Tustin Street Name History

Columbus Tustin showed a lack of originality in 1870 when he named the streets dividing Tustin City's 100 acres into 300-square-foot blocks. He used numbers for east and west streets with First on the north side of town and Sixth on the south. North and south streets received alphabetical names, A through H.

Fourth Street became Main Street as businesses congregated there, and Fifth Street never got off the plat map. D Street doubled as State Highway 101 after 1914, but was renamed El Camino Real in 1968. 

More original, but unexplained names, such as Pasadena, Myrtle, Pacific, California, Yorba and Mt. View, were attached to streets added later on the west side. Some streets surrounding Tustin were named for their destinations, Irvine Boulevard, Newport Avenue, Tustin Avenue, and Red Hill Avenue.

David Hewes, who relocated to Tustin from San Francisco in 1881, building a Victorian mansion at the corner of Main and B, inspired Hewes Avenue, which lead to Anapauma ranch, agricultural property he acquired between Tustin and El Modena. Vanderlip Avenue memorialized Nelson Vanderlip, a banker and Tustin resident who served as treasurer of the Santa Ana, Orange and Tustin Street Railway in early 1886.

John Holt, a Swedish immigrant, who owned property on First Street as well as near the present Civic Center, inspired Holt Avenue. Browning Avenue was named after Felton P. "Frank" Browning, owner of Red Hill and its mercury mine.

When the 1950s brought mass development to Tustin and the surrounding area, developers and landowners came up with both commonplace and unusual names for the streets in the new subdivisions. However, some of the names selected honored early residents and ranchers.

Fourth Street was reincarnated when it was cut through the orange groves as a continuation of Santa Ana's Fourth Street in the 1950s. Later it was extended into Irvine Boulevard and renamed. Utt Drive in South Tustin recalled Lysander Utt who came to Tustin in 1874 as well as his son, Tustin entrepreneur C. E. Utt, and grandson James, both a state assemblyman and a congressman representing Tustin. Mitchell Avenue identifies Ralph Mitchell, a South Tustin rancher.

Preble Drive honors the Preble family, including brothers Samuel and James as well as cousin George. Nisson Road is named for Mathias Nisson, a Denmark native, who established himself in Tustin in 1876. His grandsons are still Tustin residents. Warner Avenue, Williams Street and Kenyon Drive were named for Frank Warner, Albert C. Williams and Chester Kenyon, who farmed in the area.

Ebel Road remembers the Ebel family which traces its Tustin roots back to the early 1900s. Marshall Lane was created when Joseph Marshall subdivided his orange acreage. Enderle Center Drive leading to Enderle Center harks back to Herman Enderle who came to Orange County in 1892.

More recently, streets in Tustin Ranch have been named for civic leaders and war heroes.

Replicas of 1906 bell mark El Camino Real

Originally El Camino Real, also known as the Kings Highway, was a footpath worn by the Franciscan fathers as they traveled up and down California in 1769 between the 21 missions they built. Eventually the trail became wide enough to accommodate horses and wagons, but it was not considered a route until the last mission was completed in Sonoma in 1823.

The 700 miles of El Camino Real joined the Franciscan missions, the pueblos and presidios in the early days of California. Now it is incorporated into California Highway 101 and passes through Tustin as it makes its way between San Diego and Sonoma and is known for its El Camino Real Bells.

With the support of the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West and the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the El Camino Real bell was hung from a standard shaped like a shepherd's crook in front of the Inglesia de Nuestra Senora Reina (Plaza church) in Los Angeles in 1906 in tribute to the work of the Franciscan fathers and their leader Father Junipero Serra.

Designed by Mrs. A. S. C. Forbes, the 85-pound cast iron bell was inscribed El Camino Real 1769-1906. The plan was to place duplicate bells along the El Camino Real Highway, in front of each mission and selected historical landmarks, approximately one bell for every mile.

By 1913, 425 bells were in place including two in Tustin. One was planted in the sidewalk a few feet north of the corner entrance to the First National Bank of Tustin at Main and D (El Camino Real) and the other along Laguna Road which was part of the 101 Highway south of Tustin High School. Tustin's bells remained in place until after World War II when D Street was widened as part of a Highway 101 improvement project.

Removed while the work was being done, they were not to be found when the job was completed. Missing bells were not unusual. Despite supervision by the Automobile Club of Southern California and the California State Automobile Association of San Francisco from 1921 to 1933 and by the California Division of Highways after that, many bells were stolen or disappeared during road work.

Los Angeles County could account for only 17 of its 110 original bells in 1959. Two hundred of the bells missing throughout the state were recovered by 1963, but unfortunately Tustin's bells were not included in this number.

The city had no bells when D Street was renamed El Camino Real in 1968 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. But the City of Tustin remedied this with the cooperation of various civic organizations by installing 12 duplicate bells along El Camino Real between First Street and Newport Road in 1972.

Two bells stand on each block. A plaque on each brick base identifies the civic group donating it. The most recent addition to Tustin's bells was dedicated near Camino Real Park in 1998. The Tustin Area Woman's Club raised $500 to pay for it with the Automobile Club of Southern California providing a matching sum.

Working with the California Bell Co. which cast the original bell, Caltrans has installed 555 original El Camino Real bells on Caltrans property along Highway 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The Man Behind Holt Avenue's Name

Thousands of cars travel up and down Holt Avenue between 17th Street and Newport Avenue every day, according to traffic surveys done by the city.

However, despite the huge number of drivers and passengers involved, probably not one person in a hundred gives a moment's thought to the origin of the street's name.

John Holt, for whom the street is named, was a native of Sweden who immigrated to the United States. Facts about his life vary depending on the source, but the following information comes from the 1911 edition of "History of Orange County, California." The book contains biographical sketches of the men and women of the county Samuel Armor identified as participating in the growth and development of the area at that time.

Holt came to the United States at the age of 13 when his father, Sven Holt, immigrated here to become a brass worker, employed first in St. Louis, then Chicago. The elder Holt returned to Sweden in 1860, but John remained in this country.

He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1866 and served on several battleships, mainly in the Asiatic waters, visiting both China and Japan. At the end of his enlistment, he transferred to the merchant marines, shipping out of Philadelphia and Portland, Maine harbors. His next employer was the U.S. government, which hired him to do harbor improvement work on the East Coast.

Holt then came to California, arriving in what would become Orange County in 1882. After deciding to locate in Tustin, he first bought an unimproved tract of 10 acres. Four years later, he purchased an additional 10 acres at the intersection of First Street and a road which would become known as Holt.

After marrying Louise Deathelms, a resident of New York, he used his carpentry skills to build a cozy cottage on his property. Before long, Holt became known for his experiments in agriculture.

After planting walnut and apricot trees on his first pieces of land, he began a long and extensive series of experiments to discover how the various fruits would adapt to the soil. His first experiment of planting a vineyard failed when the grapes died before they came into bearing.

He next planted a variety of fruits, including prunes which he soon found to be a money losing crop. Disillusioned by their low market value, he abandoned them in favor of crops that would bring in revenue in keeping with the high cost of the land.

When he found that oranges, apricots and walnuts would earn the highest profit because they were the best adapted to the climate and the soil, he concentrated on planting these species in his orchard.

In addition to experimenting with fruit, Holt enjoyed raising poultry. He was recognized for his skill in selecting birds and caring for the flock. His pureblood White Brahmas were judged to be the finest specimens of that breed in Orange County.

Although Holt was a Republican, voting for party candidates in both state and national elections, he was known for supporting the man he thought best able to promote the welfare of the county and not the party line, in local elections. He belonged to the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Foresters of America.

Since Holt was included in the U.S. Census in 1900, 1910 and 1920, he is assumed to have died between 1920 and 1930.

History of the Utt Juice Co.

The History of the Utt Juice Company

The Utt Juice Co. plant, which ran along the west side of Prospect between Main and Third streets, produced 7 million gallons of juice during the 50 years it was in operation. C. E. Utt, who developed the San Joaquin Fruit Co. along with Sherman Stevens and James Irvine, experimented with a number of agricultural crops, citrus, peanuts, chili peppers and grapes during his lifetime, but his involvement with grapes continued for many years. It all began when he leased property on Lemon Heights from the Irvine Co. in 1915 and planted two acres of Concord grapes. By 1918 when the vines came into production, he had more grapes than he could find a market for. His solution was to start making grape juice at home, using the back porch for his kitchen. When he had more juice than his family could consume, he bottled the excess and started giving it to his friends. People raved about the drink and told him he should bottle it commercially. Soon he was marketing a drink labeled Home Made Grape Juice. On Sept. 9, 1918, he founded a new enterprise, which he called the Utt Juice Co. When it outgrew his back porch, he moved to a Victorian-Italianate building on the northwest corner of Main and Prospect. The building, which he had owned since 1907, had been the home of Sauers and Berkquist grocery. Set up with boilers, vats, presses and bottling equipment , it became the Utt Juice Co. Sheds and additional buildings were added as the company grew. Arcy Schellhous, a young man of 27, bought a quarter interest in the business in 1922 and took over the management, giving Utt more time for his duties as president of the San Joaquin Fruit Co., president of the First National Bank of Tustin and owner of Tustin Water Works. They adopted the brand name of Queen Isabella and added pomegranate, rhubarb and guava juice to their inventory. Schellhous bought out Utt in 1931 although the company continued to use the Utt name. Production reached a peak of 200,000 gallons of juice in 1965. The company was ahead of its time in producing juices that could be labeled �100% Pure, No Sugar Added.� Queen Isabella jams and jellies were added to the product mix as well as boysenberry products that carried the Knott label. However, grapes and other fruits produced locally became increasingly hard to find and Schellhous was forced to buy fruit from other parts of California. Utt died in 1951, but Schellhous continued to run the company until he died in an automobile accident in 1970. Jack Hall who had joined the company in 1946 as office manager became president and served until 1973 when a scarcity of fruit and increasing competition forced the company to close. It was calculated that Utt Juice Co. had produced 7 million gallons of juice in 50 years. Cleared of equipment, the building stood empty until a few years ago when building began on the recently completed Prospect Village complex.