New Book Focuses on City Then and Now

A 128-page book that went on sale this week is the first mass-produced publication to tell the history of Monterey Park from its beginnings as a Spanish rancho to its present as the nation’s “first suburban Chinatown.”

The paperback book, “Reflections,” is a combination historical journal and promotional guide. It was put together by a group of unpaid volunteers, including city Treasurer Louise Davis and David Lau, a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission.

Published in commemoration of the city’s 75th anniversary, it is filled with black-and-white photographs, articles and personal essays in English, Spanish and Chinese about Monterey Park’s early days and its recent rapid growth.

The book gives ample space to famous landowners and the city’s founding fathers to satisfy any resident’s curiosity about how certain streets and buildings got their names. One of the more famous personalities is Laura Scudder, who in 1926 opened her first potato chip factory on the corner of Atlantic Boulevard and Garvey Avenue.

Absent, however, is any detailed discussion of the tension between long-time residents and new immigrants from Asia that catapulted Monterey Park into the national spotlight as a case study of race relations.

For example, there is no mention of a controversial law requiring English on business signs, which some Chinese perceived as discriminatory, or of a movement to make English the city’s official language, which triggered a recall campaign against three City Council members.

“There wasn’t a consensus to leave those out,” said City Clerk David Barron, who helped edit the book. “Maybe they weren’t considered that significant in terms of the overall history of the city. Perhaps other historians will go into more detail on those.

“There were controversies all throughout the history, about issues that were very important to laying the foundation of city. We didn’t discuss those either.”

There are stories about Spanish rancher Jose Lugo, who built Monterey Park’s first adobe home in 1840 near what is now South Garfield Avenue; Italian immigrant Alessandro Repetto, who prospered raising sheep, and Irish developer Richard Garvey, the “father” of Monterey Park, who subdivided his property into smaller parcels and sold them to pay his debts.

It tells the story of Monterey Park’s incorporation, which turned into a sticky legal battle as residents fought efforts by neighboring Alhambra to annex the area for a proposed sewer treatment plant.

And, for those who thought Asians only recently settled in the city, the book notes that early Japanese farmers cut a smooth roadway through Coyote Pass to transport produce to Los Angeles markets. The road was later paved and is called Monterey Pass Road.

The book, which costs $6, is available at City Hall, the Monterey Park Historical Society Museum, Bruggemeyer Memorial Library and the Chamber of Commerce. Proceeds will go to repay a $10,000 city loan to publish the book.