Long Beach’s Los Cerritos

A single drawing exists that shows the rancho during the cattle-ranching operation of John Temple. Most photographic material is from the Jotham Bixby era of sheep ranching and tenant farm operations. As the sheep business wound down, Bixby focused on managing smaller ranches and subdividing and selling his property. The Mitchell Ranch consisted of about 1,100 acres, including Los Cerritos and Bixby Knolls. After the year 1900, this ranch was divided into smaller ranches, and the operation was turned over to R. “Ray” Chester Andrews and a resident foreman, Colby Clarke. Other ranches included the McGill 1908 leasehold between Cherry Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard, which later transferred to Smith and then Malhardt. Robert Wardlow operated a small farm and dairy two blocks east of Santa Fe on Wardlow Road, close enough to the first Los Cerritos school to supply the students with milk. From Wardlow Road south to Willow Street and between the Wardlow Ranch and Atlantic Avenue, was Modesto and Ruth Moreno Romero’s ranch. Oscar King took over the dairy started at the rancho adobe by William Boyle and moved it to Linden Street and Forty-fifth or Forty-sixth Streets. Later, his dairy was taken over by Paul Lussman, one of the Swiss dairymen who had been working there. Howard King had a ranch just to the west of his brother Oscar’s ranch. Just across the river from the existing Los Cerritos School was the Encinas Ranch. Several of these ranch operators purchased lots in the new Los Cerritos subdivision when it opened in 1906. Nellie Menke King, daughter of Howard King, recalls living on her father’s ranch from 1907 until 1913, when they built the fifth house in the new subdivision. She recalls walking to the old adobe on Sundays through fields of mustard and lupine. The adobe door was always open, the children felt welcome, and the Mexicans living there would play music and cook beans and tortillas. Today, the rancho still welcomes kids of all ages with numerous public events.

LOS CERRITOS RANCHO HOUSE. This early drawing of the rancho house shows how it might have looked when it was built by John Temple. This drawing reflects the appearance during the 1850s and 1860s but is a more recent re-creation, based upon 1872 photographs. The house originally had a flat roof. (RLC.)

COTA ADOBE. This old adobe west of the rancho house was probably built by the Cota family around 1835. The adobe was later called the “flea house.” This photograph probably dates from 1915 or earlier. (RLC.)

RANCHO LOS CERRITOS. This front panoramic photograph of the rancho was taken at spring shearing time in 1872 by Los Angeles photographer William Godfrey. (RLC.)

RANCHO GARDENS AND BIXBY FAMILY. The gardens of the rancho were used as an orchard. Jotham Bixby is on the left side of the photograph. His son George is in front of his mother, who holds son Harry on her lap. To the right of George H. is the grave of his sister Mary. The water reservoir is shown in the center of the photograph. (RLC.)

SHEEP DIPPING AT RANCHO LOS CERRITOS. Sheep were dipped in a mixture of tobacco and sulfur to protect them from insects and parasites. In the center of the photograph is Jotham Bixby, with his hand on a crate holding a large iron kettle, which is still at the rancho. (RLC.)

JOTHAM BIXBY IN HORSE-DRAWN BUGGY. Ranch employees described how Jotham Bixby came out in a buggy to survey the ranches on Los Cerritos land. Fred King, the blacksmith, is standing next to the buggy, and Jim Wardlow is standing on top of the thresher. This photograph was taken around 1907. (RLC.)

BIXBY GUSHER. This photograph, published in the Long Beach Press in November 1918, shows the “Bixby Gusher,” an artesian well dug to 671 feet on rancho property. (RLC.)

ARTESIAN WELL. At least 10 artesian wells were dug on rancho land. By 1880, the rancho had a steady supply of water. This well is near San Antonio Drive and Orange Avenue on the Mitchell Ranch. On the left of the well are, from left to right, Viola Eschom, unidentified, and Mrs. Fred Beckett with two children: Josephine and Alta Andrews. Bill Ealey is on the ladder. Colby Clarke holds a dog on his lap. (RLC.)

RANCH FAMILIES AT MITCHELL/ANDREWS RANCH HOUSE. This 1908 photograph shows ranch families on the side porch of the Mitchell/Andrews house. Those standing are, from left to right, (first row) Shorty Montoya, Charles Casseris, Colby Clarke, Bertha Ralph, Viola Eschom, and unidentified; (second row) Bill Ealey, Ed Clarke, Harry Andrews, Mrs. Magner (cook), Chet Andrews (holding Chester), and unidentified. Two of the children sitting on the lawn are Alta and Nellie Andrews. (RLC.)

HOWARD KING RANCH. The Kings were one of the first families to move into the new Los Cerritos subdivision. Here, a team of eight horses and a wagon are hauling sugar beets on the ranch around 1920. King and his wife, Mina, had four daughters and one son. The girl standing beside the wagon may be daughter Florence. (RLC.)

ANDREWS RANCH. Ranch hands are operating a disk plow, pulled by six teams of horses on the Andrews Ranch. (RLC.)

A LOAD OF BARLEY. Sacks of barley are loaded onto wagons on the Andrews Ranch near San Antonio Drive. (RLC.)

CHARLES EDWARD MITCHELL. Mitchell, shown here with his trotter Dairyman, was a relative of Jotham Bixby from Maine. Mitchell operated the Bixby cheese dairy at Clearwater. He lived at the rancho around 1884 while the cheese factory was being constructed. (RLC.)

THRESHING CREW. Ranch hands are shown with wagon and machinery in a field on the Andrews Ranch near San Antonio Drive and Atlantic Avenue. (RLC.)

MILL AND SILO. Barley and alfalfa were ground, mixed with molasses, and sacked for horse feed on the Mitchell/Andrews Ranch, shown here. (RLC.)

INTERIOR OF MILL. Workers stand beside the mill machinery on the Andrews Ranch. (RLC.)

RANCHO ADOBE. This c. 1895 photograph shows the rancho as it looked at the time it was being used as a dairy. (RLC.)

THOMAS RICKETTS AND FAMILY. In 1885, Jotham and his wife, Margaret, moved to a home at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Ocean Boulevard in downtown Long Beach. From 1898 to 1906, William Boyle and his son Johnny lived at the rancho, operating a dairy with 150 cows and five to six milkers. Thomas Ricketts and his family lived there from 1908 to 1910. (RLC.)

RANCHO INNER COURTYARD. The rancho was not well maintained during the succession of tenants. Occupancy by the Ricketts family was followed by the Rosales family, the Lerg family, the Coronado family, and a number of boarders. This c. 1905 photograph shows how the inner courtyard of the ranch house had deteriorated. (RLC.)

DETERIORATED ADOBE. This photograph, believed to have been taken around 1915, shows the deteriorating condition of the adobe during its tenant period. (RLC.)

RANCHO RENOVATION. In 1930, the Jotham Bixby company sold the rancho, along with 4.7 acres, to Llewellyn Bixby Sr. for $1. Bixby contracted with C.T. McGrew & Sons and architect Kenneth Wing for a restoration plan. The design combined elements of the original Monterey Colonial with a simplified Mission Revival style. Ralph D. Cornell, a well-known landscape architect, was retained to design the gardens. (RLC.)

BIXBY FAMILY MEMBERS. Llewellen Bixby Sr. moved into the rancho with his wife, Avis, and his son Llewellyn Jr. in March 1931. Pictured from left to right are Avis Bixby, Llewellen Bixby Sr., Paul H. Dudley Jr., and Avis Bixby Dudley. Llewellen Bixby Sr. and Avis lived in the house until Llewellen’s death in 1942. (RLC.)

RENOVATED RANCHO LOS CERRITOS. This 1934 photograph by Daniel Cathcart was part of the Historical American Building (HABS) survey undertaken by the Department of the Interior. In 1943, the City of Long Beach began efforts to purchase the rancho as a historic site, library, and park. The sale was completed in September 1956 for $82,400. In October 1970, Rancho Los Cerritos was designated as a National Historic Landmark. (RLC.)

LOS CERRITOS CENTENNIAL. Long Beach City councilwoman Rae Gabelich cuts the cake at the 100th anniversary of the Los Cerritos neighborhood in 2006. The event attracted over 300 residents to the rancho for neighborhood tours and history-themed booths. (RLC.)

VISITOR CENTER. A 25-year master plan prepared in 1999 serves as a guide for the site’s development and interpretation to enhance the visitor experience. Phase II of the plan included the construction of a visitor center, modeled on the two-room adobe structure built at Rancho Los Cerritos by Guillermo and Manuela Cota around 1835. The center opened in 2012. (Courtesy of John Mulvey.)

NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVITIES. Today, Rancho Los Cerritos is a center of activity for Los Cerritos and all of Long Beach. Marcia Lee Harris, a rancho volunteer and author of Fanny Bixby Spencer, Long Beach’s Firebrand, shares magic tricks with young visitors. Harris also plays the role of Fanny Bixby Spencer in reenactment performances. (RLC.)