Foothills Sentry February 2022

Foothills Sentry Page 8 February 2022 Come Visit Our Showroom 3024 East Chapman Avenue Orange, CA 92869 QUALITY BILLIARD PRODUCTS. EXPERT POOL TABLE SERVICE. Tuesday - Friday: 10 AM - 4 PM Saturday: 10 AM - 3 PM (714) 620-4001 Call/Text dkbilliards.com david@pooltableguru.com Appointments Available: DK BILLIARDS SALES & SERVICE By Douglas Westfall, national historian A former dump near Yorba Park is being considered as a cemetery site. Neighbors object, noting that the buried contaminants render it unsuitable for anything other than its historical disposition. Yorba Park and the acreage around it has been open land since before the rancho days of California. Originally part of the 80,000-acre Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, this area was held by Alferez Juan Pablo Grijalva since the 1790s. Alferez Grijalva was the second in command at San Diego Presidio and retired here to the rancho. After his death in 1806, his grandson Juan Pablo Peralta and son-in-law Antonio Yorba petitioned for the Rancho and were awarded the land in 1810. There is a historic plaque on the property that states the Spanish Explorer Gaspar de Portolá, along with Antonio Yorba, camped near here on the first exploration of California. Neither is true; the Portolá expedition camped at the Grijalva Park location. The ranchos were home to cattle, sheep, mules, burros, oxen and horses. Crops included corn, beans, wheat, pumpkins and even watermelons. Grapes were plant- ed for wine; and many orchards graced the property producing various fruits, walnuts, figs and olives. The riverbed that runs un- derneath the 55 Freeway was dug out to be a cattle, sheep, oxen, mules and burro run. After the drought years of 1860s were followed by drastic floods, unscrupulous Americans loaned money to the rancheros at exorbitant rates, foreclosing with- in a few years. Don Able Sterns foreclosed on many rancheros, and the descendants of the Ran- cho Santiago were among them. The Yorbas and Peraltas hired lawyers to fight the foreclosures and paid them in land. Los An- geles Attorneys Alfred Chapman and Andrew Glassell acquired over 6,000 acres located in dif- ferent areas. One of those parcels became the City of Orange. Alfred Chapman came here initially to establish water rights, yet it was Andrew Glassell who sent his brother, Captain William Glassell, to found the town. In July of 1871, pounding a stake in the center of where the Plaza is today, William eventually chris- tened the town of Orange -- this also being the name of the last place he lived in Virginia. The surrounding lands were sold off in 40-acre plots for ag- riculture. With the gentle slopes here, fruits and nuts became the chief products. The 40 acres that straddled the Santiago Creek south of Chapman Avenue were subdivided into five parcels. The parcels east of the creek were awarded to Fuller and Fitschen, Fuller having the northern por- tion where Yorba Park is today, and Fitschen the southern portion. Maps and aerial surveys show groves in 1912 through WWII. After the war, the County of Or- ange acquired Fuller’s property and began using it as a public dump from 1946-56. By the 1960s, the land was given to the City of Orange, cleared off and a ball field established by 1966. The first segment of the 55 Freeway was begun in 1962 and the motor- way was completed in 1967. In 1970, the YMCA was built History not lost (yet) at dump site – on stilts – on top of the dump on the former Fitschen property. An ROP facility was constructed around the same time. Residen- tial homes started to be built near the YMCA in 1974. A BMX dirt track was constructed for bicycle racing in the late 1970s. Methane gas, emitted from the dumpsite, was detected in 1998. Yorba Park was closed, and vent- ing and monitoring systems were installed. The YMCA had moni- tors and periodically had to re- lease pressure to avoid a methane explosion. The Orange Dog Park on Yorba, opened in 2018, also has a methane monitor. The BMX track closed in 2016 and the YMCA followed. Two separate fires gutted the YMCA in 2021. The rest of the property is classified as a passive parkland, but has been purchased by a pri- vate party who wants to put in a green burial cemetery. Orange resident Caren Lee contributed to this story. For more on the Rancho Santiago, see Douglas’ book, “Rancho Lands,” available at SpecialBooks.com. An aerial view taken in 1938 shows the Intersection of Santiago Creek, Chapman Avenue and Yorba Street dominated by groves. By the early 1970s, the 55 Freeway had been built and structures had replaced the groves. The former dump was undisturbed. A hand drawn map from 1912 records landowners’ names and the acreage they held. The shaded area was owned by Fuller and Fitschen. The Orange Plaza is on the left.