Los Alamitos

The township of Los Alamitos had already begun, the first school being built in 1881 at what is now Katella and Los Alamitos Boulevard. Most of the workers in the fields were Mexican, but many immigrants from Belgium, France and Germany came here to work and establish their own farms and businesses. When nematodes (burrowing insects that fed on the roots of the plants) destroyed the sugar beet industry, the sugar refinery was closed down and eventually leased in 1921 to a Dr. Ross, who used it to process wild horse meat into dog food. The 1929 depression, followed by damage caused by the 1933 earthquake, ruined this enterprise. Dr. Ross died a pauper, and eventually the mill was torn down.

While the sugar mill was prospering, Los Alamitos had become a throw-back to the typical wild west town. Reagan Street was the principal thoroughfare until Los Alamitos Boulevard was black topped in 1921-22. There were two hotels in town, and reportedly an average of two shootings or stabbings every weekend. Katella was a country road that led to the entrance of a farm on the edge of Coyote Creek. It was named after the two daughters of the farmer, "Kate" and "Ella," who, well into their eighties, were proudly present when "their" road was named and dedicated.

Following Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), the U. S. Navy moved its training field for aircraft from Terminal Island to Los Alamitos, where a 1,300 acre tract was commissioned. Here, Navy and Marine fliers were trained, as well as fliers from Australia, New Zealand, England, Free France, Poland and Norway. Its presence revitalized the sleepy country town of Los Alamitos, bringing new settlers and businesses to the area. When the war ended, the air base was used as a reserve training field for military fliers, being operated under control of the Navy. It was reactivated during the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts, following which the Navy turned it over to the California National Guard, which uses it as a reserve training center for all branches of the military, as well as for its own personnel.