![]() ![]() Today, Downey is an ideal home base from which to take advantage of the business resources and cultural activities offered in Southern California. ![]() The city was one of the first suburban “planned communities” with quality homes, schools and retail centers. Downey remained largely agrarian until the development of the local aircraft industry during the post-World War II years, with light industry and tract homes replacing orange groves. ![]() The downtown Downey area contained a Sunkist packing plant, a department store, banks, restaurants and mercantile shops. Plots of land were sold at a quick pace, and a bustling business center was created at the northwest corner of Crawford and Front Streets (Downey Avenue and Firestone Boulevard).Īt the beginning of the twentieth century, many Downey pioneers had achieved success in business and politics within the city and the surrounding Los Angeles County. The extension of the Southern Pacific Railroad through Downey played a pivotal role in bringing people throughout the country to the city to reap the potential business and agricultural benefits of the land. In April of 1874, the people of Downey City heard the first whistle of a Southern Pacific train lumbering into town. In 1873, a 96-acre parcel of the plot became the central district of a community called “Downey City,” an area with a favorable climate, fertile soil and abundant water sources. In November 1859, Downey and his former drugstore partner, James McFarland, bought the 17,602 acre Rancho Santa Gertrudes for a mere $60,000. He helped build the economic foundation of Southern California, effecting a transition from open cattle range to an agricultural district of small farms. The city derived its name from John Gately Downey, an Irish immigrant who had come to California during the Gold Rush, and succeeded to Governor of California. In the 1800’s, Downey was one of many towns to spring up along the thousands of miles of trails to the west. ![]()
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