EARLY RESTORATION OF THE MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY de ESPANA

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY                                2013

     Fortunately for us, the monks of the Mission San Fernando Rey de España were pretty good record keepers. Detailed records were not only important to the Catholic church but also the imperial Spanish government. During the era of Spanish / Mexican colonialism, there just weren't that many buildings in Alta California. So, descriptions made by early American interlopers were often quite detailed.        

     Records of about the Mission San Fernando would prove very important when it came time to restore this priceless old complex badly damaged by neglect, weather, vandalism and earthquakes. By the time these great old photographs were taken, some restoration of the Mission's arches and main buildings had already begun (bright whitewashed parts of the photos.)

     With Mission irrigation ditches long neglected only a few of the most drought tolerant trees remained at the onset of the 20th century. Looking at the Mission today from Brand Park, it is hard to imagination the desolation shown in these old time images. 

 The reason the Franciscan priests selected the site of the Mission San Fernando is still evident in this turn of the 20th century photograph, where a district strip of foliage is seen, surrounding the Mission.

 (Click on these images to enlarge them.)

 The Mission's facade is recently restored in this picture.

 Olives and palms were important survivors of the Mission era.

 The straight furrows of the Mission campo reveal the area's use for agriculture.

 In 1890 the chapel roof of the Mission collapsed. I suppose this was a time when it wasn't really dangerous to enter a red tagged building - or were there red tags back then?

 From a wagon trail to a parade of new-fangled automobiles.

Before the interior structure of the old Mission were restored. 

In the center of the picture is the Mission chapel visited by Pope John Paul II of the Roman Catholic Church when he came to Los Angeles.

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY RIPE OLIVES

2010  THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES
By 1922, when the magazine Canning Age published its story on Sylmar, California, the San Fernando Valley had the largest olive grove in America.  Under the brand of San Fernando Valley Olives, Cristo Fusano sold his highly superior olives and olive oils across the world.

You can read some of the story of Cristo Fusano at:

http://www.fusanoolives.com/story.htm

When Mark Davis and I talked about these cans of olives that he donated to The Museum's archives, we recalled how along San Fernando Road in San Fernando and in Pacoima, there were for years stands selling California oranges, walnuts and olives. I remember my parents on Sunday automobile drives would stop in Sylmar to bring home lemons and olive oil. 

In the year 1867, a New York newspaper reporter arrived at the Mission San Fernando, in what is now called Mission Hills. He was accompanied by two highly ambitious political men, George Stoneman and Jefferson "C" Davis.  Davis, not to be confused with the president of the Confederate States, had been a Union general during the Civil War only two years earlier. The New York Times reporter wrote:
"We sat long, one delicious evening in December, under the olive trees at tat place, smoking cigarettes rolled by Stoneman, chatting about the war, and getting slightly boozed upon aguardiente furnished by General Andres Pico..."

MOTHER OF OLIVE TREES

Mother of Olives - Oldest olive tree in California - files of Orpha Klinker - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2010.
The first olive trees in the San Fernando Valley, and much of the original olive stock that made Sylmar world famous, are likely descendants of this precious old tree. This photograph, taken in 1939 and sent to the California artist, Orpha Klinker, shows what remained of the great orchards of the Mission San Diego Alcala. Cuttings of this venerable tree produced what is still called the "Mission Type" olive.

OLIVE GROVES IN SYLMAR

2010 The Year of Valley Adventures
Picking Olives at Sylmar, California - Historic postcard - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2010 (click on image to enlarge)
This postcard mailed to Miss Sadie Gortner in McMinnville, Oregon on April 20, 1909 was a true penny-postcard. It bears a 1¢ green Benjamin Franklin stamp. The card, like many of its era was printed in Germany, ironic since Dr. Franklin made his living as a printer. It was published by the Newman Post Card Company in Los Angeles. "Th" writes to Miss Sadie, "Good morning and what will you have today."
By 1940 signs outside of Sylmar, California proclaimed that it was the world's largest producer of olives. Until very recent times olive trees lined San Fernando Road in that independent city in the San Fernando Valley.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST OLIVE MILL - IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

Historic Olive Oil Production in the San Fernando Valley
This morning, while I was visiting my allergy doctor Glenn Lawlor, we discussed the historical black walnut and olive orchards of the San Fernando Valley. Descendants of orchards planted in the 1880s-90s, still impact lives throughout the Valley especially where allergies are concerned. Dr. Lawlor mentioned that the world's largest olive mill once existed in Sylmar. Here's what I discovered about it.

The first Roman Catholic missionaries to settle in the San Fernando Valley were members of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), better known as Franciscans. They had a strong tradition of planting gardens and orchards. Typically they carried bags of seeds, scattering them as they traveled. The beautiful European mustard flowers throughout California are an example of this practice.

Shortly after establishing the Mission San Fernando Rey, the Franciscan padres arranged for olive trees to be shipped north from Mexico. The Valley proved to be ideal for olive cultivation and the groundwork for an industry was born.
By the end of the next century American entrepreneurs began exploring the agricultural potential of the San Fernando Valley. Olive trees still thriving after a 100 years, convinced a group of Illinois businessmen that they could make a fortune raising olives. In 1890, they purchased 2,000 acres and went to work.

In 1910, an olive farmers agricultural cooperative, called the Los Angeles Olive Growers Association, was established. Chinese workers were brought in for cheap labor. The Association built the largest olive-processing mill in the world. At its peak, the mill produced 800 gallons of oil a day. The mill was located at the corner of San Fernando Road and Roxford Street. Two buildings from this industry made it into the 21st century.

Olive trees are today scattered around the San Fernando Valley. Since few of our residents take on the picking and curing of the fruit, they are chiefly recognized as the messy nemesis of gardeners. And, they send patients to Dr. Lawlor and his colleagues.

The San Fernando Valley deserves a great Museum of history and culture.