large land grants from Spain and Mexico in the nineteenth century.
53 “Orange County’s First Ranchos – Manuel Nieto and Juan Pablo Grijalva,” OC Historyland, accessed March 12, 2024, https://www.ochistoryland.com/firstrancheros.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 24 Gabriel and its lands were divided, sold, or abandoned. Of the nearly eight million acres of mission lands, nearly all were divided among 50 Mexican men and women.54 The lands that comprise present-day Paramount were part of the Rancho Los Nietos, and later the Rancho Los Cerritos.

RANCHO LOS NIETOS AND RANCHO LOS CERRITOS
Originally measuring approximately 300,000 acres, Rancho Los Nietos was one of the earliest and largest Spanish land grants in Alta California. Don Manuel Nieto, a soldier of the Royal Presidio of San Diego, petitioned Spanish Governor Pedro Fages for the land in 1784:

I, Manuel Perez Nieto, a soldier of the Royal Presidio of San Diego, with due respect appear and say: that in view of the fact that I have my stock, horses and cattle, at the Royal Presidio of San Diego, and that they have much increased, and that I have no place to put them, having no place assigned to me, pray your Honor, to be pleased to assign me a place which is about three leagues distant from the Mission of San Gabriel, on the road to the Royal Presidio of San Carlos of Monterey, which place is called the Sanja, considering that this will not prejudice anyone living at the Mission of San Gabriel and less the inhabitants of the Pueblos of Los Angeles, I earnestly pray your Honor to be pleased to grant my petition, if such be your pleasure, in which I shall receive favor, making the necessary oath.

Not being able to sign, I make the sign of the cross.55 Nieto was an accomplished soldier who had accompanied the Portolá-Serra expedition to Alta California in 1769, before serving at the Monterey and San Diego presidios.56 Governor Fages granted Nieto the land in 1784. Nieto improved his holdings with a hut and corral, used by his vaqueros, and “spent a considerable amount in making water ditches for the purpose of irrigating the land, by which means course it to produce reasonable crops” including wheat and corn.57
In 1796, the land’s ownership was contested by the Mission San Gabriel, which claimed Nieto was impinging on its territory.58
The Mission’s complaint read:

The Mission of San Gabriel contains more than eleven hundred Christians, with many savages in its neighborhood; and with the Pueblos of Santa Maria de los Angeles on one side, which the sierra on the other, it is manifest that it needs the place of la Sanja, not only at the present time, but much more in the future. What we desire is that the Indians may be enabled to have from the product of their lands, which are to be given to them. The 54 Heather Valdez Singleton, “Surviving Urbanization: The Gabrieleno, 1850-1928.” Wicazo Sa Review 19, no. 2, Colonization/Decolonization, I (Autumn 2004), 50-51.
55 California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868, Spanish Archives Translations, vol. 7, pg. 172. 56 Iris H. W. Engstrand, “Rancho Los Cerritos: A Southern California Legacy Preserved,” Southern California Quarterly 82, no. 1 (Spring 2000), 9; Orange County California Genealogical Society, Saddleback Ancestors: Rancho Families of Orange County California (Orange:

Orange County California Genealogical Society, 1998), 187. 57 California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868, Spanish Archives Translations, vol. 7, pg. 170. 58 California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868, Spanish Archives Translations, vol. 7, pg. 165.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 25 Mission is much prejudiced by cheats and others who have settled in its neighborhood, which I think is not consistent with the decree of the King.59 As a result of the dispute, Governor Diego de Borica determined on May 14, 1796, that Nieto could retain the land that he had cultivated, but that uncultivated lands would be given to the Mission San Gabriel.60 As a result, Nieto’s land grant was dramatically reduced in size to 167,000 acres. Upon his death in 1804, the remaining rancho was passed to his wife and four children, who continued to reside on the land.

Following Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821, owners of the Rancho Los Nietos sought to prove their ownership against encroaching settlers. From 1817 to 1833, the heirs appealed to the Superior Political Chief for the issuance of a new title. In 1834, the rancho was divided amongst Nieto’s heirs and the Mexican government provided titles for: the Rancho las Bolsas to Catarina Ruiz; Rancho Santa Gertrudis to Josefa Cota; Rancho Serritos (Cerritos) to Manuela Nieto; and Ranchos Coyote, Alamitos, and Palo Alto to Juan Jose Nieto.61 On May 22, 1834, Governor José Figueroa deeded the Rancho Los Cerritos to Manuela Nieto Cota, daughter of the late Manuel Nieto, and her husband Guillermo Cota, a judge and mayor of Los Angeles. The land deed included the requirements that the Cota family cultivate the land, build a house, and inhabit the land within one year.

Whereas, Dona Manuela Nieto has proven her right as an heir of the late Manuel Nieto, and taking into consideration the ancient and peaceable possession of the place known by the name of Serritos [sic], bounded by the places of San Pedro Santa Gertrudis, Los Coyotes, Los Alamitos, and the sea cost; necessary proceedings having been take and the investigations made, as required by the laws and regulations on the subject by virtue of the authority conferred upon me, I have determined by decree of the 24th of July of the last year, I have determined in the name of the Mexican Nation, to declare to her the ownership of said land by these presents, and that she be placed in peaceable possession thereof, the same being in entire conformity with the laws in relation to the matter.62 By the late 1830s, the Cota family included eleven children.63 The ranch also prospered, and boasted approximately 82 cattle, 129 horses, one hut, and one corral. In 1838, neighbors accused the four Cota sons of stealing unbranded cattle and selling their hides. A secret investigation was held from 1838 to 1839. Upon learning of the investigation, Guillermo Cota wrote to the judge, condemning it in 1840:

Los Cerritos ranch is an old possession of over fifty years which my wife inherited. From her, it was passed on to my children. It must be accepted as a dowery of the woman and as such deserves respect; to deprive them of this possession is to infringe the third article of the Constitutional Law that also sets forth the rights of the Mexican citizen.64 59 California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868, Spanish Archives Translations, vol. 7, pg. 173. 60 California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868, Spanish Archives Translations, vol. 7, pg. 173. 61 California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868, Spanish Archives Translations, vol. 2, pg. 301-302. 62 California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868, Spanish Archives Translations, vol. 2, pg. 304-305. 63 Orange County California Genealogical Society, 201.
64 Los Angeles Prefecture Records, Vol 2, 92-98, October 21, 1840, Huntington Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 26 Following his request for a public trial, a lengthy investigation was held from 1840 to 1842, during which time the Cota sons were not allowed near the ranch. The trial involved numerous witnesses, including Juan Temple and Abel Stearns. A statement by “Indian Simon” was omitted from the record because there was “no one to verify his statement.”65 The court ultimately found that there was insufficient proof that the Cota sons had committed the accused crimes.

In 1843, Jonathan Temple and his wife Rafaela Cota,
daughter of Guillermo Cota and Manuela Nieto Cota,
purchased the rancho from Guillermo Cota.66 Rafaela
Cota and Jonathan Temple permanently settled on the
ranch. Originally born in Massachusetts, Temple
became a Mexican citizen and adopted the Spanish
name “Juan.” He worked as a merchant and ran a
mercantile store. Over the course of the 1840s and
1850s, Temple acquired even more tracts of land in the
area. In 1848 alone, his purchases included: a vineyard of 16,000 vines, a house, and hut from Samuel
Carpenter; a house, corral, and land measuring 41 by
40 varas67 from Casildo Aguilar; an adobe house, corral, and land measuring 50 by 31 varas from Juan Bouet.68
Temple was also tangentially involved in the gold rush; he provided numerous loans to gold prospectors
between 1849 and 1850.69
At the Rancho Los Cerritos, Temple built a two-story Monterey style adobe dwelling and small garden in 1844.70 The rest of the ranch was used as pasture for cattle, sheep, and horses. The area was also the location for an early horse racetrack, which hosted horse races and bull fights.

Parties were held there on a regular basis. The racetrack was later used by farmers to test their farm horses and carriages.71
65 Los Angeles Prefecture Records, Vol 2, 30-79, Huntington Library. 66 Sarah Wolk Fitzgerald, “Rafaela Cota de Temple,” Rancho Los Cerritos, March 8, 2021; Engstrand, 13. 67 A vara is a unit of measurement equal to approximately 33 inches. The vara was used to measure land in California under Spanish and Mexican rule.
68 Los Angeles Prefecture Records, Vol A, 447, 477-478, 499, Huntington Library. 69 Los Angeles Prefecture Records, Vol A, 613-636, Huntington Library. 70 Located in the City of Long Beach, the adobe is a National Historic Landmark. 71 Fae M. Pitchie, “The History and Development of Paramount, California,” Master’s thesis, (University of Southern California, June 1956), 44.

Rafaela Cota Temple, 1850. Source: Long
Beach Public Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 27 Rancho Los Cerritos Adobe, located in the present-day City of Long Beach, 1910. Source: Los Angeles Public Library.

The Mexican–American War lasted from 1845 to 1848. In 1846, the Battle of Rancho Dominguez took place immediately southwest of Rancho Los Cerritos. American forces advanced in a solid column against Californio Jose Antonio Carillo’s troops. This allowed the Californios72 to fire upon them unimpeded, and six Americans were killed. The American forces retreated to San Pedro, resulting in a Mexican victory, although the war was ultimately won by the Americans.73 The Mexican–American War ended in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which formally annexed California to the United States.

On September 9, 1850, California officially became the 31st state in the Union. As required by the Land Act of 1851, Temple filed a land claim with the Public Land Commission for the Rancho Los Cerritos. His claim was confirmed in 1853, and upon contestation, again in 1855- 1856. By 1850, there were 36 residents living on the rancho, including 22 Native Americans and eight children.74 The 1860s brought several catastrophic floods and droughts to the Los Angeles area. As later recalled by an early settler in 1867:

From 1825 until January 1867, the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers united at a point northerly from the dwelling house on the Cerritos Ranch, and flowing past the house on the west, emptied into the San Pedro estuary southwest of that dwelling house. The San Gabriel River, in the flood of 1867, left its bed at a point near where it struck the northern line of the Ranchito, and cut a new water-way [sic] through the central part of that ranch… to the sea.75
72 Californios were the group of people who inhabited then-Alta California before the United States’ annexation of the state. The majority of those who identified as Californio were of Spanish or Mexican origin. For additional information see: Leonard Pitt, The Decline of the Californios (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1966). 73 Hubert H. Bancroft, History of California II, 1801-1824. Reprinted. (Santa Barbara: Wallace Hebberd, 1886), 392-395. 74 Census of the City and County of Los Angeles, California for the Year 1850, edited by Maurice H. Newmark and Marco R. Newmark (Los Angeles: The Times-Mirror Press, 1929), 79-80.
75 Col. J. J. Warner, Judge Benjamin Hayes, and Dr. J. P. Widney. An Historical Sketch of Los Angeles County, California from the Spanish Occupancy by the Founding of Mission San Gabriel Archangel, September 8, 1771, to July 4, 1876 (Los Angeles: Louis Lewin & Co, 1876), 10.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 28 The series of floods and droughts, combined with a drop in cattle prices, damaged Temple’s ranching enterprises, and in 1866, he sold the Rancho Los Cerritos to the northern California sheep ranching firm of Flint, Bixby and Company for $20,000.76 Plat of the Rancho Los Cerritos as confirmed to Juan Temple, 1862. Source: The Huntington Library, San 76 Engstrand, 16; Sarah Bixby Smith, Adobe Days (Los Angeles, J. Zeitlin, 1931), 59.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 29 Marino, California.

BIXBY RANCH
Originally established as a gold mining venture in 1849, Flint, Bixby & Company was composed of relatives Benjamin and Thomas Flint and Lewellyn Bixby. The cousins brought a herd of over 1,800 sheep from Iowa to Southern California in 1853. Jotham Bixby joined with his brother and cousins and, in 1866, was entrusted with managing the Rancho Los Cerritos. Bixby established his own company, J. Bixby & Co., which acquired a half interest in the ranch in 1869. The rancho prospered, and by the 1870s had over 30,000 Spanish sheep; a large adobe residence; garden with oranges, lemons, pomegranates,
and figs; and a large barley field.77
Flooding subsided in the area as Bixby
gradually improved the land. As
recounted by Jotham Bixby’s son,
George H. Bixby: “As the country
became more settled and wells were
sunk in the upper land, there was less
water and the springs flowed less and
less until in the final attempt to drain
the land, they used tile drains and the
springs disappeared.”78 By the late
1880s, Rancho Los Cerritos had ten
artesian wells and a small lake, named
by later settlers as the Clearwater
Lake.79
The Bixby family employed at least two
Chinese cooks, Ah Ying and Ah Fan,
who prepared meals including rice, dried fish, and soy sauce.80 Ah Ying, age 38 in 1880, and Ah Fan, age 21, were important figures in the household, especially for the children. Daughter Sarah Bixby Smith later recalled that in the kitchen “Ying reigned supreme and Fan was his prime minister.”81 After completing his apprenticeship, Ah Fan moved to serve as the head cook at the Rancho Alamitos. Another Chinese resident named Linn was identified as a dairyman in the 1880 U.S. Census.

These early Chinese residents were impacted by the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which was enacted in response to labor agitation against Chinese immigrants in California and growing racism in the United States overall.82 The Chinese Exclusion Act barred practically all Chinese 77 A. Maxon Smith and Thomas F. Andrews, “The Bixby Land Company: A Continuing Family Endeavor,” Southern California Quarterly 69, no. 3 (Fall 1987): 275-278; “A Los Angeles Sheep Rancho,” Santa Barbara Weekly Press, September 27, 1873, 6. 78 George H. Bixby as quoted in Reagan, “A Report on Floods, River Phenomena and Rainfall in the Los Angeles Region,” 363-364. 79 The Clearwater Lake was located on the present-day site of the Paramount Swap Meet. 80 Anne Bixby Chamber to William S. Evans, September 24, 1957, in Engstrand, 20. Archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains of soy sauce bottles at the rancho.
81 Bixby Smith, 93; “In Honor of Lunar New Year, a Glimpse into the Lives of Ah Ying and Ah Fan,” Rancho Los Cerritos, January 28, 2017.
82 “Johnson-Reed (Immigration Restriction) Act (1924),” 721-723.

Photograph of Bixby Ranch with Ah Ying in background, 1872.

Source: Rancho Los Cerritos.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 30 immigrants from entering the United States for ten years, excepting only diplomats and their servants.83 It was the first federal U.S. law ever passed banning a group of immigrants based solely on race or nationality. The law also prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming American citizens, making Chinese residents in the United States permanent aliens.84 The Scott Act, which was enacted in 1888, expanded upon the Chinese Exclusion Act by barring reentry to the United States after leaving, making it virtually impossible for Chinese merchants who had settled in America to ever reunite with their families.

Census records show that sheepherders on the ranch included French, Irish, and Mexican workers. Farmers and laborers were largely from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and other U.S. states and territories.85 By the late 1880s and early 1890s, much of the rancho was subdivided for sale or converted for dairy operations. Charles Healey surveyed the area north of the ranch house for a potential colony, purchasing a large swath of land in 1886. Increasing debts ultimately forced the dissolution of Flint, Bixby & Co. in 1899. In 1891, the land became the town of Clearwater. The age of the rancho had ended.

Eligibility Standards
There are no extant built resources from this period of development in Paramount. The identification of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this study. 83 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from Andrew Gyory, “Chinese Exclusion Acts,” in Encyclopedia of U.S.

Labor and Working Class History 1: A-F, ed. Eric Arnesen (New York: Routledge, 2007). 84 The Chinese Exclusion Act was subsequently renewed in 1892 and 1902 and made permanent in 1904. The law, which remained in effect for over sixty years before it was repealed, set a precedent for all future anti-immigration laws in the United States; Gyory, “Chinese Exclusion Acts.”
85 1880 United States Federal Census. California: Los Angeles, Los Nietos (030).

Jotham Bixby during sheep dipping at the Los Cerritos Rancho, c. 1872. Source: Los Angeles Public Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 31 IV. EARLY CLEARWATER AND HYNES (1886-1919)
Summary Statement
Rancho Los Cerritos dissolved in the late nineteenth century as Anglo-American settlers acquired the divided ranch lands. Two communities in present-day Paramount were founded on the lands of the former rancho: Clearwater and South Clearwater (later Hynes). These communities quickly established a strong agricultural economy and set about organizing their townships. The period was characterized by the development of early institutions and municipal services, infrastructural improvements, expanded commercial enterprises, changing demographics, and early industrial operations.

The present-day City of Paramount was historically comprised of the early communities of Clearwater and Hynes (briefly known as South Clearwater), both of which were formed in the late nineteenth century. These communities were distinct towns but also worked together with several shared municipalities over the decades. As the communities grew, in population and geography, they became increasingly intertwined to the extent that they were often considered both by residents and visitors to functionally relate as a single town. Increasingly over the early twentieth century, the area became known as “Clearwater-Hynes,” or “Hynes-Clearwater,” as a cohesive singular community. This cohesion became official in 1948, when the towns officially combined as the community of “Paramount,” a name chosen after a central arterial street shared by the two towns. In 1957, Paramount was incorporated as a City in the County of Los Angeles. This marked a change in the community, as zoning was introduced.

This context examines the early settlement of Clearwater and Hynes, the impact of agriculture and dairy farming, and the establishment of transportation, water, and communications infrastructure in the region. Residential and commercial growth, new institutions, and changing demographics all defined early Clearwater and Hynes. This context spans from the late nineteenth century to 1919 because these two communities remained largely agriculture in nature with scattered development through the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Historical Background

CLEARWATER AND HYNES
Southern California experienced a land boom in the 1880s, fueled by the arrival of the intercontinental railroads. During this period, major railroads launched fare wars that led to inexpensive tickets; as a result, a greater number of people visited the region or permanently relocated. Drawn by the area’s favorable climate and affordable real estate, some enterprising groups or syndicates settled in Southern California with the intent of creating idyllic new colonies. In 1886, one such group, the California Cooperative Colony Tract Company, purchased 6,000 acres of the Rancho Los Cerritos in present-day Paramount. The syndicate offered prospective buyers 10 to 40 acres for sale; to encourage residential and small-scale agricultural development, land sales of more than 40 acres were prohibited.

As shown in the Price List of Lands and Lots for Sale by the California Co-operative Colony, February 1, 1886, the vast majority of lots for sale were 10-acre parcels. Based on their location, Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 32 these parcels ranged from $250 to $850.86 However, it was not uncommon to see lots for sale for as low as $8 or $22.87
As laid out in the Bylaws of the Colony, it was the Directors’ responsibility to lay out the streets and plant shade trees. They were also responsible for building business blocks, hotels and other buildings to further the sale and development of Colony land.88 Ralph E. Hoyt served as the President of the Colony. A Chicago journalist, Hoyt moved to California in late 1886 and began to extol the virtues of the climate, scenery, and potential of the land. Other early settlers who served on the board of directors included Col. F.A. Atwater, George Rice, W.W. Ross, Mrs. Anna Atwater, O.H. Violet, John Robson, C.W. Strong, P.S.

Goodwin, Alvin D. Brock, C.N. Earl, and Mrs. S.H. Scarborough—all of Los Angeles.89 By early 1888, Mr. J.M. Miller was the superintendent of
the Colony.90
Charles Healey surveyed land for the colony,
which in 1887 became the town of
Clearwater.91 The one square mile of town of
Clearwater was located just south of a natural
lake, which served as the nascent community’s
namesake. Shortly after establishment, the
Salt Lake Railroad established a railroad station
in Clearwater, and the Montana Land company
shipped large amounts of livestock, milk,
butter, and other commodities through the
station. Ultimately, however, the location of
the station was not ideal for the company, and
a new station was founded approximately one
mile south of the Clearwater station. Briefly
known as South Clearwater station, in 1898,
the residents of South Clearwater met to
discuss changing their name, and, within a few
months, renamed their settlement “Hynes”
after an official of the Salt Lake railroad who
happened to visit it around the time of its
establishment. 92
One of the early founders and residents of
Clearwater was Edwin A. Rogers (1849-1946).
86 California Co-operative Colony, Price List of Lands and Lots for Sale by the California Cooperative Colony, 1886, 1-4. 87 Ibid.
88 California Co-operative Colony By-Laws, n.d., 7.
89 “Cooperative Colony to Be Formed on the Only Practical Plan,” Los Angeles Times, January 29, 1887, 1. 90 “At Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1887. 91 “The Colony Town Named,” Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1887, 3. 92 “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, February 11, 1898.; “Clearwater Cream,” Los Angeles Herald, August 14, 1898.

Advertisement for the California Cooperative Colony,
1887. Source: Los Angeles Times.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 33 Rogers was born in Moscow, Maine and came to California in the 1880s. He is credited with the founding of Clearwater.93 In 1890, he and J.F. Turner purchased the only hotel in Clearwater.94 Clearwater and Hynes were largely agricultural communities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with an emphasis on dairies and hay. As a result, they earned reputations as “The Milk Shed of Los Angeles,” and “The World’s Largest Hay Market.” 95 Under the Hay Tree (California Historical Landmark No. 1038), prices for hay were established.

The community also excelled in sugar beet cultivation, and during World War I was even visited by Herbert Hoover, then the federal food administrator.96 Sugar beet production was likened to “the cause of democracy” with politicians claiming that sugar beet production in Southern California would “occupy a prominent place in winning the great war.”97 Within ten years of its founding, the town of Clearwater hosted its first fair to exhibit local agricultural products, which showcased the area’s abundance. Early residential development during this period reflected the agricultural-based economy and included early tract development as well as individual farmhouses established throughout both communities.

Natural disasters plagued early residents of Clearwater and Hynes, which relied on agriculture for financial stability. As recounted by an early settler in Clearwater:

Up to the early 1890s the Los Angeles River came down through the depression between Bell and Huntington Park and crossed Washington Street (Compton Blvd.) near the west line of the Jenning’s property. (About Atlantic Avenue). This was a harmless looking little meandering channel during the spring, summer and autumn months, decorated its entire length with cattails and pussy-willows, but in winter when she went on a rampage and tried to hornswoggle all the water this side of the Antelope Valley, she seemed indifferent where she belonged, and like a million bootleggers bent on unloading their wares, caused no end of trouble.98
In order to combat these natural disasters, water controlling infrastructure was installed to better manage flooding and its resultant hardships. Beginning in 1891, discussions were underway for the implementation of measures to mitigate and prevent future flood damage.

That year, a deep channel and bridges were completed for the San Gabriel River. Additional flood control measures along the San Gabriel River were completed in 1910 and 1919. Despite the unpredictability of flooding rivers, the communities continued to grow and thrive. Resultant communications infrastructure, including a telegraph station and poles, helped Clearwater and Hynes stay connected to the wider world.
93 “Edwin Rogers, Early Oilman Here, Dies at 97,” Los Angeles Times, February 28, 1946, 12. 94 In the 1910 and 1920 censuses, Rogers was enumerated as a farmer in Clearwater. An early association with Edward L. Doheny proved fruitful, as the two men formed Rogers & Doheny to develop oil properties on the outskirts of Los Angeles.94 In 1922-23, Rogers’ large oil interests in Maricopa through the Calitroleum Oil and Gas Company, turned profitable when several wells became large producers of oil. Rogers moved away from Clearwater shortly thereafter. 95 California Historical Landmark No. 1038. Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in Cooperation with the City of Paramount. Designated 2003, plaque placed June 2004; “Hynes Assumes Importance as Cattle Market,” Long Beach Sun, October 21, 1931, 7.
96 “U.S. Speakers to Urge More Beet Production,” Los Angeles Evening Express, November 19, 1917. 97 “Sugar Will Play Important Part,” The Redondo Reflex, November 23, 1917. 98 Mr. McKelvey as quoted in Hillyard, 9.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 34 By the late 1890s, Clearwater had 142 voting males listed in the Great Register of Voters, the vast majority of whom worked in agriculture. The early population was a mix of farmers from the Midwest, as well as natives of England, Sweden, Germany, and France. A relatively large number of Portuguese immigrants from the Azorean Islands also settled there. A small group of Latinos of Mexican heritage lived in a railroad camp near the Union Pacific Railroad.

While small municipalities like Clearwater and Hynes often united to establish water service, the area was served by a number of Artesian wells, precluding formation of a water company.

The two towns did combine forces for education though, with the establishment of the Clearwater School District in 1888. The communities also came together for social organizations, such as the Literary Society, which boasted a majority of residents from both towns among its members.

Topographic Map showing Clearwater and South Clearwater (later known as Hynes), 1896. Source: United States Geological Survey.

Harness racing was a popular sport in early Clearwater. Property holders in the vicinity sought to establish a race and training track as early as 1902. Developers considered the conditions in Clearwater “perfect” for a track:

There being abundance of pure water already developed, abundance of the best and cheapest feed, a perfect character of soil for the purpose, which will never be too hard or too soft, never dusty, and with sufficient “springiness” to develop the highest speed.99 By December of 1902, over 2,000 residents of Clearwater and neighboring towns celebrated the Christmas holidays with harness racing and foot races at the track.100 The Hynes Driving Club held regular horse matinee races at the track, from at least 1908 to 1909.101 99 “Another Race-Track,” The Evening Express, August 3, 1892, 7. 100 The location of this racetrack is not known. “Racing Sport at Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times, December 28, 1902, 25. 101 “Driving Club Headquarters,” Los Angeles Herald, October 11, 1908, 25; “Racing at Hynes,” Los Angeles Times, August 1, 1909, 85; “Hynes Racing is Exciting,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1908, 6.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 35 Theme: Early Residential Development (1896-1919)
Residential development differed between the nascent communities of Clearwater and Hynes.

While there were homes in both early communities, Clearwater was the more residential in character with homes on large parcels with schools and churches nearby. Clearwater had some neighborhood development, especially in the early twentieth century when residential tract development was spurred by the completion of the streetcar. Hynes by contrast was more agricultural in nature, with scattered development of farmhouses with few centralized residential neighborhoods. Clearwater and Hynes had a diverse population, which included neighborhoods of Latino and Chinese residents.

Located between Los Angeles and Long Beach, Clearwater and Hynes both remained satellite agricultural communities compared with these metropolitan areas. At the same time, many people residing in Clearwater and Hynes commuted to Long Beach for work. This was especially true for workers of the Long Beach shipyards.

One early and prominent resident was H.P. Epperson, a Long Beach man who initially purchased 40 acres from the California Cooperative Colony where he constructed a residence for his family. Over time, Epperson expanded his holdings and eventually farmed several hundred acres. In 1890, he built a “commodious house, a two story structure with a tower” in Hynes on present-day Paramount Boulevard.102 Epperson also was an early real estate investor, and purchased a tract of land in Hynes lying west of Paramount Boulevard, east of the railroad tracks, and bordered by Jackson Street on the north and 70th Street on the south, known as the Eureka Tract.103 It is currently unknown if Epperson himself subdivided the property, sold lots, or resold large portions to other developers.104 His own house stood on the site until 1934, when the Rhodes and Reed auction firm acquired the property.105 The City of Paramount was home to a diverse population in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There were concentrations of both Latinos and Chinese residents during this period. Latino residents were mostly located in a Union Pacific railroad camp along “Rail Road” in Clearwater.106 A dozen Chinese farmers, ranchers, and laborers also resided in the community, primarily single men who had been recruited to the U.S. as railroad laborers during the 1870s and 1880s.

When considering the non-white communities of Clearwater and Hynes, it should be noted that there is little evidence of the presence of African Americans in the towns during this period. That remains the case until the 1970s. Given the relationship between ClearwaterHynes and Long Beach, it may be that the presence of a large, visible, and active Ku Klux Klan in Long Beach during the 1920s and 1930s discouraged the settlement of Blacks in the outlying communities. By 1922, the Klan was “…the strongest organization in the city” of Long Beach, advertising in the newspaper, and boasting a strong wave of new membership.107 Cross burnings 102 Walter H. Case, “Did You Know That…?” Long Beach Sun, March 6, 1934, 4. 103 Ethel Hillyard, The Story of Paramount, Paramount Journal (Paramount, CA: 1988), 9. 104 See the lad subdivided by H. C. Whittekin in 1906 on subsequent pages. 105 Walter H. Case, “Did You Know That…?” Long Beach Sun, March 6, 1934, 4. 106 The exact location of Rail Road camp has yet to be identified. More research is needed. However, it is likely that Rail Road camp was adjacent to the Union Pacific tracks that bisect Paramount. 107 “Ku Klux Klan Initiation Ceremonies Feature Naturalization of Members,” Long Beach Telegram, April 9, 1922, 10.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 36 and parades, along with hosting the national Klan convention, gave the Long Beach Klavern a visible presence. Housing discrimination, including restrictive covenants and deed restrictions, as discussed later in this document, may have also been contributing factors.

Clearwater and Hynes in 1947. Source: City of Paramount.

By the early twentieth century there were multiple concentrations of farmhouses dotting the Clearwater and Hynes landscape. These include the east side of Vermont Avenue between Monroe and Alondra Boulevard; the east side of Georgia Street just south of Alondra Boulevard; the west side of Orizaba Street between Alondra Boulevard and Madison Street; and the west side of Orizaba Street between Madison Street and Jefferson Street.108 Additional development was located on the south side of Harrison Street, across from the intersection of Georgia Avenue; the west side of Illinois Street Between Harrison Street and Jackson Street; along the 108 Los Angeles County Land Use Maps, Book 5, Sheet 16. LACoPRC 05, Maps, Huntington Digital Library, The Huntington Library, accessed April 27, 2024, San Marino, California. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll4/id/11039/rec/64.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 37 south side of Rosecrans Avenue between Garfield Avenue and Paramount Boulevard; and along both sides of Arthur Avenue, between Rose Street and Pearle Street and some fronting on McClure Avenue between Rose Street and Howe Street.109 A remnant example of a farmhouse from this period is located at 16639 Indiana Avenue (extant).

Early multi-family residential development in Clearwater-Hynes was extremely rare. The 1936 Los Angeles County Land Use Map shows only two fourplexes on the north side of Monroe Street east of California Street.

CLEARWATER AND HYNES: STREETCAR SUBURBS
This section includes an overview of tract development starting in the first decade of the twentieth century in order to inform an understanding of the built environment in what would become Paramount. Although many tracts were recorded during this period, development was limited.

The Pacific Electric Railway extended service between Los Angeles and Santa Ana with the completion of the Santa Ana Line on November 6, 1905, which diverted from the Long Beach Line at Watts and headed southeast. Riders could catch the Red Car at the Clearwater station, or at stops at present-day
Downey Avenue or Garfield
Avenue.110 The line was used
both for passengers and freight
until service was discontinued
on May 25, 1958.

The location of ClearwaterHynes along the Pacific Electric Railway line in 1905111 spurred
the development of residential
subdivisions during the early
twentieth century. This started
with the speculative
development of 25 homes in
Clearwater in 1904, with the
promise that the Pacific Electric
“Red Cars” would bring new
residents and more growth.112 Longtime Clearwater resident and farmer Theron F. Downs (1843-1929) subdivided nearly 300 parcels along the Pacific Electric Railway line south of present-day Somerset Boulevard and west of Lakewood Boulevard. In 1922, Downs sold five acres of his property for oil exploration.113 A 1928 aerial photograph suggests that only a few parcels in Downs’ subdivision were developed.
109 Los Angeles County Land Use Maps, Book 5, Sheet 22. Huntington Digital Library. 110 Mike McKown, Progress in Paramount Facebook page, posted January 10, 2024. 111 “The Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California,” accessed February 8, 2024, https://www.erha.org/pessa.htm. 112 “The County of Los Angeles Outside the Chief City,” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1905, AM237. 113 “Clearwater Man Leases Acreage in Oil District,” Press Telegram, December 5, 1922, 12.

Pacific Electric Santa Ana Line Train, 1950. Source: Los Angeles Public Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 38 A Los Angeles County Land Use Map from 1936 indicates how few homes were built in this tract. In fact, many of these early subdivisions were sparsely developed for many years or even decades.

Hynes Improvement Co. Tract
In 1906, H. C. Whittekin
purchased land in what may have
been the aforementioned H.R.

Epperson-owned area (Eureka
Tract) and subdivided 99 parcels
into streets and alleyways as
bordered by Jackson Street on the
north, Lincoln Street on the
south, present-day Paramount
Street on the east, and the
railroad tracks on the west.

Washington Park Home Tract
In 1914, the land that would
become the Washington Home
Park Tract was purchased by F.M.

Cook and A.F. Haraszthy of the
Western Realty Company. It was a
rectangular tract consisting of
Verdura, Naranja, Avocado, Perilla,
and Manzana Avenues, located
east of present-day Downey Avenue. The tract consisted of 198 32-foot wide parcels in the vicinity of the Cretcher Pacific Electric Railway Station. Among the owners were sisters Nettie Getchell and Cora M. Clifford (née Getchell) who were schoolteachers in Los Angeles dating back to the early 1880s. In 1919, Haraszthy and Cook were federally indicted on mail fraud charges for misrepresenting the completion of improvements, infrastructure, and homes in the tract in their advertisements. The government charged that the area was nothing but “alfalfa fields.” Most of the buyers were living in Arizona, Nevada, and distant parts of California.114 The outcome of the case is currently unknown, but Haraszthy continued development activities in the Van Nuys area during the subsequent decades.

LATINO COMMUNITY/THE BARRIO
By the time of the 1910 Census, there was a small Latino community in Clearwater, concentrated along Michigan Avenue (present-day Garfield Avenue) and in a Union Pacific railroad camp along “Rail Road” in Clearwater.115 The majority of the heads of these families worked as laborers in the local sugar beet farms or laborers for the railroad. 114 “Paved Streets Only a Field,” Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1919, I15. 115 The exact location of Rail Road camp has yet to be identified. More research is needed. However, it is likely that Rail Road camp was adjacent to the Union Pacific tracks that bisect Paramount.

Down’s Subdivision in 1936. Source: Huntington Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 39 Ten families where the head of households were laborers for the railroad with immigration dates between 1904 and 1909 suggests that men left the economic and political turmoil in Mexico during the first decade of the twentieth century and/or were recruited by the Union Pacific to build new lines. A few Latinos were employed as railroad workers associated with the Southern Pacific.116 Jose Piseno (1886-unknown) was among the farm workers who resided in Clearwater in 1918.117 Jose remained in Clearwater until 1940, eventually operating his own vegetable farm.118
In Hynes, there was a relatively large concentration of Latino residents in the area where Jefferson Street crosses the railroad tracks (often called “The Barrio”119 today). The 1920 Census enumerates approximately 40 families of Latino heritage living in the area, on Illinois Street, Illinois Alley (present-day Rosales Alley), Vermont Avenue, and Jefferson Street.120 Virtually all of the families recorded in the 1920 Census came to the US. in the 1910s—suggesting they were part of the great migration of Mexican
immigrants who fled the revolution and
economic turmoil in Mexico. They were
employed in the shipyards of Long Beach, as
laborers on nearby farms, and by the railroad.

The early members of this community
included the families of Louis and Nettie
Rosales, Manuel and Narcisa Rosales, Manuel
and Ellie Sepada, Gumisindo Martinez, Salome
Sentino, Secundino Martinez, Cecilio and Mary
Magania, Jesus and Tomasa Peceno, Abraham
and Magdelena Martinez, Armando Lopez, and
Sistus Negrete.

The Rosales family was one of the early Latino
families who lived in the area known as “the
Barrio.” It is likely that Illinois Alley was renamed Rosales Alley in honor of this family. Manuel (1877-unknown) and Narcisa (1858-1958) Rosales were both born in Zacatecas, Mexico. They emigrated to the U.S. on foot in 1901 through El Paso, Texas as a married couple with one son. By 1901, they were living in Clearwater where their remaining eight children were born. By the 1920 Census, they resided at 15550 Illinois Avenue (extant). During the 1930s, Manuel Rosales was employed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborer. Their son, Fred F. Rosales (1904-1995), lived in this home through the 1950s.121
Louis Ortiz Rosales (1894-1977) and his wife Nattie lived at 15543 Illinois Avenue (not extant) as early as the 1920s. His relationship to Manuel is currently unknown; however, he was also born in Zacatecas, Mexico and emigrated in 1901, likely with Manuel. Luis’ residence in 116 A much larger enclave of Latino railroad workers was located on Rail Road Street in Downey. 117Draft Registration Card, Jose Piseno, 1918.
118 The 1940 Census records Piseno living at 312 Jefferson Avenue (status unknown). 119 A term used to denote a Spanish-speaking quarter or neighborhood in a city or town in the U.S. 120 Many of the records do not include a street number. 121 Los Angeles County Tax Assessor and the 1920 US Census.

Manuel Rosales in 1940. Source: Naturalization Petition, 1940, Ancestry.com.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 40 Clearwater dates to the early 1900s. By 1950, Luis was operating the Rosales Café in Los Angeles. Their son Hilario (Larry) Rosales served in the Korean War while calling the Illinois Avenue address his home. Larry was well known as a leader within the community.122 By 1956, there were multiple generations of the Rosales family living on Illinois Avenue: Fred F. (15550 Illinois Avenue, extant); Hilario (15523 Illinois Avenue, not extant); Louis C. (15537 Illinois Avenue, not extant); Louis O. (15548 Illinois Avenue, not extant); Manuel (15558 Illinois Avenue, not extant); and May (15559 Illinois Avenue, extant).

The residence located at 7702 Jefferson Avenue (extant), constructed in 1917, was the home of Jesus Martinez and his wife in 1920.123 Homes lined Rosales Alley as well. The residence at 15512 Rosales Alley, constructed in 1925, is one of the few remaining residences in the alley.

THE CHINESE AMERICAN COMMUNITY
The agrarian nature of the area attracted a small number of Chinese residents. The 1920 Census accounts for approximately a dozen Chinese farmers, ranchers, and laborers. The Chinese residents were primarily single men who had been recruited to provide labor for the building of the railroads in the 1870s and 1880s. Four enterprising men: Yan Kee, Woo Say, Tom Tip, and Lee Fat worked a truck farm in a rural area off present-day Paramount Boulevard in 1920.

Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
122 “Cigars Sent Soldier to Mark Birth of Son,” Press-Telegram, March 15, 1952, 5. 123 Los Angeles County Tax Assessor and the 1920 US Census.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 41 Theme: Commercial Development (1896-1919)
Clearwater and Hynes were small, primarily agricultural communities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Commercial development was limited; there are no built resources remaining from this period. At the time of its founding, Ocean Boulevard (present-day Paramount Boulevard) was the main thoroughfare in Clearwater and Hynes. While development in Clearwater was primarily residential in nature, Hynes became the main commercial area for the townships. This reflected the general nature of development in Clearwater and Hynes, where the two towns were separate settlements that functioned as one due to a sparsity of development in the area.

The first store to be built as part of the California Cooperative Colony Tract was the 1893 Clearwater Cooperative Company Store at the corner of Jackson Street and Vermont Avenue.

It was later moved to the corner of Paramount Boulevard and Jackson Street.124 Partners in the store included H.P. Epperson, W.O. Houston, F.A. Atwater, C.P. Eldridge, G.A. Harris, and John Philoin.125
During the late 1880s and
early 1900s, a series of
wood-frame buildings
were completed to house
services for the local
population, including a
blacksmith shop for
George Wheat on the east
side of Paramount
Boulevard (historically
Ocean Avenue) near
Jackson Street.

A grocery was established
south of the blacksmith
store on the southwest
corner of Paramount
Boulevard and Jackson
Street and operated by
A.S. Sargent. The building
was ultimately purchased by early pioneer Ed Hottenroth. In 1909, the Hynes Market, as it was then known, was run by Joseph Schilling, who operated it well into the 1920s.126 In 1897, a two-story hotel existed on present-day Somerset Boulevard near the railroad depot and Clearwater Lake. This building was moved from the site of present-day Paramount 124 Hillyard, 5.
125 Hillyard, 6.
126 “Clearwater – Hynes Has Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” The Long Beach Telegram and the Long Beach Daily News, March 5, 1922, 7D.
1930 Sanborn Fires Insurance Map of Clearwater and Hynes, 1930. Source: Los Angels Public Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 42 Boulevard and Alondra Boulevard.127 Mr. John Sharpe ran a dairy nearby, while his wife Eunice A. Sharpe and her daughter, Lilliebel, managed the hotel.

With the completion of the streetcar in 1905 and the resultant population growth, commercial activity increased in the first decades of the twentieth century, including the establishment of the first financial institution to serve the nascent community. In 1911, the First National Bank of Hynes was organized by Claire S. Thompson, O.L. Cocke, and J.J. Chamberlain. They constructed a building for the bank on the northeast corner of present-day Paramount Boulevard and Jackson Street (not extant). Other early banks included the Citizens State Bank of Hynes-Clearwater and the Azores Bank.128
First National Bank of Hynes, c. 1915. Source: “The History and Development of Paramount.” Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
127 Pitchie, 60.
128 Ethel Hillyard, The Story of Paramount, (Paramount, CA: The Paramount Journal), 1988, 13.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 43 THEME: CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
(1896-1919)

CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS
As the two communities of Clearwater and Hynes grew, so did their municipal services.

Founded in 1888, the Clearwater post office was one of the earliest services established in the nascent communities. Prior to the establishment of the post office, post was often exchanged at central places of business. Located out of the general merchandise store of Plaisted & Miller, Henry Harrison served as the first postmaster for the Clearwater post service. The Hynes postal service was established in 1897 at the Huitt grocery store.129 As part of Los Angeles County, Clearwater and Hynes also benefitted from several county-wide programs. Perhaps most notably, a county library was established in Clearwater in 1913. The library was one of the 125 libraries formed by the county in the 1910s, which covered “practically every book and cranny of the surrounding country, serving thousands of citizens, representative of nearly every walk of life, with the books they want most to read.”130 Located out of a single room building, the library boasted a collection of 121 books within the first year.

SCHOOLS
As settlers made Clearwater and Hynes home, the need for a centralized education system became increasingly important. The first school established in Clearwater, which served both Clearwater and Hynes, was constructed by the California Cooperative Colony in December 1887. The school was managed by Mrs. S.A. Cowles. The Los Angeles Times described the “new and beautiful schoolhouse” as a “neat, cosy [sic], well-equipped structure.” 131 (not extant). The school’s dedication was “the first public entertainment given at Clearwater, and the colony people [felt] justly proud of the successful dedication of their educational institution.”132 Shortly after its establishment in 1888, the Clearwater School District began planning a larger, more centralized school building, known as the Clearwater Grammar School (not extant). The need for a larger building was poignantly reflected in the population statistics: between 1887 and 1889, the number of school-aged children in the community had grown from nine to 43. As a result, making the new school a reality was a community effort: funded by an $8,000 bond approved by property owners, it was situated on land donated by the California Cooperative Colony. The two-story schoolhouse was lauded as “large, artistic, and convenient, with all modern improvements, including a tower 80 feet high.”133 Constructed by J.C. Pelton and dedicated on April 18, 1889, the Los Angeles Herald called it “one of the most prosperous [schools] in the county.”134
129 “Clearwater Notes,” Los Angeles Evening Express, February 10, 1888, 2. 130 “Books Put in Reach of Every County Dweller,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 1916, 19. 131 “At Clearwater: A Noteworthy Entertainment by Cooperative Colonists and Others,” Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1887, 8; “Celebration at Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 29, 1887, 5. 132 “At Clearwater: A Noteworthy Entertainment by Cooperative Colonists and Others,” Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1887, 8; “Celebration at Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 29, 1887, 5. 133 “Clearwater Dedication,” Los Angeles Times, April 21, 1889, 3; “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times, September 27, 1888, 8; “Financial and Commercial,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 12, 1888, 7; “J.C. Pelton Buildings Completed,” Los Angeles Herald, January 1, 1889, 15; “The City in Brief,” Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1889, 8; “The City in Brief,” Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1889, 8. 134 “The Town of Clearwater,” The Los Angeles Herald, December 15, 1895, 5.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 44 Like other late nineteenth-century schools in the state, which were formal “big-block” institutions often designed to house large numbers of students, the Clearwater Grammar School contained all classrooms and communal areas within a single building. To accommodate a growing demand by the turn-of-the-century, notable architects Morgan & Walls designed two classroom additions in 1906 (not extant).135
Clearwater Grammar School, 1889. Source: City of Paramount

SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS
During the Progressive Era, which generally spanned from the 1880s to the 1920s, there was an increased effort to reform society in the United States. Largely spurred by a surge in population and immigration, increased urbanization, and resulting economic inequality, Progressives sought to make the country a better and safer place to live. Key goals included regulating big business, conserving the environment, and spreading democracy at home and abroad. Many professional, civic, and religious societies were founded to discuss, debate, and ultimately combat issues plaguing society. Like other communities across the country, several societies and organizations were established in Clearwater and Hynes that espoused Progressive ideals.

The same year as its founding, the first of several popular social groups was established in Clearwater. In 1888, the Los Angeles Times reported that a “goodly number of the leading citizens” of the town had formed a literary society. “The residents of this thriving young town are evidently an intelligent, wide-awake people, sure to attract a most desirable class of residents to their beautiful locality.”136 Mere months after its founding, the society had a roster of 42 members.137 Membership continued to increase, to the point where the society ran out of suitable meeting venues. In 1894, residents raised $400 for the construction of a meeting space, known as the Literary Hall (not extant). Accommodating up to 500 people, the hall hosted community dances, fund-raising events, debates, and meetings.138 In many ways, the new 135 “New Work Planned,” Los Angeles Times, June 24, 1906, 70. 136 “A Literary Society,” Los Angeles Times, January 13, 1888, 1. 137 “Clearwater Notes,” Los Angeles Evening Express, February 10, 1888, 2. 138 “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1894, 7; “Clearwater Dedication of the Literary Society’s New Hall,” Los Angeles Herald, November 26, 1894, 8.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 45 building served as the community’s first town hall. In 1895, the Los Angeles Herald wrote of the literary society:

One of Clearwater’s most noteworthy features, and one that furnishes an index to the character of the community, is the literary society…Its membership has steadily increased, till now it includes nearly everybody in the community and a good many from contiguous towns and settlements. At the regular Saturday night entertainments, the house is generally filled to overflowing. The exercises comprise music, elocutions, readings, speeches, and dramatic performances, and, in short, everything to suit every taste.

Frequently the festivals are supplemented by a dance, to the delight of the “gay and giddy young people” among us.139
From the time of its founding, the Literary Hall was the site of numerous political debates and rallies. In 1896, Republican and Populist supporters addressed a large crowd of residents regarding the upcoming presidential election. A speaker at the meeting encouraged residents to vote as “intelligent, liberty-loving Americans, not allured by the silver-tongued orators of any party.”140 A newspaper article covering the event alluded to the Populists among the crowd, who were typically left-wing agrarian voters with policies influenced by Progressives in the 1910s.

The Clearwater Literary Society built a large addition c. 1895 to host banquets and dances. By 1900, the group had 250 members. It incorporated as an official organization in 1908.141 The hall was again remodeled in 1909; its dedication was marked by an “old-fashioned minstrel show” held by the young men of Hynes and Clearwater (not extant).142 Increased urbanization, an expanding middle class, and a growing number of women involved in the labor and reform movements brought issues of gender inequality to the forefront of political thought during this period. Women challenged existing gender relations and the distribution of power in society. Adopting first-wave feminism, women increasingly demanded the rights and privileges that were customarily accorded only to white middle-class men.143 On October 10, 1911, women were accorded the right to vote in California.144 Consequently, numerous organizations were formed throughout the state to equip women with an understanding of government, civics, and current events.

In Clearwater, women were involved in political rallies as early as 1912. That year, the Literary Hall hosted speakers that extolled the merits of former Progressive President Theodore Roosevelt for re-election. Newspaper articles recorded that “confident predictions were made by those present, including most of the influential men and women of the community, that the precinct will give an overwhelming majority for Roosevelt.” Participants included Grace Sage and M.R. Lincoln, vice presidents of the Literary Society, “both of whom are to be women 139 “The Town of Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, December 15, 1895, 5. 140 “More Good Work,” Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1896, 8. 141 Article of Incorporation No. 9199, 1908. Seaver Center for Western History Research. 142 “Hynes,” Los Angeles Times, August 27, 1909, 24.
143 William Eskridge, Dishonorable Passions, (New York: Viking, 2008), 41. 144 “No Title,” Stockton Daily Independent, September 15, 1911, 1. Quoted in Audrey Mackey Johnson, “A Historical Study of the Woman Suffrage Movement in California, 1910-1911,” Master’s thesis (University of the Pacific, June 1962), 32.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 46 voters.”145 Extolling the Progressive era sentiments of the era, keynote speaker Arthur P. Will argued:

It is in the denial of the right of the people to rule themselves—in the denial of their ability to decide what is for their good, it is in the turning over to a few politicians and to combinations of capital who govern those politicians, that we find the elements that are going to eat away and destroy the fabric of our institutions unless they themselves are rendered harmless and that right speedily.146
In 1915, the Hynes Clearwater Woman’s Betterment Club was founded as a branch of the California Federation of Women’s Clubs.147 The California Federation of Women’s Clubs, formed in 1900, was a statewide women’s reform organization that established individual, local clubs for a greater feminine impact across the state.148 The group voted on such matters as protesting the teaching of militarism in schools and petitioning the University of California to fund the education of rural women. In Clearwater-Hynes, the Woman’s Betterment Club hosted social events, including a patriotic social program that provided ideas on how to meet the need for practical patriotism in the home during World War I.149 The club met in various members’ homes as well as at the Presbyterian Church.

Men in Clearwater and Hynes also joined together to form social groups, particularly during the golden age of fraternalism, which lasted from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries.

Fraternal societies could provide mutual aid and insurance, political interests, social functions, and a sense of stability and belonging for members. In Clearwater and Hynes, men formed the Fraternal Brotherhood of Clearwater, also known as the Clearwater Lodge No. 59, as early as 1898.150 The group was reorganized as a union lodge within a year of its founding and provided members with insurance benefits.151 For example, beneficiaries of a member claimed $500 after his death in 1898.152 The group also provided members with social functions and occasionally educational talks. In 1919, the group consolidated with the San Pedro branch to join the Long Beach Fraternal Brotherhood.153
Religious Institutions
As with other aspects of life, as people settled in Clearwater and Hynes, religious institutions were established to serve the spiritual needs of the growing community. Founded in the 1890s, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was one of the earliest religious institutions built in Clearwater. Occupying a “neat, comfortable and commodious building” at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Center Street, the church was expanded with a large addition in 1897 (original location not extant).154
145 “Strong Roosevelt Club Formed at Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, April 6, 1912, 8. 146 “Strong Roosevelt Club Formed at Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, April 6, 1912, 8. 147 “Clubwomen to Ballot Today,” Los Angeles Times, March 4, 1915, 15. 148 Gayle Gullett, Becoming Citizens: The Emergence and Development of the California Women’s Movement 1880-1911 (Chicago, IL:

University of Illinois Press, 2000), 114.
149 “In Society,” Press-Telegram, March 4, 1915, 6; “Hynes,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1917, 39. 150 “Fraternal Brotherhood,” Los Angeles Evening Express, November 5, 1898, 8. 151 “The Fraternal Field,” Los Angeles Times, November 10, 1899, 7. 152 “The Fraternal Brotherhood,” Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1898, 10. 153 “Lodges Joined at Meeting Held in Moose Hall,” Press-Telegram, April 16, 1919, 5. 154 “Index to Southern California News,” Los Angeles Herald, September 11, 1897, 8; “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, June 29, 1897, 7; “Lower San Gabriel Valley,” Los Angeles Herald, December 12, 1897, 24.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 47 A Catholic parish was also established in 1898, although the congregation had no dedicated meeting space. In 1912, Bishop Conaty held a meeting for Catholics of Clearwater, Somerset, and Hynes to discuss building a church for the communities. According to The Tidings:

It was the universal opinion that a church should be built at Clearwater and in answer to the Bishop’s appeal about $600 was then and there subscribed, and it was felt that within a short time $1,000 would be pledged, which would form a nucleus for the church to be erected. The Bishop said that he simply awaited the manifestation of their good will, when he would proceed at once to arrange for the erection of a church.155 Residents held to their pledged funds, and construction of the church was underway by that autumn.156 By 1915, the church was known as the Our Lady of the Rosary Church (original location not extant).

In 1900, the San Francisco Chronicle recorded that union revival services were being held at the United Brethren and Presbyterian churches in Clearwater, and that there were some “twenty conversions as the results of the first week’s labor and prospects are encouraging.”157 The Methodist Episcopal Church in Hynes was organized in 1901 with a congregation of 17 people. Members of the church formed the Ladies’ Aid Society, which was involved in charitable efforts and often held events at the hall. In 1917, a speech on “Our Recruits” was given regarding U.S. involvement in World War I.158 The congregation also established the Barathea Sunday School, which met at the hall (not extant).

Baraca Hall, Methodist Episcopal Church and Parsonage, Hynes, 1920. Source: City of Paramount.

Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
155 “A New Church for Clearwater,” The Tidings, March 1, 1912, 4. 156 “A New Church for Clearwater,” The Tidings, March 1, 1912, 4. 1912, 17. 157 “Church News,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 16, 1900, 13. 158 “Society,” Los Angeles Times, December 2, 1917, 38.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 48 Theme: Industrial Development (1896-1919)

AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY
When gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California in 1848 and an ensuing settlement rush occurred, the need for an established agricultural industry to feed the rapidly growing population arose.159The same was true for settlements in Southern California, including Clearwater and Hynes. Like earlier settlers in California, the new population found climate and land that were highly conducive to agricultural pursuits. Situated between the Los Angeles and the San Gabriel rivers, Clearwater settlers quickly concluded that their land showed “great possibilities” not only for private production of agricultural foodstuffs but also for industrial level agricultural output.160
While early infrastructural additions to Clearwater put the new town on the map, the potential for a booming agricultural industry made Clearwater a highly desirable place to settle. A lengthy description of the town in an 1895 newspaper publication described it as a “quiet, modest, but growing little town,” replete with “fertile soil and an abundance of artesian water” that made it a farming center suited to agriculture, horticulture, and the dairy industry. The article notes the “several scores of good flowing wells in the town” that “facilitate the raising of crops” and contributed to the resident farmers’ success.161
Prior to the establishment of Clearwater in 1887, the main industry was “stock ranch.” As early as 1890, successful agricultural products in Clearwater included sugar beets, English walnuts, cereals, alfalfa, vegetables, and fruit trees.162Within months of the news of agricultural success in Clearwater, the first Farmers’ Alliance in Los Angeles County was established by 37 Clearwater residents in August 1890.163 A newspaper article from 1895 recorded the following agricultural products as produced in Clearwater: oranges, sugar beets, corn, and dairy products including milk and butter. 164 Evidence suggests that early agricultural production in Clearwater was primarily for “domestic purposes,” meaning that individual farmers produced only what they needed with a “small surplus.”165 Still, the early success, fertile soil, and abundant water supply encouraged the agricultural industry in Clearwater.

Within ten years of founding, the town of Clearwater hosted its first fair to exhibit local agricultural products. Residents displayed poultry, pigeons, rabbits, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, onions, grapes, figs, apples, pears, peaches, quinces, plums, corn, watermelons, beets, tomatoes, sorghum, hops, rye, squash, radishes, beans, artichokes, peanuts, tobacco, alfalfa, cucumbers, chili peppers, lemons, oranges, and blackberries.166 While these goods were primarily produced at the domestic level, the success and surplus hinted at a burgeoning agricultural industry in the area.
159 “A Historical Context and Methodology for Evaluating Agricultural Properties in California,” Caltrans 2023, 11. 160 “Farm and Fruit Notes,” Los Angeles Evening Express, January 31, 1890. 161 “The Town of Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, December 15, 1895, 4. 162 “Farm and Fruit Notes,” Los Angeles Evening Express, January 31, 1890.; “Farm and Orchard,” Los Angeles Evening Express, April 11, 1890.; “A Fertile Valley,” Los Angeles Evening Express, July 17, 1890. 163 “A Farmers’ Alliance of 37 members was organized at Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, August 23, 1890. 164 “The Town of Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, December 15, 1895. 165 “The Town of Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, December 15, 1895. 166 “Clearwater Holds a Very Successful Local Fair,” Los Angeles Herald, September 14, 1897.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 49 In addition to agricultural pursuits, other local businesses were established to support the growing agriculture industry. This included the Clearwater Sileage Company, which filed articles of incorporation in June 1898 with the intention to “purchase and build machinery for the purpose of cutting into small bits the corn fodder and other kinds of feed…to be packed away in tanks or bins built for the purpose, and in this form will keep for many months in a condition that makes it most excellent feed.”167The Clearwater Sileage company responded to the need of local dairy farmers looking to extend their producing seasons by forming an organization that would cut and store feed for farmers to feed their animals year-round.

Another company which responded to the growing agricultural industry in the area was the Hynes Irrigation company. Founded in 1899, the Hynes Irrigation Company was born out of the need for corn production to increase following the founding and success of the Clearwater Sileage Company which allowed farmers to store excess produce. A steady supply of water was necessary for said growth, so stockholders set about boring a well and constructing redwood flumes, which conducted water to patrons’ ranches.168 Within a year of the founding of the Hynes Irrigation Company, another water company was formed in Clearwater with the intention of providing water for both “domestic and irrigation purposes.”169 Sugar Beet Industry
Sugar beets, a root plant with a high concentration of sucrose that can be converted into sugar, were first grown in the United States in 1830 near Philadelphia. It was not until 1870, however, that a farmer outside of San Francisco successfully grew a sugar beet crop and processed it into viable sugar to be sold at market.170 Entrepreneurs in California took notice and quickly followed suit. In 1890, the Oxnard brothers established the first sugar beet processing plant in Southern California at Chino and began operations in 1891, incentivizing local farmers to grow sugar beets.171 The Bixby family,172 still in possession of vast swaths of land in southern Los Angeles County, organized the Los Alamitos Sugar Company in 1897; by 1898, their sugar beet farms produced approximately six million pounds of sugar.173
Clearwater and Hynes farmers successfully grew sugar beets as early as 1890, contributing to California’s growing sugar beet industry. By 1897, the nearby Los Alamitos Sugar Company averaged a daily output of 335 tons of sugar, noting that no results as high as these “have ever been known before in the history of beet sugar.”174 In the same article, the company reported that farmers were paid between $3.25 and $4.75 per ton of sugar beets produced, and called the lands surrounding Clearwater “a magnificent body of very fine beet land.”175With depots on the Los Angeles Terminal railway at both Clearwater and Hynes, farmers could easily sell and transport their produce to sugar beet processing facilities. 167 “Practical Scheme: Corporation Formed to Assist Farmers in Solving the Feed Problem,” Los Angeles Herald, June 25, 1898. 168 “Development of the Great Southwest,” Los Angeles Times, December 3, 1899. 169 For additional information, see the Infrastructure Section of this chapter; “Clearwater. Water Company Forming,” Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1900.
170 Torsten A. Magnuson, “History of the Beet Sugar Industry in California,” Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California 11, no. 1 (1918), 71-73.
171 Magnuson, 75-76.
172 The Bixby family was instrumental in the development of the southern region of Los Angeles County. For additional information on this family, see the section on the Rancho Los Cerritos. 173 Magnuson, 77.
174 “Profits of Sugar Beets,” Los Angeles Herald, August 21, 1897. 175 “Profits of Sugar Beets,” Los Angeles Herald, August 21, 1897.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 50 The sugar beet industry continued to grow, and by 1911, there were 65 sugar beet processing factories in the United States, with ten in California alone. Of these, seven were in Southern California: Chino, Oxnard, Covina, Los Alamitos, Santa Ana, Santa Maria, and Crocker. At this time, plans were also underway for the construction of an eighth factory to be constructed in Clearwater.176 Although the factory was never realized, it is indicative of both the success and quantity of sugar beets produced by Clearwater-Hynes area farmers. Production in the sugar beet industry continued to increase during the second decade of the twentieth century.

When World War I broke out in 1914, European countries that produced sugar beets either stopped trading with the United States or saw their production drastically decline due to the destruction of their countries. This resulted in a worldwide shortage of sugar, which increased the commodity’s demand as well as price.177 In 1917, a meeting held in Clearwater advocated for an increase in the production of sugar beets to help alleviate the sugar shortage. The meeting was part of a campaign organized by Herbert Hoover, then the federal food administrator.178 Sugar beet production was likened to “the cause of democracy” with politicians claiming that sugar beet production in Southern California would “occupy a prominent place in winning the great war.”179
One proposal for increasing Southern California sugar beet production was centered around the lands surrounding Clearwater and Hynes. Due to the towns’ locations between two rivers, major portions were considered swamps unfit for agricultural production and prone to flooding.

Earlier campaigns had pushed for the construction of water-controlling infrastructure to prevent damage from floods while wartime campaigns focused on the “thousands of acres of fertile land” which could be reclaimed for sugar beets.180 176 “Remarkable Development of Sugar Beet Industry,” Los Angeles Evening Express, April 22, 1911. 177 Matthew Godfrey, “National Sugar Policies and the First World War,” In Religion, Politics, and Sugar: The LDS Church, the Federal Government, and the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1907-1927, (Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 2008), 94. 178 “U.S. Speakers to Urge More Beet Production,” Los Angeles Evening Express, November 19, 1917. 179 “Sugar Will Play Important Part,” The Redondo Reflex, November 23, 1917. 180 “New Waterway Intended First as Drainage Canal,” The Long Beach Telegram and The Long Beach Daily News, January 29, 1912.

Sugar Beet Farming in Hynes, 1910. Source: University of Southern California, Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 51 A 1917 campaign launched in the Clearwater-Hynes district promised to add “millions to the taxable values of Los Angeles County” and “$10,000,000 annually to the commerce of Los Angeles.”181The interest and passion for this endeavor perhaps reached its height in November 1917, when a man named Oswold Wilson established a bi-weekly newspaper called the Sugar Bowl in Hynes. Wilson’s publication advocated for the “development of this sugar-producing area” and for “the great drainage project to extend from the Hynes-Clearwater section to the ocean.”182

DAIRY INDUSTRY
In January 1890, a newspaper reported that “a dairy will be established at Clearwater soon” with the “apparatus on the way.”183 Up to this point, individual farmers in Clearwater were producing dairy products such as cream, cheese, and butter for their household consumption.

The newspaper report marked a shift in Clearwater toward industrial level production of dairy products. Thus, the dairy industry in Clearwater was born. About a week prior to the news that Clearwater was to have a dairy established, a meeting was held in Los Angeles for parties interested in forming a dairy company with the intention of creating a depot in Los Angeles where they would sell “dairy products of every description.” 184 The company would encourage creameries “where they already exist” as well as establish “new creameries where practicable.” 185 In attendance was a Mr. Mather of Clearwater.186
By May, Mr. Mather (along with others), filed articles of incorporation for the Clearwater Dairy Company.187 L.G. Kellog was general manager and superintendent, while N.S. Harshman was manager of the cheese making department, having gained experience in the cheese making industry in a Compton, California cheese factory he and his brother had founded. The dairy company was supplied by milk purchased from Clearwater farmers. An 1891 publication mentioned the benefits of Clearwater: “Here is one of the best opportunities ever offered for a good dairy man…This valley is destined to furnish the dairy products required by the city.”188 Newspaper Advertisement from November 6, 1895. Source: Los Angeles Herald.

On September 30, 1896, the Clearwater Creamery company filed articles of incorporation to “carry on the manufacture of dairy products, to buy, sell and hold such real estate and other 181 “Drainage System,” Press-Telegram, September 24, 1917. 182 “More Sugar and Big Drainage Project Are Interesting at Hynes,” Press-Telegram, November 2, 1917. 183 “News Notes,” Los Angeles Herald, January 28, 1890. 184 “Dairy Products,” Los Angeles Herald, January 16, 1890. 185 “Dairy Products,” Los Angeles Herald, January 16, 1890. 186 “Dairy Products,” Los Angeles Herald, January 16, 1890. 187 “Incorporated,” Los Angeles Evening Express, May 17, 1890. 188 “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, September 25, 1891; It is unclear where the first dairy in Clearwater was located.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 52 property as it is necessary or profitable for the business of the corporation; also, to buy, sell and deal in livestock and merchandise.”189 By April 1897, the Los Angeles Herald reported that “the central interest of the town is the creamery,” following up in May to call it a “success.”190 That month, the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record newspaper reported the daily output of the Clearwater creamery as forty gallons of cream and 400 pounds of butter.191 Farmers in both Hynes and Clearwater contributed to the rapid growth of the dairy industry in the area now known as Paramount. The early establishment of dairying infrastructure in the town allowed farmers to easily transport perishable milk to local creameries to be pasteurized and shipped to Los Angeles to be sold or processed into cream or butter products to be sold. As early as 1903, butter making was considered the “chief industry” of Clearwater due to the success of the creamery founded there in 1896.192
In 1905, the Clearwater creamery reported an average of 5,000 pounds of milk received daily while the Hynes creamery, founded in 1904, reported an average of 7,000 pounds of milk received daily. While these numbers seem large, both companies reported the quantity of milk they received and processed to increase soon.193The quantity of milk produced in both Hynes and Clearwater was rightfully predicted to increase as farmers learned how to maximize their milk-producing capacities in addition to more settlers (and more cows) arriving in the area. The cow breeds favored by Southern California dairymen were Jersey, Holstein, and Guernsey.194 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
189 “For Dairy Products,” Los Angeles Herald, October 1, 1896. 190 “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, April 18, 1897.; “Index to Southern California News,” Los Angeles Herald, May 2, 1897. 191 “Neighborhood News,” Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, May 3, 1897. 192 “Clearwater Makes Butter,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 19, 1903. 193 “Clearwater and Hynes,” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1905. 194 “Most of these creameries are run under the cooperative system,” Los Angeles Times, January 5, 1898.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 53 Theme: Infrastructure (1886-1919)
As part of the early development of Clearwater and Hynes, significant infrastructure improvements were completed to support the new communities. In particular, the development of transportation, water control, and communications services allowed the communities to thrive into the early twentieth century.

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Within six months of lots going up for sale in Clearwater, news of a rail line which would potentially connect the new settlement with the City of Los Angeles was published. On December 9, 1887, the Los Angeles Evening Express reported “The line of the Los Angeles and Ocean Railroad is surveyed to pass directly through Clearwater.”195 In January 1888, an agreement was signed by the Los Angeles and Ocean Railroad with Jotham Bixby to build their line from Los Angeles to Long Beach through Bixby’s land.196Though grading began in February 1888 on the rail line and the California Co-Operative Colony gave the railroad company a right of way through the town of Clearwater, the Los Angeles and Ocean railroad company went bankrupt in the summer of 1888, delaying the establishment of a rail line through Clearwater.197 By 1891, Clearwater residents again had hope of a railroad line which would connect them to Los Angeles to the north and Long Beach to the south. The Los Angeles Terminal Railroad company, following their bankrupt predecessors, signed an agreement with Bixby to build a rail line through the lands previously identified by the Los Angeles and Ocean Railroad as a suitable route.198 In March 1891, work recommenced on grading the rail line.199Railroad workers were of Anglo, Hispanic, and Chinese descent. Chinese workers were often forced to complete the most physically strenuous and dangerous jobs while working on the railroads.200 Tracks reached Clearwater in September 1891 and on November 7, 1891, the railroad line officially opened.201 A Clearwater writer declared, “We now feel fully justified in assuming suburban airs, being but half an hour from the city, on a line of road that is the peer of the best…We welcome the Terminal and honor its builders.”202 With the completion of the railroad line and beginning of service came the need for a local depot. The location of the depot was in Clearwater at Washington Street (not extant), and by December 1891, the building was completed. Henry Harrison, Clearwater’s first postmaster, was chosen as the station agent.203 A second depot was constructed just south of Clearwater (not extant), which developed into the town of South Clearwater.204 In 1898, the residents of 195 “California Co-Operative Colony,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 9, 1887. 196 Franklin Hoyt, “The Los Angeles Terminal Railroad,” The Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 36, no. 3 (Los Angeles, CA, 1954), 186.
197 Hoyt, 187.
198 Hoyt, 187.
199 “Work on Terminal Company’s Line Recommenced,” Los Angeles Herald, March 4, 1891. 200 Historic Resources Group, SurveyLA: Chinese Americans in Los Angeles, 1850-1980, prepared for the City of Los Angeles, October 2018, 13.
201 “The Terminal Company and Pasadena Again at Odds,” Los Angeles Herald, September 16, 1891. 202 “Great Satisfaction over the opening of the Terminal,” Los Angeles Evening Express, November 20, 1891. 203 “Henry Harrison, the Clearwater post-master, has accepted the position of station agent for the Terminal railroad at that place,” Los Angeles Herald, November 13, 1891.; “The Terminal’s Telegraph Wires Strong Flow from a Well,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 11, 1891.; “Clearwater’s Postmaster,” Los Angeles Herald, March 14, 1888. 204 “The Town of Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, December 15, 1895.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 54 South Clearwater met to discuss changing their name, and, within a few months, renamed their settlement “Hynes.”205
The Los Angeles Terminal Railroad was eventually acquired by William Andrews Clark in 1900 and renamed the San Pedro, Los Angeles, Salt Lake Railroad in 1901. In 1916, “San Pedro” was dropped from the name, and it became the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. In 1921, the Union Pacific Railroad company became the majority shareholder of the company, officially changing the line’s name to Union Pacific even though many continued to refer to it as the Los Angeles Terminal or Salt Lake line.206
Hynes Train Depot, no date. Source: City of Paramount.

With the advent of electric powered railcars, introduced to Los Angeles in the early 1890s, private companies sprung up to provide electric powered transportation for a fee to area residents. In 1901, Henry Huntington organized the Pacific Electric Railway Company and began constructing electric rail lines across Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties to facilitate convenient interurban travel on his company’s electricity powered railroads.207 As early as September 1901, it was known that the Pacific Electric Railway Company would construct the Santa Ana Line, which would branch off at Watts and reach Santa Ana, passing through Clearwater.208
In December 1904, surveyors staked the line, with grading to begin by the end of the month.209 Grading was still underway in November 1904 when a fatal shooting occurred at a Pacific Electric Railway grading camp near Hynes, which received extensive newspaper coverage.210 It is 205 “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Evening Express, February 11, 1898.; “Clearwater Cream,” Los Angeles Herald, August 14, 1898. 206 John R. Signor, The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company: Union Pacific’s Historic Salt Lake Route (San Marino, CA: Golden West Books, 1988), 26, 86-87, 89.
207 “Pacific Electric,” Southern California Railway Museum, accessed March 2024, https://socalrailway.org/collections/pacific-electric/. 208 “Santa Ana Electric Cars to have Toilet Rooms,” Los Angeles Evening Express, September 3, 1901. 209 “Santa Ana Line,” Press-Telegram, December 9, 1904. 210 “Shoots Mexican Laborer,” Los Angeles Herald, November 14, 1905.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 55 unclear exactly where the camp was located in the Clearwater-Hynes vicinity. A year later, on November 6, 1905, the first electric car of the Pacific Electric Railway travelled from Los Angeles to Watts, through Clearwater, and on to Santa Ana, marking the inaugural opening of the Santa Ana line. Fare was set at $1 for a round trip ticket.211 Pacific Electric Railway Line Map with newly opened Santa Ana Line, November 6, 1905. Source: Los Angeles Herald.

In addition to railroad lines serving Clearwater and Hynes residents, Los Angeles County graded roads were also traversed, first by horse drawn carts and later by cars. In 1908, the Los Angeles County Highway Commission planned to secure a $3 million bond for the construction of highways connecting all areas of the county, including one stretching from Lamanda Park through Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley and onto Downey and Clearwater.212 By the end of 1911, a road was completed which connected Downey with Clearwater and plans were underway to build and grade another road which would connect Clearwater with Compton.213 The bond, which grew to $3.5 million, was considered “well spent” for it resulted in approximately 400 miles of macadamized (graded with crushed stone) roads throughout Los 211 “First Electric Car Runs to Santa Ana,” Los Angeles Times, November 6, 1905. 212 “Commission Prepares Report for the County Supervisors,” The Whittier News, March 13, 1908. 213 “Additional Units of County Highway System Will be Opened Early in New Year,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 25, 1911.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 56 Angeles County. The roads served a “dual purpose in that they are not only main traveled routes for local trade, but scenic drives of varied attractions.”214

WATER CONTROL
While the residents of Clearwater and Hynes benefitted from transportation infrastructure connecting them to Los Angeles County, they also pushed for the development of watercontrolling infrastructure in their immediate vicinity. Specifically, multiple flood events spurred residents into action in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Clearwater and Hynes were located between the Los Angeles River and the San Gabriel River, which faced its first major flood event in February 1891.215 Meetings were held beginning in April 1891 to discuss ways to mitigate and prevent future flood damage.216 In July 1891, a council of Clearwater residents concluded that “two thousand dollars would straighten and clear the San Gabriel River so as to prevent a repetition of the damage of last spring’s flood.”217By August, work had begun on a channel “some thirty or forty feed wide” along the San Gabriel River. The plans included the plowing of a deep channel and construction of embankments and levees.218 In addition to efforts to control the movement of water, bridges were constructed over the San Gabriel River and Los Angeles River in the autumn of 1891.219 Despite these measures, floods continued to ravage the Los Angeles area, including Clearwater-Hynes, into the 1910s. The increasing severity of flooding, combined with the Progressive Era220 desire to better the world, convinced locals that they faced a real hazard that required immediate remediation.

In 1913, a canal was constructed to better control the floodwater, as recorded by the PressTelegram:

Reclaiming many thousands of acre of what is now waste swamp lands and with the further object of affording a deep waterway more than twelve miles long from a point near Clearwater to the San Pedro Inner Harbor, the first six miles of the eight-foot canal following the courses of the Rio Hondo and the San Gabriel River, which from the southern boundary of the vast Dominguez rancho, is now complete after a year’s digging by a gigantic dredger, says the Los Angeles Examiner.221 Despite these improvements, flooding continued. A catastrophic flood in February of 1914 forever changed the way Southern Californians thought about water and rivers. In March of that year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed a team of engineers to study the flood, which found that Los Angeles and its surrounding communities could expect a 214 “Macadamized Roads,” The Pomona Daily Review, June 1, 1914. 215 “The Rush of Water,” Los Angeles Evening Express, February 25, 1891. 216 “Reclamation Meeting: Convention to Consider the Formation of Districts,” Los Angeles Evening Express, April 4, 1891. 217 “Every real estate owner in Clearwater was in the council last night to devise ways and means to protect their lands against floods,” Los Angeles Herald, July 18, 1891.
218 “To Prevent Overflow. Action Taken by Districts on the San Gabriel,” Los Angeles Evening Express, August 20, 1891.; “Work in Progress. Improving the San Gabriel – The Terminal Railroad,” Los Angeles Evening Express, August 27, 1891. 219 “The Terminal’s Progress. Bridging the San Gabriel – Channel Improvement,” Los Angeles Evening Express, September 4, 1891.; “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Herald, November 26, 1891.
220 The Progressive Era was a time when societal problems were found to require remediation, and groups increasingly formed to better society.
221 “Twelve Miles Waterway Clearwater-San Pedro,” Press-Telegram, January 20, 1913.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 57 damaging flood every 3.25 years.222 As a result, Southern California set out to control its rivers.

As recorded by the U.S. Army:

Flood events that occurred between 1914 and 1934 were some of the most economically devastating floods the Los Angeles area historically experienced. These flood events prompted the Federal Government to allocate funds in the Flood Control Act of 1936 to assist Los Angeles County in developing and expanding flood control infrastructure, including channelizing 52 miles of the Los Angeles River (LAR). Construction of the channel occurred between 1936 and 1959. The flood control channel is owned by Los Angeles County, City of Los Angeles, and private land owners.223 The flood of 1914 was responsible for the disappearance of the Clearwater Lake. 224 In 1919, members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors toured the Los Angeles, Rio Hondo, and San Gabriel Riverbeds
from El Monte to Clearwater,
where flood control work
continued. The work involved 20
pile drivers, 150 teams and 325
men. According to the News-Pilot,
“Twenty piles a day are being
driven by each gang in two parallel
lines, the space between being
filled by brush and the whole
reinforced by willows…”225 Flood
control management brought
about more predictable rainy
seasons for Southern California,
including for the Clearwater and
Hynes communities.

COMMUNICATIONS
Other infrastructural improvements to Clearwater during this period included telegraph lines. In January 1892, the Western Union Telegraph company reached Clearwater and “established an office in the terminal depot.”226 Henry Harrison, the postmaster and station agent, also worked as the telegraph operator.227The Western Union Telegraph Company, known today as the Western Union Company, was established in 1851 as a communications facilitation servicer.228 Telegraphs transmitted messages by sending electric signals over wires, requiring the 222 Jared Orsi, Hazardous Metropolis: Flooding and Urban Ecology in Los Angeles (Oakland: University of California Press, 2004), 39-42. 223 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, “Los Angeles River,” accessed April 9. 2024, https://www.spl.usace.army.mil/Missions/AssetManagement/Los-Angeles-River. 224 “Hynes---Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times Midwinter, December 4, 1931 6:18. 225 “Rush Work on Flood Control,” News-Pilot, November 26, 1919. 226 “Telegraph Connection Made,” Los Angeles Evening Express, January 11, 1892. 227 “Rural Improvements: Clearwater and Compton Making Good Progress,” Los Angeles Evening Express, March 17, 1892. 228 Karl Montevirgen, “Western Union Corporation,” Brittanica, March 23, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Western-UnionCorporation#ref360415.

Flooding of streets and fields in Hynes, c. 1919. Source: University of California, Irvine; Orange County Regional History Collection.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 58 installation of poles to hold those wires as well as offices where messages are sent or received.

In 1900, an ordinance was approved by the
board of supervisors of Los Angeles
County to grant the United Electric, Gas &
Power Company special privileges to erect
poles, string wires, and “construct,
maintain and operate a line or lines for the
transmission and distribution of electrical
energy along and over the public roads and
highways of the County of Los Angeles.” 229
Both Clearwater and Hynes were included
in the ordinance as locations to receive
electric lines.

As communication technology improved,
more infrastructure was added to
accommodate its growth. In November 1908, the Sunset Telephone company purchased lines held by the Bixby family, and extended coverage to Hynes and Clearwater, allowing residents to communicate via telephone.230 Like the telegraph, telephone communication required electricity and necessitated the construction of telephone poles and lines. In 1913, the Sunset Telephone Company, under control of the Pacific Telephone Company, established a station in Compton which allowed area subscribers to make long distance calls. Both Clearwater and Hynes residents were included in the list of subscribers to the communication utilities company.231 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
229 “Ordinance No. 21,” Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, March 22, 1900. 230 “Long Beach Brevities,” Los Angeles Herald, November 8, 1908. 231 “Another Step Toward Universal Telephone Service,” Evening Vanguard, August 20, 1913.

Telegraph poles along Jackson and Ocean Streets (now
Paramount Boulevard), c. 1920. Source: City of Paramount.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 59 V. EXPANSION AND GROWTH (1920-1940)
Summary Statement
Clearwater and Hynes continued to grow and diversify from the 1920s through the late 1930s.

The 1920s was a transformational period in Southern California as cities expanded, capital was plentiful, automobile ownership became more prevalent, and entertainment became more easily accessible. Industry in Clearwater and Hynes diversified with the introduction of the oil industry, and expanded with the lucrative agriculture, dairy, and hay industries. Although the Great Depression did impact the local economy, the region’s emphasis on farming ventures and industry helped minimize economic losses in the early 1930s. The enactment of federal New Deal-era programs further brought several civic improvements to the communities of Clearwater and Hynes.

This context examines the continued growth of Clearwater-Hynes throughout the 1920s and 1930s and the impact of the automobile, population growth, the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake, and the Great Depression, among others, on the built environment.

Historical Background
The 1920s brought a new wave of development and speculation to Clearwater and Hynes.

Southern California’s position as a leading source of oil, along with rising interest in automobiles, required facilities for refining and processing the oil being extracted. Clearwater and Hynes became a key location for those activities, and the population rose significantly from the influx of oil workers. In 1925, the population of Clearwater-Hynes was about 2,000; by 1928 it was 6,500 people. The population influx fueled real estate speculation and residential development, which was subsequently curtailed by the Great Depression of the 1930s.

However, the twin industries of oil and agriculture made Clearwater and Hynes more resilient during the Great Depression than many other towns across America.

As the population expanded, civic and institutional services and new schools were established to meet the growing demand. The Clearwater Fire Department, along with the new schools of Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School, and Clearwater Junior High School were all developed during this time.

With their basic needs and requirements met, residents increasingly turned to social and cultural pursuits. Social clubs established in Clearwater and Hynes during this period include the Clearwater Improvement Society, Hynes-Clearwater Women’s Club, La Junta Patriótica de Clearwater, the Comisión Honorífica de Clearwater, Clearwater Flying Club, and the Hynes American Legion, among others. These social clubs reflect the diversity of the community, from women’s clubs to Mexican American societies to Portuguese religious institutions.

Both Clearwater and Hynes remained unincorporated communities in Los Angeles County during this period. The mix of partially developed residential tracts, agricultural fields, dairies, and oil industry processing created a patchwork of development not often seen in locations with strong zoning and planning ordinances. This also made the communities vulnerable to Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 60 encroaching neighboring cities, and in 1924, the southern region of Hynes, including the newly built McKinley Elementary School, was annexed by the City of Long Beach.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE NEW DEAL
In October of 1929, the U.S. Stock Market crashed, marking the beginning of the Great Depression. In the ensuing weeks, the solvency of many banks was challenged when panicked depositors simultaneously demanded their money. Consumer confidence plummeted and led to a downturn in spending and investment. Many Americans forced to buy on credit fell into debt.

What resulted was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939.232
In the wake of Great Depression, President Roosevelt’s New Deal era programs, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) programs, allocated funds for the construction of public works projects across the country and created jobs for workers to improve their own communities. From 1933 to 1940, the finances provided by the New Deal enabled Clearwater and Hynes to construct new municipal buildings and improve infrastructure in the area. A total of 1,400 workers were recruited for the CWA from the unemployment lists of Hynes, Clearwater, Bellflower, Artesia, Norwalk and Downey in 1933 alone.233
THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE
In March of 1933, Long Beach was the epicenter of a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. The temblor shook the nearby communities of Hynes and Clearwater. Overall, the earthquake caused extensive damage in Southern California, with a price tag of some $50 million in 1933 dollars.234 The earthquake had calamitous effects for communities across Southern California, and required the demolition, rebuilding, or repair of countless buildings and structures, mostly to poorly designed and unreinforced brick buildings. The earthquake also resulted in 120 fatalities.

The earthquake impacted Clearwater and Hynes in various ways, including in the necessary rebuilding or repair of commercial buildings and municipal/civic institutions, including several schools.
232 “Great Depression History,” History, October 20, 2023, accessed May 15, 2024, https://www.history.com/topics/greatdepression/great-depression-history. 233 “Police to Hear Jobless Today,” Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1933, 24. 234 California Department of Conservation, “The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake,” accessed February 9, 2024, https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/earthquakes/long-beach.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 61 Theme: Residential Development (1920-1940)
The 1920s brought a new wave of development and residential speculation. The discovery of oil on Signal Hill contributed greatly to the growth of Hynes-Clearwater. Refineries were built in the area and soon the need for housing for oil workers became acute. A newspaper account from 1923 describes the large number of tracts being developed in the Hynes area, appealing to families with heads of households engaged in business in Long Beach.235 In 1925, the Clearwater Men’s Club endorsed a building campaign.236 Many large homes were relocated to Hynes from Signal Hill.237 In 1925, the population of Hynes-Clearwater was about 2,000. By 1928, it was 6,500 people—an increase of 164 percent. There were 1,227 houses.238 Like so many places, residential development in Clearwater and Hynes was minimal during the Great Depression.

During a twelve-month period in 1935 and 1936, just seventeen building permits were issued in the school district area. Most of these were in the very northern part of the city.239 Farmhouses in agricultural communities such as Clearwater and Hynes are often associated with Victorian, Queen Anne, or other pre-1900 styles. However, the growth of the dairy business in Clearwater and Hynes during the early decades of the 20th century resulted in the construction of residential buildings in popular styles from the period, including Craftsman and Period Revival styles. Originally isolated on large parcels with agricultural outbuildings, these farmhouses became integrated into the residential tract development in present-day Paramount. The unidentified Tudor Revival residence associated with the dairy operation depicted below was featured in a Chamber of Commerce promotional brochure as evidence of the design quality of the community.

Dairy Farm, c. 1930. Source: Paramount Public Library Local History Collection. 235 Note that a number of the subdivisions mentioned as being in Hynes were south of the present-day city limits of Paramount. They include Fredericks Square, Maple Gardens, Schilling Heights, Ocean Boulevard Tract, Floral Gardens, and Maple Gardens; “Subdivisions at Hynes Sell Out; Homes Going Up,” Press-Telegram, December 30, 1923, 16. 236 Ethel Hillyard, The Story of Paramount, Paramount Journal (Paramount, CA: 1988), 19. 237 Hillyard, 19.
238 Hillyard, 19.
239 Skutt, 30.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 62

GROWTH OF RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISIONS
Among the Clearwater-Hynes residents who sold land during this period was Edwin A. Rogers.

He sold ten acres north of the First National Bank of Hynes for commercial and residential development.240 The following history outlines the major residential subdivisions within the boundaries of present-day Paramount during this period.

Colony Acres
Subdivided in three phases in 1923, Colony Acres was marketed by Paris & Downie. The exact location of this development is not currently known, other than it was west of Hynes and east of Compton. Initially the group offered land parcels, but by August of 1923, the developers built some speculative houses for sale.241 Newspaper articles suggest that several homes were constructed in Colony Acres and that it may have been wholly or partially annexed into the City of Long Beach.

Gibson Park Tract (Tract 6251)
Globe Petroleum Corporation, one of the may oil drilling companies operating in the area, subdivided a large tract of land east (and west) of the Los Angeles River into almost 500 residential parcels in 1923. The parcels on the west side of the river are in Compton, the parcels on the east side of the river are located in present-day Paramount. The tract was bordered by present-day Rosecrans Avenue to the north, Somerset Boulevard to the south, Salud Park to the east, and the Los Angeles River/Paramount city limit to the west. Based upon historic aerial photos, the lots largely went undeveloped during the 1920s. By 1931, there were only 125 homes in Gibson Park.242 A review of the 1930 Census suggests that the relationship between the developer and the residences was tightly connected: many of those living in Gibson Park were oil workers, ironworkers, or in occupations relating to the oil industry.

Los Angeles County Land Use maps from 1936 show that single-family residences were scattered throughout the tract, with the majority of the parcels still undeveloped, even more than ten years after subdivision. San Vicente Street, San Mateo Street, San Marcus Street, and San Luis Street had the highest number of homes.

Eureka Tract (Tract 8711)
The growing influence of the automobile and its relationship with housing development is apparent in the marketing of the 147-parcel Eureka Tract. In November of 1923, the seller, Long Beach-based W.R. Missman, placed advertisements in the Long Beach Telegram which offered an eight-room Craftsman-style bungalow and 5 “closed automobiles” as incentives for purchase of lots in the tract. With the automobile gaining favor in Southern California, its popularity helped overcome the relatively remote location of the Eureka Tract, located south of Hynes.

The subdivision was located north of 70th Street, south of Harrison Street, east of the railroad tracks, and west of Paramount Boulevard, on the former site of the Albert Hunt property.243 240 “Subdivisions At Hynes Sell Out; Homes Going Up,” Press-Telegram, December 30, 1923, 16. 241 “Colony Acres’ #rd Unit Open,” Press-Telegram, August 12, 1923, 3. 242 “2 Districts May Merge,” Long Beach Sun, October 10, 1931, 5. 243 “Subdivisions At Hynes Sell Out,” Press-Telegram, December 30, 1923, 16.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 63 In 1923, twenty-five new homes were built by members of the Long Beach police force.244 This subdivision was one of the most built-out tracts by 1936, with 32 single-family residences in the block bordered by Harrison Street to the north, 70th Street to the south, Paramount Boulevard to the East, and Vermont Avenue to the west. The tract spanned Vermont Avenue, Lake Avenue, and Eureka Avenue. A southern section of the Eureka Tract was annexed into Long Beach during the 1930s.

Other Tracts
Around this same time, J.W. Craven and Robert S. Smith and their wives subdivided 150 parcels bordered by Third Street to the north, Somerset Boulevard to the south, the block east of Orizaba Street to the east, and Paramount Boulevard to the west. Historic aerials suggest that this subdivision contained only a few homes by 1938. The trend continued with the development of Tract 7890 in 1924 in western Paramount by George and Ruby Faulkner. A rectangular tract of 126 narrow, 40’ wide lots bordered by Somerset Boulevard to the north, present-day Mark Keppel Street to the south, the east side of Faulkner Avenue to the east, and the west side of San Jose Avenue to the west.

In 1926, builder Ralph Levi Williams (1883-1956) and his wife Carol subdivided the rectangular Tract 9371, bordered by Marcelle Street to the north, Jackson Street to the south, Garfield to the east, and present-day S. Texaco Avenue to the west. As a builder, not just a real estate developer, Williams may have had more luck with home construction, as historic aerials suggest the tract was substantially built out by 1928. In 1931, Williams established a lumber business in Clearwater and lived there until 1955.245
Example of an English Revival residence in Paramount, August 3, 1930. Source: Press-Telegram.

During the late 1920s, a small group of English/Tudor Revival style residences was constructed along Clearbrook Drive between Alondra Boulevard and Monroe Street. These include 15912 Clearbrook Drive, 15819 California Avenue, and 15923 Clearbrook Drive, for which no Tax Assessor information is available, but they appear on historic aerial photos and on the 1936 Los Angeles County Land Use Map. 15947-15953 Clearbrook Drive was built in 1930 and 15950- 15954 Clearbrook Drive/8061 Monroe Street was constructed in 1928. At the southern end of 244 “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1014, V10. 245 “Ralph R Williams Buried in Whittier,” Lake Elsinore Valley Sun Tribune, November 8, 1956, 3.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 64 Clearbrook Drive, just north of Monroe Street, are two English Revival multi-family residential buildings. Available research yields little insight about the developers or the development.

However, the timing of this development coincided with the Great Depression, therefore, it is likely that it was only partially realized.246
A 1930s Aerial photo shows Tudor Revival-style homes and apartments along Clearbrook Drive. Source: University of California, Santa Barbara Frame Finder.

No new subdivisions were recorded during the height of the Great Depression. However, prior to World War II, between 1939 to 1941, five new subdivisions were recorded. Tract 11835, subdivided in 1939 by Harry and Helen Hutchins, was a triangular-shaped tract bordered by Century Boulevard to the north and east of Garfield Avenue. Tract 11721 along Motz Street, Caro Street, and Marcelle Street between Garfield Avenue and Texaco Avenue consisted of 63 parcels. Tract 11676, along the same streets west of Orange Avenue, consisted of 103 parcels.

The developers, James H. and Joada Knowles, brokered and sold the lots themselves in 1940.

Residential developer Paul C. Lambert (1888-1985) first worked as an organizer for agricultural cooperative associations. He started his land development business in Long Beach and was instrumental in the creation of Belmont Shore.247 He started out selling unimproved lots in 246 Census and Voter Registration research has determined the historic addresses for the homes on Clearbrook Drive to be as follows:
15917 Clearbrook (formerly 117), 15923 Clearbrook (formerly 123), 15928 Clearbrook (formerly 128), 15942 Clearbrook (formerly 142), 15947 Clearbrook (formerly 147), 15949 Clearbrook (formerly 149), 15950 Clearbrook (formerly 150), 15951 Clearbrook (formerly 151), 15952 Clearbrook (formerly 152), 15953 Clearbrook (formerly 153), and 15954 Clearbrook (formerly 154). 247 “Pioneer Paramount Developer Left Legacy,” unidentified newspaper clipping from 1985, Paramount Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 65 Hynes near the end of the 5-cent bus line, but by the 1940s, he was selling constructed homes marketed to aerospace workers as “…between Douglas and Vultee.”248 The first subdivision included the construction of 26 homes, followed by 48 more.249 Lambert and his family lived at 16458 Georgia Avenue (extant) from the 1930s until at least the 1950s. It is currently unknown if this residence was near or in the tract of land he developed.

Unknown residential street in Clearwater-Hynes, 1930. Source: Chamber of Commerce.

SEGREGATION, DEED RESTRICTIONS & REDLINING
During the Great Depression, two New Deal housing initiatives—the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), founded in 1933, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), founded in 1934—were created by the U.S. government to encourage homeownership and protect homeowners at risk of foreclosure. In practice, however, these initiatives only provided protection for White homeowners. The FHA in particular played a significant role in the legalization and institutionalization of racism and segregation through an overt practice of denying mortgages based upon race and ethnicity.

The FHA insured bank mortgages that covered some 80 percent of purchase prices. To be eligible, the FHA conducted an appraisal of the property to select properties that had a low risk of default. The guidelines included a “Whites only” requirement. The FHA underwriting manual for its appraisers also recommended against “an infiltration of inharmonious racial or nationality groups,” and discouraged loans in older, urban neighborhoods, largely populated by people of color.250 The 1936 FHA Underwriting Manual recommended “deeds to properties for which it issued mortgage insurance should include an explicit prohibition of resale to African Americans.”251
To fulfill their missions of refinancing mortgages and granting low-interest loans to those who had lost their homes, the HOLC began rating neighborhoods as “security risks.” What emerged was a system of ranking of neighborhoods by race, with African Americans and other ethnic minorities at the bottom. While other factors were also considered—such as class, the presence of industry, density, housing stock, and tax blight—a neighborhood’s racial composition was a 248 Advertisement, Press-Telegram, May 31, 1941, 12.
249 “Pioneer Paramount Developer Left Legacy,” unidentified newspaper clipping from 1985, Paramount Library. 249 Advertisement, Press-Telegram, May 31, 1941, 12.
250 Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (New York: W.W. Norton, 2017), 67.
251 Rothstein, 84.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 66 key factor in determining its ranking. Areas deemed high risk were systematically denied financial services such as mortgages and insurance loans. These areas were delineated on maps with a red line, a practice known as “redlining.” These areas were also barred from receiving federal assistance, effectively segregated, and plunged into a vicious cycle of decline.

The HOLC’s original system (later adopted by the FHA) for appraising risk used letter grades. “A” areas, in green, indicated places where maximum loans were granted. “B” areas, in blue, were not as desirable but still considered relatively low risk. “C” areas, in yellow, were determined to be in decline. “D” areas, in red, were considered to be in full decline and, therefore, rejected for mortgage insurance.

The redlining map for Clearwater
and the area directly to the east
squarely placed the area in decline.

It described the area with small
cottages, and construction, both old
and new, of substandard quality.

The description of the area
continued, “Population is largely of
the lower income group. While
there are few, if any, subversive
racial elements directly in the area,
there are numerous small
settlements of Mexican and
Japanese farm laborers in the
adjacent farm districts.”252 The
description also estimated that the
majority of dwellings were four to
five rooms, with ten percent larger
homes, and five percent multifamily apartments.253 The description cited lack of zoning in
the unincorporated area as contributing to its decline.

LATINO COMMUNITY
The Latino community in Hynes, concentrated around Illinois Avenue and Jefferson Street, continued to grow during the 1920s and 1930s. The 300 and 400 blocks of Vermont Avenue were home to a large number of Latino families. The 1940 Census shows expansion to Madison Street and Ohio Street, with the area home to approximately 1,000 Latino households—mostly large families. Heads of these households were typically laborers, dairy workers, truck drivers, and farm workers, reflecting job opportunities nearby.
252 “Mapping Inequality Area C138,” accessed February 9, 2024, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/map/CA/LosAngeles/area_descriptions/C138#loc=10/34.0049/-118.1561. 253 “Mapping Inequality Area C138,” accessed February 9, 2024, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/map/CA/LosAngeles/area_descriptions/C138#loc=10/34.0049/-118.1561.

Redlining Map of Clearwater and Hynes, 1939. Source: Mapping Inequality.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 67

JAPANESE COMMUNITY
There was also a small Japanese community located in Hynes during this period. The Rafu Shimpo’s Southern California Nisei254 Directory for 1934-45 identifies fourteen families in Hynes—mostly located along rural routes. This follows similar patterns of Japanese settlement in agricultural areas throughout Southern California. Japanese residents typically constructed vernacular homes on the land upon which they worked. Only one Japanese resident, T. Abe, was identified as living in “town” near the intersection of Somerset Boulevard and Garfield Avenue.

Residents in the nascent community of Hynes included Misao Ikeda, Charles M. Ishibiashi, Riyoko Kinoshita, Harue Miyamoto, Hideo Sechi, and Michele Horikiri. Harry Murakami was president of the Clearwater Japanese Young People’s Union.255While many of the Japanese within the community were farm laborers, a few were gardeners—a popular occupation for Japanese men at the time.

In 1939, the aforementioned Riyoko Kinshita
(1914-2016) married local Hynes resident Yoshio
“Jack” Chickami (1909-1999). Yoshio and his
brother Shiguru were successful vegetable and
berry farmers in Hynes at 8814, 8822, and 8828
Century Boulevard (not extant) in 1930. Yoshio
farmed the property with his mother and father,
new wife, siblings, and a few Japanese and
Japanese American laborers. Yoshio was also a
leader in the community and the Orange County
Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League
(JACL) and a member of the Downey Shojo-kai
social club. Jack was also involved in the formation
of the first Japanese Farmer’s Cooperative in
Orange County.256

PORTUGUESE COMMUNITY
During the 1910s, there was a migration of
Portuguese from Portugal and the Azores Island, as
immigrants sought to escape poverty and avoid
military conscription. Many Portuguese settled in Massachusetts and became part of the whaling industry. By 1920, there was a small but cohesive community of Portuguese in Clearwater, Hynes, and the surrounding areas. Attracted by the availability of land for dairy farming, the relatively large Portuguese families appear to have been scattered through the area, as opposed to occupying a single enclave. Historian Fae Pitchie suggests that the Los 254 Nisei were second generation Japanese Americans. Nisei were born in the United States, primarily between 1910 and 1940. They grew up during the Great Depression and were teenagers during World War II. They attended local schools and many attended Japanese language schools (gakuen).
255 “Clearwater YP Select New Officers Headed by Chikami,” Rafu Shimpo, May 4, 1940, 6. 256 “County’s First Cooperative for Japanese Perfected Here,” The Register, May 27, 1939,n4.

Yoshio Chikami’s senior photo from Venice High
School before he and his family moved to Hynes,
1928. Source: Venice High School Yearbook.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 68 Angeles Creamery played an important role in relocating Portuguese dairymen from the San Joaquin Valley to Hynes and Clearwater, where skilled dairy workers were needed.257 The 1930 Census identifies two Portuguese
dairy farmers on the east side of presentday Lakewood Boulevard. The first, Joe De Sousa Brazil (1893-unknown) and Eugenia
Brazil, worked their rented farm in Hynes,
with their children as milkers, between 1925
and 1932. Their neighbors, Jose Coehlo
Gonsalves (nee Gonzales, 1880-1952) and
Adelaide Gonzalves emigrated to the U.S.
through Massachusetts before making their
way to Hynes. Around the 1940s, the Brazils
and Gonsalves were farming in nearby
Artesia.

Even earlier Portuguese settlers in the area
were John (1892-unknown) and Isabel Ferreira who by 1920 had a farm on Center Street (present-day Alondra Boulevard). The Ferreira family farmed into the 1950s (15923 Colorado Avenue, not extant), when fields were purchased for postwar tract home development. John Ferreira was an active member of the community and by 1950 was working maintenance at the D.E.S. Portuguese Hall.

Two other Portuguese dairy farmers with adjacent farms along Jackson Street were Joao “John” Alves (1895-1971) and Jordin Cambra (1896-1973). Alves began farming in Hynes during the mid-1920s and emigrated by way of Massachusetts. Both men farmed in Paramount c. 1930, but neither remained in Hynes for very long. By 1940 they had both relocated — part of the exodus of dairy farmers during this period.

DUTCH COMMUNITY
Among the immigrants who came to the Clearwater-Hynes area were the Dutch from the Netherlands (Holland). Largely a nation of dairy farmers, those skills were supported by the agricultural nature of Clearwater and Hynes. These immigrants established dairies and a pipeline for ongoing immigration of Dutch to the area.

The Dutch begin to appear in earnest in the greater Downey and Bellflower communities in the 1930s and 1940s. Twelve hundred Dutch families resided in the region by 1935.258 According to the Los Angeles Times, the low, flat lands in the area with proximity to the sea, reminded many of the Dutch of their homeland. The majority of the immigrants came from the towns of Oppenhuyze and Friesland. They typically leased ten-acre farms and purchased cows.

Among the Dutch pioneers in Clearwater and Hynes were Mr. and Mrs. Jake Van Leeuwen, who moved to town in 1927. Other early Dutch residents included Joe Martins, Richard Van Rennes, 257 Pitchie, 54.
258“The Lee Side of LA,” Los Angeles Times, September 28, 1953, 20.

Joe Brazil at the time of his naturalization in 1942.

Source: Ancestry.com
Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 69 John J. Alewyn, Andrew DeBlacy, Dick Van Eck, and John Van den Raat, who were all dairymen in Hynes by 1930.

By 1935, there were 15 Dutch families living in the vicinity of Hynes.259 Among the earliest Dutch residents of Clearwater-Hynes was Arthur Koopman (1884-1934), a merchant who lived in Chicago and Los Angeles before he opened a general store in Hynes. Koopman and his wife, Jacoba, had six children. They were enumerated in the 1930 Census as living on Paramount Boulevard (between Jackson Street and Harrison Street, status unknown).260 Arthur Jr. is listed in the 1940 City Directory as residing at 1004 Monroe Street (between Paramount Boulevard and Colorado Avenue).

Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
259 “The Lee Side of LA,” Los Angeles Times, September 28, 1953, 20. 260 Historic address was 317 Ocean Avenue.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 70 Theme: Commercial Development (1920-1940)
The population surge and residential building boom in Clearwater-Hynes during the early decades of the twentieth century resulted in a commercial building boom as well. During the 1920s, commercial development remained concentrated immediately north and south of Jackson Street on present-day Paramount Boulevard. Hynes boasted a general store, bakery, drug store, gift shop, jewelry store, barber, and two restaurants. M.D. Tubbs was the manager of a hay, grain, and feed store at the corner of Paramount Boulevard and Alondra Boulevard.

By 1927, the commercial district for Hynes-Clearwater was concentrated in Hynes, largely centered on the intersection of present-day Paramount Boulevard and Jackson Street. A cluster of brick storefronts (not extant) completed in 1924 at a cost of $18,000, housed a grocery store, plumbing repair shop, printing shop, and offices.261 The 1930 Sanborn map also shows four pool halls—providing entertainment for the oil workers and agricultural laborers.

The First National Bank of Hynes was remodeled in 1923 and another block of stores was constructed adjacent to the bank.262 The Azores Dairy Bank in Hynes was established in May of 1928 by V.B. Dewey, Frank Bettencourt, and W.H. Walker.263 Remolded First National Bank c. 1930s. Source: City of Paramount.

Following the Stock Market crash of October 1929, the solvency of many banks was challenged when panicked depositors simultaneously demanded their money. 261Historically the address was 139-155 Paramount Boulevard; “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1924, V10. 262 “Clearwater,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1924, V10. 263 Additional research is needed to determine the exact location of the Azores Dairy Bank.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 71 The Azores Dairy Bank (with ties to the local Portuguese dairy community) was closed by the State Banking Department in late 1929 to avert failure.264 Attempts at reorganization appear to have failed, but depositors were made whole after a period of years.

Azores Dairy Bank Stock Certificate, 1929. Source: eBay.

The St. George Hotel, located at the southeast corner of Alondra Boulevard and Paramount Boulevard, was built in 1928 by realtor George Sourisseau, as a means to provide lodging and encourage lot sales. The two and a half-story brick building featured a large lobby, a restaurant, and offices. It had two rooms and four suites with private bathrooms.265 During the early 1920s, May C. Smith opened May’s Café at the corner of present-day Artesia Boulevard and Paramount Boulevard. By 1935, May’s Café and Hotel had moved (16683 Paramount Boulevard, extant). The Streamline Moderne-style building offered hotel rooms in addition to cocktails and fine food. May, a widow, worked at the café with her two sons as waiters.

Business operators in Clearwater-Hynes reflected the early diversity of immigrants attracted to the agricultural lands in the area. Early Dutch immigrant Arthur Koopmans (1884-1934) established Koopmans & Sons (16458 Paramount Boulevard, extant) during the late 1920s.266 The general store sold general merchandise as well as specialized goods appealed to the large Dutch community in the area. Wooden shoes were sold there as preferred by many dairymen.267 Koopmans emigrated to the U.S. in 1906 and moved to Clearwater-Hynes in 1926. Koopman and his wife Jacoba had six children. During the 1930s, their son Charles Koopmans opened Koopman’s Steamship Agency, which sold rail and steamship tickets to destinations all over the 264 “Closed Banks to Pay Depositors,” Long Beach Sun, January 27, 1932, 1. 265 Hillyard, 19.
266 Historically the address was 201 S. Paramount Boulevard. 267 “The Lee Side of LA,” Los Angeles Times, September 28, 1953, 20.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 72 world.268 In 1940, Charles Koopmans (1910-1977), then secretary of the Clearwater-Hynes Chamber of Commerce, was responsible for proposing changing the name of Clearwater-Hynes to Paramount.269
Photo of Koopman’s Store (extant) at 16458 Paramount Boulevard, 1935. Source: Hynes-Clearwater Journal.

Another Dutch business from the period was the Holland-American Bakery (16267 Paramount Boulevard, not extant) was owned by Ryan and Margarita Jansen, who emigrated from the Netherlands in 1923. The bakery offered a variety of cookies, cakes, and bread for sale. By the 1950s, their son, Jan Jansen, had joined the family business. The business was active through the early 1960s.

One of the earliest immigrant entrepreneurs in present-day Paramount was Axel Victor Wahlgren (1879-1944). The Swedish-born Wahlgren immigrated to the U.S. in 1906, and by 1918, he and his wife Maria were living in Hynes. Working initially as an ironworker, by 1930 Wahlgren started a poultry hatchery and subsequently opened the Hynes Feed Store (8047 Alondra Boulevard, not extant). By 1935, Wahlgren owned one of the largest hatcheries in California.270
268 Historically, the address was 253 S. Paramount Boulevard. 269 “Clearwater and Hynes Shaken by Name Suggestion, Press Telegram, October 2, 1940, B-6. 270 “One of the Leading Poultry Supply Stores in District,” Hynes-Clearwater Journal, September 6, 1935, no page.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 73 Hynes Feed Store in 1935. Source: Hynes-Clearwater Journal.

A Mexican grocery store on present-day Paramount Boulevard was owned by the Guillermo Sanchez family.271 Established around September of 1920, the grocery was one of the earliest Latino-owned businesses in town.272 Guillermo Sanchez’s bilingual capabilities and stock of groceries and vegetables made him a successful businessman.

Sanchez Market c. 1920. Source: Fiestas and Freeways.

There was also a produce market known as Clearwater Fuji Market, operated by K. Hada and K.

Mori. Prior to World War II, Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans were often employed as truck farmers, laborers, or produce purveyors.273 Clearwater’s Fuji Market is the earliest known Japanese-owned business established in present-day Paramount. 271 This family owned business is noted in the Ethel Hillyard book The Story of Paramount. U.S. Census and City Directory. The exact location of the Sanchez-owned store is currently unknown. 272 “Clearwater – Hynes Has Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” The Long Beach Telegram and the Long Beach Daily News, March 5, 1922, 7D.
273 This family owned business is noted in the Ethel Hillyard book The Story of Paramount. This market does not appear in the 1914-15 City Directory, the 1940 City Directory, or the 1950 City Directory. More research is necessary.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 74 Another type of commercial development that blossomed in the area was automobile-related development. There was the Smith and Cook Clearwater Garage at Somerset Boulevard and Paramount Boulevard with a gas station next door (not extant). Owned by W.R. Smith and P.D.

Crook, their advertisement in the 1940 Hay and Dairy Fiesta Program suggested that they were “the largest and fastest growing automotive dealers in the hay and dairy center.274 John Schilling, an authorized representative for Ford service, operated an automobile repair garage on the northwestern corner of Harrison Street and present-day Paramount Boulevard.275 The Palm Service Station, managed by Gibson and Wolf, at the corner of Washington Avenue and Paramount Boulevard (not extant), was established in 1920 and, in addition to gasoline service, offered motorists food at a lunch stand.276 The Tower Service station (location unknown) offered services to passing motorists.

Tower Service Station and Reynder’s Garage on present-day Alondra Boulevard in the 1920s. Source: City of Paramount.

By 1930, Clearwater and Hynes also had two of the most au courant property types of the period: the drive-in market. The drive-in market appealed to a new generation of drivers who desired the convenience of shopping while commuting.

Located at the southwestern corner of Paramount Boulevard and Jackson Street, the L-shaped Pioneer Market offered on-site parking on the corner of the parcel (not extant). The Spanish Colonial Revival-style building featured open archways through which merchandise was visible.

Another drive-in market, Miller’s, was built in 1929 and located on the northeast corner of Somerset Boulevard and Paramount Boulevard (8001-8011 Somerset Boulevard, extant).277 It 274 Official Program Eighth Annual Hay & Dairy Fiesta of Hynes-Clearwater, California, August 29, 30, 31, 1940. No page. 275 John Schilling’s relationship to pioneer Joseph Schilling is presently unknown; “Clearwater – Hynes Has Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” The Long Beach Telegram and the Long Beach Daily News, March 5, 1922, 7D. 276 “Clearwater – Hynes Has Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” The Long Beach Telegram and the Long Beach Daily News, March 5, 1922, 7D.
277 The building is listed in the California Register of Historical Resources.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 75 consisted of a drive-up grocery flanked by two, two-story buildings designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style of architecture. One housed a drug store and one a café.

During the 1930s, Harry Johnson’s “Johnson Water Gardens” nursery located at Garfield Avenue and Jackson Street (not extant) was one of the foremost nurseries for water lilies and rare cacti. Known as the “pioneer aquatic Nursery in America,” they specialized in exotic species of lotus and night-blooming lilies. The nursery enjoyed a thriving mail order business. Although the company dates to the 1880s, the earliest location of the nursery is currently unknown.278 278 “Johnson Water Gardens, Hynes, California, 1933,” accessed March 20, 2024, Huntington Library Online Archive.

The Pioneer Market, a drive-in market, c. 1930. Source: City of Paramount.

Miller’s Market complex in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Source: City of Paramount.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 76 For the residential subdivisions that were not adjacent to the main commercial strip of Clearwater-Hynes, such as Gibson Park (Tract 6251), small neighborhood stores were established. A store on the northeast corner of present-day Orange and San Mateo Streets was present by 1936 to serve the residents nearby. A series of stores were also located on the north side of Somerset Boulevard between San Jose Avenue
and Orange Street.

To serve residents of Tract 5790, more neighborhood
stores were constructed c. 1926 along the east side of
Paramount Boulevard north of Somerset Boulevard
(14155-14151 Paramount Boulevard, extant). The
two-story brick building housed the real estate and
insurance office of Ernest Weigold.279 A small store on the northeast corner of present-day Orizaba Avenue
and Somerset Boulevard was also constructed.

Another small group of stores was established on the
west side of Paramount Boulevard north of the Pacific
Electric Railway tracks to service residents of Tract
5792. Another cluster existed just north of the Pacific Electric tracks along with three stores at the
intersection of Howe Street and Paramount
Boulevard.

For Tract 9371, neighborhood stores were located at
the northwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Jackson
Street, and on the southwest and northeast corners of
Alondra Boulevard and Garfield Avenue.

Retail building at 14155-14151 Paramount Boulevard, c. 1926. Source: Hynes-Clearwater Journal. 279 The building has been remodeled beyond recognition.

Johnson Water Garden Brochure, 1933.

Source: Huntington Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 77 POST-1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE
The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake destroyed many unreinforced masonry buildings in Clearwater and Hynes. The St. George Hotel was badly damaged and ultimately demolished as a result of the natural disaster.

Other commercial buildings managed to escape demolition. One of the only commercial buildings from this period that is still standing is the two-story Spanish Colonial Revival style Klippel Building (also sometimes referred to as the Taback Building) at 16402-16404 Paramount Boulevard (extant).280 The building was owned by Martin G. Klippel (c. 1866-1949), a beet farmer, who invested in substantial real estate in Hynes.281 It housed two stores, offices, and a beauty shop in the rear at 920 Jackson Street (extant). The Taback Pharmacy (with soda fountain) was housed in the corner store. It would later be home to the Hynes Journal/Paramount Journal newspaper office and the first site of City Hall. The Taback Pharmacy appears to have been associated with James Taback of Long Beach.

Klippel Building/Taback Building c. 1940. Source: City of Paramount.

Commercial enterprises established to support the surrounding farms and dairies were an essential part of Clearwater-Hynes commercial development. Five such establishments were located along Paramount Boulevard: A.L. LaRue, Alfalfa Grain & Hay; J.L. Cotton Hardware; Fred W. Ehrmann Hardware; Breeders Fur and Feed Company; and Western Consumers Feed Company. The Hynes Feed Store was located just off Paramount Boulevard, on Alondra Boulevard.
280 The building is listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. The building’s historic address was 302-306 S. Ocean Avenue, per the 1930 Sanborn map.
281 “Klippel Rites to Be Saturday,” Independent, April 22, 1949, 30.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 78 Western Consumer Feed Office, undated. Source: Fiestas and Freeways.

Western Consumers Feed Company was a longstanding business in Hynes-Clearwater. It supplied dairymen with products such as Blackleg Bacterin, Mastitis Bacterin, Udder Eze, Dehorning Paste, and branding irons.282 By 1940, Western Consumers occupied the former Schilling garage and repair building (16493 Paramount Boulevard, extant). It continued to serve the community as “one of the largest hay suppliers to the Southern California Dairy industry.”283 By 1956, management included Charles Sander and Kenneth Sheller.

Up until the outbreak of World War II, Clearwater and Hynes remained sleepy, small towns offering basic goods and services, although residents often relied on the nearby communities of Compton, Long Beach, and Downey for durable goods such as furniture, clothing, appliances, and specialty goods.

Western Consumers Feed Co. (16493 Paramount Boulevard, extant) in 1941. Source: Ebay.

Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
282 “Advertisement,” Hynes-Clearwater Journal, September 6, 1935, no page. 283 As described on the plaque at the Hay Tree.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 79 Theme: Civic and Institutional Development (1920-1940)
Civic and institutional development in Clearwater-Hynes increased apace with an ever-growing population in the 1920s and 1930s.284 As the population expanded, civic and institutional services and new schools were established to meet the growing demand. Additionally, with their basic needs and requirements met, residents increasingly turned to social and cultural pursuits. This manifested in the growth of the post office and fire department; social, fraternal, and women’s groups; new religious institutions; and educational facilities. As time advanced, Paramount residents were increasingly afforded the luxury of leisure.

In tandem with the new developments, two of the earliest landmarks in Clearwater-Hynes were lost during this period. The original Clearwater Grammar School building was demolished in 1928, a loss recounted in the Los Angeles Times: “The Clearwater grammar school, torn down last year after standing for forty-one years, [w]as one of the oldest buildings in this section.”285 The Literary Hall, built in 1894 and seminal in the community’s early development, was demolished in 1939.286

CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS
In 1926, the Hynes post office relocated from Huitt grocery store into an adjoining storeroom with more space. The Press-Telegram noted that the “necessity of larger quarters for the Hynes post office is accepted here as an index of the rapid growth of the community during the past year.”287 Equipped to serve 500 families and 200 rural box holders, the post office was raised from a third to a second class post office in 1929 due to increasing business. In 1930, the post office garnered widespread attention when explosives were used to force open its safe. In turn, the explosions set off a tear gas bomb, which forced the robbers to evacuate before they could steal more than $20 in stamps and stamp money.288
The Clearwater County Fire Department (also known as the Clearwater-Hynes Fire Protection District) was founded in 1925.289 The department established its first fire station (Engine No. 31) at that time on Paramount Boulevard in what was previously a private garage, and a 350 gallon pumping engine and other necessary equipment was purchased and placed in service (not extant).290 The formation of the Clearwater-Hynes Water District, which included the installation of one hundred fire hydrants in the central, most heavily settled part of town, also improved firefighting. By 1929, the fire department had two full-time firefighters, and expected that number to rise to four within the next year.291 The department built a modern fire station on Paramount Boulevard in 1929 to accommodate the growing number of workers and demand.292 With oil production an increasingly lucrative business in Clearwater-Hynes and the surrounding areas, the fire department sought to spread fire safety awareness regarding oil fires. In 1935, the 284 “Three Grammar Schools,” Press-Telegram, December 31, 1930, 63. 285 “March of Progress Destroys Landmark,” Los Angeles Times, March 17, 1929, 76. 286 “Landmark Being Razed,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1939, 32. 287 “Post Office at Hynes Takes Larger Room,” Press-Telegram, March 15, 1926, 6. 288 “Hynes-Clearwater,” Long Beach Sun, May 5, 1929, 6; “Thugs Blow Hynes Safe,” Long Beach Sun, September 26, 1930, 4. 289 “Splendid Fire Department Cuts Down Fire Losses in Community,” Hynes-Clearwater Journal, September 6, 1935, 2; “Long Beach Plan for Annexation,” Press-Telegram, August 29, 1924, 9; Los Angeles County Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Clearwater, 1927, 2; “Fire Captain Reports at Hynes-Clearwater,” Long Beach Sun, September 19, 1929, 18. 290 The building’s historic address was 345 North Ocean. 291 “Hynes-Clearwater,” Long Beach Sun, October 21, 1929, 16. 292 The building’s historic address was 415 North Paramount Boulevard.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 80 fire department held demonstrations on methods for fighting oil fires, as evolved during years of fire fighting in the Signal Hill and Santa Fe Springs fields.293 Early Settler N.B. Haydon served as the fire department’s first acting Deputy Fire Warden. He later recalled (with his notorious wit):

We were getting along fine, for there were not enough buildings to make a good fire, and just as soon as they began to move in on us some nut thought of a fire department, well we have that hung on us too, and one of the best equipped in the Southeast part, which has saved the Community more in putting out fires, saving other buildings that were exposed, fire prevention work, than the thing can ever cost us. The Engine is all paid for and from now on we pay for upkeep and personnel.294
The County Free Library in Clearwater continued to expand its collection during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1924, it received 70 new volumes including “The Perfect Wife” by Phyllis Bottome; “The Zeppelin’s Passenger,” by E. Phillips Oppenheim; and “America and the New Epoch,” by Charles Steinmetz, among others.295 In 1930, the library moved to a new location in the McBain building on Paramount Boulevard (not extant).296 Its lease on the building was renewed in 1937.297

SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS
The 1920s through the 1940s was a very socially active time in Clearwater and Hynes, with numerous social organizations and fraternal societies formed by interested citizens. These organizations varied and reflected the diverse interests and beliefs of the growing population.

Charitable works and city improvements served as the impetus for the formation of at least two social organizations. The Clearwater Improvement Society was formed in 1922 with the aim of the “upbuilding of the community.”298 The society focused on public improvement projects such as building bridges and street lighting.

Women continued to be active participants in social organizations in the Hynes and Clearwater areas into the 1920s and 1930s. The Hynes-Clearwater Women’s Club (not to be confused with the Hynes Clearwater Woman’s Betterment Club) was founded in 1927 at the residence of Hattie Flint. At the time of its founding, 27 charter members were present, and the club grew to 98 members in less than a decade.299 Active through the 1940s, the club engaged in many charitable works, including hosting a sanitation committee that procured waste cans for streets in the community. Speakers hosted by the group included a child welfare worker and missionary.300 293 Sam Hogan, “Splendid Fire Department Cuts Down Fire Losses in Community,” Hynes-Clearwater Journal, September 6, 1935, 2. “Fire Tests Climaxed,” Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1934, 21. 294 N. B. Haydon, “Old Timer Gives Interesting as Well as Historical Facts on Early Days in the Community,” Hynes-Clearwater Journal, September 6, 1935, 1. On file at the California State University, Dominguez-Hills archives. 295 “Popular Books for Clearwater Library,” Press-Telegram, August 10, 1924, 19. 296The historic address was 130 North Ocean Avenue; “Library Moves,” Long Beach Sun, June 16, 1930, 16. 297 “Clearwater Library Lease Recommended,” Press-Telegram, July 3, 1937, 11. 298 “Clearwater,” Long Beach Telegram, April 26, 1922, 10. 299 Elizabeth Von Bronigen, “Clearwater-Hynes Women’s Club,” October 24, 1935, Compton Union High School, 1903-1935 Time Capsule, California State University, Dominguez Hills.
300 “Welfare Worker to Address Women,” Press-Telegram, December 4, 1927, 26; “Two Clubs Elect New Officials,” Press-Telegram, May 13, 1928, 23; “Community Singing Revival Set for Clearwater Tomorrow,” Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1943, 15; “Club Hears Talk on Far East War,” Long Beach Sun, March 7, 1932, 12.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 81 Women of the Hynes-Clearwater Women’s Club at the Hay and Dairy Festival Parade, c. 1935. Source: City of Paramount.

In 1936, Elizabeth Von Grunigan, then-president of the club, purchased an 11-room house on E.

Center Street for $2,500 to serve as a clubhouse (not extant). Von Grunigan offered to take over the property after six months if the club
found the cost too taxing. The HynesClearwater Women’s Club managed to meet payments and owned the house
outright by 1940, when they
ceremoniously burned their mortgage.301
A substantial Portuguese population,
largely from the Azorean Islands, resided
in Hynes by the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Portuguese
immigrants formed the Hynes Portuguese
Society and held festivals, or Festas, in
Clearwater-Hynes as early as 1923. In
1929, the Portuguese Pentecostal festival
and queen’s processional attracted over
10,000 Portuguese residents and visitors
to Clearwater-Hynes.
301 “Where There’s a Will There’s a Way,” San Bernardino County Sun, January 4, 1936, 8; “Club Mortgage to be Burned by Hynes Women,” Press-Telegram, December 8, 1940, 26.

Women’s Club Clubhouse (not extant). Source: City of
Paramount.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 82 The Portuguese population raised $10,000 to build a community hall, and in 1940 the Hynes D.E.S. Portuguese Hall was constructed (7812 Alondra Boulevard).302 Hynes D.E.S. Portuguese Hall at 7812 Alondra Boulevard, 2024. Source: HRG.

The growing Latino population in Clearwater also formed several social groups, including La Junta Patriótica de Clearwater, Sociedad Mexicana Progresista de Clearwater, and the Comisión Honorífica de Clearwater.303 These groups held celebrations for the Latino community from at least 1923 into the 1930s, including a dance in the Literary Hall for Mexican Independence Day and a fiesta for Cinco de Mayo.304 The Comisión Honorífica also formed a Mexican baseball team, the “Clearwater Merchants,” in the 1930s. The Clearwater Merchants, under the management of Jesús Serrato, competed regionally with other baseball teams.305 The tight-knit community also banded together to cover costs for burials and memorials of neighbors who had passed away, and many articles in the newspaper La Opinión record these contributions. One of the earliest presidents of La Junta Patriotica de Clearwater was Francisco Castaneda, who served from 1924 to 1927. Born in Mexico, Castaneda was a dairyman who had an “enviable reputation for obtaining production from his dairy herd.”306 In 1927, the Latino community built the Benito Juárez School on an unidentified lot of land owned by a resident named Villanueva, who had served as a past president of the Comisión Honorífica. According to the newspaper La Opinión, the community had a large Mexican 302 “Church Folk of Clearwater in Street Parade,” Press-Telegram, May 23, 1923, 10; “Portuguese Will Observe Church Rite,” Long Beach Sun, June 15, 1929, 20; “History,” Hynes D.E.S. Hall, accessed March 6, 2024, http://www.hynesdes.org/about/history/; “Hynes Fraternity Builds,” Los Angeles Times, March 3, 1940, 21. 303 “La C. Honorifica de Clearwater da un Voto de Adhesión a Calles,” Heraldo de México, September 12, 1926, 1. 304 “Los Preparativos Para las Fiestas Patrias,” Heraldo de México, August 3, 1923, 3; “La Colonia Mexicana de Clearwater, Calif., Celebrará Dignamente las Fiestas Patrias,” Heraldo de México, August 2, 1924, 8; “En Clearwater se Celebrara el 5 de Mayo,” Heraldo de México, April 24, 1927, 6; “Las Fiestas Patrias en Clearwater Serán También Suntuosas,” Heraldo de México, September 15, 1927, 6. 305 “Clearwater Derrotó al Radiators,” La Opinión, May 28, 1931, 10; “Clearwater Merchants Derrotó a Laundry Co.,” La Opinión, June 20, 1931, 9; “’Champion Brass’ Derrotó al Club de Clearwater,” La Opinión, June 4, 1931, 9. 306 “News of the Sales,” The California Dairyman, October 19, 1929, 15.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 83 population, and the founding of the school was imperative in keeping families in the area.307 An article in the Heraldo de Mexico recorded the feat:

Los niños Mexicanos de Clearwater tienen
una primorosa escuela que sus padres
hicieron con sus propias manos. El salón es
pequeño; pero tan bonito y lleno de luz y
limpieza que no da vergüenza en manera
alguna que allí se ostente el pabellón
mexicano.”
The Mexican children of Clearwater have
an exquisite school that their parents made
with their own hands. The room is small;
but so beautiful and full of light and
cleanliness that it is not embarrassing in
any way that the Mexican flag is displayed
there.308
The school was run by Teresa Lopez, director and teacher. Professor Adbulia/Obdulia Velazquez was also very involved in the education of the Mexican community in Clearwater. Velazquez held night classes for adults that taught Spanish, English, music, signing, and classics.309 She also formed the Club Español in 1940, which sought to improve its members’ command of written and spoken Spanish, as well as serving as a general support group.310 The group had 65 members within the first year.

The Hynes American Legion was established in the area in 1927.311 In 1936, the group built the Hynes American Legion Hall, also known as the Ed Webb American Legion Post of ClearwaterHynes, located at 15706 Georgia Avenue (extant). The new Spanish Colonial Revival style clubhouse was designed by architect Clifford K. Denham and constructed at a cost of $2,500.

The building was of frame and stucco
construction with tile roofing and a large
central fireplace. It was dedicated in
August of 1936 and later converted into a
church.

A major annual event in Clearwater-Hynes
was the autumnal Holland Hay and Dairy
Festival. This festival was hosted by the
large Dutch community, and typically
included a parade with a Holland Queen of
the celebration, games, and feasting.

Games played included “kuipje steken,” or
punching the water barrel, and
“sakloopen,” a boys hindrance race. Several
participants dressed in traditional Dutch
garb for the festivities.312
The Hynes-Clearwater-Hollydale Kiwanis
307 “Otra Escuel de Mexicanos Se Abrio en Clearwater,” La Opinión, October 25, 1926. 308 “Ejemplo Digno de Imitarse,” Herlado de Mexico, August 23, 1927, 1. 309 “Cursos Nocturnos Para Adultos,” La Opinión, September 22, 1940. 310 “Se Funda El Segundo Club Español,” La Opinión, May 29. 1940. 311 Howard N. Tanner, “Ed Webb Post #134,” October 24, 1935, Compton Union High School, 1903-1935 Time Capsule, California State University, Dominguez Hills; “Three Grammar Schools,” Press-Telegram, December 31, 1930, 63. 312 “Hynes-Clearwater Open Gay Hay and Dairy Festival,” Los Angeles Times, September 12, 1936, 6.

Anna Van Delft and Arthur Koopmans at the Holland Hay
and Dairy Festival in Hynes-Clearwater, 1935. Source:

University of California, Los Angeles.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 84 Club was founded in 1927, with a primary mission to serve the children of the area by improving their health, nutrition, education, and literacy. Into the 1930s, the group supplied milk to underweight school children of needy families in the Clearwater-Hynes schools.313 Following the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933, the group also helped restore damaged buildings and provided general community aid.314
The Clearwater Flying Club, also known as the
Aero Club, was informally founded in 1927.315
Operating out of a 75-acre field at the corner of
Paramount and Alondra Boulevards, the club
boasted a Travelair plane among its small fleet of
aircraft. The club built a second hangar and
clubhouse in 1929, and was officially established
that year with 26 members, seven of whom were
women.316 According to the Aeronautical
Industry, the group’s opening day celebration
was attended by pilots from Hynes-Clearwater,
Long Beach, and naval reserves.317
As with other organizations, religious
institutions also proliferated in Clearwater and
Hynes during this period. The Clearwater-Hynes Dutch Reformed Church was organized in 1925 with 33 members. The congregation held its services in Holland Dutch, and almost all members of the congregation were new arrivals from Holland. Services were originally located in Literary Hall, until a new church was built in 1927. The church later became known as the Emmanuel Reformed Church.318 Prior to World War II, the Dutch community also had a mutual-aid society in Hynes known as the Dutch Burial Society, which provided indigent members of the community with death, burial, and sickness benefits.

Formed in the late 1930s, the Nisei Japanese Baptist Church in Clearwater (8043 Madison Avenue, extant) was in operation until at least 1959. Japanese resident Jean Horikiri was a minister at the Clearwater Baptist Church, which drew members from the larger Japanese community in Downey and outlying areas. The church was credited with easing relations between the Japanese and white residents, in an era when anti-Japanese sentiment was common.

During the 1920s, the national spiritual renewal campaign spread across America, and into Clearwater and Hynes. A Los Angeles Times article from 1931 recorded that while a permit was granted for the erection of a tent for a revival campaign adjacent to the library, the ClearwaterHynes Chamber of Commerce opposed the permit’s approval, noting it would not be “conductive 313 “Hynes Kiwanis Club Hears Address by Captain Henderson,” Long Beach Sun, March 18, 1932, 8. 314 B.F. Jamison, letter to Board of Trustees, October 25, 1935, Compton Union High School, 1903-1935 Time Capsule, California State University, Dominguez Hills.
315 “Junior Aviators to Enter City Contest,” Press-Telegram, May 17, 1928, 20; “Flying Club Field Lures Air Guests,” Press-Telegram, December 26, 1928, 10.
316 “Clearwater Flying Club Builds a New Hangar for Plane,” Press-Telegram, February 20, 1929, 18. 317 “Large Crowd at Opening of Hynes-Clearwater Port,” Aeronautical Industry 5, January 5, 1929, 2. 318 “Church Conference Delegates Will be Guests at Hynes,” Press-Telegram, April 10, 1929, 16; “Dutch Church Plans Change,” Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1949, 17.

Clearwater Flying Club, 1929. Source: Mark Gebert,
Abandoned & Little Known Airfields.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 85 to peaceful concentration and study.”319 A month later, a group of teenagers attempted to break up a revival tent service and were charged with disturbing the peace.320 The spiritual renewal movement ebbed as quickly as it had entered Clearwater and Hynes.

SCHOOLS
In the 1920s, with a growing population of school-aged children in Paramount, the school district sought to expand existing institutions and assist students traveling to nearby schools. New schools reflected early twentieth century ideals of the Progressive Education Movement.

Shunning traditional teaching philosophies, the Progressive Education Movement emphasized hands-on methods of teaching that allowed children to explore and learn to the best of their own individual abilities.321 This influenced school programming, which increasingly stressed individualized curriculum. As populations increased and space became scarce at schools, the Progressive Education Movement philosophies also provided a method for economizing space.

This resulted in a more differentiated, expansive school plant, with specialized facilities and program-specific buildings and classrooms; this new design ended the era of the monumental, big-block school.

Following the Clearwater Grammar School, the next major school developed in town was the development of Lincoln Elementary School (15324 California Avenue, extant), which opened in 1923 to serve fourth through sixth graders, and was located immediately south of the original Clearwater Grammar School.322 However, the new school did not fully alleviate population pressures, and by the end of the year it was “taxed almost to capacity,” with new families “coming at the rate of about three a week.”323
319 “Revival Near Library Fought,” Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1931, 36. 320 “Pair Accused in Hynes Row Given Liberty on Bail,” Long Beach Sun, November 5, 1931, 6. 321 Sapphos Environmental, Inc., Los Angeles Unified School District Historic Context Statement, 1870 to 1969, Prepared for the Los Angeles Unified School District, 2014, 29-30.
322 “Hynes-Clearwater,” Long Beach Telegram, November 18, 1922, 14; “Clearwater,” Press-Telegram, April 4, 1923, 7; Charles Adelbert Skutt, “A Housing Survey of the Clearwater Elementary School District,” Master’s thesis, (University of Southern California, June 1937), 2.
323 “Subdivisions at Hynes Sell Out; Homes Going Up,” Press-Telegram, December 30, 1923, 16.

Lincoln Elementary School students and teachers, 1924. Source: City of Paramount.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 86 Lincoln Elementary School, 1940s. Source: City of Paramount.

In neighboring Hynes, McKinley Elementary School was built in 1923 to accommodate the rapidly growing population (6822 Paramount Boulevard, Long Beach). Within the first year of completion, subdivisions developed so quickly in the surrounding neighborhood that the new building, which school board officials “expected to be entirely too large” for the enrollment, quickly reached capacity.324 A bungalow school building previously used in Clearwater was transported to the new school to accommodate the increased number of school children in the southern end of the district.325
Some students walked as many as four miles
to McKinley Elementary School; to help
alleviate the distance children walked, the
school district established a bus route between
residences and schools in 1922.326 In 1924, the
southern region of Hynes, including the new
McKinely Elementary School, was annexed by
the City of Long Beach.327
The increase of school-aged children in
Clearwater-Hynes was so extreme, that by
1926 Lincoln Elementary School had an
attendance of over 450 students. That year, in
a bid to accommodate more students, the
Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School was constructed (not extant, relocated). However, shortly after dedication, the school was also overcrowded.
324 “New Atlantic Tract Now Open,” Press-Telegram, June 10, 1923, 4. 325 “Clearwater,” Press-Telegram, September 13, 1923, 3. 326 “Clearwater,” Long Beach Telegram, April 26, 1922, 10. 327 “McKinley School,” Long Beach Sun, February 3, 1929, 15.

Hynes School District Bus, 1922. Source: Daily Telegram Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 87 Clearwater Junior High School (later Paramount High School – West Campus, left); Lincoln Elementary School (not extant, center), and Los Cerritos Elementary School (not extant, right) Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1930.

Source: Los Angeles Public Library.

Consequently, a $100,000 bond was approved in 1927 for the expansion of the Lincoln and Roosevelt elementary school campuses with five classrooms and a kindergarten room.328 That year, the population of children in each school was 520 at Lincoln Elementary School and 77 at Roosevelt Elementary School. In 1928, the Los Cerritos Elementary School on Somerset Boulevard opened immediately north of Lincoln Elementary School (not extant, relocated). This school helped accommodate the rapidly growing population of school-aged children; enrollment at Lincoln Elementary School dropped by half with 266 students enrolled, while Roosevelt Elementary School had 139 students, and Los Cerritos Elementary accommodated 235 children.329 The new Clearwater Junior High School (now Paramount High School-West Campus) was completed in 1930 (14708 Paramount Boulevard, extant). Designed by architect Frank M.

Goodwin of Compton, the school included sixteen classrooms, a library, and general science and biology laboratories for “domestic science,” and “manual training.”330 Prior to this time, students had attended junior high school in Compton.

The bus service was discontinued in 1933, and as a result, many students transferred to closer schools in Long Beach and Bellflower. To prevent this, a new bus was introduced in 1935, which increased enrollment in Clearwater-Hynes district by 93 pupils.331 By 1937, the school district was administered by a board of education composed of three members; a superintendent; and a principal in charge of each building. Approximately 30 teachers were employed across the district at that time.

Following the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake, early CWA efforts under the New Deal included clearing damage from the earthquake, specifically at school sites. The CWA cleaned earthquake debris at Clearwater Junior High School before beginning improvement projects at the site, which 328 “Clearwater,” Tulare Advance-Register, December 20, 1927, 7; “Bids to be Opened for Additions to Clearwater Schools,” PressTelegram, January 3, 1928, 27. 329 Skutt, 21.
330 “Three Grammar Schools,” Press-Telegram, December 31, 1930, 63. 331 Skutt, 2.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 88 included laying modern athletic fields.332 The administration building at Clearwater Junior High School was also redesigned, repaired, and partially reconstructed by the architectural firm of Marsh, Smith & Powell following the earthquake.333 To celebrate the school’s reopening in January 1934, students performed in a pageant “The Miracle of the Phoenix.” The Phoenix, an Egyptian mythical bird, was “symbolic of the rising of the new school building from the ruins of the old…The scene is laid on the Clearwater campus following the catastrophe of March 10.”334 Classrooms and an auditorium at Clearwater Junior High School were also completed under the auspices of the WPA from 1940 to 1941. The Whittier News reported that the project cost $145,411 and employed 75 men for eight months.335
As a result of the earthquake, the Roosevelt Elementary School and Lincoln Elementary School campuses were reportedly severely damaged and were rebuilt later that year.336 Los Cerritos was expanded under the auspices of the WPA with two new classrooms (not extant).337 In 1940, $60,000 in WPA funding was provided to construct an auditorium and classroom at the new Roosevelt Elementary School campus. Clifford K. Denman served as the architect for the project, which was dedicated in December of 1940.338 At Lincoln Elementary School, 11 WPA workers were employed for 30 days improving the school grounds with fencing, landscaping and grading.339
Additionally, during the Great Depression, the California Department of Education used federal emergency relief funds to provide classes for unemployed people who were qualified to teach.

Adult classes were held during the day at several schools in the area, including Clearwater Junior High School. Courses were offered in homemaking; health and physical education; social civics; and cultural education.340
332 “662 Men go to Work Today on Civil Program,” Whittier News, November 28, 1933, 1; “Athletic Field to be Provided for Each of Five Junior Highs,” Lynwood Press, December 29, 1933, 1.
333 “Plans Ordered for Clearwater School,” Press-Telegram, August 25, 1929, 18; “Notice to Contractors,” Lynwood Press, September 10, 1933, 6.
334 “Reopening of the Clearwater Junior High School Today to be Marked by Fine Program,” Clearwater-Hynes Journal, January 25, 1934, 1.
335 “Third Street WPA Unit to Be Completed,” Eastside Journal, August 29, 1940, 1; “WPA Starts 5 New Jobs,” The Whittier News, May 16, 1940, 5.
336 “Council to Ask More Aid Funds,” Los Angeles Times, October 27, 1933, 36. 337 Skutt, 37.
338 “Clearwater School Job Nears Finish,” Press-Telegram, November 26, 1940, 18. 339 “Clearwater Job Near Completion,” Press-Telegram, January 25, 1941, 12. 340 “California Department of Education Provides Classes for Unemployed,” Lynwood Tribune, January 5, 1934, 5.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 89 Paramount High School Yearbook, 1950. Source: Ancestry.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 90 Theme: Industrial Development (1920-1940)
Clearwater-Hynes was strategically located along the Union Pacific Railroad Company’s Salt Lake line – a freight line, primarily, after the Santa Ana passenger line was established – and as a result, industry steadily grew between the first and second World Wars. Additionally, as the population grew in neighboring Los Angeles and Long Beach, industries requiring more space turned their attention to places like Clearwater and Hynes where they could access the railroad, artesian wells, and inexpensive land to grow their businesses.

One newspaper claimed: “It is one of the best spots in the country on which small manufacturing plants could be located: no better shipping facilities could be wanted or desired and there is plenty of water.”341 Clearwater-Hynes proved to be a prime location for industrial growth and expansion, attracting multiple industries and expanding the already present agricultural industry in the area between 1920 and 1940. Specific sectors of this agricultural industry included dairy, cattle, and hay; at the same time, the oil industry was established in the area.

AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY
Between 1920 and 1940, Los Angeles’ population soared, increasing demand for agricultural products while urban development decreased available land for producing foodstuffs. This put Clearwater-Hynes residents in a positive position in the 1920s as they looked to grow and develop the agricultural industry. While the Clearwater-Hynes population also grew during this period, the area’s already well-established agricultural industry grew alongside the population, becoming a center for Los Angeles County’s agricultural output. Known agricultural industries in Clearwater-Hynes between 1920 and 1940 include sugar beet farming, truck farming, turkey and chicken poultry raising enterprises, cattle breeding, dairying, and the importation and sale of hay.

A 1936 WPA map of Los Angeles County documents Clearwater-Hynes land use and demonstrates that the agricultural industry remained the area’s primary focus through the end of the decade.342 It shows that people working in the agriculture industry within Paramount’s current borders were primarily keeping livestock, whether for dairying or breeding, raising poultry or rabbits, and growing crops such as sugar beets, corn, and row crops such as tuber or root vegetables, as well as orchards and bush fruits, such as strawberries.

Dairy
Dairying rose to become the area’s main industry in the period between 1920 and 1940. On the first day of January 1920, a newspaper declared:

The prosperous district embodying Hynes, Clearwater and Bellflower is rapidly becoming one of the richest dairying communities in the Southland. Practically all the milk and butter used in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena and surrounding cities [come] from the contented cows raised in increasing numbers in this district. More interest in dairying has 341 “Clearwater-Hynes has a fine Location and Chance to Grow,” Long Beach Telegram and Long Beach Daily News, March 5, 1922. 342 Land Use Survey Map, County of Los Angeles. Regional Planning Commission, County of Los Angeles, 1936. Works Progress Administration.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 91 been manifested around Hynes, Clearwater and Bellflower this year than in any other activity. The district boasts about 2,500 population. Beet raising continues to be an important activity in this section, although dairying has come to the front as the chief industry.343
In 1921, another newspaper claimed that “dairying is now the predominating activity” in Clearwater-Hynes with “ranch leases for this pursuit at a premium.” 344 Additionally, the article notes that the population of the Hynes, Clearwater, and Bellflower area purportedly grew from 3,000 to 4,000 between 1920 and 1940.345 Dairying became Paramount’s chief industry during this period for two interconnected reasons: population growth and a rapidly advancing dairying industry. Between 1920 and 1940, LA County’s population went from 936,455 to 2,785,643 – a nearly 200% population increase.346 This population growth was from both foreign and domestic immigration that was spurred by World War I’s destruction in Europe as well as those seeking work in the West during the Great Depression.

While the population also steadily grew in the Clearwater-Hynes vicinity during this period, most growth was concentrated in neighboring major urban centers. This resulted in an explosive demand for dairy products, putting Clearwater-Hynes in a very profitable position due to the already well-established dairy infrastructure, water, land, and freight transportation lines.

Dairy farmers met the challenge, bringing the “amount of milk sold in the county…to over 41 million gallons” between 1921 and 1926. In 1925, Los Angeles County was named the number one milk producer in both California and the nation. The dairy industry continued growing between 1927 and 1930, when “the number of milk cows increased by 49 percent.”347 One way that dairy farmers increased production during this period was through the adoption of drylot dairying and corral feeding, dairying techniques introduced to Los Angeles County by Dutch immigrants from the Netherlands.348 Many Dutch immigrants settled in the ClearwaterHynes vicinity, with some 12,000 people claiming Dutch ancestry in Paramount by 1952.349 Coming from the Netherlands, a smaller country with limited lands available for agriculture, dairy farmers innovated the drylot dairy and corral feeding, in which cows were concentrated on small landholdings and fed with purchased feed given to them in a milking stanchion.350 One Dutch immigrant, John Coopman, even returned to his native Holland but only remained for three years before returning to Clearwater to become the owner of a large dairy ranch in the area in 1930.351 Portuguese immigrants, the second largest immigrant group dominating the 343 “Hynes-Clearwater-Bellflower,” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1920. 344 “Hynes-Clearwater-Bellflower,” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1921. 345 “Hynes-Clearwater-Bellflower,” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1921. 346 Jess Gilbert & Kevin Wehr, “Dairy Industrialization in the First Place: Urbanization, Immigration, and Political Economy in Los Angeles County, 1920-1970,” Rural Sociology 68, no.4 (2003), 472. 347 Gilbert & Wehr, 473-474.
348 Trudy Vermeer Selleck, “Land of Dreams and Profits: Social Networks and Economic Success among Dutch Immigrants in Southern California’s Dairy Industry, 1920-1960,” PhD diss., (University of California, Riverside, December 1995), 58-59; Gilbert & Wehr, 474- 475.
349 “Pave street in honor of Dutch queen,” Daily News, April 17, 1952. 350 J Gilbert & Wehr, 471, 473-474.
351 “California Lure Too Much, So He Leaves Holland,” The Long Beach Sun, February 9, 1930.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 92 dairying industry behind the Dutch in Clearwater-Hynes, were also familiar with drylot dairying, further spreading the practice.352
A 1949 article from Westways Magazine by Joe Kugelmas recorded the following history:

One Dutch family living in Paramount could not afford pasture acreage for their cow and so they had her put inside. They fed her on linseed meal, hay and cottonseed instead of sending her to pasture. “Bossy” thrived and soon was grateful that she wasn’t driven out to work every morning. Her meals were served in her room, and she speedily responded by giving off gushing quantities of milk. Soon, the Dutch family started selling the excess milk to neighbors and purchased a second cow to keep up with a sustained demand for dairy products. They found that the forced-feeding technique was the pump primer. They sent word back home to the Netherlands and soon a rush of uncles, cousins, sisters and aunts came to the Paramount area….4,000 families comprise what they call the richest dairy farmers in the world. After two and half years of milking the cows, they are “burned out” and are sold as beef. The Indoor cows at Paramount and the adjacent milk “factories” were found to be healthier, less liable to diseases which lurk in pasturage. The Dutch colony cared for its bossies just as a factory owner does for his machines.353 There were numerous early dairy related enterprises in Clearwater-Hynes, including the Alpine Goat and Cow dairy. The Alpine Goat and Cow dairy was the only certified goat dairy in the state in the early 1920s.354 The company was lauded as a “model of cleanliness, meeting every requirement and standing ace high according to those elected to make tests that will meet with approval of the pure food commission.”355 The Alpine Dairy boasted 200 head of Toggenberg Swiss goats and a large herd of Holstein and Jersey cows. It offered two deliveries daily in the City of Long Beach, as well as constant supply to residents of Clearwater-Hynes.

The California Dairyman was a free publication distributed to producers.356 First produced in Hynes in February 1922 from an office on present-day Paramount Boulevard, the magazine provided reliable information and advice on “breeding and Milk Production; market conditions; activity and announcements furnished by Associations, State, City and County institutions and departments having to do with regulating or promoting dairy and livestock conditions.”357 Transportation of dairy products was important to Clearwater-Hynes farmers, and several operations opened in response. R.E. Robson started one of the first milk delivery services, which was originally headquartered in Downey and served Hynes, Long Beach, and other surrounding areas. In 1932, the business was sold to California Milk Transport, Inc. At that time, 352 Galvin & Associates for the City of Ontario Planning Department, “The City of Ontario’s Historic Context for the New Model Colony Area,” September 2004, 14.; Frederick G. Bohme, “The Portuguese in California,” California Historical Society Quarterly 35, no. 3 (1956), 242-243.
353 Excerpted from The City of Ontario’s Historic Context for the New Model Colony Area, prepared by Galvin & Associates for the City of Ontario Planning Department (September 2004), 14.
354 “Milk Company to Start Operations,” Los Angeles Evening Express, June 6, 1922, 35. 355 “Clearwater-Hynes Has Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” Long Beach Telegram, March 5, 1922, 27. 356 The historic address for the headquarters was 280 S. Paramount Boulevard, status unknown. 357 “Our Aim,” The California Dairyman 1, no.1 (1922), 1.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 93 the company’s services were expanded to 26 pieces of equipment over two routes.358 Operations relocated from Downey to
Clearwater in 1933.359
The 1929 stock market crash hit the
west coast dairy industry in the
early 1930s, when many people
drastically reduced the amount of
milk and other dairy products they
purchased. As a result, the
purchasers and distributors of
Clearwater-Hynes dairy products
attempted to stabilize sales to
consumers by reducing the price
paid for milk from the dairy farmers.

Farmers fought against this practice
and a chaotic and competitive dairy
market ensued; this effectively
worsened conditions and costs for
everyone, with the farmers suffering the most. The atmosphere became so heated that negotiation efforts resulted in fears of violence and desperate appeals to the Governor of California.360
The California Department of Agriculture intervened in August 1932 after months of milk being sold to the public for as little as “five cents and even free” with dairy farmers suffering the cost.361 The Los Angeles “milk wars” ended when a program presented by the state was signed by nearly all producers and distributors which set prices for farmers, distributors, grocery stores and home deliveries under the newly formed Los Angeles Milk Arbitration Board.362 Eventually, these early government interventions within the Dairy Industry resulted in state laws regulating dairy industry pricing.363 As the industry stabilized, dairy farmers focused on improving and modernizing their set ups, switching to “stainless steel and tile walls…geared toward cleanliness and efficiency” as well as opting for the use of vacuum pump milking machines.364With World War II looming, the dairymen of Los Angeles County were preparing. 358 “Robson Milk Line Ends Tire Trouble,” Long Beach Sun, March 9, 1930, 11; “Transportation Approved,” Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1932, 14.
359 “New Building Occupied,” Los Angeles Times, October 3, 1933, 21. 360 William J. Kuhrt, “The Story of California’s Milk Stabilization Laws: From Chaos to Stability in the California Milk Industry,” Agriculture Bulletin 54, no.4 (1965), 176-179.
361 “State Inquiry of Milk Price War Started,” The Pasadena Post, August 9, 1932. 362 Kuhrt, 179-180.
363 Kuhrt, 184, 189.
364 Gilbert & Wehr, 480.

California Milk Transport, Inc. Truck, 1935. Source: University of Southern California.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 94 Bottling Machine and Dairy Cows with Milking Machines at the Thompson Dairy in Hynes, c. 1939.

Source: Huntington Digital Library.

Cattle
By the late 1930s, the land in present-day Paramount was still primarily utilized for agriculture, with the majority related to livestock. While most of the livestock categorizations were likely dairies, a cattle industry emerged alongside the dairy industry and centered in Hynes during the early- to mid-twentieth century. As such, the growth of the cattle industry was directly related to the prominence of the dairy industry. Hynes specifically became a cattle center in which dairy farmers would come from all over Los Angeles County and other surrounding cities to learn about, purchase, and sell cattle. By 1921, the Rhoades & Rhoades Sales Pavilion, a staging center located at Hynes, hosted cattle auctions almost daily.

One early, significant rancher in Hynes was Albert Sorenson. Originally born in Anaheim, Sorenson moved to Hynes at the turn-of-the-twentieth century and began a business in buying and selling livestock. As recorded by the Long Beach Telegram, he was regarded “throughout Southern California as the ‘cattle king.’” Sorenson was lauded for his “shrewdness,” which helped him place the title of “‘blue ribbon’ ranch where at any time can be found from 60 to 75 head of Holstein beauties. Once a month he conducts a sale which is attended by large crowds from different cities and towns in this end of the state.”365 By 1931, in an article titled “Hynes Assumes Importance as Cattle Market,” The Long Beach Sun wrote:

If this community, now holding title as the largest hay market in the world, today laid claim to new honors as “the second largest cattle market in California.” Chamber of commerce workers of Clearwater-Hynes base their statement on the fact that 107 carloads or 2675 head of cattle were unloaded at various local sales yards here in the past eight months.
366
365 “Clearwater-Hynes Has Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” Long Beach Telegram, March 5, 1922. 366 “Hynes Assumes Importance as Cattle Market,” Long Beach Sun, October 21, 1931, 7.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 95 Advertisements in the California Dairyman for Cattle & Dairy Cows for sale in Hynes, various dates. Source:

California Dairyman.

Hay
Like the cattle industry’s emergence and dominance, the hay industry of the Clearwater-Hynes district succeeded because of the large and powerful dairy industry there. As early as 1898, entrepreneurs in the Clearwater-Hynes vicinity were experimenting with agricultural technology that would allow farmers to increase their production. That was the year the Clearwater Silage company filed articles of incorporation with the intention to “purchase and build machinery for the purpose of cutting into small bits the corn fodder and other kinds of feed…to be packed away in tanks or bins built for the purpose, and in this form will keep for many months in a condition that makes it most excellent feed.”367 And while this early industrial pursuit related to and aided in the emergence of the Clearwater-Hynes early dominance in dairying, it was not until the period between 1920 and 1940 that a number of factors converged to result in the height of the hay industry in Clearwater-Hynes.

The introduction, widespread adoption, and dominance of drylot dairying directly resulted in the hay industry in Hynes. Like the cattle industry, the dairy farmers were nothing without their cows and certainly nothing without feed for their animals. As the dairy industry advanced, farmers worked out specific feed allotments to best maximize milk production. As herd sizes increased on fixed landholdings in the Clearwater-Hynes vicinity, land that might have previously been used for open grazing was utilized solely for milk production. Clearwater-Hynes dairy farmers relied heavily upon the Hynes hay market to feed their animals, produce milk, and maintain their dominant position in the dairy industry.

Clearwater and Hynes both had stops on the Los Angeles Salt Lake railroad line, which was primarily used for hauling freight during this period, giving dairy, cattle, and hay industry workers an advantage over other rural Los Angeles County towns and cities vying for economic dominance in the agricultural industry. Dairy farmers could easily access the Hynes Hay market which sprung up as a result of the repeated, constant, and sheer volume of hay being hauled 367 “Practical Scheme: Corporation Formed to Assist Farmers in Solving the Feed Problem,” Los Angeles Herald, June 25, 1898.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 96 into Hynes during this period. Hay imported into Hynes primarily came from the Antelope Valley; trucking charges from the valley to Hynes were $6 per ton in 1924.368 Hay from the Antelope Valley and other locations around Los Angeles were trucked to Hynes, where they were temporarily stored in large lots. In these lots, salesmen and dairymen bartered for the feed in cartload lots. From these negotiations, the national hay and feed prices were reported daily. In addition to alfalfa hay, animal feeds from across the world were also supplied at the Hynes market. Examples included babassu nut meal from Brazil; palm kernel meal from Africa; and corpra meal from the Philippines, among others. The hay market also brought entertainment to Hynes in the form of dairy cattle shows, horse shows, feed and milk judging contests, parades, and the Hynes Holland games, with over 40,000 people attending some events.369
Hay Lot, no date. Source: City of Paramount.

Quickly, Hynes rose to become the largest hay market in the United States. The Long Beach Sun recorded that over the last nine months of 1931, Hynes had “wrested from Kansas City, the former record holder, the title of ‘world’s largest hay market.’”370 That year, reports held that Hynes had an average of 65 carloads of hay per day, with an aggregate worth of the weekly importations, computed on an average of 15 tons per carload, is in excess of $78,000.371 From 1939 to 1940, Hynes won the world record of tonnage handed during a year, with over 800 million pounds of hay sold.372
The success of the industry brought many competitors who tried to break into the hay market.

Rhoades & Rhoads, a company originally located out of Los Angeles, ran the California Dairyman magazine, which had a circulation of over 3,5000 people in Southern California by the late 1920s. In addition to covering the dairy and cattle industry, the magazine featured the hay industry by the 1930s. In a 1932 advertisement, the company claimed that by advertising with them, they could directly sell to interested dairymen, instead of going through the hay market. “Eliminate the middleman’s profit. Sell direct to the consumer… We are bonded for your protection.”373
368 “The ‘Green Gold’ of the Antelope Valley,” Los Angeles Times, November 2, 1924, 143. 369 “Eighth Annual Hay and Dairy Fiesta at Haynes Aug. 29-31,” Van Nuys News, August 22, 1940, 18. 370 “Hynes Becomes Leading Hay Market,” Long Beach Sun, June 24, 1931. 371 “Hynes Becomes Leading Hay Market,” Long Beach Sun, June 24, 1931. 372 “Eighth Annual Hay and Dairy Fiesta at Haynes Aug. 29-31,” Van Nuys News, August 22, 1940, 18. 373 “A Cash Markey for Your Alfalfa Hay,” Imperial Valley Press, April 21, 1932, 12.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 97 Hay Trucks during Hay and Dairy Festival Parade, no date. Source: City of Paramount.

A living remnant of the hay market in present-day Paramount is the Hay Tree, which was planted in 1883. Designated in 2003 as a California Historical Landmark, a nearby plaque bears the inscription:

The towns of Hynes and Clearwater, later incorporated as Paramount, were the center of the hay and dairy industry in Los Angeles and Orange Counties from the 1920s through the 1960s. Considered the “Milk Shed of Los Angeles”, Paramount developed into the largest hay market in the world. Each day the price of hay sold here was quoted by brokers in Chicago and New York City as the International Standard. Major hay sellers would gather each morning under this 120-year-old Camphor tree to determine the day’s price.

The Hay Tree was also a cherished spot where truckers, workers, and farmers gathered for a lazy lunch or a spirited game of cards. The Camphor is the last remnant of the "World’s Largest Hay Market.”374

OIL INDUSTRY
In the 1920s, oil was certainly in the front of mind throughout Los Angeles County, if not the entire nation. With the invention, progress, and popularity of the automobile, the need to acquire more oil to power personal vehicles was paramount. Edward Doheny’s discovery of oil north of downtown Los Angeles in 1892 set off an oil prospecting boom throughout the city, filling the skyline with tall oil derricks. While these fields continued to produce oil, peaking in 1901 with approximately 830,000 barrels of oil per day, the city’s oil production generally slowed despite the state’s continued oil industry growth, with production reaching 70 million barrels per year in 1910.375
374 California Historical Landmark No. 1038. Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in Cooperation with the City of Paramount. Designated 2003, plaque placed June 2004. 375 LSA Associates, Inc., SurveyLA: Industrial Development, 1850-1980, prepared for the City of Los Angeles, September 2011, rev.

February 2018, 82. https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/ad40500b-cf5a-436e-8c80-a81606544c01/IndustrialDevelopment_1850- 1980.pdf
Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 98 With the discovery of large oil fields at Huntington Beach in 1920, Long Beach and Santa Fe Springs in 1921, and Dominguez Hills in 1923, Los Angeles was again engulfed in the search for oil, this time throughout the county.376
In pursuit of oil wealth in the Clearwater-Hynes
vicinity, multiple local oil companies were
founded. One example was the Triune Oil
Company, with headquarters near the
intersection of the Pacific Electric passenger rail
line and the Salt Lake / Union Pacific freight rail
line.377 Other local companies include the
Huntington-Clearwater Oil Company, located
between present-day Paramount Boulevard and
Cerritos Avenue; the Mid-Oil Home tract at the
intersection of Paramount Boulevard and
Somerset; 378 and the Midvein Oil Refining
Company, at the corner of Downey Avenue and
Somerset.379
Both the Huntington-Clearwater Oil Company
and the Mid-Oil Home tract operated as
subdivisions where purchasers could buy a
homesite that came with oil wells already drilled
on the property. Depending on the volume
produced, homeowners would receive royalties.380
In addition to oil pumping, oil homesite, and oil
refining companies in Clearwater-Hynes, a
manufacturing plant was established in 1922 to
make tools for the oil industry invented by Clearwater resident William Bessolo. Though the planned 9,000-square-foot facility was never realized, the first building was converted to a warehouse for storing and shipping the tools to oil fields in the area.381 376 “Oil and Gas Production: History in California,” pages 4-6. 377 C.S. & E.M Forncrook. Views of oil fields around Los Angeles. [S.l.: C.S. & E.M. Forncrook, 1922] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2006627695/.
378 “Soap Factory at Clearwater May Increase Output,” Press-Telegram, December 31, 1922. 379 “The Midvein Oil company,” Long Beach Telegram and Long Beach Daily News, December 24, 1922. 380 “World’s Deepest Oil Well,” Long Beach Telegram and Long Beach Daily News, April 22, 1923.; “The Handwriting on the Wall,” Long Beach Telegram and Long Beach Daily News, November 19, 1922. 381 “New Shops to Have 900 Feet of Floor Space in Ten Acres,” Long Beach Telegram and Long Beach Daily News, June 22, 1922.; “Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. Making Oil Well Tools on Coast,” Oil Trade Journal December 1922. Pg. 40. Volume 13.

Advertisement for Huntington-Clearwater
Homesites with Oil Wells, April 22, 1923. Source:

Long Beach Telegram & Long Beach Daily News.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 99 Views of Oil Fields around Los Angeles by C.S. & E.M. Forncrook. 1922. Source: Library of Congress.

OTHER INDUSTRIES
In addition to its agricultural and oil exports, Paramount was also home to several other industries in the 1920s and 1930s. As recorded by the Press-Telegram in 1930:

An ice cream factory, new mortuary, expansion of a feed and fuel company, a new $10,000 post office, an ice company, large lumber company, a large farm produce packing and shipping company, a new and large electric company, tile plant, and other lesser projects mark the progress of the community during the past few years.382 Examples of new industries in Clearwater-Hynes include the California Sanitation Products Company, founded in 1919 (later the Hallford Manufacturing Company), which produced hand soap for industrial purposes; the Globe Tile Company, founded in 1926, which produced tile and porcelain; the Pacific Tile & Porcelain Company, founded in 1935, which also produced tile and porcelain; and the ‘Quality’ Bottling works of Hynes, founded in 1921, which used pure cane sugar and artesian water to produce such popular syrup brands as ‘grape mash’ and ‘Cascade ginger ale.’ 383Additionally, patrons could take their items to the Hynes laundry at the corner of Jefferson and Ohio Streets beginning in December 1920.384 The Hynes Community Ice company was founded in 1927 with a $50,000 ice plant.385 In 1933, Clearwater-Hynes and Long Beach ice companies engaged in a so-called “ice war,” wherein Long Beach workers sabotaged their competitor’s ice loads. In 1933, at least four drivers of the Community Ice Company of Hynes were the victims of ice robberies by “gangsters” using “racketeering methods.”386 In April, several Long Beach ice men stole an ice truck from its driver, 382 “Clearwater and Hynes Once Part of Big Ranch,” Press-Telegram, December 31, 1930, 63. 383 “Soap Factory at Clearwater May Increase Output,” Press-Telegram, December 31, 1922.; “Incorporations,” Southwest Builder and Contractor Volume 53, April 4, 1919; Wanted Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 1926, 33; “Clearwater-Hynes has a Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” Long Beach Telegram, March 5, 1922, 21. 384 “Clearwater-Hynes Has Fine Location and Chance to Grow,” Long Beach Telegram, March 5, 1922, 27. 385 “Hynes – Community Ice Company Construction $50,000 ice plan on West Jackson Street,” Monrovia Daily News, April 21, 1927. 386 “Police Investigate Asserted ‘Ice War,’” Long Beach Sun, April 18, 1933, 9.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 100 dumped the load of ice on the highway, and overturned the truck in an oil field on the outskirts of town. The act was described by local newspapers as an “act of violence growing out of the Long Beach-Hynes ice war.” Due to insufficient evidence, the three men brought to trial for the grand theft were dismissed.387 A few days later, another Hynes ice trucker was pulled from his truck and beaten severely. “‘You will sell ice in Long Beach will you… You will cut ice prices, will you?’ the men were quoted as saying.”388 Once the county sheriff became involved, incidents ceased by the end of the year.

Two notable Paramount companies both began during this period in 1929: Macco Corporation and Carlton Forge Works (previously Carlton Bit and Forge Works). Macco Corporation started as a lumber yard on Paramount Boulevard and went on to become a major corporation with offices in Paramount and operations throughout the United States.389 Their name changed to Paramount Pacific following a 1967 sale.390 Carlton Forge Works was first established by Allen Carlton Sr. to sell oil field equipment but diversified throughout the years, responding to evolving needs.391 Their offices and manufacturing plant have been located at 7743 Adams Street (extant) in Paramount since at least 1952.392
“Industrial Center Plans for Hynes Materialize,” 1927. Source: Press-Telegram. 387 “Judge Frees 2 in Ice War Theft Charge,” Long Beach Sun, May 12, 1933, 9; “Icemen Freed on Charge of Grand Theft,” Long Beach Sun, May 13, 1933, 2.
388 “Law Officers Take Hand in Ice Outbreak,” Long Beach Sun, April 19, 1933, 12. 389 “Production of Wood Normal,” News-Pilot, March 4, 1929; Pitchie, 21. 390 “Macco Name Changed to Paramount Pacific,” Press-Telegram, April 23, 1967. 391 “About Us,” Carlton Forge Works, accessed April 2024, https://www.carltonforgeworks.com/about/. 392 Historical address was 1220 West Adams Street; “Bit and Forge Plant Business Expands,” Clearwater-Hynes Journal, November 29, 1934, 1; “Industrial Facilities Hit Highest Peak in History,” Press-Telegram, June 15, 1952.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 101 On December 26, 1939, the Clearwater-Hynes Chamber of Commerce commenced a “midwinter ice carnival” to celebrate the opening of a new outdoor skating rink in Hynes.393 The rink was owned and operated by Frank and Lawrence Zamboni, both Hynes residents, and was notable for being “one of the largest outdoor rinks in the county” as well as “first to use sheet metal freezing units instead of pipe
refrigeration.”394
The Zamboni brothers opened Iceland using
skills acquired in the electricity and ice
industries: First installing refrigeration units in
the Clearwater-Hynes area dairies to keep milk
cool and eventually building an ice
manufacturing plant to keep produce cool
during transit. Demand for block ice waned as
technology evolved so the brothers chose to
construct a skating rink in Hynes.395Within
three months of opening, the rink’s popularity
was so great that Frank Zamboni, the brother
serving as President of Iceland, announced the
construction of bleachers around the rink.396
The large Dutch population in ClearwaterHynes particularly enjoyed Iceland and held their “‘Elf Steden Tocht’ ice skating race there in 1941. A racing event in the Netherlands where skaters raced on the frozen canals and rivers of Holland from city to city, the Iceland rink was substituted to continue the tradition and
pass on ice skating traditions to Dutch
American children growing up in
Southern California.397
393 “Ice Carnival to Open Rink,” Daily News, December 26, 1939. 394 “Hynes Chamber Ice Carnival to Open New Rink,” Press-Telegram, December 23, 1939. 395 “The Zamboni Story,” Zamboni.com, accessed April 29, 2024, https://zamboni.com/about/zamboni-archives/the-zamboni-story/. 396 “Bleachers to be Built at Iceland Rink,” Independent, March 8, 1940. 397 “Friesland Eleven Cities Contest Set,” Press-Telegram, January 21, 1941.

Iceland Construction, 1939. Source: LA Kings Insider.

Model A of the Zamboni Ice Resurfacing Machine. Source: Paramount Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 102 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
.

Aerial Photograph of Iceland, 1940. Source: LA Kings Insider.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 103 Theme: Infrastructure (1920-1940)
Infrastructure boomed during the 1920s and 1940s. In 1935, N.B. Haydon, an early settler and first acting Deputy Fire Warden, sarcastically recounted the changes in Clearwater-Hynes over the last twenty years:

We were getting along alright under existing facilities until someone moved in here and thought of SEWERS, or maybe it was a rainy day and several thought of it.

Anyhow we now have a well built sewer system connected with the metropolitan system and our troubles are over, for only a few more payments and the thing is ours.

We got along very well with lanterns and coal-oil lamps until a few fellers induced the So. Cal. Edison Co. to build into our community and now we have one of the best lighting systems in the Southeast, with charges as low as any and lower than any incorporated city.

We wanted to use up the rest of our trees and old wood for fuel, which would have kept the place cleaner by burning trash, etc. but NO SIR the women wanted GAS, so you other married men know we have gas, and served by the So. Cal. Gas. Co. with a constant supply of natural gas at a very favorable rate. I don’t know, maybe the women were right.398

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Transportation diversified in Clearwater-Hynes, as in much of the country, during the 1920s to 1930s. While many relied on railroad services prior to this period, the rise in bus and automobile transportation increased residents’ mobility and improved the movement of agricultural, industrial, and commercial goods in the region.

In 1919, a potential issue for the railroad in Clearwater arose when a petition filed with the Railroad Commission by the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad claimed there was insufficient business at the Clearwater station to justify its maintenance. According to the petition, Clearwater station was solely used as a beet loading station. This was likely because so many goods from the area were shipped from Hynes station, slightly further to the south. The Railroad Commission ultimately denied the petition, and instead suggested that the Clearwater and Hynes stations be combined.399 In 1924, the railroad line received some improvements with the replacement of its poles and the installation of catenary trolly construction.400 398 N. B. Haydon, “Old Timer Gives Interesting as Well as Historical Facts on Early Days in the Community,” Hynes-Clearwater Journal, September 6, 1935, 1. On file at the California State University, Dominguez-Hills archives. 399 “Would Abandon Clearwater Sta.,” Long Beach Telegram and Long Beach Daily News, June 30, 1919; “May Combine Stations” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1920.
400 “Red Line Plans Modernization of Facilities,” Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1924.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 104 Beginning c. 1920, stage buses were available from Long Beach to Clearwater and Hynes through the Crown Stage Company. The company operated on a 5-cent fare basis on a regular schedule. Another firm operated by Joe Bozoff and Acop Tarvoff began operation of an auto stage line between Los Angeles and Clearwater-Hynes in 1922.401 In 1927, Lang Motor Bus Company (1927) bus lines were established.

The rise of the automobile also ushered in
major transportation changes in ClearwaterHynes. Chief amongst these was the paving of roads and the opening of local highways.

Washington Boulevard was paved as far as the
Los Angeles River bridge by 1922, which aided
Clearwater-Hynes merchants in moving their
wares. Within a few years, Ocean Avenue (now
Paramount Boulevard) was paved to a width of
seventy feet, providing a major improvement
for the community’s principal north-south
traffic artery. Atlantic and Pacific Avenues,
both already paved thoroughfares, were
extended northwards towards Los Angeles and
Pasadena.402
Alongside paved streets came sidewalks, which
ushered in the community’s transition “from
the country-town era” into a modern town.403
According to a newspaper in 1925, “Other
highway improvements also are contemplated
which indicate that the entire Hynes-Clearwater area is just on the eve of a great development era.”404

CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE
Other civic improvements in Clearwater-Hynes included the completion of a major sewer project, street lighting, and tree planting. In 1925, a $12,500,000 metropolitan sewer project was undertaken to improve the sanitation needs of Los Angeles County outside the city. One hundred and eight water hydrants were installed in 1929.405 Streetlighting, first introduced in Clearwater-Hynes in the early part of the twentieth century, continued to improve into the 1920s. In 1925, a large celebration of 6,000 people was held to honor a “large new district, two and a half miles by one and a half,” which was entirely lit by streetlights.406 Tree planting sought to beautify the town and included a 1930 effort to obtain 401 “Hynes-Clearwater Bus Firm Files a Charge with Board,” Long Beach Telegram, November 22, 1922, 24. 402 “Long Beach to Open Highways,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1925, 4.; “Long Beach Firm Bidder on Pavement,” Press-Telegram, February 6, 1925, 6.
403 “San Diego County is Booming,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1924, D8. 404 "Cream Checks Make Hynes Prosperous,” Press-Telegram, October 1, 1925, 17. 405 “Hynes-Clearwater,” Long Beach Sun, October 21, 1929, 16. 406 “Clearwater and Hynes,” Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1925.

Advertisement for Crown Stage and Long BeachWhittier Stage, 1920. Source: Long Beach Telegram.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 105 trees through the U.S. Forest Service.407 The effort was successful, and the forestry department planted and cared for trees on Monroe and Pennsylvania Streets.408

COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE
In 1921, the Federal Telegraphy Company erected a large wireless radio plant in ClearwaterHynes. Radio, which did not require the construction of costly wire lines, was increasingly hailed as a preferred method of communication for remote or distant locations. The Clearwater plant was one in a chain of substantial radio stations erected along the Pacific Coast that connected several important cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma. The “efficient and well-equipped” Clearwater transmitting plant “created wonderment at Clearwater,” was “part of the world’s first inter-city system,” and gained a reputation as “one of the largest wireless stations in the country.”409

WATER CONTROL INFRASTRUCTURE
In 1940, the control of water continued to be central to Paramount’s infrastructural development. In March 1940, the United Community Association of Clearwater advocated for the construction of a bridge over the Los Angeles River at Rosecrans Avenue, which would connect them to neighboring Compton. It was to replace a bridge lost to a flood in 1914.410 The bridge was constructed in the post war years, between 1947 and 1949.411 In April 1940, Los Angeles County acquired eighty-eight acres of land near Pico Rivera to supplement the county flood control district and expand their spreading grounds.412 Development of spreading grounds allowed the county to conserve stormwater and aid in refilling naturally occurring groundwater stores. This development was of particular necessity to Paramount’s agriculture and other industrialists who relied on groundwater for their work. Clearwater-Hynes residents reported that water levels were already rising with the county’s previous flood control efforts.413 In 1941, Los Angeles County was changed forever when the Colorado River Aqueduct was officially completed, thus ensuring a consistent water supply for Los Angeles’ urban population.414 Local Paramount contractors, Macco Construction Company, received one of the final pipeline construction contracts in 1940 which brought Colorado River water to Southern California.415 Another crew out of Hynes, the Artukovich Brothers, also received a Colorado River Aqueduct pipeline contract in 1940 for the “construction of 10 miles of cast iron pipe lines running from the south portal of the Hollywood Tunnel to Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.”416 407 “Trees Sought for Streets at Hynes,” Long Beach Sun, May 14, 1930, 8. 408 “New Street Name Given C.C. Okeh,” Long Beach Sun, June 20, 1931, 10. 409 “Direct Commercial Radio to North,” Long Beach Telegram and Long Beach Daily News, December 11, 1921; “Coastwise Air Communication Line Adds Unit,” Los Angeles Times, June 11, 1922. 410 “Rosecrans Bridge Plan Due Study,” Press-Telegram, March 16, 1940, 5. 411 Aerial Image Flight C_11351, Frame 8-40, Scale 1:24,000, May 1, 1947, UCSB Library.; U.S. Geological Survey, South Gate Quadrangle Topographic Map, 1949.
412 “Ranch Land to be Purchased,” Pomona Progress Bulletin, March 30, 1940, 7.; “Bio Rio Hondo Tract Bought,” Pomona Progress Bulletin, April 4, 1940, 13.
413 413 “Ranch Land to be Purchased,” Pomona Progress Bulletin, March 30, 1940, 7 414 “Colorado River Aqueduct,” Water Education Foundation, accessed April 28, 2024. 415 “Aqueduct Pipeline Contract Let,” Daily News, July 13, 1940. 416 “Contracts Awarded for Aqueduct Lines,” Long Beach Sun, July 1, 1940, 6.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 106 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 107 VI. WORLD WAR II, 1941-1945
Summary Statement
Clearwater and Hynes continued to grow and prosper into the mid-twentieth century. During the early 1940s, conversation around finding a single name for the Clearwater-Hynes community gained momentum. Residents were sharply divided over the need for a unifying name. Options included Union City, Hyneswater, Crosserville, and Dairydale. As previously mentioned, Charles P. Koopmans advocated for the name Paramount, while some residents suggested “Koopman’s Corners,” since he started the whole discussion.417 Largely an agricultural hub, the United States’ entry into World War II marked a change for Clearwater-Hynes. Industries that had become established over the previous decades, including the dairy and cattle industries, were in demand during the war to feed hungry troops. As a result, although development in many sectors was limited during this period, these agricultural products were sought after. Conversely, residential construction was largely halted for the duration of the war to divert essential materials to the war effort. Civilians and troops alike rallied to the war effort, with local fallen heroes memorialized in the city to come.

This context examines Clearwater-Hynes’ role in World War II from the establishment of several schools for training efforts to the general development (and lack thereof) in the towns during the war. It does not cover commercial development, which was largely absent from the community during World War II.

Historical Background
During World War II, all eyes in Southern California turned to the war effort. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941 resulted in deep concerns about Japanese attacks in Southern California. The Clearwater and Hynes Japanese populations working on farms were forcibly removed from their homes, sent to makeshift assembly centers, then transported to prison camps in remote locations.

Air defense measures even came to Clearwater and Hynes. In 1943 and 1944, anti-aircraft guns and searchlights were placed in the parking lot of the Hynes D.E.S. Hall—and were even reportedly fired one night. Men in the Clearwater-Hynes community formed a state militia unit in 1942. In support of the war effort, C.R. Nevis, a Hynes merchant, was named campaign chairman for the United Service Organizations in the Hynes and Clearwater areas.

With all available materials going to the war effort, a moratorium was placed on residential buildings for anything other than war workers’ housing. Clearwater-Hynes’ proximity to the shipyards in Long Beach may have resulted in some population growth; however, it does not appear to have been a period of significant expansion for present-day Paramount. Only one notable development, Happy Homes, was completed during this period. 417 “Clearwater and Hynes Shaken by Nam Suggestion,” Press Telegram, October 2, 1940, B-6.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 108 One area of development that did not entirely stop during the war was the construction of educational and training facilities. Two schools in present-day Paramount were constructed by the federal government during World War II under the Lanham Act of 1942, also known as the Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act, which allowed the government to build the school to accommodate the growing defense industry. In present-day Paramount, the government built the Grove Avenue Elementary School, originally part of the Lynwood School District, and the Major Lynn H. Mokler School, named after a fallen local World War II hero.

JAPANESE RESIDENTS AND THE NISEI JAPANESE BAPTIST CHURCH OF CLEARWATER Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. government declared prominent Japanese American businessmen, clergy, schoolteachers, and others to be enemy aliens. That month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation instructed local police that all “alien Japanese” must remain in their homes at night, must not congregate, and only one family member could go to the store. Additionally, any Japanese driving during the hours after dark would be apprehended for identification. 418
On February 18, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This directive authorized the Secretary of War and any military commander designated by him “to prescribe military areas…from which any or all persons may be excluded.”419 Although the order did not specify the exclusion of Japanese Americans, the intention was clear.420 Several prisons were constructed to aid with the forced removal and incarceration of persons of Japanese descent in California. Processing centers and temporary housing were needed while the construction of prisons could be built. Most Clearwater residents appear to have been imprisoned at Rohwer, though some were held in Poston, AZ; Gila River, AZ; Manzanar, CA; Brighton, CO; and Granada, CO prison camps or other relocation centers across the Western United States.421
Formed in the late 1930s, the Nisei Japanese Baptist Church in Clearwater (8043 Madison Avenue, extant) was in operation until at least 1959.422 In 1941, a newspaper article titled “Police Met with Japanese Situation,” recorded that “Lynwood police were confronted on Christmas eve with their first Japanese complication since the outbreak of the war.”423 According to the article, 12 young people and pastor Kazuo Harper Sakaue from the Clearwater Japanese Baptist Church were taken to the Lynwood police station for identification. All of those detained were American-born and reportedly told police “’We are glad to have this identification made.’ ‘We are not embarrassed or chagrined.’ ‘We have nothing to hide.’ ‘We will do anything we can to help.’”424 The church was headed by Reverend Kazuo Harper Sakaue, a Japanese American resident of Terminal Island prior to moving to Clearwater. Sakaue was enrolled as a divinity 418 “Police Met with Japanese Situation,” Lynwood Press, December 26, 1941, 1. 419 Brian Nilya, “Executive Order 9066, in Densho Encyclopedia, accessed May 13, 2024. 420 City of Los Angeles, Office of Historic Resources, Japanese Americans in Los Angeles, 1869-1970, August 2018, 50. 421 Clearwater Clarion Call: Clearwater Baptist Church News II, no. 11 (November-December 1943), 1; Clearwater Clarion Call:

Clearwater Baptist Church News III, no. 1 (January-February 1944), 1. 422 U.S. City Directory, Compton, 1940, 418; U.S. City Directory, Paramount, 1956, 41; “Churches’ Christmas Parade Set,” PressTelegram, December 10, 1959. 423 “Police Met with Japanese Situation,” Lynwood Press, December 26, 1941, 1. 424 “Police Met with Japanese Situation,” Lynwood Press, December 26, 1941, 1.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 109 student at the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School in the 1940s. Prior to World War II, he lived on present-day Orizaba Avenue (status unknown).425
During World War II, Sakaue and others of the community were forcibly incarcerated at the Rohwer Japanese Prison Camp in Arkansas. While incarcerated, Sakaue married Sophie Toyo Shizume and volunteered for the Rohwer Federated Christian Church. At the church, he was the only English-speaking pastor, serving alongside six Japanese-speaking ministers.426 In 1942, he was photographed for the Knoxville News-Sentinel and was quoted as saying: “We pray for the President of the United States and for Divine guidance for him in solving the trying problems which face him in the successful conduct of the war.”427 He also authored the “Clearwater Clarion Call,” a
newspaper for Japanese and Japanese Americans who
were interned in prison camps across the country. Each
issue announced the birthdays of congregants, as well as the prison camps where they were imprisoned. It also
included messages from congregants and others in the
community, which shared news of their location and
helped friends and families stay connected while
separated. In 1943, Sakaue took a church business trip to the Jerome Relocation Center and Brighton Military
Camp. The purpose of his trip was to contact “relocated folks” as well as “local church groups, encouraging them to accept nisei into their congregation.”428
Following his release from the prison camp, Sakaue
returned to Clearwater-Hynes, where he continued to
lead the Nisei Japanese Baptist Church from 1947 to
1951. Sakaue and his family resided at 15338 Paramount
Boulevard (not extant).
425 The historic address of his residence was 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue. 426“Kazuo Harper Sakaue,” World War II Draft Cards, 1940, Ancestry.com; “Marriage License Coupon,” no. 009738, June 16, 1945, State of Arkansas, Ancestry.com; Tom Sugi “Rohwer,” Stones That Speak, March 28, 2022, accessed March 27, 2024, https://tomsugi.com/rohwer/.
427 “’Our Country is U.S.,’ Say Japanese-Americans,” Knoxville News-Sentinel, November 22, 1942, 38. 428 Clearwater Clarion Call: Clearwater Baptist Church News II, no. 9 (August 25, 1943), 1.

Reverend Kazuo Harper Sakaue while at
Rohwer Prison Camp, 1942. Source: The
Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 110 World War II Registration Card for Kazuo H. Sakaue, n.d. Source: Ancestry.com.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 111 Theme: Residential Development (1941-1945)
Residential development was very limited during World War II as critical building materials could be diverted to the war effort. Residences were typically small, as efficient construction was of the utmost concern. Some residences built during this period were likely intended to serve as worker housing, to assist the war effort by providing reasonable accommodations for people employed in war industries in Paramount and nearby communities, like Long Beach. As a result, extant residences built during this period are rare.

HAPPY HOMES (TRACT 11595, 12562, AND 14327)
In February 1941, Ed Krist (1891-1956) subdivided Tract 12562 bordered by the north side of Mendy Street to the north, railway tracks to the south, the east side of
Façade Avenue to the east and Garfield Avenue to the
west. Krist came to Los Angeles after World War I,
working as a carpenter. He formed the Ed Krist Company
and began building what he branded as “Happy Homes.”
The small 2-bedroom, mostly Minimal Traditional style
homes were available for sale for as little as $21 per
month.429 In August of the same year, Krist developed a 68-parcel rectangular tract bordered by Rood Street to
the north, the south side of Lionel Street to the south, and Garfield Avenue on the east.

The Paramount developments are among his earliest
tracts. Krist went on to develop Happy Homes in
Compton, Norwalk, Artesia, Lakewood, Pomona, La
Puente and West Covina. Florine Avenue was named
after his wife. No architect is currently identified with these homes. Although development was mostly limited
to the year immediately prior to major World War II
efforts, it also continued immediately after the war. In 1949, Krist developed Tract 14327, another small, square, self-contained tract of 50 parcels.

Ed Krist, developer of the 1941 Happy
Homes subdivision. Source: Find-A-Grave
Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 112 Theme: Civic and Institutional Development (1941-1945)

CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS
Clearwater-Hynes rallied to the efforts of World War II. In 1942, residents in the ClearwaterHynes community formed a state militia unit.430 Over 400 residents from the area were in military service during the war, and in 1944 the community began planning a World War II memorial.431 Major Lynn H. Mokler Post No. 3916 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars was established in 1944.

The post was named after a local World War II hero, Major Mokler (1919-1943), an Army Air Force flyer who completed 27 bombing missions
over Germany and Nazi-occupied territory. He
received the Distinguished Flying Cross medal to
honor his efforts in the war. In 1946, the post
purchased two lots on the northeast corner of
Jackson and Colorado Avenue to build a Veterans
of Foreign Wars (V.F.W) hall.432 A monument still
stands to veterans at the site in front of City Hall.

A new post office at 518 Paramount Boulevard
was dedicated in 1941. Clearwater Park was
dedicated in 1944. Situated adjacent to the
Clearwater Junior High School, the 10-acre site
had over 165 trees.433

SCHOOLS
Two schools in present-day Paramount were constructed by the federal government during World War II. Under the Lanham Act in 1942, the federal government built the Grove Avenue Elementary School, originally part of the Lynwood School District (7351 Grove Street, not extant). The Lanham Act, also known as the Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act, allowed the government to build the school to accommodate the growing defense industry. Funded with over $199,000 in grants by the government, the Grove Avenue Elementary School was designed by architects Marsh, Smith & Powell and constructed by the Campbell Construction Company. At the time of its completion, the school had a kindergarten building, sixteen classrooms, and a cafeteria. It originally served grades one to six.434 In 1945, the federal government also developed the Major Lynn H. Mokler School, named after the World War II hero (8571 Flower Street, extant). Over $85,000 in federal funds were allocated 430 “Clearwater Men to Form Militia,” Press-Telegram, June 21, 1942, 21. 431 “Hynes Planning War Memorial,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1944, 14. 432 “Maj. Lynn H. Mokler,” The Tidings, December 15, 1944, 37; “Hynes V.F. W. Post to Build Memorial,” Los Angeles Times, August 19, 1946, 12.
433 “Clearwater Park Dedication Set,” Los Angeles Times, March 28, 1944, 28; “Flag Raised at Clearwater,” Press-Telegram, March 22, 1941, 12.
434 “Details Completed for Start of Construction on New Building,” Lynwood Press, April 10, 1942, 1.

Major Lynn H. Mokler (left) and cadet, c. 1942. Source:

American Air Museum.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 113 for the nine-room school, which was designed by architect Clifford Denman.435 Both schools were purchased by the Paramount School District in 1950.436
During the war, the notable architectural firm of Marsh, Smith & Powell was responsible for designing extensive additions to the Clearwater Junior High School campus (Paramount High School-West Campus) under the auspices of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) (14708 Paramount Boulevard, extant), including a new $50,000 auditorium in 1941.437 Federal involvement on the campus continued into World War II, when four classrooms, including shop and sewing classrooms, a storage building, and library buildings were constructed under the auspices of the PWA (Public Works Administration) program. Entirely funded by the Federal government, the new facilities were completed to assist in the training of national defense workers.438 Students in Paramount were heavily involved in raising funds for the war efforts. Elementary students doubled their 1944-1945 War Bonds and Savings Stamp quota, using funds towards twelve Army field ambulances costing $1,950 each. As part of the “Name Your Weapon” campaign, the name “Clearwater School District” was inscribed on the side of each ambulance.439 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
435 “Clearwater Will Honoring Hero,” Los Angeles Times, August 26, 1945, 18; “School Bearing Name of Hero Ready to Open,” Los Angeles Times, September 2, 1945, 14; City of Paramount, various Building Permits, November 21, 1946. 436 “Grove, Mokler Schools Purchase Project Okayed,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, January 14, 1951, 3. 437 “Inquest Today Studies Quake,” Los Angeles Times, March 21, 1933, 16; “Clearwater School’s Auditorium Opens with Exhibit of Paintings,” Los Angeles Times, March 28, 1941, 44; “Clearwater Auditorium Open Soon,” Press-Telegram, February 28, 1941, 20. 438 City of Paramount, various Building Permits, June 30, 1943; A. P. Mattier, letter to Mr. A. Flick, Regarding Classrooms at Clearwater Junior High School Plan and Lynwood Junior High School Plant, September 21, 1942. 439 “Army Ambulances Set by Students,” Los Angeles Times, February 11, 1945, 16.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 114 Theme: Industrial Development (1941-1945)
AGRICULTURE: DAIRY, CATTLE, AND HAY INDUSTRIES
In the years immediately before the United States’ involvement in World War II, the wellestablished agricultural industry in Clearwater-Hynes slowly receded as land-use transitioned to primarily suburban housing developments and other industries. While Clearwater-Hynes was still nicknamed the “Milk center in the United States” and Hynes the “Hay center in the United States,” these superlatives were more indicative of the area’s past.440 A 1940 newspaper article detailing Los Angeles County’s dairy industry argued, “Whereas 10 years ago Clearwater Hynes was literally the center of the milk production area, now the geographical center is nearer Artesia.” The Clearwater-Hynes dairies of old were either being converted to a new land use or occasionally remodeled into “modern landscaped plants equipped with the latest in sanitation and milk production safeguards.”441 This exposé correctly identified the larger patterns of the dairy, cattle, and hay industries of Los Angeles County; however, it took many more years for these industries to completely migrate out of Paramount. Perhaps one unforeseen reason for their perpetuation in the area was the United States’ involvement in World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

In keeping with tradition, the annual
hay and dairy fiesta was held in both
August 1940 and 1941 to honor
Clearwater-Hynes’ most celebrated
industries. Started as a “rodeo” in
1933 wherein participants rode and
roped “hundreds of horses, steers
and wild cattle,” in a parade on
Paramount Boulevard, the gathering
was meant to showcase the area’s
agricultural industry.442 It soon
evolved into a multi-day affair
complete with contests,
competitions, and costumes – in
addition to a parade.

The 1940 fête featured a 4-year-old
queen of the Hay and Dairy fiesta,
Holland costumes and games, hayrides, dairy cattle and horse shows, an ice circus, and a parade to celebrate Hynes’ “new record hay handle of 410,000 tons of hay.”443 The 1941 event hinted at the role that the dairy industry of Clearwater-Hynes would play in World War II. On the final day of the affair, the three-hour parade was themed, “Hay for Milk – Milk for Health – Health for 440 “Superlatives & Diminutives of Los Angeles County,” West Los Angeles Independent, April 5, 1940. 441 “Dairy Industry Los Angeles County’s Third Largest,” Long Beach Press-Telegram, November 10, 1940. 442 “Dairy Center Plans Week-End Rodeo,” News-Pilot, August 31, 1933. 443 “Hynes fiesta for record ‘hay handle,’” Daily News, August 29, 1940.

Parade float from Hay and Dairy Festival, no date. Source: City of Paramount.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 115 National Defense.”444 After the United States declaration of war in December 1941, the hay and dairy festival was postponed, and all civilian and industrial pursuits shifted to the war effort.

In October 1941, a newspaper reported that in the Clearwater-Hynes area “practically all available land already has been subdivided and dairies which yesteryear dotted the landscape…have been crowded out.” All that remained of the once center of the Los Angeles County milk shed was a few dairies, sales yards, and the hay market.445 These remnants proved to be vital to ClearwaterHynes war effort contributions. It was around this time, in 1942, that Romberg Milling, Inc. was established (16433 Illinois Avenue, extant).446
A January 1943 newspaper advertisement for a
bank in Hynes declared that its resources were
“serving the demands which total war imposes
upon American business, industry, and
agriculture,” essentially claiming that every
dollar deposited in their bank went toward
funding not only the national war effort but
also democracy.447 The bank was appealing to
those making more money in the local dairy,
cattle, and hay industry booming as a result of
government demands for dairy products.

In April 1942, the demand for milk products was
so great that fears of milk rationing swept Los
Angeles.448 This resulted from milk and milk
products being considered necessary for the modern American soldier’s diet with each soldier receiving one-half pint of fresh milk daily while in camp. Evaporated milk, milk powder, and cheddar cheese were shipped with soldiers during their deployment. While the amount of milk products requested by the federal government certainly put a strain on the industry in Los Angeles County, dairy farmers rose to the challenge.

A federal report concluded that Los Angeles County was producing “more than 400,000,000 million quarts of milk annually,” which was close to double what the second most productive county in the nation produced at the same time. As a result, fears of milk rationing for civilians were unnecessary within Los Angeles County. However, the industry faced other issues because of the wartime demand. Drylot dairying in the Clearwater-Hynes area as well as throughout Los Angeles County resulted in a reliance upon imported feed for the cows and laborers for milking, feeding, bottling, and transportation. Hay prices soared because of the wartime demand and labor shortages were frequent.449 Despite these issues, the dairy, cattle, and hay industries of Clearwater-Hynes continued to produce and play their role in providing for the United States’ demands during World War II.
444 “Hynes Preparing for Ninth Annual Hay and Dairy Show,” Long Beach Sun, August 11, 1941. 445 “New Tracts Link Towns of Southeast,” Press-Telegram, October 16, 1941. 446 Romberg Milling remains one of Paramount’s legacy businesses. In 1960, Daryl Hofmeyer took over the business and became active in the city’s civic life including the Chamber of Commerce, as City Commissioner, and City Council member. 447 “Dollars of Democracy,” Monrovia News-Post, January 4, 1943. 448 “Milk Dry-Up in L.A. feared,” Daily News, February 24, 1943. 449 “Rationing of Milk is Unlikely in this Area,” Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News, April 30, 1942.

Romberg Mill Facilities, 1942. Source: Romberg Milling
Inc.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 116 Local Farms
Other agricultural industries in the Clearwater-Hynes area which rose to the challenge of meeting wartime demands were local farms run by white families. According to a newspaper report, many farms along the Los Angeles River in the Hynes district were, prior to the United States’ involvement in WWII, were owned or operated by Japanese American people.450 Following President Roosevelt’s executive order in February 1942 which authorized “the evacuation and relocation” of Japanese American people from military zones such as California, the Japanese American citizens of Clearwater-Hynes were forcibly removed from their homes and farms and relocated to internment camps.451
The newspaper report details how Col. C.S. Smith, an officer in the California State Guard and owner of a chain of grocery stores, had “leased five farms and put them under production for fresh vegetables to be sold” in his stores. It also noted that when Japanese American farmers were removed from their land, “Many farms in this locality were taken over by white farmers.” Smith is recorded as regarding it as the community’s “patriotic duty” to operate the farms to supply more vegetables such as carrots, turnips, spinach, lettuce, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes for soldiers.452 In late 1944, though it was acknowledged that the Clearwater-Hynes district was headed toward becoming a “great industrial district,” the area was still considered a “great farm center” crucial for supplying food products to the naval installations both at the Port of Long Beach and in the Pacific arena.453
Work on a Farm Poster, 1941. Source: National Archives. Harvest War Crops Poster, 1941. Source: National Archives. 450 “Purchase of Farms by Smith’s Markets Ensures Fresh Vegetables for Patrons,” Independent, January 15, 1943. 451 “Japanese American Internment,” Library of Congress, accessed April 287, 2024, https://www.loc.gov/classroommaterials/japanese-american-internment/ 452 “Purchase of Farms by Smith’s Markets Ensures Fresh Vegetables for Patrons,” Independent, January 15, 1943. 453 “18th Congressional District,” South Gate Press, October 12, 1944.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 117

ADDITIONAL INDUSTRIES
Pacific Tile & Porcelain Company, the ceramic and tile company founded in 1935, continued production at their manufacturing plant in Paramount during World War II as an essential industry. Their listed address was 1270 Olive Street in Hynes (status unknown).454 Macco Corporation, which started as a lumber yard on Paramount Boulevard in 1929, grew exponentially in the pre-war years and, upon the United States’ involvement in WWII, rose to meet wartime demands.455 In January 1940, the company was contracted to rebuild the seawall at Alamitos Bay in Long Beach.456 In May 1940, it constructed the airport landing strip on Catalina Island.457 In July 1940, Macco Corporation
built nine miles of the steel aqueduct water pipe
supplying water from the Colorado River to Los
Angeles under direction of the Los Angeles
Metropolitan Water District office.458 In September
1941, it was contracted to grade six miles of the
Redwood Highway in Mendocino County.459 This
sample of Macco Corporation’s projects, though all
prior to the United States’ official involvement in
WWII, illustrate the reasons why this company was
an essential wartime industry: All the projects were
vital to national security and defense. After the
bombing of Pearl Harbor, the company’s role
became even more obvious. In June 1942, the War Department of the Federal Government authorized Macco Corporation’s contract to redevelop and expand the Long Beach Harbor to make it “safer.” More details were not published by the newspaper for “military reasons.”460 Carlton Forge Works, founded in Clearwater-Hynes in 1929, began as oil field tool and machinery manufacturers but pivoted during WWII to aid the war effort. In 1942, the founder’s son, Allan J. Carlton Jr., took over the company and began manufacturing gun barrels.461 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
454 “Pacific Tile & Porcelain Co.,” Daily News, February 9, 1935, 6.; “Help Wanted,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, October 18, 1943, 6.; “Pacific Tile to Expand Distribution,” Daily News, January 6, 1951, 5. 455 “Production of Wood Normal,” News-Pilot, March 4, 1929; Pitchie, 21. 456 “More Rock Arrives to Bolster Bay Seawall,” Long Beach Sun, January 8, 1940, 11. 457 “Catalina Airport Contract Awarded,” News-Pilot, May 8, 1940, 7. 458 “Metro Water,” News-Pilot, July 13, 1940, 2.
459 “Road Work Awarded,” Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, September 27, 1941, 1. 460 “Development Job on Port Set to Start,” Press-Telegram, June 26, 1942, 15.; “Maritime Notes,” News-Pilot, July 2, 1942, 9.; “Outer Port Channels to be 40 Feet,” Long Beach Sun, July 16, 1942, 7. 461 “About Us,” Carlton Forge Works, accessed April 28, 2024, https://www.carltonforgeworks.com/about/.

Wartime Advertisement, October 18, 1943.

Source: South Gate Daily Press-Tribune.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 118 Theme: Infrastructure (1941-1945)

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Between 1940 and 1945, the demand for
reliable, efficient interurban travel grew as
transportation infrastructure advanced.

Civic leaders in Long Beach spearheaded
efforts for improving transportation
services between itself and the
“neighboring communities” of Bellflower,
Artesia, Norwalk, Downey, and ClearwaterHynes.462 These communities were, in the eyes of Long Beach boosters, part of the
Long Beach “trade territory,” and needed to
be carefully considered in long term
planning efforts.463 In September 1940,
negotiations between Long Beach city
leaders and the Lang Motorbus company
commenced with the aim to expand their
bus lines.464 Representatives Ernest Weigold
and George Atkinson represented
Clearwater and Hynes during the survey
phase of the bus line extension project.465
By March 1942, the “North Long BeachHynes route” was well established and running a brand new 47-passenger Lang
Streamliner bus. The advertisement for the
North Long Beach-Hynes route reminded
patrons that they could help with the war
effort by advising them to “save seats for workers during rush hours” to help “Speed up Victory.”466 Within a year, it was proposed to further extend the route from Long Beach to Hynes and Clearwater up through Hollydale north to the County Farm.467 During the United States’ involvement in WWII, few transportation infrastructure additions came to the Clearwater-Hynes area apart from the expansion of bus lines. Paying to regrade or construct additional road infrastructure in Los Angeles County was not prioritized during the height of the war effort. In July 1945, there was one project initiated. It was an engineering study of present-day Paramount Boulevard to investigate the possibility of extending it into Long Beach as it, at the time, terminated at Artesia Street. The Los Angeles County Road 462 “Interurban Roads to be Discussed,” Press-Telegram, July 26, 1940, 7. 463 “Better Transportation Civic Aim,” Independent, October 7, 1945, 68. 464 “Way Cleared for Southeast Bus Line,” Press-Telegram, September 30, 1940, 16. 465 “Transport in Southeast to be Listed,” Press-Telegram, October 4, 1940, 26. 466 “America is Counting on Long Beach Workers,” Long Beach Sun, March 31, 1942, 21. 467 “Bus Extension to Hondo is Asked,” Press-Telegram, November 16, 1943, 7.

Advertisement for North Long Beach-Hynes route, March 31, 1942. Source: Long Beach Sun.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 119 Department proposed the extension to reduce traffic on Cherry Avenue and Lakewood Boulevard.468
Though the County did not prioritize road building infrastructure in Clearwater and Hynes during WWII, they did invest in infrastructure aimed at keeping citizens safe in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. In January 1942, Los Angeles County supervisors voted to secure funding to purchase and place air raid alarm horns in Hynes and Clearwater.469 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
468 “County Considers San Antonio Road, Paramount Link,” Press-Telegram, July 31, 1945, 11. 469 “Medley in Air Raid Alarms Looms,” Long Beach Sun, January 20, 1942, 1.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 120 VII. THE BIRTH OF PARAMOUNT, POSTWAR
PROSPERITY, AND REDEVELOPMENT (1946-1979)
Summary Statement
The newly named City of Paramount exploded in the postwar years, as returning veterans settled in the area. The postwar period transformed the character of Paramount’s industrial, commercial, institutional/civic, and residential development, and changed all sectors of life in the city.

Historical Background
In 1946, residents of Clearwater and Hynes voted in
favor of merging under the name of “Paramount.” The
vote was 1192 votes in favor and 186 against.470 On
1948, they officially unified. The city remained an
unincorporated part of Los Angeles County until 1957—
when it officially became a municipality. In 1958, the
city’s population was officially established as 25,128.471 In 1960, the population of Paramount was 27,249. By 1970,
it rose to 34,734. The first elected City Council
members included Ernest W. McCracken, Charles E.

Kennedy, C.D. Mosier, Louis J. Spane, and the first
City Councilwoman, Gladys R. Iliff (c. 1922-unknown)
who quickly rose to Vice Mayor and by 1963, she
became Mayor.

The post-World War II housing shortage and ensuing
“Baby Boom” in Southern California spawned
residential development in agricultural areas like
Paramount. The city’s location, not far from Los
Angeles and Long Beach, and connected by the new
freeway system, led to its significant growth. Tract
home development became popular, and Paramount
used its central location as a selling point for the city as a suburb of both Los Angeles and Long Beach. In 1959, a survey of the city was completed and a master plan for orderly development was approved by the City Council. The Chamber of Commerce began to market Paramount as “The City of Progress.”
470 “Unification of Communities Into One Ancient Local Issue, Research Shows,” The Paramount Journal, July 22, 1948, 1. 471 “Set For Birthday,” Los Angeles Times, January 19, 1958.

Gladys R. Iliff, Press Telegram, May 13, 1964, 13.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 121 Municipal and institutional development expanded in the postwar years, with the city gaining new fire stations in 1952 and 1966, new libraries in 1955 and 1968, a new City Hall in 1963, and a new post office in 1969. The demand for educational spaces also increased. Two new schools were established: Los Cerritos School and Alondra Middle School, while other campuses were expanded, such as Roosevelt Elementary School, Grove Avenue Elementary School, and Harry Wirtz Elementary School, among others.

Residential development during this period was defined by tract and infill development, as well as multi-family residential development, such as the growth of trailer parks, mobile home parks, and townhomes. Several major infrastructure projects, including the Century Freeway, had long lasting impacts on development of all kinds, but in particular to the residences in its path.

Commercial development also changed, as the automobile defined new property types in Paramount, such as the drive-in theater and drive-thru dairy. Postwar industry also took off, with several notable companies, such as Macco Corporation, calling Paramount home. During this period, a growing Latino population was also establishing a greater foothold in the city.

Several major projects that affected almost all aspects of development in Paramount during the postwar period were the completion of zoning/master plans in 1962 and 1973; development of the Century Freeway; and the introduction of the Paramount Redevelopment Agency. 1962 ZONING PLAN & 1973 GENERAL PLAN
During this period, the city of Paramount embarked on the development of planning the city’s future development. To this end, it adopted a zoning plan in 1962 and a general plan in 1973.

The Master Zoning Ordinance and Land Use Map of 1962 reflected the city’s interest in standardizing zoning, including lot sizes and parking requirements, among other considerations.

Land uses and zoning were defined and identified within the city for single-family residential, two-family residential, limited multiple-family residential, unlimited multiple-family residential, Newsboys Holding Newspapers Titled “Paramount Unification Completed,” 1948. Source: City of Paramount.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 122 general commercial, commercial-manufacturing, light manufacturing, and heavy manufacturing.472
In 1973, the Paramount General Plan reported that the city had a very high percentage of rental units and a low percentage of multi-family residences, indicating a large number of renteroccupied single-family residences. As reported in the 1973 General Plan, only 14 percent of the available housing stock in Paramount was constructed prior to 1940—suggesting the tremendous scarcity of potential early residential resources in the city.473 Only 19 percent of the housing stock was constructed between 1940 and 1950, with 67 percent constructed between 1950 and 1970.474
With the majority of parcels in Paramount built out (developed with buildings and no longer vacant land), it suggests that residential development during this period consisted primarily of in-fill development. In many cities, such development often consisted of condominiums or townhomes.

CENTURY FREEWAY
In 1973, the Paramount General Plan noted that the city was “built out.”475 In fact, the population fell between 1970 and 1973, due to clearance for the Century Freeway/Interstate 105.476 While Paramount didn’t experience as much residential demolition as other municipalities in the freeway’s path, it did bisect the northwestern portion of the city, cutting through established neighborhoods.

Heinz Heckeroth of the State Highway Department studies the route of the proposed Century Freeway, 1969.

Source: Los Angeles Times.
472 “Official Zoning Plan: City of Paramount,” map, adopted by Paramount City Council by Ordinance 178 on February 20, 1962. 473 Wisley & Ham, City of Paramount General Plan, August 1973, 37. 474 Wisley & Ham, 37.
475 Wisley & Ham, 35.
476 Other historic names associated with this freeway included the Norwalk Freeway, the Norwalk-El Segundo Freeway, and the Glenn Anderson Freeway.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 123 The Century Freeway was originally planned as part of the 1960s master plan for the California freeway and expressway system, but in 1968, it received interstate designation and federal funding. By 1972, 2,000 parcels had been acquired and 7,000 people displaced.477 Plans called for 4,000 additional parcels displacing another 14,000 people along the route. Paramount’s sacrifice included 421 parcels for clearance—half of which were razed by July 1972.478 That same year, a class action suit, Keith vs. Volpe, was filed by thousands of plaintiffs including the Sierra Club, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Hawthorne Freeway Fighters. The class action suit was granted an injunction that tied the project up in the courts into the late 1970s. The result was a blighted area of vacant homes that fostered degradation and crime. Once the class action suit was resolved, budget cuts resulted in a reduction of the width of the freeway and number of on/off ramps. The city of Paramount, which had historically been supportive of the freeway — anticipating its positive impact on the city’s ability to recruit and sustain industry — now balked when the number of ramps in/out of the city was cut in half. The Century Freeway finally opened in 1993.

PARAMOUNT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
During the late 1960s and 1970s, urban renewal projects were all the rage among city planners.

The projects targeted “blighted” areas (be they residential, commercial, industrial or all three) with wholesale demolition and land purchase by a local redevelopment agency. This often resulted in the displacement of communities of color and mom-and-pop businesses.

By the 1960s and 1970s, shopping malls were having a deleterious effect on downtown merchants in cities across Southern California. Paramount was no different. The lure of larger stores with more diverse wares siphoned retail dollars out of Paramount to Long Beach, Compton, Downey, and neighboring communities. The commercial strip of Paramount Boulevard sank into decline.

As a result, the whole central business district of Paramount was deemed a blighted area for redevelopment. A redevelopment program, the Paramount Redevelopment Agency, was established in 1973. It allowed the City Council to purchase property and sell it to the Paramount Redevelopment Agency, who would, in turn, sell it to private developers. Richard Powers was the longtime director of the Agency. The business blocks along both sides of Paramount Boulevard between Alondra Boulevard and Jackson Street were razed. Sections of Monroe Street and Colorado Avenue were also eliminated. Many businesses left town, but a few stayed and used incentives provided by the city.

One of the few buildings to escape the wrecker’s ball was the Klippel Building (16402-16406 Paramount Boulevard, extant). However, it was remodeled and modernized to blend in with the new development. The replacement development in downtown Paramount was comprised of Town Center East and Town Center West, two large shopping centers with anchor stores 477 “Class Action Lawsuit Hits Century Freeway,” Los Angeles Times, February 18, 1972, B1. 478 Reaction to Freeway Halt Ruling Varied,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1972, C6.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 124 (market, clothing, etc.), small retail stores, and fast food restaurants. These shopping complexes opened during the 1980s.479
The Paramount Redevelopment Agency was also heavily involved in institutional and community development. In 1978, the Agency purchased the Harry Wirtz School site from the Paramount School District for $3.8 million. The agreement obligated the school district to use the money from the sale to rehabilitate Paramount High School. Funds went towards the construction of 34,000 square feet of new classroom space, new athletic facilities, and a new gymnasium on the high school campus.480
479The 1980s are beyond the period of study for this Historic Context Statement. 480 Larry Lane, “Bold Paramount School, Center Plans Studied,” Los Angeles Times, October 30, 1977, 637; Gerald Faris, “Board, Council Approve Sale of Paramount Parcel,” Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1978, 166.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 125 Theme: Residential Development (1946-1979)
World War II had a profound impact on residential development from both a supply and demand standpoint in cities throughout Southern California. Thousands of returning servicemen came to Southern California to start families. Between 1940 and 1950, California’s population increased by fifty-three percent, which was partially accounted for by the 850,000 veterans who took up residence there after the war.481
In formerly agrarian places like eastern Long Beach, Bellflower, Lakewood, and the San Fernando Valley, large subdivisions popped up seemingly overnight to address the postwar housing needs and ensuing baby boom. Developers and builders often adopted an assembly line approach to housing construction, using prefabricated components, standardized floor plans, and other means of quickly erecting homes. Ranch-style homes became the popular style of the day.

During the War, architects reflected on how technology could be harnessed to solve the nation’s housing crisis, but also about how postwar prosperity and American ideals could be harnessed to provide better quality of life through architecture. California led the way in this endeavor through John Entenza’s magazine, Arts + Architecture. Entenza developed the influential “Case Study House” program in which the work of Southern California’s most talented avant-garde architects was featured in the magazine. Built as showcase homes for touring and decorated with modern appliances and the most tasteful furnishings, they attracted thousands of local visitors and were the talk of avant-garde architects nationally. Architects participating in the program included Richard Neutra, Buff Straub & Hensman, Jones and Emmons, and Pierre Koenig.

Population figures for the early postwar period are complicated: with no identifiable city boundary, different groups were counted in varying ways. In Fae Pitchie’s master’s thesis, the scholar quotes the 1950 population as 18,594—up 105% from between 1940 and 1950.482 In the first official U.S. Census for Paramount from 1960, the population was 27,249.

The vast majority of Paramount’s population in 1960 was white. The second largest group was the Latino population at 2,469, followed by 211 people of “other races” including Asians, and only two African Americans. By 1970, the city’s population was 34,734 with 6,810 Latinos and 29 African Americans.

DUTCH, JAPANESE, AND LATINO COMMUNITIES
Paramount’s residential development in the postwar period was influenced by the emigration of thousands of Dutch from the Netherlands. The first Dutch started emigrating during the 1920s, but numbers escalated in 1948 and 1949 when many Dutch left economically depressed Europe to pursue the American dream in sunny California. The Dutch community settled in Paramount (as well as neighboring Bellflower, Cerritos, Norwalk, and Artesia) for the cheap land where they could become dairy farmers. The Dutch community in Southern California numbered 100,000 during the 1950s—making it the one of the largest concentrations of Dutch immigrants in the US.483 In the late 1950s, as tract housing developments moved into Paramount, the Dutch dairy 481 Kevin Star, Embattled Dreams: California in War and Peace, 1940-1950. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003), 193-194. 482Pitchie, 11-12.
483 Rita Pyrillis, “Little Bit of Holland is Mostly Memories,” Los Angeles Times, April 26, 1987, accessed February 13, 2024, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-26-me-1617-story.html.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 126 farmers relocated to other communities, including Chino. During this period, pioneer Dutch resident Jake Van Leeuwen resided at 5933 Colorado Avenue (status unknown) and continued as a leader in the community. He helped host the Emmanuel Reformed Church’s visit from Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in 1952.484
When people of Japanese heritage were released from the prison camps that Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 subjected them to, many families without social or economic capital returned to find their stored possessions looted or their homes no longer available to them. As a result, there was a diaspora among returning Japanese. Yoshio “Jack” Chickami, introduced in section 5, was sent to Hart Mountain, WY via the Santa Anita Assembly Center. Once released, however, he returned to Hynes. The 1950 Census shows that his mother, brothers, wife, and their growing family all returned to the Century Boulevard farm. A son, Raymond, born in the prison camp in Hart Mountain brought the total number of children to four. Jack’s mother Hatsu and his brother Shigeru also lived with the family. Next door, Joe Chickami (relationship currently unknown) operated a fishing boat, likely out of Long Beach.

Paramount’s Latino community along Illinois Avenue, Jefferson Street, Madison Street, and Vermont Avenue continued to thrive during this period. With declining agriculture and increasing manufacturing in the area, fewer residents were working on farms, and more were employed by companies.

TRACT DEVELOPMENT
Like many areas of Southern California, Paramount offered reasonably priced, open land that tract developers wanted. Its central location and proximity to freeways afforded developers the opportunity to market it as a suburb of downtown Los Angeles. A number of well-known developers, including Mark Taper and Ray Watt, elected to build in Paramount. The following is a chronological discussion of postwar suburban tract home developments in the city.

Tract 16832
In April of 1955, Joseph R. Bolker (1924-1986), an executive with Biltmore Homes (Mark Taper’s development and building company), subdivided Tract 16832 in northwestern Paramount. The 96- parcel tract was exclusively composed of a series of cul-de-sac streets accessed from Orange Avenue (Vanna Drive, Cortland Drive, Cloverlawn Drive, Hogee Drive, Treves Drive, and Lugo Street).

Bolker married Janice Ann Taper, Mark Taper’s daughter, in 1950 and worked in the family business. In 1953, the company engaged architect William M. Bray, AIA to design homes for the company. It is currently unknown if the homes designed and built for Tract 16832 were Bray designs, but the company worked with a series of architects during its heyday. By 1958, the company became Brighton-Bilt Homes. Bolker built thousands of homes throughout Southern California and was a known philanthropist.
484 “Dairy Community’s Beginning Recalled,” Press-Telegraph, April 20, 1952, 21.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 127 Unidentified Tract Home in Paramount, c. 1956. Source: 1956 Paramount City Directory.

Tract 24467
In January of 1959, a new residential tract was subdivided by Ray A. Watt and Ralph Garland under the auspices of the Vixler Corporation. The 153-parcel, irregularly shaped tract lay on the east side of the city of Paramount, southwest of the intersection of Downey Avenue and present-day Somerset Boulevard. The Ranch-style homes were designed by W.A. Pollock. Watt and Garland had a longstanding relationship developing Sun Ray homes. In 1958 and 1959, Sun Ray Co. constructed model homes at the Los Angeles Home Show toured by thousands of visitors. By 1960, the Sun Ray Co. had completed 50 residential developments and 7,000 dwellings in places such as
Torrance, Montebello, South
San Gabriel, West Covina, San
Fernando Valley, Glendora,
Bellflower, La Puente, and
Artesia. Sun Ray homes were
typically three-bedroom, twobath Ranch-style residences.

Ralph Garland (1927-1996) was
a self-employed land developer
for the majority of his life. Ray
Watt (1919-2006) also saw an
opportunity in housing
development in Southern
California’s post World War II
landscape. His first enterprise
was a mobile home park as
Night and Day Construction in
Ray Watt (center) and Ralph Garland (right) in front of the Sun Ray Co. offices, 1959. Source: Los Angeles Mirror News.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 128 1946.485 Watt is believed to have built over 100,000 homes in Southern California. He also served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Richard Nixon.

The Sun Ray Estates in Paramount were available in four floor plans and ranged from $15,000 to $17, 400. The sales brochure for the tract shows that the elevations of these homes were primarily traditional Ranch Style. They featured such elements as dovecotes, diamond paned windows, board and batten siding and decorative wooden detailing.

Sun Ray Estates sales brochure. Courtesy Paramount Historical Society.

Tracts 27871 and 23481
Another developer of single-family residences in Paramount was Hub City Construction. The company subdivided many neighborhoods in Bellflower, Downey, Lakewood, Whittier, and Pico Rivera. In 1963 and 1966, they developed Paramount Tracts 27871 and 23481, respectively. Tract 27871 was just 40 homes on Passage and Perilla Avenues. Tract 23481 was a 78-parcel rectangular tract bordered by the south side of Myrrh Street to the north, the south side of Madison Street to the south, the east side of Gundry Avenue to the east, and the west side of Brayton Street to the west. The one and two-story homes were predominantly designed in the Ranch style.

Additional Tracts
In nearby Bellflower, Bonnie Lee Builder, a contracting firm headed by Ted J. Lee began constructing homes in 1953. The firm advertised a series of predetermined plans and styles for immediate construction on flat empty lots. They offered single-family residences of all sizes as 485 “Ray Watt Dies at 90; Innovative Developer,” Los Angeles Times, July 8, 2009, accessed February 3, 2024, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ray-watt8-2009jul08-story.html.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 129 well as multi-family residences.486 They are also known to have constructed homes in Bellflower and Long Beach.

D & E Corporation, a major developer of tract homes headed by brothers Daniel E. Cohn and Edgar M. Cohn, subdivided a 102-parcel tract in late 1956. It consisted of a rectangular neighborhood from the north side of Northdale Street to the north, to Contreras Street to the south, the east side of Castana Avenue to the east, and the west side of Passage Avenue to the west. The group of Ranch style homes was similar to other D & E Corporation developments in Monterey Park, Santa Ana, La Habra, and Norwalk. The Beverly Hills-based developers were also active philanthropists in the Los Angeles Jewish community.

Robert K. Light, President of Bobwill Building Company, developed a tract of 112 parcels in 1958.

The self-contained, irregularly shaped tract was bordered by the north side of Aravaca Drive to the north, the south side of Festina Drive to the south, and the east side of Delcombre Avenue to the east. Beverly Hills-based Bobwill also built large subdivisions in Anaheim and Reseda during the 1950s, then built homes in Rancho Mirage during the 1960s.

CUSTOM RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ROBERT PETER ZAMBONI, AIA Although the Zamboni name in Paramount is most often associated with Iceland, Robert Peter “Bob” Zamboni, son of Emma and Pietro (Pete) Zamboni, became an architect and built several custom homes in Paramount. Born in Hynes in 1926, his father was a home building contractor in the area for several decades. Guy Zamboni (likely an uncle) was a carpenter and Zamboni Electric was a firm responsible for much of the electrical work in Paramount.

Robert Peter Zamboni (1926-2009) graduated from St. Anthony High School in Long Beach in 1945 and later that same year enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After World War II, Zamboni graduated with a degree in architecture from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. In 1957, he won an award from the Chicago Tribune Better Rooms Competition for a bedroom design.487 In 1959, Zamboni passed his architectural licensing exam and appears to have gone to work for J. Richard Shelley & Associates in Long Beach. By 1962, the firm was known as Shelley, Montierth & Zamboni.

There were three homes constructed for the Zamboni family after World War II: the Frank Zamboni Residence (15523 Orizaba Avenue, extant), 1951-52; the Peter Zamboni Residence (15533 Orizaba Avenue, extant), 1953; and the L. E. Zamboni Residence (15543 Orizaba Avenue, extant), 1949. Peter Zamboni is listed as the builder/contractor, but no architect is identified on building permits. There are two other Mid-Century Modern style residences, the Charles and Betty Cooper Residence (16256 Orizaba Avenue, extant), 1954 and the Dr. Richard Chase Residence (15959 Indiana Avenue, extant), 1965 credited to Peter Zamboni as the contractor on record. No architect is listed on the building permits, but it is likely that these homes were designed by Robert P. Zamboni. The Chase Residence was referred to as a “showplace home” in a 1969 advertisement.488
486 “Display Ad,” Los Angeles Times, November 8, 1959, L2. 487 “Wins Award,” Independent, April 12, 1957, 4.
488 “Showplace Home,” Press-Telegram, April 25, 1969, 52.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 130 The Robert P. Zamboni design of a new office building for Balser, Abrams and Horowitz in Long Beach published in the Independent in June of 1961, suggests that the architect was facile in post-and-beam design. His obituary indicates that he designed both residential and commercial buildings in the greater Paramount area. By 1966, Robert P. Zamboni, AIA was the chairman of the City Planning Commission for the city of Paramount.489 Zamboni may have also designed industrial/warehouse buildings within the city limits. City records indicate that he designed SC Fuels (6825 Rosecrans, extant) in 1979, as well as a light industrial building (15327 Colorado Avenue, extant) in 1984, and another building (7027 Motz Street, extant) in 1987.

MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
Due to the housing shortage after World War II, multi-family residential development was prevalent throughout Southern California. Prior to the establishment of the municipality of Paramount, there was little zoning for areas of multi-family residential buildings, and the few examples of this property type were situated in single-family residential neighborhoods. Some residents took advantage of their large lots and built additional units to rent behind their residences. Over time, pockets of multi-family residential development sprang up north of Somerset Boulevard and west of Garfield Avenue. Other apartments were constructed in the old Hynes area. One of the few large-scale apartment development areas in the 1960s was Passage Avenue, located north of Alondra Boulevard.

One of the first multi-family residential projects in the community following World War II were the six units developed on Paramount Boulevard (14039-14045 Paramount Boulevard, extant).

Constructed in 1948, the linear grouping reflects a small motel/motor court configuration.

However, no evidence currently exists that they were used as such. By 1956, they were purely residential.

The Paramount Square Apartments (13490 Paramount Boulevard, extant), an avant-garde MidCentury Modern design from 1963 by Schneider & Berman,490 was developed as a luxury, adultsonly apartment complex. It featured six parallel residential buildings, a common entry building with a community room, a large pool, and a long building at the rear of the parcel. The six residential buildings were set within lushly landscaped areas and vehicular traffic was relegated to the perimeter, reflecting some of the best contemporary practices in apartment planning.

Paramount Square Apartments was built by well-known builder-developer James S. Pelton (1924-unknown) whose James Pelton & Associates built tract homes, commercial buildings, and shopping centers and multi-family residential projects throughout Southern California. His projects were often associated with respected architectural firms.

Postwar design for multi-family residential took other forms besides Modernism. Many apartment complexes expressed Americans’ newfound affection for all things Hawaiian and “exotic.” Often expressive in their architecture and names, these complexes were frequently organized around a pool and patio area and emphasized leisure. An example of this in Paramount is the Exotic Isle Apartments (8600 Rosecrans Avenue, extant) designed by D & E Associates in 489 “Notice of Public Hearing,” Independent, April 8, 1966, 42. 490 The firm consisted of Frank P. Schneider, AIA and Michael Berman, who was not an architect.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 131 1963.491 Another example of this is the Azores Apartments (15560 Orange Avenue, extant) designed in 1962 by Robert W. Hall, AIA, for local realtor Dwight L. Gilbert (1915-1962). Any connection with the local Azores community has not been confirmed.

During the 1960s, new forms of multi-family residential development such as co-operative apartments and condominiums became popular. Co-operative apartments dated back to the 1920s on the east coast, and the condominium movement was born out of the earlier co-op apartment trend. However, condominiums diverged from co-op apartment arrangements in that the residences were not technically owned collectively: each unit was owned individually but common areas were subject to collective ownership. Typically, homeowners’ associations were established, and monthly ownership dues were collected to fund maintenance of the common areas. A lack of financing for the new ownership concept, however, suppressed initial development of condominiums. In 1961, the Federal Housing Authority was only authorized to insure mortgages on condos for 85 percent of the appraised value. It wasn’t until September 1963 that tax appraisal methods for condominiums were settled, and developers began building condominiums in earnest.492
Townhomes, units with individual, street-facing entrances, were increasingly popular as condominiums during the 1960s and into the 1970s. A contemporary version of a row house, townhomes varied in their massing and were usually two-story in plan. The design of townhomes was in response to large apartment buildings with double-loaded internal corridors of identical unit entrances.

An example of this kind of development within the city was the Casas del Patio (16710 Orange Avenue, extant) designed by Daniel N. Salerno & Associates of San Diego and constructed in 1973. The $3 million Late Modern-style complex with Spanish cladding and roof tiles, included 94 two-story, two-and three-bedroom town homes, priced at $28,000 each.493 Marketed for their proximity to downtown Los Angeles, Lakewood, and Long Beach, the townhomes’ amenities included a large pool, cabana, and clubhouse with kitchen located at the center of the plan with a generous amount of green space and landscaping. It was developed by Buena Parkbased M. B. Johnson Development Company. Another townhome development was the 12-unit Casas Del Orange (15139 Orange Avenue, extant). These three-bedroom, three-bath units measured approximately 1,500 square feet. The Paramount Redevelopment Program active at this time focused primarily on commercial development. However, some senior housing was developed through the program dating to the period beyond the scope of this study. 491 City of Paramount, various Building Permits, 1963.
492 Dan Mac Masters, “Condominiums—The Most Exciting Housing Development in 15 Years,” Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1964, 44. 493 “Two Freeways Serve Homebuyers,” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1973, J1.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 132 Rendering of Casas del Patios, c. 1972. Source: Independent.

TRAILER AND MOBILE HOME PARKS
Trailer parks can be considered a unique type of multi-family residential development. Trailer and mobile home parks were largely a post-World War II phenomenon, although they have their roots in prewar America. Growth in automobile ownership, combined with a post-World War I restlessness led to the rise of family camping trips as a popular pastime during the mid-1920s.494 The Great Depression proved a boom for the travel trailer industry as thousands of migrants from the Dust Bowl made their way to California. Campgrounds that accepted the trailers were referred to as “trailer parks,” and their more urban concrete counterparts became known as “trailer courts.”
Some citizens saw the trailer parks and courts as unsightly and argued they were occupied by people of questionable character. In response, many cities passed zoning ordinances designed to keep the trailer villages out: banishing them from the city limits. In the housing shortage after World War II, some people sought to profit by buying broken down trailers and leasing them out.495
One of Paramount’s earliest extant trailer parks, dating to 1940, was the Orange Avenue Mobile Home Park (15325 Orange Avenue, extant).496 Historic aerials show that the southern half of the park was developed first, as a series of long narrow streets accessed off Orange Avenue. 494 Enterprising car campers began building their own canvas tent trailers on wooden single-axle platforms. The idea caught on and soon several manufacturers were making recreational tent trailers; these were called “travel trailers” or “trailer coaches” by the nascent industry. Soon manufacturers began building larger trailers and adding amenities such as camp stoves, cold-water storage, and fold down bathroom fixtures.494
495 “Mobile Homes Growing in Favor,” Press-Telegram, September 24, 1971, B4. 496 “Orange Avenue Mobile Home Park,” MH Village, accessed January 6, 2024, https://www.mhvillage.com/parks/33213.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 133 The northern half of the park was established prior to 1964. In total, the park holds 120 spaces.

Los Amigos Trailer Park (8052 Alhambra Avenue, extant) was built in 1948.

By 1960, there were 24 trailer parks in locations across the city. Most of these were small, oneor two-street communities with no amenities. Twelve of these trailer parks are no longer extant with the land redeveloped for commercial, industrial, or condominium usage. Among the early smaller trailer parks still in existence are the Wheel Trailer Park (15523 Lakewood Boulevard, extant), Kay’s Trailer Park (14903 Garfield Avenue, extant), Modern Trailer Park (now Woodland Grove at 8614 Flower Street, extant), and the Los Amigos Trailer Park (8052 Alhambra Avenue, extant).

As Baby Boomers grew up and out of the house, empty nester parents also downsized. Some elected to live in trailer parks for their low maintenance, lower costs, and increasingly luxurious mobile home designs. In 1967, the Long Beach Press-Telegram profiled one such couple from Paramount’s Metropolitan Mobile Home Park (16600 Orange Avenue, extant), the Howard W.

Gephards, whose 1,200 square foot mobile home boasted a landscaped patio with waterfall.497 The Gephards’ home was a double-wide trailer, and the retired couple purchased a smaller trailer for travel. By the mid-1960s, mobile homes were growing larger, more luxurious, and less mobile—as they were installed on fixed foundations.

During the 1960s, a number of new and larger trailer parks were established in Paramount. This was during a period when trailer park planning was starting to take a more enlightened turn, with more creative street planning, setbacks, and landscaping. These planning amenities were more often used in resort towns (e.g. Palm Springs and Ventura). A review of the extant plans for the trailer parks developed in Paramount during the 1950s and 1960s finds little trace of this approach. The Metropolitan Estates (16600 Orange Avenue, extant) development in 1966 was one of the more sophisticated plan designs in the city, with shorter streets and wider slips to accommodate larger mobile home designs.

By 1971, Paramount had 23 mobile home parks and 1,550 spaces—making it the city with the highest per capital mobile home population in Southern California.498 Paramount Mobile Village (16511 Garfield Avenue, extant) residents were recorded as “professionals or highly skilled workmen” in 1971.499 Occupants of Paramount mobile home parks were evenly split between younger people and retirees. In 1978, Cactilandia Mobile Home Park residents sued the owner/operators of the park who wished to transition from month-to-month rentals to annual leasing agreements.

Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
497 “Plush Living in a Modern Mobile Home,” Press-Telegram, May 14, 1967,9-10. 498 “Mobile Homes: Growing in Favor,” Press-Telegram, September 24, 1971, B4. 499 “Mobile Homes: Growing in Favor,” Press-Telegram, September 24, 1971, B4.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 134 Theme: Commercial Development (1946-1979)
With the completion of new residential subdivisions and the growth of new industry beyond dairies and farming, the business district along Paramount Boulevard grew significantly.500 As described by historian Ethel Hillyard, “local merchants expanded their businesses and new ones moved in.”501
Retail in Paramount tended to be mom-and-pop
stores; department stores and large retailers
serving the region were mostly located in Long
Beach. A 1947 map of the city distributed by the
Hynes Chamber of Commerce featured such small
commercial entities as the Diamond Café (not
extant), the “Meeting Place for Hay Truck Drivers,”
and the Portuguese American Bakery, which
offered traditional foods for the Portuguese
community.502
The Hynes area of Paramount continued to have
many auto-related commercial properties, including
W.R. Smith Chevrolet (Paramount Boulevard
between Harrison Street and 70th Street, not
extant), Hynes Auto Parts (Paramount Boulevard
between Monroe and Jackson Streets, status
unknown), Chief Chamberlin Ford Dealer (status
unknown), and Modern Auto Works (status
unknown).503 Renowned architect Kem Weber
designed a Truck Service Station for Hynes in 1945-

57. The location of this project is currently
unknown.504
Savings and loan institutions (a.k.a., thrift institutions) played a vital role in the post-World War II residential development of Southern California. Savings and loan organizations were created in response to the difficulty that middle class Americans faced in obtaining mortgage loans during the early twentieth century. The earliest mortgages were issued not by banks, but by insurance companies. These loans had unfavorable terms by today’s standards and often involved large balloon payments. As financial institutions that specialized in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and construction loans, savings and loans companies established a niche market crucial to postwar residential development. 500 Paramount–Hollydale City Directory, 1956, (Norwalk, CA: TLM Publishing Company), 1956, 6. 501 Hillyard, 43.
502 Historically 401 S. Paramount per the 1947 Chamber of Commerce map; historically located at 312 S. Paramount Boulevard, between Jackson and Harrison Streets.
503 Historically, these addresses (in order) were: 440 N. Paramount Boulevard, 260 S. Paramount Boulevard, 153 N. Paramount Boulevard, 912 W. Alondra Boulevard.
504 This project appears in the finding aid for the Kem Weber papers located at the University of California, Santa Barbara. More research is needed to determine if built and if so, where.

Paramount was marketed as the “City of
Progress,” 1960. Source: Paramount City
Directory.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 135 Paramount Boulevard in 1954.

Source: Mike McKown, Progress in Paramount: A History, Facebook, March 25, 2024.

Savings and loans were also generally locally owned and privately managed home financing institutions that made loans for the construction, purchase, repair, or refinancing of houses.

Savings and loans were often advertised as “neighbors helping neighbors” because they relied on local depositors funding loans for local residents.505 From the 1950s through the mid-1960s, savings and loans provided more than half of the mortgages for these homes and the industry “enjoyed a golden era in its history, especially in Southern California.”506 In Paramount, Community Savings was a pioneer. It was founded in 1929, and by 1965 it was one of the nation’s largest insured associations with assets in excess of $150,000,000.507 It had branches in Paramount, Compton, and Long Beach. The organization built the Community Savings and Loan Association (15559 Paramount Boulevard, extant), a two-story Mid-Century Modern-style, concrete edifice on the northwest corner of Madison Street and Paramount Boulevard in 1952. The additional raked brick storefronts of its one-story volume (15551-15555 Paramount Boulevard, extant) to the north, made it a statement along Paramount Boulevard.

By 1964, Community Savings built another location (15359 Paramount Boulevard, extant)—this time a series of intersecting modern volumes that dominated a corner lot.508 Another Mid-Century Modern-style financial institution, Mechanics National Bank (15943 Paramount Boulevard, extant), was designed by Downey-based architect John A. Nordbak in 1971.
505 Robert Bruegmann, “King of the Thrifts,” Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2013. 506 Bruegmann, “King of the Thrifts.”
507 “Community Savings Southland Pioneer,” Press Telegram, January 14, 1965, 37. 508 No original building permit was located in city files.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 136 Postwar prosperity meant more Americans
were dining out than ever before. In 1965,
Park Pantry (16600 Paramount Boulevard,
not extant), a small chain in Southern
California built a restaurant in the southeast
corner of Paramount Boulevard and Harrison
Street on land previously held by Mountain
View Dairies, Inc.509 Park Pantry restaurants
were easily identifiable by their Modern
Ranch-style design.

Many of the commercial structures built
after the war responded to both the growing
middle class and suburban leisure culture,
and the automobile: coffee shops, fast-food
establishments and restaurants,
supermarkets, department stores, and
specialty retailers all designed to appeal to
the passing motorist and conveniently
located away from downtown. One early
example of an iconic fast-food restaurant
from the postwar period was Der
Wienerschnitzel, which opened in
Paramount in 1965 (8021 Rosecrans
Boulevard, extant).

The spirit of postwar prosperity in
Paramount was also captured by its car
culture, which was reflected in the
construction of auto dealers, and
commercial enterprises targeted to motorists, including drive-in theaters and dairies. Glenn Jones Chevrolet (14925 Paramount Boulevard, not extant) was a modern Googie-style building with large neon signage designed to appeal to motorists as they drove down the boulevard.510 509 “Paramount Getting New Restaurant,” Independent, July 11, 1965, 38. 510 No original building permit was located in city files. 1972 Menu from Park Pantry shows the signature
Modern Ranch-style design of their restaurants.

Weinerschnitzel Advertisement, 1965. Source: Independent.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 137

DRIVE-IN THEATERS
Conditions in Paramount were so conducive to drive-in development that it was home to two drive-in theaters: the Paramount Theater (7770 Rosecrans Avenue, extant) and the Rosecrans Drive-In (8864 Century Boulevard, not extant).

The first drive-in theater in America dates to 1933, when Richard Hollingshead in New Jersey created one and advertised it as a place where “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are.”511 Drive-ins rose in popularity when the Baby Boom happened. The availability of cheap land and its central location made Paramount a natural location for a drivein theater.

Originally opened as the Roadium DriveIn by the Modern Amusement Co. in 1947, the first theater in the city was renamed
the Paramount Theater in conjunction
with movements afoot in Clearwater and
Hynes to unify.512
Modern Amusement Co.513 was headed by
Joseph Bianchi (1915-1992), a Brooklynborn entrepreneur, who came to Southern California in pursuit of business
opportunities.514 In 1955, in an effort to
generate more income from the property
during daylight hours, Bianchi encouraged
local businesses to display and sell their
used merchandise on the 26-acres of open
property.515 Much of the merchandise
featured at the Paramount Swap Meet
(7900 All America City Way, extant) was farm related.516 Over time, new (vs. used) goods were made available and closeout merchandise became popular. Bianchi was “…the innovator of swap meets,” which became increasingly popular during the 1960s.517 By the 1970s, the Paramount Swap Meet operated 7-days per week. Bianchi also owned and ran a swap meet at the Sundown Drive-In Theater in Whittier. He founded the Paramount News Tribune newspaper in 1984. The popularity of swap meets (mostly located in old drive-in theaters) is evidenced by a Los Angeles Times article from 1976 describing them as the new outdoor marketplaces and listing 24 such operations around Southern California.518 511 The New York Film Academy, “History of the Drive-In Theater,” accessed February 15, 2024, https://www.nyfa.edu/studentresources/the-history-of-drive-in-movie-theaters-and-where-they-are-now/. 512 Sandi Hemmerlin, “The 8 Best Drive-In Theaters in Southern California,” PBS SoCal, accessed February 15, 2024, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/socal-wanderer/8-best-drive-in-theaters-in-socal. 513 The company is now known as Modern Development Company. In 1996, Bianchi built the multi-plex. 514 “Newspaper Publisher, Swap Meet Owner, Buried,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1992, 9. 515 During the 1990s, Bianchi’s son, Glenn Bianchi purchased additional property and improved facilities—adding an 8-foot high wall, new entrances, and landscaping in 1994. The site has now grown to 46 acres. It is the largest daily swap meet in California. 516 “History of the Paramount Swap Meet,” https://www.paramountswap.com/about/ (accessed June 24, 2024). 517 “Newspaper Publisher, Swap Meet Owner, Buried,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1992, 9. 518 “A Bazaar Twist,” Los Angeles Times, October 19, 1976, I8.

Roadium Drive-In, 1953. Source: City of Paramount.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 138 The Paramount Theater added a second screen in 1971. It ceased showing movies between 1992 through 2014 but continued to operate as an outdoor swap meet. The drive-in reopened in 2014. The Rosecrans Drive-In (8864 Century Boulevard, not extant) opened in 1954, but was demolished in 1993.519

DRIVE-THRU DAIRIES
Paramount’s history of dairy farming and the settlement of Dutch immigrants in the area made it a logical place for a new kind of commercial property type: the drive-thru dairy. For years, milk delivery had been the purview of the milkman, who brought milk and dairy items straight to one’s home. Alta Dena Dairy was one of the first milk producers to see the potential of milk as part of the so-called “cash and carry stores.”520 Their first experiment with drive-thru dairies came in 1951. Alta Dena dominated the market with its chain of dairies; however, smaller producers established them as well. They were typically located near pastureland.

The forms of these buildings spanned a wide range of styles from Programmatic/Mimetic architecture that could feature giant drive-thru milk cartons and cows designed to catch the eye of the passing motorist, to simpler forms focused on ease and open access to the street.

In 1960, several dairies are listed in Paramount: Koopman’s Drive-In Dairy (8320 Alondra Boulevard, not extant), Roosevelt Dairy (7223 Alondra Boulevard, not extant), Hygienic Dairy Farm (16604 Orange Avenue, not extant), John Boere Dairy (6800 Alondra Boulevard, not extant), Rosecrans Farm (7023 Rosecrans Avenue, not extant), Super Dairy (14042 Garfield Avenue, not extant), Downey Farms (14110 Downey Avenue, not extant), and Long’s Dairy (8627 E. Rosecrans Avenue, not extant). Long’s was famous for its No-Deposit Gallon Jug. With the large Dutch population of Paramount, a number of businesses relating to the Dutch community existed well into the 1960s, including Bakkers Royal Dutch Cookies (15006 Paramount Boulevard, not extant), and The Dutch Mill (16256 Paramount Boulevard, not extant).521
519 “Cinema Treasures,” accessed February 15. 2024, https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/21611. 520 Jessica Ritz, “Grab a Pint: Alta Dena Dairy Drive Thrus,” PBS SoCal, November 20, 2013, accessed February 15. 2024, https://www.pbssocal.org/food-discovery/food/grab-a-pint-alta-dena-dairy-drive-thrus. 521 The Holland International Market in Bellflower is one of the few remaining operating Dutch retail establishments in the general area.

Roosevelt Drive-In Dairy, 1964. Source: Paramount City Directory.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 139

LATINO MARKETS
The Latino community in Paramount continued to be served by a few small neighborhood grocery stores after World War II. Martinez Market (15520 Illinois Avenue, not extant), owned by Secundino Martinez and staffed by himself and his wife, Maria, was one neighborhood grocery store for the Latino community. Secundino (a.k.a., Secundo) resided on Michigan Avenue in 1910, working as a laborer on a beet farm. By 1930, he ran a grocery store and lived on Illinois Avenue. He operated the store for more than twenty years.

Guillen Market (15359 Illinois Avenue, extant) was run for decades by Guadalupe and Cruz Guillen. In 1956, the Guillen Market was located at 15332 Fairlock Avenue (not extant), but by 1960, it had relocated to 15359 Illinois Avenue (extant) in a converted house. The Guillens lived in the house and raised 13 children there.522 Guadalupe Cortez Guillen (1903-1952) was born in Mexico. He and his wife Cruz came to reside on Illinois Avenue in 1933 after the Long Beach earthquake destroyed his home and killed two of their children.523 The Guillen children were engaged in public service in Paramount. Raymond Guillen (b. 1938), an accountant who had previously worked at North American Rockwell before starting his own CPA firm, became the first Latino City Council Member in 1970. By 1972, he was Vice Mayor and that same year mounted an unsuccessful candidacy for the California State Assembly. By 1974, Guillen was the first Latino Mayor of Paramount.

Manuel Guillen (1935-2018) worked as a recreation leader among Latino youth in the late 1950s. By 1970, he was appointed to the City Planning Commission. He ultimately served the City of Paramount for 35 years—21 of those as a City Councilperson. Manuel Guillen helped lead change in the city after the Rand Corporation labeled Paramount an urban disaster area.524 522 Rebecca Guillen, Progress in Paramount: A History, Facebook post, September 10, 2018. 523 Karen Robes, “Paramount Legend,” Long Beach Press Telegram, December 26, 2006. 524 “Former Paramount Mayor Manuel Guillen Dies at 83,” Long Beach Press-Telegram, April 27, 2018, https://www.presstelegram.com/2018/04/27/former-paramount-mayor-manuel-guillen-dies-at-83/ (accessed June 25, 2024).

Guillen Market, 15359 Illinois Avenue, served the Latino community for decades. Source: Progress in Paramount:

A History, Facebook post by Rebecca Guillen on September 10, 2018; Raymond Guillen, Independent, March 17, 1972, B5.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 140 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 141 Theme: Civic and Institutional Development (1946-1979)
In 1945, the Hynes-Clearwater citizens’ unification committee proposed the merger of the Hynes and Clearwater post offices into the Paramount post office.525 The following year, residents of Clearwater and Hynes voted in favor of merging under the name of Paramount. The vote resulted in 1174 “yes” votes and 185 “no” votes.526 J.M. Donaldson, then first assistant postmaster general, ordered the name of the Hynes Post Office changed to Paramount effective January 1, 1948.

Eight months later, the Clearwater and Paramount post offices merged under the name of Paramount.527
This name change ushered in a wave of new “Paramount” institutions in the community, with the school district and voting precincts changed to Paramount. Other organizations, including the Methodist Church, Kiwanis and Lions clubs, and library had already adopted the name of Paramount.528 Social clubs diversified and grew during this period, with Paramount home to recreational groups dedicated to horseback riding, ice skating, and car racing, among others.

Religious institutions also prospered, as shown with the growth and expansion of Our Lady of Rosary Church, Emmanuel Reformed Church, and the Japanese Nisei Baptist Church.

CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS
With a newly dubbed city to call home, citizens of Paramount sought to improve and expand their civic and municipal services. This emphasis on serving the community was reflected in the construction of a new fire station, library, post office, and city hall.

The fire station was the first municipal service to receive a new location in postwar Paramount.

The newest fire station was built at 15538 Colorado Avenue (extant) in 1952. It was designed by notable architectural firm Armet & Davis. However, as the population exploded in the city, demand rose for fire services, and the department again looked to relocate. In 1966, the station was abandoned in favor of a newer station at 7521 Compton Boulevard (now 7521 Somerset Boulevard, extant). The one-story brick building had dormitory accommodations for 16 men and was constructed at a cost of $100,000.529
In 1955, the library was again moved, this time to a frame and stucco Modern style building at 7913 Madison Street designed by architect Louis Mosley (later used as Health Services Center, extant). As was typical of earlier library locations, the entity did not actually own the building; instead, it was leased from a private resident for a 10-year period.530 It was not until 1968 that the library received a permanent home of its own. At that time, notable architect Kenneth S. Wing designed a new library in Paramount at 16254 Colorado Avenue (extant).531 The new building was constructed at a cost of $500,000.532
525 “Bradley to Push New Post Office,” Press-Telegram, November 15, 1946, 7. 526 “Clearwater and Hynes Voters Favor Merging,” Riverside Daily Press, July 20, 1946, 1. 527 “Hynes, Clearwater Live on in City of Paramount,” Press-Telegram, July 4, 1976, 96; “Post Office Merger Goes into Effect,” Los Angeles Times, August 2, 1948, 38.
528 “Two Post Offices Merge Under Paramount Name,” Los Angeles Times, July 20, 1948, 20. 529 “Brush Fire Interrupts Dedication,” Independent, January 24, 1952, 20; “Dedication of Paramount $100,000 Fire Station Set,” PressTelegram, October 21, 1966, 11. 530 “Branch Library at Paramount is OK’d by County,” South Gate Press, April 24, 1955, 12. 531 City of Paramount, Building Permit, date not legible. 532 “Dedication of Paramount’s Library Set,” Independent, February 29, 1968, 43.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 142 Paramount Library at 16254 Colorado Avenue, constructed 1968. Source: HRG.

In 1969, a new post office began construction in Paramount at 7200 Somerset Boulevard (extant).

Designed by architect Norbert Pieper and constructed by S.L. Pollack Corporation, the $300,000 building was completed in 1970 in the New Formalist style of architecture.533 Perhaps most indicative of the city’s new identity, as well as concerns of the era, was the new Paramount City Hall constructed in 1963 by the architectural firm of Siegrist & Associates (16400 Colorado Avenue, extant). Described as “modernistic,” the 7,000 square-foot building was windowless except for glass in the entrance doors. Security was of the utmost concern, as Paramount, Southern California, and the United States worried over the threat of a nuclear crisis during the Cold War. The city’s Civil Defense headquarters was located in the new City Hall’s bomb-proof basement.534
In the 1970s, in order to encourage more public participation, the City of Paramount initiated a mobile program in which the mayor, members of the City Council, officials of the Paramount School District, representatives from the fire, law enforcement, and utilities, and City staff visited different neighborhoods each month. From 1972 to 1977, City representatives traveled across the city to field the complaints and comments of residents.535 533 “Two Paramount Buildings OK’d,” Independent, May 12, 1969, 21. 534 “In ‘City of Progress,’” Independent, January 13, 1963, 85; “Modern Civic Centers Gleam in Southland,” Independent, May 15, 1966,

61. 535 “Paramount Takes City Hall to the People,” Los Angeles Times, November 18, 1973, 347; “Paramount City Hall No Longer on Move,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1977, 434.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 143

Paramount City Hall, 1963. City of Paramount.

Medical care also improved in Paramount in the mid-twentieth century. The Paramount General Hospital opened in the fall of 1971 (16453 Colorado Avenue, extant). The one-story, 91,000- square-foot facility cost $4.5 million and accommodated 150 patients. The architectural firm of Rochlin & Baran & Associates designed the building.536 Rochlin & Baran & Associates were well known as leading designers of medical facilities in Southern California.537 With new and expanded municipal and civic services came additional recreational spaces as well.

Progress Park, situated on the site of a former dairy farm operated by the Weis family, was established in the late 1960s and expanded in the 1970s. One of the last remaining dairy barns in the city was demolished during the site’s improvement. In 1974, the Bellflower library was 536 “Drawings Set for Hospital in Paramount,” Los Angeles Times, March 1, 1970, 167; Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1971, 160; City of Paramount, Building Permit No. 35769, issued on May 25, 1969. 537 Other healthcare and research centers designed by the firm include the UCLA and Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 144 relocated to the site where it served as a community center. The building was extensively renovated the following year by Ron Jones, Inc. of Santa Fe Springs.538

SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS
Social and cultural organizations expanded in postwar Paramount, and increasingly involved sports and other physical activities, as well as a continued emphasis on religion.

The equestrian social group known as the Paramount Riders (previously the North Long Beach Saddle Club) was popular in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. The group participated in parades and carnivals—at which they won over 17 trophies—as well as welfare projects. By 1952, the price of hay rose to a level that prevented many residents from keeping their horses, and membership in the group fell.539 Despite this drop in horse ownership, an equestrian center, known as Century Equestrian and later Kings of Kings, was established in the late 1970s at the intersection of Cortland and Orange Avenues in northwestern Paramount.

Paramount also hosted several ice-skating clubs, both for figure skating and racing. The Arctic Blades Club of Paramount, founded in the 1940s, participated in local and international competitions. In 1955, several figure skaters from the club were selected to join the 20-member U.S. team in the World Championships, held in Vienna, Austria. 540 In 1961, six members of the team again traveled to Europe for the world championships, where they were all tragically killed in a plane crash in Belgium. According to the Independent, two staff members traveling to the championships were responsible for “rocketing the Arctic Blades club into the position of probably the No. 1 producer of ice-skating champions in America today.”541 The crash was a tragic loss to the Arctic Blades, Paramount, and the U.S. The Arctic Blades Club was active until at least 1978.542 A second skating club, Ice Club DeMorra of Paramount, was a racing club that regularly met in Iceland and participated in the Silver Skates Derby. The club was active from the 1950s through the 1960s.543
Paramount was also home to the Dutchman Car Club, a social organization founded around a mutual appreciation of automobiles. The group met regularly at the Moose Lodge Hall (2901 Artesia Street, Long Beach). In 1960, the club came to local attention when attendees of the meeting were attacked by members of the Townsmen, a Long Beach car club. The attackers wielded knives, hatchets, bayonets, baseball bats, and tire irons, injuring five and killing one member of the Paramount club.544
Religious institutions also proliferated and expanded in the postwar period. An increased number of religions and denominations characterized the city during this period. Examples of these institutions include the new and old congregations of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Emmanuel Reformed Church, and Nisei Japanese Baptist Church, among others. 538 “To Come Down,” Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1975, 163; Ralph McClurg, “Bids Opened to Move Library,” Independent, May 9, 1974, 36; “Building to be Improved,” Los Angeles Times, February 20, 1975, 157. 539 “Horse Feeding Cost Reduces Club Rolls,” Press-Telegram, April 25, 1952, 20. 540 “Three Paramount Skaters in World Championships,” Independent, January 23, 1955, 23. 541 “Crash Crushed Paramount Club,” Independent, February 26, 1961, 26. 542 “Skating Club to Perform,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1978, 186. 543 “Skating Club to Map Race Plans Tonight,” Press-Telegram, November 4, 1952, 11; “Barbara Roles Takes Lead in Figure Skating,” Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1958, 14.
544 “Boy, 16, Shot in Riad, Fights for His Life,” Press-Telegram, March 29, 1960, 1.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 145 In 1950, a new building for the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary was built (14815 Paramount Boulevard, extant). Constructed at a cost of $200,000 of reinforced concrete, the Romanesquestyle building was designed by architect J. Earl Trudeau. A school and convent were added next door in 1952, also designed by Trudeau.545
In 1949, the Emmanuel Reformed Church discontinued its services in Holland Dutch. According to a newspaper article in the Los Angeles Times, “following efforts of church officials and leaders of the Holland-American community in Southern California, ex-Hollanders have become so well Americanized that all services will be conducted in English.”546 In 1951, the congregation built a new church at 15941 Virginia Avenue (extant). It was designed by architect Ben Van Aalst and built by Gene Pittman.547 The following year, Queen Juliana of Holland attended church in the new edifice after touring the area.548
The Nisei Japanese Baptist Church continued to thrive after World War II under the leadership of Reverend Kazuo Harper Sakaue. After his release from prison camp, Sakaue led the congregation from 1947 to 1951. By 1955, he had relocated to Fresno.549 Later leaders of the church included Robert E. Knight (1954) and Ted Hishino (1956). The church also had a Sunday school.550 Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (left), Emmanuel Reformed Church (center), and Nisei Japanese Baptist Church (right), 2024. Source: HRG.

A new Methodist Church was built in Paramount in 1956 (16635 Paramount Boulevard, not extant). Designed by notable architects Carleton Winslow Jr. and Kenneth Lind of Winslow & Lind, the church featured stained glass windows, laminated wood arches, a white marble altar, and 545 “Catholics to Hold Church Dedication,” Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1951, 16; “Now the Last Mystery,” The Tidings, December 5, 1952, 27.
546 “Dutch Church Plans Change,” Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1949, 17. 547 “Break Ground for New Church Saturday,” Independent, November 24, 1950, 5. 548 “Dedication at New Church Tonight,” Independent, June 19, 1951, 3. 549 The historic address of Sakaue’s residence was listed as 15338 S. Paramount Boulevard; the residence was demolished sometime in the late 1950s. “Ministerial Union Will Celebrate Thanksgiving at Joint Services,” Hollydale Press, November 27, 1947, 1; “Clearwater, Japanese,” Press-Telegram, January 31, 1948, 40; “Clearwater, Nisei,” Press-Telegram, July 14, 1951, 7. 550 “Mission Society in Meeting, Yule Fete,” Wilmington Daily Press Journal, December 12, 1949, 4; “Churchwomen,” Press-Telegram, January 31, 1950, 15.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 146 charcoal cinder block altar wall. The church also included a “cry room,” which was “acoustically sealed for mothers with small children.”551

SCHOOLS
The post-World War II era also saw significant new school construction. Most school expansion was halted during the war due to materials shortages; therefore, in the immediate postwar years, school administrators addressed the lack of space on existing campuses by implementing aggressive building programs. Postwar residential growth as the city expanded and densified required a significant expansion of school campuses; this resulted in a golden age of modern school construction that lasted into the late 1960s.

During the mid-twentieth century, the number of students enrolled in the Paramount Unified School District increased dramatically, with enrollment doubling over a 5-year period in the late 1940s. By the mid-1950s, there were over 7,000 students enrolled in the Paramount Unified School District.552 As a result of this burgeoning population and increasing demand, the district advanced a building program comprising the development or expansion of nine schools. Grounded in the lessons learned from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake’s effects on traditional school design, California architects continued to innovate new campus designs during the postwar period.

By the 1950s, many of the design ideas considered experimental in the 1930s had matured and become the national standard for schools.553 Overall, a unified campus design, building types and plans that accommodated a high degree of indoor-outdoor integration, ample outdoor spaces, and sheltered corridors marked the typology as the mature version of the functionalist school plant.

Site plans, which often featured a decentralized, pavilion-like layout, lacked the formality and monumentality that characterized earlier eras of school design. School types expressive of these ideals include the finger-plan,554 the cluster-plan,555 and variations on these basic themes according to available lot size and school enrollment. In general, postwar schools in Southern California were designed to “feel decentralized, nonhierarchical, approachable, informal, and childcentered.”556 One of the earliest schools developed during this period was the Mark Keppel Elementary School, completed in 1949 in western Paramount (6630 Mark Keppel Street, extant). The campus and its buildings –a kindergarten building, three classrooms, and maintenance buildings—were designed by school architect Henry L. Gogerty.557
In 1949, the district hired notable architects Allison & Rible and Clifford Denman to design several campuses as part of a $3 million building program funded by the state. Allison & Rible designed the new campus of the Los Cerritos School in Paramount. Previously located immediately north 551 “Children Buy Memorial Glass in New Church,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1956, 71; City of Paramount, various Building Permits, May 25, 1956.
552 “Enrollments Set Records,” South Gate Press, September 2, 1954, 1. 553 Overview discussion of school design from this period excerpted and adapted from Sapphos Environmental, Inc., Los Angeles Unified School District Historic Context Statement, March 2014. 554 The finger-plan resembled a tree plan, with a central trunk and branches. 555 The cluster-plan retained the low massing and indoor-outdoor access and views for all classrooms. But rather than extending wings along an axis like the finger-plan, cluster-plan schools grouped buildings as modular, standalone units around a shared central courtyard.
556 Sapphos Environmental, Inc., 78.
557 City of Paramount, various Building Permits, August 17, 1948.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 147 of Lincoln Elementary School, the school was relocated to the northwestern region of the city, and adopted the new finger-plan school design (14626 Gundry Avenue, extant).558 An article in the Los Angeles Times recounted the new school’s designs, lauding the firm of Allison & Rible for including “serviceability and attractiveness” in the campus with such features as exterior and interior louvers, connected passageways, and an attractive use of color.559 The school’s old campus, immediately north of Lincoln Elementary School, was demolished and new administrative offices for the school district were constructed there that same year (15110 California Avenue, extant).

Allison & Rible designed the new headquarters for the Paramount Unified School District in 1953.560
Allison & Rible also designed the Harry Wirtz Elementary School, which was dedicated in 1951 (8535 Contreras Street, extant).561 The campus included eight classrooms and a cafeteria.562 Additionally, the firm designed the Ray Collins Elementary School, which—although part of the Paramount School District—is technically located in the City of Long Beach.

Aerial views of Los Cerritos Elementary School (left) and Wesley Gaines Elementary School (right), 1952. Sources: Los Angeles Times and The History and Development of Paramount, California.

In addition to new campuses, Allison & Rible also designed additions for existing schools in Paramount, including two additional classrooms for Roosevelt Elementary School563 and a kindergarten building for Grove Avenue Elementary School. Improvements to 58 classroom buildings at Grove Avenue Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, and Major Lynn H. Mokler Elementary included updated lighting, heating, pluming, and interior decorating.564 Another school built during this period was the Wesley Gaines Elementary School (7340 Jackson Street). Named after Wesley Gaines, a Paramount pioneer and former trustee of the school district, the campus was dedicated in 1952.565
Beginning in 1949, Lincoln Elementary School was the site of a pioneering program for disabled students afflicted with cerebral palsy, polio, and other disabilities. Superintendent Jack Robinson and his wife established the program using state funds for disabled students. Classes had a 558 “School Planned at Paramount,” Los Angeles Times, July 27, 1949, 22; “School Building Bids Accepted,” South Gate Daily PressTribune, June 10, 1949, 15; “Six Paramount District Schools Now Completed,” Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1952, 123. 559 “Six Paramount District Schools Now Completed,” Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1952, 123. 560 “Paramount to Open New School Offices Monday,” South Gate Press, January 31, 1954, 12. 561 “Dedication,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, February 21, 1951, 13. 562 “Paramount District Votes Bond Issue,” Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1948, 9. 563 As a result of the Century Freeway project, Roosevelt Elementary School was demolished and relocated to its current location in the late 1970s (13451 Merkel Avenue, extant). The California Department of Transportation paid for the new school for the right-ofway. 564 “New Classrooms to Open Monday,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, January 27, 1950. 565 “New School Named for School Pioneer,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, July 26, 1952, 4.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 148 specialized educational plan, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy arrangements.566 The school was locally renowned for these integrative services.

In 1953, the local schools unified and became the Paramount Unified School District. That same year, the new Senior High School opened- dividing the campus between the historic West Campus and the new Senior Campus, which were divided by the railroad (14708 Paramount Boulevard and 14429 Downey Avenue, respectively, both extant). The Paramount High SchoolWest Campus underwent an $885,000 improvement project in 1955, which added 14 portable classrooms and renovated shops, showers, and locker facilities.567 The new Paramount High School – Senior Campus was designed in 1952 by architects Kistner, Curtis & Wright (later Kistner, Wright & Wright). The school adopted a finger-plan design of 13 buildings to accommodate 1,150 students at a cost of over $1.7 million.568 It was built by Albert Reingardt.569 Models of the school were showcased by the architects at the 1952 American Institute of Architects exhibition at the Home Show.570
The next major school construction in Paramount was Alondra Middle School (Alondra Junior High School), designed by the architectural firm of Killingsworth, Brady, Smith & Associates in 1961 (16200 Downey Avenue, extant). The school accommodated upwards of 1,500 students and adopted a Mid-Century Modern style of institutional architecture. Designed using the clusterplan campus model, the school featured “courtyards, ramp, Greek theater, bridged library, and two-story plan.” As recorded in an article on the school by Arts and Architecture in 1961:

The west face presented a particular problem in sun control. The usual solution is louvers of some sort. The design uses instead a ceramic tile screen, laid out to discourage students from climbing. It is from a District-owned die [sic] worked out with Gladding-McBean to fit an economical steel module and prevent sun penetration before 3:30pm on the winter day the sun sets earliest.571
School district disputes, particularly the Paramount, Compton, and Lynwood districts, mounted in the late 1960s when the Compton School District considered integrating its two predominantly white elementary schools, Mark Keppel Elementary School and Janie P. Abbott Elementary School, with predominantly Black schools in west Compton. As a result, in 1966, parents in west Paramount and southeast Lynwood sought to withdraw their children from the largely Black Compton City School District.

According to Compton officials, the change was sought “because Paramount and Lynwood parents don’t want their children going to school with Negroes in Compton,” and local NAACP leaders strongly opposed the transfer.572 An article in the Los Angeles Times titled “Negro Parents Meet Defeat in School Dispute,” recorded an incident in which the chairman of the Compton Parents Action Committee was forcibly removed from a Board of Supervisors meeting, remarking 566 “Handicapped Tots to Attend School,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, July 8, 1949, 12; “Educators Visit Local School for Handicapped Tots,” Hollydale Press, February 23, 1950, 1. 567 “Paramount Will Improve Junior High School,” Los Angeles Times, February 6, 1955, 140. 568 “New Paramount High School Ready for Bids,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, February 27, 1952, 3. 569 “Ground-Breaking Marks Celebration in Paramount,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, May 14, 1952, 7. 570 “AIA Exhibit Cross-Sections Architecture in Southland,” Los Angeles Times, August 24, 1952, 116. 571 “Junior High School,” Arts and Architecture (September 1961): 28. 572 “Vote Called Dec. 6 on Compton School Districts’ Secessions,” Independent, September 17, 1966, 4.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 149 “If you want a revolution, this is the way you’ll get one.”573 Another resident who opposed the annexation was the chairman of the United Parents Council, a countywide organization aimed at ending de facto segregation in schools.

Photographs and plan of Alondra Middle School, 1961. Source: Arts and Architecture. 573 “Negro Parents Meet Defeat in School Dispute,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1966, 3.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 150 As a result of the general community unrest, the school board decided to hold an election for parents of children enrolled in the two schools to decide the matter of annexation. A vote was held in December of 1966, in which parents voted in favor of leaving the Compton School District.574 Mark Keppel
Elementary School joined the Paramount School District
that year.

The first Black teacher employed by the Paramount School District was Lena Alford, who also served as the first Black principal in the district. She was selected as an outstanding teacher of Wesley Gaines Elementary in 1973.575
Theodore Ratcliff was the second Black teacher employed by the district. Ratcliff worked as a teacher at the Major Lynn H. Mokler Elementary School for 17 years and was the recipient of a prestigious federal grant through the NDEA Civics Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He was also a notable inventor, and created a teaching
device called “Letto,” which aided grade school children in work analysis, and a swiveling paintbrush, among other inventions. A graduate of the
Historically Black College of Alcorn A&M, Ratcliff also edited The Builder, a newspaper sponsored by the
African Methodist Church of Los Angeles and
published a book of poetry, “Black Forever More.”
Ratcliff was nominated for the 1984 Who’s Who in
California.576
Other significant elementary school teachers in
Paramount were Carol McCafferty Robinson and
Suzanne Roberts. McCafferty and Roberts were both
second wave feminists and active members of the
National Organization for Women (NOW). NOW was
an advocacy group that addressed issues such as
women’s reproductive rights, feminist art and culture,
financial literacy, violence against women, and the
discipline of women’s studies.
574 “Voters Approve School Pullout in Compton District,” Press-Telegram, December 7, 1966, 41. 575 “Prairie View Honors Alumni,” Los Angeles Sentinel, April 24, 1975, C5; “5 Teachers Honored by Paramount,” South Gate Press, June 30, 1973, 3.
576 “Theodore Ratcliff,” Los Angeles Sentinel, June 8, 1967, D3; “Paint Roller Debuts,” Los Angeles Sentinel, February 3, 1983, A8; “Ratcliff Included in Who’s Who,” Los Angeles Sentinel, April 12, 1984, A8. “Negro Parents Meet Defeat in School
Dispute,” Newspaper Article, 1966.

Source: Los Angeles Times.

Theodore Ratcliff with pivoting paint rollers,
1983. Source: Los Angeles Sentinel.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 151 Active during the 1970s and 1980s, Carol
McCafferty Robinson served as the news
editor for the organization’s newspaper, The
Now Times. She wrote about issues that
contemporary women faced, including the
decision to take or not take a husband’s
surname, the spousal rape bill, and sexism and
alcoholism.577 In 1979, she reviewed a John
Irvine novel, and noted “It seems that the
world out there so often regards feminists as
either misguided crazies or as keepers of the
sacred flame.”578 McCafferty worked as a
teacher at the Roosevelt Elementary School
for 31 years, from the 1950s to 1980s.

Suzanne Roberts was also involved in NOW in
the 1970s and 1980s, where she served as cochairwoman of the Long Beach chapter, chapter delegate to the state convention, and
co-chairwoman of the NOW state conference
in Long Beach. In 1986, she received the Susan
B. Anthony Award of the Long Beach chapter
for her “perseverance, responsibility,
dedication, and pragmatism in promoting civic
rights.”579 Roberts worked at Roosevelt
Elementary School in Paramount from at least
1979 to 1986.

Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
577 Carol McCafferty, “Naming Ourselves,” The Now Times, June 1979, 8; Carol McCafferty, “An Encouraging Word from Your Local Sex Crimes Detail,” The Now Times, October 1979, 12; Carol McCafferty, “Some Thoughts About Women and Alcoholism,” The Now Times, October 1979, 15, on file with the Gale Archives of Sexuality and Gender. 578 “The World According to Garp,” The Now Times, June 1979, 12. 579 “Paramount Teacher Honored with NOW’s Anthony Award,” Press-Telegram, February 21, 1986, E4.

Suzanne Roberts and Carol McCafferty holding witty
posters at an ERA march c. 1978 (top) and c. 1983
(bottom). Source: California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 152 Theme: Industrial Development (1946-1979)
In the postwar era, an early objective of the new city of Paramount was to entice further industrial development through the “adoption of proper zoning” that would encourage industries to move to, or expand into,
Paramount.580 The new city held onto its
agricultural identity in the postwar
years and well into the 1950s; however,
it soon transitioned into a suburban
setting dominated by a thriving
industrial economy. A 1949 land use
map commissioned by the County of
Los Angeles bears witness to the
transitioning Paramount land use and
economy. The zoning plan of 1962 and
general plan of 1970, as discussed
above, further reference this transition.

AGRICULTURE: DAIRY, CATTLE,

HAY INDUSTRY
In the years immediately after World
War II, the writing was on the wall for
Paramount’s economy to slowly shift
from one dominated by the agricultural
industries of dairy, cattle, and hay to
one dominated by manufacturing.

Paramount’s history and development
concluded that while the dairy industry
(and its accompanying cattle and hay
industries) remained chief as of 1956,
“Paramount is now beginning to take its
place in the area as an industrial
center.”581
Rising costs of feed and labor due to wartime demands resulted in dairy farmers reducing their herd sizes in 1945, causing milk shortages in 1946.582 In response, the Office of Economic Stabilization in Washington, D.C. announced “price increases on butter, milk and cheese” at the retail level hoping to offset rising production costs and stave off further dairy herd reductions and dairy product shortages.583 Despite this intervention, market volatility continued with dairymen of the Hynes-Artesia-Norwalk area appealing for more “state intervention” to 580 “Paramount Attracts Industries,” Press-Telegram, January 2, 1949. 581 Pitchie, 17.
582 “Critical Milk Famine Looming in County,” Independent, April 14, 1946. 583 “L.A. Prices Rise; Butter, Milk, Cheese to Cost More,” Wilmington Daily Press Journal, May 27, 1946.

Paramount Land Use Map, 1949. Source: Huntington Library.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 153 mediate issues between dairy farmers, milk transporters, creameries, and their union representatives.584
Discontent continued through 1946 with prominent Hynes dairyman, Ned M. Clinton, urging “all segments of the dairy industry in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties” to attend meetings organized by the California Dairy Industry Advisory Board to discuss “plans to stimulate the sales of dairy products.”585 In November 1946, dairymen and milk distributors of Los Angeles County argued for increased milk prices before the State Department of Agriculture’s Milk Control Board. One speaker, Gale MacDowell, the head of the Western Consumers Feed Company in Hynes, threatened: “As many as 40 percent of the area’s dairymen might be forced out of business during the winter season if prices are not adjusted upward.”586 By March 1947, the State Bureau of Milk Control’s interventions lowered production costs, stabilized the market, and prevented a complete removal of dairy farmers from Los Angeles County.587
Market volatility combined with suburbanization trends pressured local dairy farmers into selling their land and finding work elsewhere or relocating their dairy farms to other, more rural communities on the outskirts of Los Angeles County or even in neighboring counties. This shift did not happen overnight; in fact, a 1947 report claimed that Los Angeles County’s dairy industry was the “Greatest in Nation,” and even included a note on Hynes dairyman, Ray Vanderby and his 137-cow dairy, as an example of the county’s remarkable dairy feats.588 The hay and dairy festival returned, too, in the postwar period, further signaling Clearwater-Hynes’ commitment to maintaining their dairy, cattle, and hay industrial identity.589 Until the 1950s, Los Angeles County was “the top agriculture county in the U.S.” with Paramount contributing significantly with its dairy, cattle, and hay industries.590 However, as Los Angeles County’s population increased and suburbanization encroached on lands previously devoted to agriculture, the county lost its title as a top agricultural producer. A similar pattern followed in Paramount with dairy farmers “selling out” and moving east. Dairies relocated to Dairy Valley (Cerritos), Dairyland (La Palma), and Dairy City (Cypress) as well as to Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.591 In 1953, the City of Long Beach sought annexation of Paramount, even though “much of the area is devoted to dairy farming,” which was prohibited by Long Beach City Ordinance. In their annexation plan, the City of Long Beach claimed, “Owners of dairy farms will be given a reasonable time to comply with the ordinance” and that removal of such industry “will clear the way for improved municipal services.”592 Though the annexation did not come to pass, the dairy, cattle, and hay industries of Paramount which had dominated the local economy and served as the center of Los Angeles County’s agricultural outputs (behind citrus) did eventually leave the area and give way to municipal services, other industries, and housing developments. The 1956 study of Paramount captured 584 “Dairymen’s Group Asks Intervention in Milk Dumping,” Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News, July 24, 1946. 585 “Milk men urged to attend sales meeting,” The Signal, September 26, 1946. 586 “L.A. Dairymen, Distributors Seek Book in Milk Prices,” Daily News, November 18, 1946. 587 “Milk Price Due to Drop 1 Cent,” South Gate Press, March 13, 1947. 588 “County’s Dairy Industry Is Greatest in Nation,” The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet, March 20, 1947. 589 “Where to go – What to see,” The Highland Park News-Herald, August 23, 1946. 590 Zac Behrens, “‘Until the 1950s, Los Angeles County was the top agricultural county in the U.S.’” PBS SoCal, February 11, 2011. 591 Gilbert & Wehr, 481-486; Pitchie, 30-31.
592 Planning Board Recommends Annexing Paramount Area,” The Independent, May 5, 1953.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 154 this recession, reporting both that “The present value of dairy cows in Paramount…is estimated to be in excess of sixteen million dollars” but that “The dairying industry is slowly and surely being crowded out by encroaching homes and industries.”593 By 1971, a newspaper reported only six dairies left in Paramount, with the last one closing in 1977.594 In an area once home to 80,000 cows (as of a 1952 estimate), Paramount’s dairy, cattle, and hay industry gave way to suburban homes, commercial developments, and industrial plants.595 In Paramount, examples of dairy farms in the postwar period included Hygienic Dairy (16604 Orange Avenue), Rosecrans Farms Dairy (address unknown), Roosevelt Dairy (7216 Alondra Boulevard), Long’s Dairy Store (8627 Rosecrans Avenue), Sam Marcus Home & Dairy Farm (7323 Garfield Avenue and 7518 Alondra Boulevard), Frank Boesma Home & Dairy Farm (15959 Minnesota Avenue), Jim Van Derlanan Home & Dairy Farm (15937 Minnesota Avenue), and Ariza Cheese (7602 Jackson Street).

POSTWAR INDUSTRY
During World War II, the United States’ need to rely on its own economy and resources to produce goods for the war effort resulted in a dramatic industrial revolution spurred by scientific innovation. Where once the United States relied on far away, tenuous trade relations with colonized nations for goods such as rubber and medicines, the global war drastically reduced or completely cut off those relationships.596
In June 1941, President Roosevelt established the Office of Scientific Research and Development with the express intention to assure “adequate provisions for research on scientific and medical problems relating to national defense.”597 In the pre-war period of Paramount’s development (1920-1940), industries were attracted to Clearwater-Hynes’ resources of vast swaths of inexpensive land, ample water supplies, and well-established rail lines connecting the area to the Long Beach and Los Angeles markets. While the agricultural industry— primarily the dairy, cattle, and hay industries— took center stage in both the pre-war (1920-1940) and wartime (1941-1945) periods, other industries were being established in Paramount. President Roosevelt’s initiative and wartime demands only encouraged and hastened the industrial development of Paramount. In the postwar period of Paramount’s history (1946-1979), the area that had early attracted industrialists fully embraced an economic future of industrial development. By 1971, 50% of the town was zoned industrial.598 Macco Corporation
Started in 1929 in Clearwater, the Macco Corporation grew its business through the 1930s and 1940s, eventually earning the reputation of, “One of [the] world’s greatest builders,” in 1958.599 In the postwar period, the company was well known, experienced, and had a well-established headquarters in Paramount. Though it started as a lumber yard, Macco diversified its services 593 Pitchie, 30-31.
594 Hillyard; Mark Clutter, “Paramount has a distinct personality,” Independent, November 28, 1971. 595 Mark Clutter, “Paramount has a distinct personality,” Independent, November 28, 1971. 596 Daniel Immerwahr, How to Hide an Empire, (New York: Picador, 2020), 262-277. 597 Jennifer Harbster, “World War II ‘Scientific Manpower,’” Library of Congress, November 10, 2010. https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2010/11/world-war-ii-scientific-manpower/. 598 Mark Clutter, “Paramount Has a Distinct Personality,” Independent, November 28, 1971. 599 “Production of Wood Normal,” News-Pilot, March 4, 1929.; Pitchie, 21.; “Macco Corp. Now One of World’s Greatest Builders,” Independent, January 2, 1958, 39.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 155 into six divisions: Construction, Pacific Crane and Rigging, Refinery and Chemical, Pipeline, Drilling Fluid, and Lumber. It also operated two subsidiary companies, the Belyea Truck Company, and Diversified Builders, as well as having an affiliate company, Pacific Dredging.600 In the postwar period, Los Angeles’ population exploded, and returning soldiers sought suburban housing and nearby jobs. The population boom and steady flow of people from rural to urban settings required improved and additional infrastructure throughout the county, state, and nation. The Macco Corporation thrived because of those factors and provided jobs for about 1,800 people per a 1956 estimate.601 Jobs that Macco Corporation was responsible for creating during the postwar period included a flood control channel for the Los Angeles District Engineer (1945), grading and paving the Terminal Island freeway (1946), a water booster pumping plant for the City of Long Beach (1950), a steel and concrete bridge over the Rio Hondo Channel (1950), piers for bridges over the Los Angeles River (1953), and a water reclaiming unit for the Richfield Oil Company (1957).602 A 1956 article on the company called it “one of the nation’s leading construction firms” with its unique ability to cope with any situation.603 A 1959 article echoed that sentiment, detailing the company’s history as well as its predicting future growth, writing, “No job is too big for Macco Corp.”604 In 1965, proving its ability, Macco Corporation contracted with NASA at the height of the space race to “install hardware and plumbing aboard the first three mobile launchers being built at the Kennedy Space Center’s Merritt Island facility.”605 Pacific Crane and Rigging, one of Macco’s divisions, was responsible for equipping Launch Pads A and B of Complex 39, the rocket launch site which sent the Saturn V rocket to the moon during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.606 In 1965, the Macco Corporation sold its interests and its name changed to Paramount Pacific.607
600 Pitchie, 21.
601 Pitchie, 21.
602 “Flood Control Contract Awarded,” Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, June 15, 1945, 4.; “State Orders Work on Island Freeway,” News-Pilot, April 19, 1946, 1.; “Law Sets Speed Limit,” The Pomona Progress Bulletin, February 8, 1950, 8.; “Contract Let for Bridge,” Press-Telegram, April 30, 1950, 23. “Bridge Job Let,” Independent, May 26, 1953, 19. “Built by Macco,” Independent, January 2, 1957, 67. 603 “Macco Corp. Is Equipped for Any Major Building,” Independent, January 3, 1956, 80. 604 “No Job is too big for Macco Corp., Real Industrial Giant,” Press-Telegram, January 4, 1959, 61. 605 “NASA Contracts to Macco Unit,” Independent, February 14, 1965, 58. 606 NASA News Release: KSC-17-65. John F. Kennedy Space Center. https://www3.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/744316main_1965.pdf.; Charles D. Benson & William Barnaby Faherty, Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978), 317, 336-337, 449, 456- 457.
607 “Macco Corp. Takes New Name on June 1,” Press-Telegram, May 28, 1967, 56.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 156 Advertisement for Macco Corporation, January 2, 1958. Source: Independent.

Carlton Forge Works
Carlton Forge Works was established by Allan Carlton Sr. in Paramount in 1929. It began as a manufacturing company that produced oil field tools and other associated machinery but evolved to manufacture other products as the economy shifted. During World War II, the founder’s son, Allan Carlton Jr., took over the company and began manufacturing gun barrels to aid the war effort.608 The company’s offices and manufacturing plant have been located at 7743 Adams Street in Paramount since at least 1952.609 In the post-war era, Carlton Forge Works solidified its place within the aerospace industry as a leading manufacturer of aircraft engines.610 In 1967, Carlton Forge Works was included on a list of U.S. Government Contractors providing critical technology to produce defense metals. The company was included as a major producer of titanium with extensive experience forging it. Titanium is considered a defense material because it is used to fabricate “high-performance airframe[s].”611 In November 1970, Carlton Forge Works was listed as a contractor developing materials for the NERVA program of NASA.612 The Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application program was an initiative jointly headed by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and NASA with ends of creating nuclear 608 “About Us,” Carlton Forge Works, accessed April 16, 2024, https://www.carltonforgeworks.com/about/. 609 “Industrial Facilities Hit Highest Peak in History,” Press-Telegram, June 15, 1952. 610 “About Us,” Carlton Forge Works, accessed April 16, 2024, https://www.carltonforgeworks.com/about/. 611 Office of Supersonic Transport Development, Federal Aviation Agency & Air Force Materials Laboratory, “Aircraft Designer’s Handbook for Titanium and Titanium Alloys,” Columbus, Ohio: Defense Metals Information Center, March 1967. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0821839.pdf.
612 “Nerva Materials Developments Fourth Quarter – Contract Year 1970,” NERVA Program, November 1970. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19720012948/downloads/19720012948.pdf.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 157 powered engines for rockets as opposed to chemically powered rockets.613 A 1999 newspaper reported that Carlton Forge Works constructed a new facility on their property in Paramount.614 Other known industrial companies and associated properties in Paramount from the postwar period (with their historic addresses) include the American Brass Company (14900 Garfield Avenue), A & M Construction Company (7554 Compton Boulevard), Coval Cabinet, Incorporated (15517 Illinois Avenue), Alex Robertson Company (811 Paramount Boulevard), Paramount Perlite (16233/6 Illinois Avenue), Midwest Rubber Reclaiming (14358 Garfield Avenue), Auto-lite Battery Corporation (7701 Compton Boulevard), Collins, Caldwell, Dague (16616 Garfield Avenue), Cannell & Losch Engineering (8302 Alondra Boulevard), Kennedy Pipe & Supply (15301 Paramount Boulevard), Randall Mills Corporation (R. Geddes; 7754 Jefferson Street), D.H. Adams Manufacturing Company (15002 Downey Avenue), Virnel Machine Company (16320 Garfield Avenue), Weber Metals (16706 Garfield Avenue), and Aerco (15701 Minnesota Avenue), among others.

Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
613 W.H. Robbins & H.B. Finger, “An Historical Perspective of the NERVA Nuclear Rocket Engine Technology Program,” NASA Contract Report 187154, July 1991. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19910017902. 614James Flanigan, “Downey Takes Lead to Revive Gateway Cities,” Los Angeles Times, June 16, 1999.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 158 Theme: Infrastructure (1946-1979)
The postwar population boom in Los Angeles County and the nation profoundly affected the trajectory of Paramount’s development. Already transitioning from a rural, smaller population defined by the agriculture industry prior to WWII, the returning soldiers’ desire for suburban living and steady jobs created a demand for urban development in Paramount. Infrastructural additions and updates were necessary to support this growth and were seen as a pathway for paving Paramount’s future. Part of this development was the decision to merge the unincorporated communities of Hynes and Clearwater into one and rename the joint area Paramount effective January 1, 1948.615 In 1949, Los Angeles County established the first zoning laws in present-day Paramount. In January 1957, citizens further progressed Paramount’s development when they voted to incorporate and become their own city.616 These decisions were instrumental in allowing area citizens to decide both how the City of Paramount progressed and what kind of infrastructure would be necessary to support Paramount residents.

PRE-INCORPORATION INFRASTRUCTURE (1946-1956)
In the postwar period, as early as February 1946, members of the Harbor District Chamber of Commerce met at the Hynes Chamber of Commerce to discuss civic problems facing the area communities. Their agenda included discussion of transportation, traffic congestion, public carrier service improvements, and flood control.617 A Clearwater specific infrastructural plan bore fruit around the same time when work began on a project “involving nearly 6000 feet of sewer pipe” installation after “months of planning to bring additional sewerage” to the community.618 Soon after this infrastructural addition, a public hearing was held to discuss a zoning plan because the “Clearwater-Hynes area is the only non-zoned district between Long Beach and Los Angeles.”619 Adoption of a zoning plan would allow officials more control over land use and development as well provide an inventory of the land use and infrastructure already present in the Paramount area.

Infrastructural projects continued with the construction of shelter stations for patrons of the Pacific Electric rail line at the Paramount Boulevard and Garfield Avenue crossings in March 1946.620 In addition to infrastructural upgrades for the Pacific Electric passenger rail line, the Union Pacific railroad line added automatic signals to alert pedestrians and motorists of a train’s arrival at their line crossing on Century Boulevard in Hollydale in 1947.621 While the railroad projects were relatively small infrastructural additions, larger infrastructural projects came to the Clearwater-Hynes area, too, during the pre-incorporation period of Paramount’s postwar history. A decision by the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department resulted in the allocation of $50,000 for the construction of a county park on Paramount Boulevard which stands today as Paramount Park.622 In November 1952, the 615 “California Town Gets New Name,” Wilmington Daily Press Journal, January 2, 1948, 4. 616 “Paramount Decides to Become City,” The Pomona Progress Bulletin, January 24, 1957, 6. 617 “Civic Leaders Attend Meeting,” The Southwest Wave, February 14, 1946, 9. 618 “News of Week Reveals Host of Achievements,” Press-Telegram, February 24, 1946, 5. 619 “Clearwater,” Press-Telegram, March 10, 1946, 7.
620 “Clearwater Train Patrons Assured of Waiting Rooms,” Press-Telegram, March 18, 1946, 9. 621 “Signal for RR Crossing is Promised,” South Gate Daily Press-Tribune, January 25, 1947, 1. 622 “Recreation in Southeast Area Bolstered,” Press-Telegram, June 22, 1947, 14.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 159 Clearwater Street lighting district (first developed in May 1925), was extended to encompass a school area to provide better visibility in that area of the community.623 Additionally, in preparation for Queen Juliana of the Netherland’s visit to Los Angeles in 1952, the Paramount Chamber of Commerce “pleaded with the County Road Department” so they might pave the street on which the Emmanuel Reformed Church sits in Paramount. Queen Juliana visited that Church and Paramount because of the 12,000 people of Dutch origin residing in the area.624 Roadway infrastructural additions were of the utmost importance in the postwar period and were some of the largest infrastructural investments made in Paramount between 1945 and 1980. Due to Paramount’s unincorporated status until 1957, county level plans significantly impacted development. In 1947, the Regional Planning Commission published a revised version of their Master Plan of Freeways, which detailed the necessity and importance of constructing a vast network of reliable, interconnected freeways throughout the county.625 With the population only growing and automobile and bus transportation expected to increase, county planners dreamed up the freeways we know today throughout the county.

By 1950, a map of the proposed route for the Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710), was published which featured the route dividing Compton (to the east) and Paramount (to the west).626 Contracts were let in 1951 and construction began soon after with the freeway being dubbed a “strategic military link” of vital importance.627 The Long Beach Freeway was strategic both for military and civilian purposes – allowing for the rapid transportation of goods during wartime and people (workers) during peacetime. Providing access to large work and shopping centers like the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, and downtown Los Angeles was important to planners considering economic development and growth of the region.628 The year 1957, at the time of Paramount’s incorporation, was declared “the biggest freeway building year in California history,” with the state highway engineers working with a $120,000,000 budget for freeway construction in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Orange Counties. Over $30,000,000 of the budget came from the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. In Paramount, the 1957 map indicated what was to come: the completion of the Long Beach Freeway on their western boundary by February 1958 and plans of the Artesia Freeway to be built sometime in the future of the “fiveyear program” to construct more freeways interconnecting Los Angeles County.629 POST-INCORPORATION INFRASTRUCTURE (1957-1979)
Incorporation did not slow down infrastructural improvements in Paramount, although their new status as a city affected road development procedures. In 1957, the City of South Gate proposed that Orange Avenue (in Paramount) be expanded to connect South Gate to the Long Beach Freeway. City Manager A.W. Noland of Paramount pushed back against the proposal, citing the need for the newly incorporated city to discuss the matter.630 While Orange Avenue 623 “Lights for Paramount,” Press-Telegram, November 5, 1952, 22.; “Clearwater and Hynes,” Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1925, F12. 624 “City of Paramount Paves for Juliana,” Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1952, 34. 625 “The Regional Planning Commission: Important Timeline of Events,” 2023, accessed April 17, 2024, https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/rpc-timeline/. 626 “Preview of Proposed Long Beach Freeway,” Press-Telegram, July 26, 1950, 3. 627 “State Awards $1,429,146 for L.B. Freeway,” Press-Telegram, June 1, 1951, 17.; “New L.B. Freeway Looms as Strategic Military Link,” Press-Telegram, July 22, 1951.
628 Gilbert Estrada, “The 710 Long Beach Freeway: A History of America's Most Important Freeway,” PBS SoCal, February 12, 2014. https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/departures/the-710-long-beach-freeway-a-history-of-americas-most-important-freeway. 629 “Freeway Building Expands,” Los Angeles Mirror, January 2, 1957. 630 “Paramount Not Ready for Paving,” South Gate Press, August 15, 1957, 1.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 160 was eventually extended, it was not up to suggestion by the City of South Gate. Investment in roads continued into 1958 with $175,000 worth of improvements made to Downey and Garfield Avenues that included “grading and installation of pavement, curbs, gutters and drainage structures.”631 The Long Beach Freeway’s completion in 1958 resulted in connections to downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach for personal vehicles as well as public transportation. In July 1958, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority announced “Freeway Flyer busses” between Rosecrans Avenue in Paramount and downtown Los Angeles with their express service clocking in at forty-three minutes per commute.632 In 1963, Long Beach City Engineer Jess D. Gilkerson and Traffic Engineer Robert D. Dier recommended that the Long Beach Freeway be widened into a “high-capacity, six-lane roadway…as soon as possible.” They claimed that the portion of the Long Beach Freeway between Compton and Paramount “already reached possible capacity” so extra lanes were of the utmost importance.633 Now connected by major roadways, the adjacent cities of Paramount and Long Beach worked together on various infrastructural projects pertaining to shared roads between the two cities. In 1967, an agreement between the City of Paramount and the City of Long Beach resulted in the improvement of Orange Avenue. The City of Paramount constructed storm drains along Orange Avenue and connected them to Long Beach storm drains while the City of Long Beach widened and improved Orange Avenue itself.634 Additional cross-government projects led to more roadway developments and improvements.

In 1969, the County of Los Angeles contributed $300,000 toward improving Rosecrans Avenue – a project spearheaded by the City of Paramount. Together the two governments were able to fund upgrading Rosecrans Avenue into a “four-lane highway.”635 Soon after that project was announced, another major road plan was announced. In May 1969, the State of California, Department of Public Works, Division of Highways conducted a public hearing to discuss “engineering design features of the proposed Interstate Route 105 (Century) Freeway between Orange Avenue and Grant Avenue…in the cities of Paramount and South Gate.”636 In August 1969, Paramount paired with the City of Norwalk to improve three miles of roadways between the two cities. The Rosecrans Avenue improvement included “widening…plus parking lanes, curbs, gutters, sidewalks and drainage facilities” as well as a modernization of all traffic signals and illumination of all street name signs.”637
In 1966, the Mayor of Paramount, Walter Scott, wrote a piece published in a Long Beach newspaper about the City of Paramount living up to its title, ‘City of Progress.’ He details that the population was 34,250 people and still growing and that citizens “have a farsighted Council and Administration to thank for their city being so exceptionally well planned.” Promising what was soon to come, the mayor wrote: “The ‘City of Progress’ is still progressing. Plan for wider streets, storm drains, and improved street lighting…Construction of a swimming pool, new fire station, and library, are also seen for the near future.”638 A 1970 project delivered on additional 631 “Improvements Set for Roads,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 1958, F11. 632 “‘Flyer’ Busses to Use Freeway,” Los Angeles Mirror, July 24, 1958, 15. 633 “High Capacity L.B. Traffic Routes Urged,” Press-Telegram, October 16, 1963, 21-22. 634 “Paramount, L.B. Join in Street Job,” Independent, April 21, 1967, 21. 635 “County Offers $300,000 for Rosecrans Job,” Press-Telegram, February 24, 1969, 24. 636 “Notice of Public Hearing,” Independent, May 23, 1969, 51. 637 “Paramount, Norwalk Road Jobs Set,” Press-Telegram, August 15, 1969, 30. 638 “Paramount,” Independent, January 30, 1966, 131.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 161 roadway improvements when bids were called for the “installation of drainage structures, curbs, gutters and sidewalks and reconstruction of street surfacing” along Compton Boulevard between Downey and Paramount Boulevards. The bid also required tree-planting and noted that it was “the first phase of an overall project to improve east-west streets in the city.”639 In 1972, later phases began to be realized with expansions planned for the city’s “curb, gutter and sidewalk program” as well as additional traffic signal installations.”640 The improvements in infrastructure, especially transportation infrastructure (roads, primarily) led to Paramount being considered a strategic city advertised as “close-in” due to its access to both the Long Beach Freeway and the Artesia Freeway.641 In a 1976 article, writer Ralph McClurg reflected on the founding of Paramount and transformation of the place from a rural hamlet of two towns to a slowly and steadily growing community focused on business, industry, and its residents. McClurg notes the city’s “wide and well-laid-out streets,” its “four major parks and three mini parks” as well as the recently begun street development program spearheaded by former Paramount Mayor, Louie Spane.642 Eligibility Standards
See Appendix B for eligibility standards for the identification and evaluation of properties that may be eligible under this theme. Potentially eligible properties based on the survey recommendations are listed in Appendix C.
639 “Paramount Curbs Gas Stations,” Independent, October 8, 1970, 52. 640 “Outlook for Southeast in ’72 Looks Brighter,” Los Angeles Times, January 2, 1972. 641 “Preview Showing in the Close-in City of Paramount,” Press-Telegram, January 14, 1973, 35. 642 “Hynes, Clearwater live on in City of Paramount,” Press-Telegram, July 4, 1976, 96.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 162 VIII. PARAMOUNT TODAY (1980-PRESENT)
After a period of relative stagnant population growth in the late 1970s, the City of Paramount grew significantly during the last two decades of the twentieth century. The population rose from 36,407 in 1980 to 55,266 in the year 2000. Latinos comprised the dominant majority of residents at the turn of the twenty-first century at 72.28 percent,643 with individuals of Mexican and Guatemalan heritage representing the most common ancestries. Since 2000, the population of Paramount has remained relatively stable; however, the Latino population grew to 83 percent of residents in the 2020 census.644
In 1982, the Rand Corporation published a research report that classified Paramount as a “disaster area” due to a variety of social-economic and demographic factors. The report was met with skepticism and anger by city officials and residents, alike. Soon a wave of redevelopment efforts escalated. In 1984, the Planning Commission passed a proposed set of architectural design standards for the Central Business District. A progressive public art program was initiated and remains in place to this day. Operating with a surplus budget from its industrial base in the 1990s, the City embarked on aggressive beautification programs, crime prevention campaigns, and new business attraction efforts. By 1998, the City was one of ten cities with the highest increase in property values.645 The “Pitch in Paramount” programs of the late twentieth century leveraged City finds and local nonprofit organizations to continue beautification efforts through the addition of picket fences, house painting, and physical improvements at no cost to residents. Developers are required to donate a percentage of their project costs to the public art fund, continuing that important civic program. The result has been a new sense of pride among the residents of Paramount.

Eligibility Standards
This period is outside the period of study for this project; therefore, there are no eligibility standards included for the identification of potential historic resources post-dating 1980. Future studies should include an evaluation of potentially eligible properties from this period. 643 U.S. Census, 2000.
644 City of Paramount, “City Profile/History,” https://www.paramountcity.com/government/city-profile (accessed September 19, 2024).
645 Dawnya Pring, “Paramount on the Rebound,” Press Telegram, February 19, 1999, no page.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 163 IX. ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Introduction
This context provides an overview of the architectural styles represented in Paramount in residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional property types. The description of each architectural style includes a brief discussion of its origins and a list of character-defining features intrinsic to each. A property that is eligible for designation for its architectural merit will typically retain most - though not necessarily all - of the character-defining features of the style. A property that has lost some historic materials or details can be eligible if it retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of the massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation.

The architectural character of Paramount reflects changes in popular tastes over time. The earliest extant buildings, dating from the late 19th century, reflect characteristics of Queen Anne or Vernacular styles. In the early 20th century, the Craftsman style proliferated in Southern California. In the 1920s and 1930s, Paramount’s population grew, and new neighborhoods and tracts were developed to accommodate the boom. Houses were still being designed in the Residential Vernacular style, but Period Revival styles, particularly Spanish Colonial Revival and English Revival, began to appear in neighborhoods in the city. After World War II, the city witnessed another population boom, and developers were scrambling to construct houses quickly. Residences were designed in the Minimal Traditional and Ranch styles, often using prefabricated components and standardized floor plans. In some cases, a more custom house was designed in the Mid-century Modern style. Many of these styles are scattered throughout the city and examples range from modest to higher style examples.

Commercial and institutional architecture in Paramount varies in style from vernacular to Spanish Colonial Revival to Mid-century Modern.

Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 164 Theme: 19th Century Methods of Construction & Architectural Styles
SUB-THEME: QUEEN ANNE
The eclectic and elaborate Queen Anne style was one of the most popular styles for domestic architecture in the United States from the 1880s until about 1900, although it continued in California until about 1910. Misnamed after the early-19th century British sovereign, the style actually originated in 19th-century Britain and combines freely adapted elements of English Gothic, Elizabethan, and classical architecture. Like the Stick style that it quickly replaced, Queen Anne uses exterior wall surfaces as a primary decorative element and was popularized throughout the United States by the rapidly expanding railroad network that made pre-cut architectural features easily available. The style is characterized by irregular compositions with complex multi-gabled and hipped roofs, intricately patterned shingles and masonry, turned spindle work, and classical elements executed in wood.

Character-defining features include:
 Asymmetrical façade
 Steeply pitched roof of irregular shape, usually with a dominate front-facing gable  Wooden exterior wall cladding with decorative patterned shingles or patterned masonry  Projecting partial-, full-width or wrap-around front porch, usually one story in height  Cut-away bay windows
 Wood double-hung sash windows
 Towers topped by turrets, domes or cupolas
 Tall decorative brick chimneys
 Ornamentation may include decorative brackets, bargeboards and pendants, as well as Eastlake details, such as spindle work

16639 Indiana Ave (1900) Clearwater Grammar School (1888, not extant) Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 165 SUB-THEME: RESIDENTIAL VERNACULAR
The term “Residential Vernacular” is used to describe residential buildings with little or no distinguishing decorative features, including modest wood-frame houses or cottages and worker housing. They were widely constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by builders without design input from professional architects. Many were built from “plan books” or kits. These buildings are characterized by their simplicity and lack of any characteristics of recognizable styles, but frequently feature prefabricated wood trim such as brackets, porch posts, and spindles. The “Shotgun” building sub-type consists of a linear organization of rooms, front to back, opening one to the other without intervening corridors.

Character-defining features include:
 Simple square or rectangular form
 Gabled or hipped roof with boxed or open eaves
 Wood exterior cladding
 Simple window and door surrounds
6607 72nd St (1914)
Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 166 SUB-THEME: COMMERCIAL VERNACULAR
Although not an officially recognized style, “Commercial Vernacular” describes simple commercial structures with little decorative ornamentation, common in American cities and towns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are typically brick in construction, with minimal decorative detailing.

Character-defining features include:
 Simple square or rectangular form
 Flat roof with a flat or stepped parapet
 Brick exterior wall surfaces, with face brick on the primary facade  First-story storefronts, typically with a continuous transom window above  Wood double-hung sash upper-story windows, often in pairs  Segmental arch window and door openings on side and rear elevations  Decorative detailing, if any, may include cornices, friezes, quoins, or stringcourses First National Bank at Paramount Blvd. and Jackson St. (c. 1930s, not extant) Pioneer Market at Jackson St. and Paramount Blvd (c. 1930s, not extant) Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 167 SUB-THEME: INDUSTRIAL VERNACULAR
The term “Industrial Vernacular” is used to describe simple industrial buildings with little or no distinguishing decorative features. These buildings are characterized by their utilitarian design, prosaic materials, and lack of any characteristics of recognizable styles. This term encompasses buildings constructed as airport structures (i.e. hangars), factories, and packing houses.

Prior to the widespread use of electric lighting, controlling and capitalizing on daylight was a necessary component of the design of manufacturing buildings. Daylight was brought into the building using a variety of methods, including expansive industrial sash windows, orientation of intensive hand work next to the exterior walls of the building, skylights, and specialized roof forms to bring light into the interior. With the development of better illumination from fluorescent bulbs, manufacturers changed their focus in design from capitalizing on available light to controlling lighting and ventilation through closed systems. Controlled conditions factories are distinguished by their minimal use of windows for light and ventilation. While some windows may be located on the front-facing façade or on an attached office, the building relies on internal systems for circulation and climate control.

Character-defining features include:
 Square or rectangular plan and simple massing
 One- or two-story height
 Flat, truss, or sawtooth roof, usually with parapet
 Roof monitors, skylights or clerestory windows
 Brick masonry construction, expressed or veneered in cement plaster  Divided-light, steel-sash awning, hopper, or double-hung windows  Loading docks and doors
16493 Paramount Blvd (1926)
Historic Resources Group City of Paramount Historic Context 168 Theme: Craftsman
Craftsman architecture grew out of the late-19th century English Arts and Crafts movement. A reaction against industrialization and the excesses of the Victorian era, the movement stressed simplicity of design, handcraftsmanship, and the relationship of the building to the climate and landscape. Craftsman architecture developed in the first decade of the 20th century as an indigenous California version of the American Arts and Crafts movement, incorporating Southern California’s unique qualities. Constructed primarily of stained wood, with wide overhanging eaves, balconies, and terraces extending the living space outdoors, the style embodied the tenets of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The Craftsman bungalow proliferated in neighborhoods throughout California from the early 1900s through the 1920s. The bungalow’s simplicity of form, informal character, direct response to site, and extensive use of natural materials, particularly wood and stone, was a regional interpretation of the reforms espoused by the Arts and Crafts movement’s founder, William Morris. Craftsman bungalows generally have rectangular or irregular plans, and are one to oneand-a-half stories tall. They have wood clapboard or shingle exteriors and a pronounced horizontal emphasis, with broad front porches, often composed with stone, clinker brick, or plastered porch piers. Other character-defining features include low-pitched front-facing gable roofs, and overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails.

As opposed to smaller developer-built or prefabricated bungalows, two-story Craftsman houses were often commissioned for wealthy residents and designed specifically with the homeowner’s needs and the physical site in mind. They generally feature a low-pitched gable roof, wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, and windows grouped in horizontal bands. A high-style Craftsman house is distinguished by the quality of the materials and complexity of design and may feature elaborate, custom-designed woodwork, stained glass, and other fixtures.

Paramount City CouncilMarch 11, 2025

Paramount City Council
March 11, 2025