Vintage aircraft and diners

Ruby's Diner, at the Promenade, is built on the site of the old Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. Their decor, with its models and posters of vintage aircraft, pays tribute to the site's aeronautical heritage.

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Hospital history

Going to the hospital is never fun, but one benefit of going to PIH in Downey is the opportunity to view the historical pictures of Downey that line the halls. I think this picture of the original Downey Community Hospital, located on 5th Street, is especially interesting, since it is both the predecessor of PIH and the hospital where I was born.

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Another loss for Downey's history

I wrote yesterday about the Rives Mansion, which hopefully will be restored to its full potential. Another historic building, the Harriman House on the Rancho Los Amigos South Campus, won't be so lucky, since it was mostly destroyed by fire last night.

The building was erected in 1915 as the residence for the superintendent of the County Poor Farm. The first residents were William Harriman and his family, who lived here until his resignation in 1952. The 5,000 square foot house was designed in the Craftman style.

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Cleaning up

We've written a lot about the Rives Mansion. It's a beautiful old house, built in 1911, that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion has fallen on tough times lately.

Last month, the fence around the mansion's back area collapsed under all the overgrown vegetation. The collapse exposed overgrown weeds and lots of trash, as well as evidence that people were illegally living in the garage and water tower. The city of Downey went to court and got the OK to clean up the property. This picture shows the back area, with most of the debris cleaned up.

In the past, the mansion has been a private residence, a potential museum, and a potential steakhouse and wine garden, among other things. If money were no obstacle, what would you do with the mansion?

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With a side of history

At Dubost Ranch in the Paso Robles area, we talked to Kate, one of the owners. She shared almost as much about the history of the Dubost Ranch as she shared about the wine that they produce. It was fun to talk with someone who enjoys and values her town's history as much as we enjoy learning about Downey.

The ranch in Adelaida has been in the Dubost family since 1882, when Auguste and Pauline Dubost, who had immigrated from France, settled here to open a general store to cater to the gold and silver miners. They also ran the post office and a dance hall. This 1880s spring wagon (right) was originally used by Auguste and Pauline to make the two-day trek over the hill to Cayucos to meet the clipper ships for supplies and mail for Adelaida. Their daughter-in-law Alexandrine later rode the wagon in the Pioneer Day Parade.

Alexandrine ran the general store and was the postmistress until 1936. Alexandrine's son Raymond farmed the ranch for over 90 years. (Raymond's son Curt is Kate's husband.) An intriguing follow-up to Alexandrine's story occurred in just the last year. (Forgive me, Kate, if I haven't got the details straight.) A woman in London bought a pile of old postcards at a flea market. The message on one of them was in French, and the last name of the addressee was Dubost. This woman used the internet to track down the Dubosts in California and contacted them. It turned out that the postcard, written in 1912, was from Alexandrine to family members that were still in France. (The lady sent the postcard to the present-day Dubosts.)

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