1876 (1875)(1877) (1870-1880) Table of Contents
Harry Carr Los Angeles City of Dreams (Illustrated by E.H. Suydam), D. Appleton-Century Co.: NY, 1935, 402 pp., 1935, 1876, 1860s, 1850s See Text
Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1876 See Text
The Richmond Family, 1876, Grand Rapids, Michigan, See Image
Santa Monica School District School Tax Receipt, 1876 (Contributed by Roger Genser*) See Image
Grant H. Smith The History of the Comstock Lode 1850-1920, Geology and Mining Series No. 37, University of Nevada Bulletin: Reno, Nevada, vol. XXXVII. 1 July 1943, no. 3, (revised 1966), Ninth printing, 1980. 305pp., 1876 See Text
Les Storrs Santa Monica Portrait of a City Yesterday and Today, Santa Monica Bank: Santa Monica, CA, 1974, 67 pp., 1876 See Text
Betty Lou Young and Randy Young Santa Monica Canyon: A Walk Through History Casa Vieja Press: Pacific Palisades, CA, 1997, 182pp., 1876 See Text
Notes:
The first assessment of the [Santa Monica School] district shows a valuation of $1,035,580.
Documents
The Richmond Family, 1876, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Clara Richmond and Alva Richmond are standing in the rear. From left to right, Emma V., Benjamin T., Chas. R., Fidelia Richmond. and then Troop Richmond and Frank Richmond.
Harry Carr Los Angeles City of Dreams (Illustrated by E.H. Suydam), D. Appleton-Century Co.: NY, 1935, 402 pp., 1935, 1876, 1860s, 1850s
Chapter XI Trails of Destiny
"[p. 122]
"1876: The Southern Pacific built the first railroad into Los Angeles. The golden spike was driven through the heart of the little old pueblo. The flood of Mid-west immigration started." p. 122
Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963), 140 pp., 1876
" . . .
The special edition of the Outlook of July 6, 1897, relates that "the first school was called to order on Monday morning, March 6, 1876, in the little Presbyterian Church that then stood on the corner of Third Street and Arizona Avenue."
Prior to the opening of school, a board of trustees was selected to organize the district. John Freeman, J.W. Scott,, and L.T. Fisher were chosen at the public meeting to serve as the first trustees. The early board minutes recorded the brief details of the business conducted in the months preceding the actual opening of the school. The following excerpts tell only a portion of all that undoubtedly took place in three months:
- "Santa Monica, Feb. 5th, 1876
- "At a meeting of the school trustees, all present.
- Feb. 19th, was set for day of election and notice of same printed in the Outlook."
- "Santa Monica, Feb. 19th, 1876
- "The members of the board not being present the polls were not opened and no election held. A new notice was issued calling for an election March 11th."
- "Santa Monica, March 6th, 1876
- "H.P. McKusick was employed at a salary of (100.00) one hundred dollars per month to teach school. The Presbyterian Church having been rented for that purpose at a rent of $25.00 per month."
- "Santa Monica, March 11th, 1876
- "At the special election today, the tax was carried by of vote of yes and none no. Loren Heath was elected Assessor and Collector." [3. Minutes, Santa Monica School Board of Trustees, January 28, 1876-March 11, 1876.]
First School Opened March 6, 1876
The event of the opening of school, be it noted, occurred five days in advance of the voting of the special school tax, which is a mark chalked up on the courageous side of Messrs. Freeman, Scott and Fisher. Undoubtedly, the board members well knew the sentiments of the Santa Monica pioneers and their determination to organize the district and provide the necessary facilities for a school. This was witnessed by the vote of the electors. No record of the number of yes votes was indicated, but at least there were no votes in opposition.
Fifty-two pupils enrolled the first day. To give the occasion its proper setting and dignity (and, no doubt, suitably to impress upon the minds of the children their obligation to learning and authority, as in the days of the Hoosier schoolmaster), the occasion was officially witnessed by the three trustees. Such visitations soon became a custom with the trustees and were usually accompanied by oratorical fanfare directed at both teachers and "scholars." [4. Santa Monica Evening Outlook, July 8, 1950, p. 6G.]
The first school was organized with eleven classes of three grades with an enrollment of seventy-seven pupils by the end of the first month. With this number of pupils, there is little possibility that H.P. McKusick did much to provide for individual differences, but spent considerable time in "riding herd" and assigning lessons. Since McKusick's records are lost, no account is available of the names of the children attending the first Santa Monica school. However, the pioneers of Santa Monica came from states where public education was a settled policy and it was through their foresight that the foundation of public education was laid in this pioneer settlement of the west. Their children were fortunate to have the advantage of an opportunity to learn. [5. Loc. cit.]
Loren Heath, the first school tax assessor and collector of the Santa Monica School District, returned the assessment roll on April 10, 1876. The school trustees canvassed the roll for three days and made a number of changes, the chief of which, according to the record, was the little item of 25,000 acres in the return of the Santa Monica Land Company. The minutes read:
"We find that the Santa Monica Land Company have returned but about 5,000 acres of the San Vicente Rancho. We estimate the rancho at 30,000 acres which we value at ($1) one dollar per acre it being hill land." [6. Board Minutes, April 22, 1876.]
The total valuation of the school district, as corrected by the trustees was recorded as $1,035,580. The first school tax rate was set at 60 cents on the one hundred dollars.
The town lots on Sixth Street between Oregon and Arizona Avenues, now serving as the site of the offices of the Board of Education, had been donated to the school district by Senator John P. Jones and Col. Robert S. Baker, who had developed the original town site of Santa Monica. On these lots the first school building was erected in the summer of 1876, and was ready for occupancy upon the opening of school in September of that year. [7. Santa Monica Evening Outlook, July 8, 1950, p. 6G.]
A call for bids on the schoolhouse was made on April 18, 1876 and six bidders responded. The contract was awarded to William Lloyd for $2850, and he was asked to post bond for $1000 for the "faithful completion of said contract." The building was of frame construction with two classrooms on the first floor and a large room above. The upper room was not entirely finished but was used on many occasions for entertainments, public meetings, and dances. The exterior was of simple colonial style with clapboard siding and was adorned with an impressive bell-tower. [8. Board Minutes, June 9, 1876.]
The cost of the building, however, leaped upward as it neared completion. A compromise with the builder effected a reduction in the overall costs, but the board paid William Lloyd the sum of $4150 for the building. This sum did not include all items of expense, however, for the board minutes of June 9, 1876, contain the following entry:
" . . . and also paid $12.50, Wilson's bill for stationary, O.A. Snow, $6.00 for blackboard, L.T. Fisher for privy (lumber and wood) $14.50. S.I. Rolf for school furniture $6.25 . . ." [9. Loc. cit.]
The total cost of the building plus equipment consumed nearly all of the tax money that had been voted at the special election.
The following paragraph concerning the opening of school in September, 1876, suggestive of mid-twentieth century schools, is taken from the files of the Santa Monica Evening Outlook:
"Public school will not begin next Monday as heretofore stated. The desks, which were expected on the Senator this morning, did not arrive. Besides, the carpenters have not yet completed their work on the building. The trustees feel quite confident that all arrangements will be made by the following Monday, September 11. This delay has been unavoidable, therefore, it is only proper that teachers and patrons exercise a little patience." [10. Santa Monica Outlook, Aug. 30, 1876, p. 1.]
As the school year closed in June, 1876, in the Presbyterian Church, the enrollment had risen to over one hundred pupils with an average daily attendance of nearly seventy. The board of trustees added another teacher when school opened in the new building on September 11, 1876, a Miss Alice Whitton who was employed as assistant to teach the primary grades. McKusick taught the older children and was in charge of the school even though the title of principal was not vested in him. [11. Ibid., July 8, 1950, p. 6G.]
Ingersoll's Century History Santa Monica Bay Cities (Being Book Number Two of Ingersoll's Century Series of California Local History Annals), 1908, 1908a, 1876, Preface
" . . . Of Ygnacio Machado [ , J.J. Warner wrote in 1876: "Don Ygnacio survives the others (of his company)-those faithful friends of his earlier days, at the age of eighty-two, he grasps the hand as warmly as ever, rides on horseback, as usual; patriarch to whom the community bears respect, almost filial." The Machado brothers were widedly known and deeply respected as honorable and just men, generous and ever kind. The present head of this branch of the family, Antonio Machado, son of Ygnacio, is a worthy successor of his father. Simple, unassuming, courtly, of good judgement and kindly heart, he looks back to the old days and the care-free life of the past with wistful eyes.
" . . .
[p. 149] Chapter II Laying the Foundations. 1870-1880.
" . . . [p. 149] The first marriage ceremony took place January 20th, 1876, when Alfred Hayes wedded Miss Mattie Moutain, Rev. J.D. Crum officiating. . . . The first church organized was the Methodist and they dedicated their first chapel on January 2nd, 1876. . . . and the first public school was opened in the Presbyterian chapel on the corner of Third and Arizona, March 6th, 1876, with Mr. H.P. McCusick as teacher.
" . . .
The year 1876 opened with the brightest prospects for the new town [Santa Monica]. Its beautiful situation, the ample space given to the streets and alleys, the uniform method of tree planting, which had been adopted, the park and school building which were already planned for, added to the favorable outlook for a steadily increasing volume of business, drew many people to adopt Santa Monica as a home.
In February a meeting was called to consider the question of incorporating the new town; but after a very lively discussion the proposition received but one aye. In April the Outlook, which was an energetic agent and exponent of Santa Monica progress, published its first "special edition" reviewing the achievements of the first six months of existence. It states that 1000 lots in the town and thirty-five acre villa lots had already been sold; 200 acres of the San Vicente ranch, lying along the L.A. & I. road in the vicinity of San Vicente springs had been divided into villa farms, to be sold at $100 per acre. The population of the town is given as between 800 and 900, with 116 school children. A school district had been organized with J.W. Scott, L.T. Fisher and John Freeman as trustees and March 11th, 1876, a special election was held and $5000 tax voted for school purposes.The schoolhouse, located on Sixth street, was ready for use in September, 1876.
In April [1876] Michael Duffy's bath house was completed, the first one in Santa Monica, and a pavilion was built on the beach by Jones and Baker. The Santa Monica Hotel was enlarged and several business houses built. There were many visitors and campers both at North Beach and at the cañon . One of the greatest attractions was a series of ring tournaments between mounted knights, one side of Americans, led by B.F. Reid, the other composed of native Californians was under the command of J.J. Carrillo.
In March [1876], J.W. Scott made the first "addition" to the town of Santa Monica, a tract of forty-three acres lying east of town between Fifth and Eighth streets, and known as "Prospect Hill." Mr. Scott laid this off into lots, planted a thousand "blue gum" trees, and put a bridge across Sixth street to connect it with the town. An auction was held March 31st and fifty lots were sold at prices ranging from $77 to $200.
This year a road was opened between Santa Monica and San Fernando valley, through the efforts of Isaac Lankershim, who wished to ship the grain from his 100,000-acre ranch by way of Santa Monica and thus save the cost of the road in a single year. But the Southern Pacific at once dropped its rate [p. 151] and thus the Santa Monica road was never used by Lankershim, although it wa a paying investment for him to build it. The California Coast Steamship Co., whose object was to carry on a freight and passenger traffic between San Francisco and Santa Monica, was organized this year, with a capital stock of $400.000. "Lucky" Baldwin is credited with $75.000 stock and Col. Baker with $25,000, but the plans of the company never materialized.
[p. 151, First Church in Santa Monica, First M.E. Church, 1908b]
A great deal of anxiety was manifested as to the completion of the L.A. & I. road which had come to a stop when it reached Los Angeles. It was still believed that it would be continued to Independence and possibly further. This belief was strengthened by the actual work of a grading force in the Cajon Pass. But no final decision as to route between Los Angeles and the pass was made. San Bernardino talked of raising a subsidy to secure the line and Santa Ana and Riverside had hopes. Los Angeles citizens held meetings to discuss the desirability of aiding the Independence road. Already it was seen that the influence and competition of the Southern Pacific was bearing heavily on the new road; but the papers and the people held out strongly against any suggestion that their independent line might be absorbed by the monopoly.
" . . .
[p. 158] In 1876, the Monetary Commission of the senate was appointed to inquire into the relative value of gold and silver, the causes thereof and kindred questions, which vitally affected the mining interests and particularly the interests of the state of Nevada-a silver-producing state. Senator Jones was chosen as chairman of this committee and entered upon the study of the questions arising, with keen interest. It is said of the report rendered by the Monetary Commission that, "Nothing so thoroughly exhaustive had ever been presented to Congress, and the view taken was favorable to the interests of Nevada and of the Comstock miners."
" . . .
[p. 245] Chapter VI South Santa Monica and Ocean Park
. . . In March, 1876, the Outlook announces that Captain Thom had sent down a carload of shrubbery to be planted on his place at South Santa Monica. March 22nd, 1876, this item appears in the Outlook: "Improvements are progressing rapidly over at South Santa Monica. Major Mitchell, Captain Thom and Judges Bicknell and Glassell are all building and planting trees. We understand that General Stoneman and Major Hancock will begin building within a few few days. A well has been sunk and a windmill and tank erected which is the common property of several lot owners. C.H. Edwards & Co., of Los Angeles, are planting the shrubbery and making an excellent job of it." This little settlement, which seems to have had rather a military flavor, remained for some years the most exclusive and fashionable beach resort in the vicinity of Los Angeles.
" . . .
[p. 245] Another early settlement in South Santa Monica was the Central tract, laid out by J.W. Scott in 1876. A number of giant eucalyptus still remain of the trees planted by him at this time.
" . . .
Schools
. . . [p. 265] An election was called in February, 1876, to vote a tax for school purposes; but owing to some irregularity of form it was postponed until March 11th, when a special tax of $5,000 was voted for a school-house, and Loren Heath was appointed as assessor and collector of the same. The first assessment of the district shows a valuation of $1,035,580. Jones and Baker had already donated two lots on Sixth street as a site and during the summer a neat frame building, containing two school-rooms below and a large room above was erected and ready for use in the fall.
" . . .
The first school exhibition given in Santa Monica was presented by the pupils of this [Academy] school in the Presbyterian chapel, February 9th, 1876. The Outlook also announces that the second term of Mrs. Frink's private school would commence on February 7th.
" . . .
[p. 269] School Trustees of Santa Monica
1876-77: John Freeman, L.T. Fisher, J.W. Scott (clerk).
" . . .
[p. 270] Supervising Principals of Santa Monica Schools:
1876-77: H.P. McCusick.
" . . .
[p. 271] Public Library
The people who settled the town of Santa Monica were of the intelligent and progressive class. They at once took steps to provide themselves with schools and churches, and on March 1st, 1876, the Outlook announces: "A Library Association is about to be formed in Santa Monica. All those interested in this movement are requested to meet at the home of Mrs. Devere, on Sixth street, on Thursday evening, when the plans will be explained."
The association was formed and met once a week on Saturday evenings, when discussions were held and papers read. Books and periodicals were contributed for the use of the members. At a meeting of the association held April 19th, 1876, Dr. J.S. Elliott was chosen president; George Boehme, treasurer; and M.C, Olmstead, secretary and librarian. The initiation fees of the society were $1.00 and the membership $2.00 annually, the money to be devoted to the purchase of books. There were twenty-five members, and June 19th, 1876, the first installment of books for the Santa Monica Library was received, the list including a number of standard works. This was certainly a good start toward a library. How long this society existed, or what became of the books purchased for it, is not known.
" . . .
[p. 278] Santa Monica Fire Department
. . . One of the most serious fires with which they [the Crawford Hook and Ladder Company] had to contend occurred on July 19th, 1876, when the "Club House" was set on fire by an incendiary for the purpose of robbery, the thieves getting away with $850 from the bar during the excitement. This fire company was an important factor in the social life during the early days, as they had their annual balls and benefits of various sorts. The organization died out, however, and for some years the town was without a regular fire department of any sort. Everybody grabbed a bucket and ran when an alarm was given.
" . . .
[p. 281] Newspapers
. . .The Outlook boosted Santa Monica manfully during those early years of existence. The editor [L.T. Fisher] as convinced that the progress of Santa Monica, the completion of the Los Angeles and Independence road and the supremacy of Santa Monica as a commercial port, were the most important subjects to himself and his readers and he wrote editorials on these which were masterpieces in their way. April 5th, 1876, he published the first "special edition" of the Outlook, reviewing the advance made during the six month's existence of the paper.
When the shadow of coming disaster began to loom up, Mr. Fisher fought the "Southern Pacific monopoly" bravely, until the sale of the Independence road to the Southern Pacific company was finally confirmed. Then he yielded as bravely as he had fought and announced: "We should accept the situation as we find it and make the best of it. If we can't stem the current, the next best thing is to float as gracefully as possible with it."
" . . .
[p. 288] Chapter VIII Churches and Societies: Methodist Church; First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica; Episcopal Church-Saint Augustine-By-The-Sea;
" . . .
The society continued to use this room until January 13th, 1876, when the pastor gave notice that there wold be no service on the next Sabbath, but that he hoped they would worship in a building of their own on the second Sunday. And this was done. The Santa Monica Land Company donated two lots for the use of the church on the corner of Sixth street and Arizona avenue; the people of the little town, still largely a tent city, donated money and labor. Rev. A.M. Hough and R.M. Widney of Los Antgeles subscribed liberally, and the pastor, being of a long line of Methodist elders who were able to work with hands as well as with brains and heart, himself labored with carpenter's tools. The church when completed, represented a value, including the lots of $1,361.66. This building, after being removed to the corner of Fourth and Arizona, enlarged several times, was finally removed to South Santa Monica to house the new M,E. church there.
This building was dedicated, free from debt, on February 3rd, 1876. Rev. Crum was pastor of the church most of the time until 1878-79. He came of a family of ministers, his grandfather having been one of the founders of the United Brethern church and having had nine grandsons who entered the Methodist ministry. He had spent fifteen years in the Southern Illinois conference before coming to this state, where his first charge was the Santa Monica church, which he so ably led under many discouragements. It is of record that for his first year of labor here he received $230, and his salary in the subsequent years was pitifully inadequate.
" . . .
[p. 291] Chapter VIII First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica
. . . The Presbyterian Board of Church Erection assisted in building the first church, work on which was commenced January 17, 1876, and which was dedicated March 12.
" . . .
[p. 295] Chapter VIII Episcopal Church-Saint Augustine-By-The-Sea
The first Episcopalian service held in this city was an Easter service in Roger's Hall, April 15, 1876. The hall was suitably decorated for the occasion and the Rev. J.B. Gray officiated. After this there was talk of forming an Episcopal society here and a number expressed themselves willing to contribute to a building fund for such a church . . .
" . . .
Santa Monica School District School Tax Receipt, 1876 (Contributed by Roger Genser*)
Grant H. Smith The History of the Comstock Lode 1850-1920, Geology and Mining Series No. 37, University of Nevada Bulletin: Reno, Nevada, vol. XXXVII. 1 July 1943, no. 3, (revised 1966), Ninth printing, 1980. 305pp., 1876
[p. 197] Chapter XX 1876: High-Water Mark on the Comstock-A Troublous Year for The Bonanza Firm-The Market Revives and the Bears Threaten-Fair Claims Mackay Gutted the Con. Virginia-Keene Leads a Smashing Bear Attack on Bonanza Stocks-Mackay, Fair, and Flood in 1876-A Lively Con. Viginia Meeting-The Bullion Tax Fought by the Bonanza Firm.
[p. 197] "The year 1876 was high-water mark in the history of the Comstock. Virginia City was rebuilding feverishly after the fire; more mines were in operation and more men employed than ever before; . . .
". . . Most of the mills in the region were busy. The Bonanza Firm had twelve in operation; the largest being [p. 198] the new Con. Virginia and California mills, which reduced 630 tons every 24 hours.
[p. 198] "The control of the leading mines was no longer held by individuals or by a few men as in earlier days, but had passed into the hands of three groups: The Bonanza Crowd, the Bank Crowd, and J.P. Jones.
". . .
[p. 207] Chapter XXI 1877: The Bonanza Terminates on the 1550 Level-Warring Brokers and Speculators-Hard Times in 1877-The Decline Begins
" . . .
[p. 208] Warring Brokers and Speculators
[p. 208] "There were three active stock exchanges in San Francisco during the flush '70s, each with a large membership. Able and daring men gravitated to them by instinct. They were the liveliest places on the Coast and the focus of public attention.
"The big speculators, like Sharon, Flood, Hayward, Jones and Skae had their favorite brokers, who in turn usually employed other brokers to buy and sell on the exchanges. These groups were almost constantly at war with one another. Other large dealers, "Lucky" Baldwin for example, played a lone hand against everybody.
" . . .
[p. 232] Chapter XXIII Life on the Comstock in the '70s-Comstock Millionaires-Notable Comstock Mine Superintendents.
[p. 232] "Life on the Comstock had always been full of interest and enjoyment, but the '70s overtopped all that had gone before. People were not only comfortably housed, a bountiful supply of water had been brought in from the tops of the Sierras, the streets were macadamized with refuse from the old mine dumps and lighted with gas, the city had railroad connections both east and west, people traveled far more than in earlier years, social life took on wider aspects, the Opera House presented a constant stream of dramatic productions . . .
" . . .
[p. 234] "The Comstock continued to be Mid-Victorian in dress and manners. To be a gentleman or a lady was the ideal. The good women were held in highest esteem, although more prominently in the life of the community than in earlier years. They even took a hand in politics when striving to bring about social reforms. Upon their insistence State laws were enacted prohibiiting minors in saloons, and requiring gambling to be carried on behind closed doors. They labored for years to make gambling unlawful, without success.
"The men foregathered in the clubs and in the halls of the many fraternal and other organizations. Every military and volunteer fire company had its headquarters, the German their Turn Verein , and the Miners' Union its own hall and library. The various races had their gathering places.
[p. 234] "But it was the saloon that contributed most to the good fellowship of the camp. Nothing puts men upon a friendly footing more quickly than to drink together. Views were exchanged and not a little important business transacted at the bar. The reverse of that picture is the fact that heavy drinking was the curse of the Comstock. Some men drank as much as a quart of hard liquor a day, in many small drinks, and carried it off for years. The saloon were of all grades, like the population; from first-class places where the price of a drink or a cigar was a quarter, to the lowest dives. As a rule the various elements sought their own kind. Virginia City was the "good-time town" [p. 235] of the region. Men came from miles around after payday and contributed not a little to the sporting life-to which the many visitors from San Francisco added their share.
[p. 235] "The stock market was the nerve center of the region, and the reports from the San Francisco exchanges, which came morning and afternoon, invariably gathered crowds in front of the brokers' offices. Nearly everybody had stocks and all wanted to know how the market was going. Copies of the reports were posted at the heads of the shafts in the principal mines for the information of men coming off shift. . . .
" . . .
[p. 236] "The Comstock lived well. one looks back upon the '70s with some surprise at the time and thought given to food. those who could afford it, and especially the men about town, lived on the fat of the land. The markets were well supplied as those in San Francisco, and the restaurants equally as good. Thick, juicy steaks and roast beef headed the list in popularity; men often ate steaks for breakfast. Oysters, Eastern and California, were almost a staple. Fish and game were abundant; trout from the Truckee and Lake Tahoe, caught by the Indians.
"All kinds of fish came from the Coast. Sagehens and ducks and grouse were Nevada products in season. California provided the quail, chickens, and turkeys. The restaurants often featured a large live sea turtle. Fruits of all kinds from California were items of daily fare, as well as an abundance of fresh vegetables. There was hardly any kind of food that could not be obtained, even to foreign delicacies. The bakeries wer first class; only a few of the housewives baked their own bread. Milk from the insanitary dairies perhaps helped spread typhoid fever.
" . . .
[p. 249] Chapter XXV Fire in the Stopes-Low-Grade Operations in the Bonanza Mines-The Comstock Milling Monopoly-The Last Washoe Process Mill-Losses in Tailings-Tailings Reworked
[p. 256] Losses in Tailings and Quicksilver
[p. 257] "The total loss in quicksilver is startling. On an average it needed one pound for each ton of ore milled up to the present time, or about 14,000,000 pounds. At an average of 60 cents a pound the monetary loss was $8,400,000. Dan DeQuille estimated the loss at 7,344,000 pounds up to 1876, by assuming too large an average in the earlier years. When he was writing his Big Bonanza in 1875 he stated that the loss of quicksilver in milling the rich ores from the Con. Virginia bonanza "amounted to $60,000 and $70,000 per month"-a loss of over three pounds for each ton milled. The price at that time exceeded $1 a pound, the ore averaged $100 a ton, and they were charging each pan, holding 3,000 pounds of crushed ore, with 300 to 500 pounds of quicksilver. Necessarily, the loss in slimes and quicksilver was heavy. Practically all of this lost silver and gold and quicksilver ran down the cañons into the Carson River, which many have dreamed of an another Pactolus from which great fortunes were to be won. Such an attempt was made many years ago, which resulted in failure. If the material were light enough to be carried down to the river in small streams, the major portion would be carried on indefinitely, particularly by the spring floods. " . . .
" . . .
Les Storrs Santa Monica Portrait of a City Yesterday and Today, Santa Monica Bank: Santa Monica, CA, 1974, 67 pp., 1876, 1875
" . . . the First Methodist Church was dedicated January 2, 1876. The chapel was on Arizona Ave. between Third and Fourth Streets . . . followed by the First Presbyterian Church, . . . on Third and Arizona.
" . . . one of the first churches established in Santa Monica was the First Presbyterian . . in which the Vawter* family played a leading role. [Beginning in 1875} . . . the church building was erected at Third and Arizona in 1876. The Rev. I.M. Condit was the first minister.
" . . . the Methodist congregation, the First Methodist Church was dedicated February 3, 1876.
"February, 1876, [a] town meeting was called to consider the question of becoming a town. Rejected. A school district was formed with J.W. Scott*, Lemuel T. Fisher and John Freeman, Trustees. A special election was held March [1876] to vote $5000 for a public school.
" . . . The first public school in Santa Monica was ready for use in September [1876].
(Juan Carrillo, father of Leo and Oite, police judge and civic leader, and B.F. Reid were among the horseback athletic competitors . . . )
"In March of 1876, J.W. Scott* subdivided an area of 43 acres lying between Fifth St. and the present Lincoln Blvd. It was the first addition to the unincorporated town, and lots in the tract bear the legal description of "Scott's Addition" . . . Jones* and Baker'*s original townsite still carry the designation, "Town of Santa Monica."
"Scott* planted a thousand eucalyptus trees, which were very popular throughout Southern California in those days, and built a bridge across the arroyo at the bottom of which ran the railroad track. His bridge was at Sixth Street, and remained in service well into the twentieth century.
" . . . Also in 1876 a road was built to connect Santa Monica with the San Fernando Valley . . . (by) Isaac Lankershim . . .
"San Pedro . . . Southern Pacific . . . Collis P. Huntington . . . 1876
" . . . the California Coast Steamship Co., organized by Colonel Robert Baker*, E.J. "Lucky" Baldwin and others [failed]
" . . . North Beach . . . In 1876 Michael Duffy completed a bath house, and Jones* and Baker* a pavilion. Both were a short distance from the foot of Colorado Avenue, on the beach."
Betty Lou Young and Randy Young Santa Monica Canyon: A Walk Through History Casa Vieja Press: Pacific Palisades, CA, 1997, 182pp., 1876
". . . The Santa Monica Outlook began publication in 1876 . . .
" . . . in 1876 . . . Ludwig Louis Salvator, Archduke of Austria, and author of Los Angeles in the Sunny Seventies: A Flower from the Golden Land . . . described . . . the seventeen-mile trip by stage from Los Angeles, following the old Indian trail to New Santa Monica-an "unprepossessing town" supported by shipping, the railroad, and sea bathing. . . . .
" . . .
" . . . in 1876, . . . the first school, operated by the county, held sessions in the Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica from March until June under Professor McKissick, and opened again in the fall in a fine, new building with one new teacher. The district included all of the Malibu and La Ballona ranchos, as well as the incorporated Santa Monica area. Some of the children came long distances on foot or horseback, or stayed with families in town. There is no record of names in the first class , , ,"