Old Fire Station Is a Hot Place to Go for Los Al History

The fire engines rolled for the last time two decades ago. Gone, too, are the volunteer firemen and their annual dress ball, where, local legend has it, many couples fell in love.

But the adobe brick fire station at Los Alamitos Boulevard and Katella Avenue still stands. In its new incarnation, it is filled with historical treasures rather than firefighting equipment and has a new name: the Los Alamitos Museum.

The collection is a hodgepodge of relics from across Orange County: a metal cross that once topped the oldest church in Los Alamitos, the Community Congregational United Church of Christ; an 1896 silk-and-wool American flag with 45 stars; a display of quilts; farming equipment and flatirons, the type heated on coals.

The tools of Leo Layton, blacksmith, fill display cases. So do cans of Dr. Ross dog food, once a popular horse meat produced in Los Alamitos. Photographs, documents and manufacturing equipment tell the story of the city’s economic mainstay before dog food had its day: the sugar beet factory.

In those days “we were a company town. Everybody knew each other. They helped each other out,” said Sydney Gordon, a volunteer docent at the museum. “Even though we’ve grown, it’s the same attitude.”

The Los Alamitos Museum opened in 1976, two years after the fire station closed. Since then, it has become a destination for occasional school and Scout field trips and a point of interest for local historians, not so much for the rarity of the items in its collection as for the way the exhibits capture the spirit of a turn-of-the-century California town.

About 120 schoolchildren a year visit on classroom tours. They come from Los Alamitos and nearby Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Cypress and Long Beach. Rancho Los Alamitos, as the area was known before incorporation, began a relationship with the communities years ago that locals say was never broken.

Los Alamitos Museum volunteers were busy last year commemorating the 100th anniversary of the community, which was marked with the opening of the sugar beet factory and, later, the Community Congregational church.

Members gave tours, told visitors stories of the town’s rough-and-tumble past and put on a parade, community picnic and barbecue.

But usually, the cream-colored museum is barely noticeable among the gas stations, car washes and retail centers around it.

Those who do come here find local memorabilia from estates, antique collections and hobbyists.

Take the barbed wire collection displayed by resident Mel Webster, which reveals the many ways to catch a trespasser by the pants or cuffs.

The security system was needed in the early days of Los Alamitos, which a century ago had a reputation as a violent place. Local historians say the sheriff in Santa Ana was reluctant to send his men to the town out of concern for their safety.

Now, Los Alamitos has its own police force and ranks as one of North County’s safest cities.

Docents say the Hall of Fame is big hit with kids who enjoy learning that so many sports stars hail from Los Alamitos or went to school here.

They include Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby, swimmers Lynn Cox and Greta Anderson, diver Larry Andreason and baseball players Greg Harris and Bob Lemon. Actress Susan Egan, who starred in “Beauty and the Beast” on Broadway, attended the Orange County High School of the Arts in Los Alamitos.

Show business also touched Los Alamitos in 1914, when “Bond of Blood,” a Western, was shot in town. The movie plays at the museum in the video room.

“It’s actually pretty good,” said Liz Myers, a volunteer.

Though the volunteer firefighters have been replaced by professionals, the old uniforms hang in the museum. A tall storage building where they once dried their hoses stands out back.

A clock at the top of the hose dryer is broken, stopped at noon. City Councilwoman Marilynn M. Poe, who volunteers at the museum, said there’s no reason to repair it, because it probably would break again.

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The Los Alamitos Museum

Exhibits: Artifacts from Los Alamitos and Southern California. Emphasis is on the area’s rancho days and its coastal setting.

Location: 11062 Los Alamitos Blvd.

Hours: Tuesdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 p.m. and by appointment.

Contact: Sydney Gordon, volunteer.

Information: (562) 431-8836.