A California town called Freedom has a wild past as ‘Whiskey Hill’
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FREEDOM, Calif. — I was driving home from a reporting trip to Santa Cruz County on Friday when I spotted the plain green and white highway sign, just off Highway 1. It had an arrow pointing north alongside the word FREEDOM.
Jackpot! I slowed my aging Jeep, to the annoyance of the pickup driver behind me, just enough to take a not-great cellphone photo out my window before making my way home to the South Bay.
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As I wrote last week in this newsletter, I am willing to travel out of my way to report from a town with an interesting name. I had stopped in Freedom — a census-designated place with some 3,000 residents in southern Santa Cruz County — to do just that.
It wasn’t just about Freedom, but redemption
The morning the newsletter on datelines landed, I awoke to a text from my colleague, friend and fellow California history nerd Gustavo Arellano: “Whither Weed???”
Meaning Weed, population 2,500, in Siskiyou County.
I’ve been to Weed several times. I’ve even bought a few “I [Heart] Weed” stoner-humor knickknacks for friends. Alas, I have never reported a story from there, I confessed to Gustavo.
“REVEAL YOUR SHAME!” he texted back.
Challenge accepted. Here are a few colorfully named California places I have visited but from which I have not (yet!) earned a dateline: Rough and Ready in Nevada County; Likely in Modoc County; Butt Valley in Plumas County; Hayfork in Trinity County. And, yes, Weed.
Though, I have earned datelines from Blackwell’s Corner, Cool, Peanut, Weedpatch and Volcano.
Here’s the lowdown on Freedom (previously Whiskey Hill)
The unincorporated community blends right in with the adjacent, incorporated city of Watsonville. Looking for proof of Freedom, I found: Freedom Elementary School and the Freedom Branch Library.
I also found an easy-to-miss metal plaque on an exterior wall of the Wooden Nickel Bar & Grill (which is on Freedom Boulevard but not technically in Freedom). The plaque recognizes the town’s wild past as a place called Whiskey Hill, “a tiny village where violence, hangings, drinking, and bull and bear fights were a part of daily life.”
“As the town became more civilized, the name was changed to freedom,” reads the sign, hung in 1982 by members of the Order of E Clampus Vitus, a fraternal organization that celebrates obscure local history.
Georg Romero, a historian for the Watsonville-based Pajaro Valley Historical Assn. and a retired library director for Cabrillo College, was kind enough to dig into the archives and send me a few old newspaper articles describing how Whiskey Hill, then Freedom, came to be.
In the 1860s, the hamlet of Whiskey Hill consisted of “a dozen shacks, each of which contained a bar and dispensed firewater,” according to a July 1937 article in the Watsonville Leader newspaper. At one rowdy gathering, the newspaper claimed, “a man was shot through the head, the bullet going in one temple and out the other. A serape was thrown over him and he was left to expire in a corner while the dance and merry-making went on.”
The town also was known for its vicious bear and bull fights hosted for spectators who paid $1 for a seat in the shade and 50 cents for a spot in the sun. According to a 2007 column in the Register-Pajaronian newspaper by the late local historian Betty Lewis, a bear would be “chained to a post in the middle of the arena, and an angry bull was let loose.” As the animals fought, brass bands played and clowns entertained.
Ultimately, Whiskey Hill sobered up. In the summer of 1877, Lewis wrote, a small group of residents met at a local schoolhouse and decided upon a more respectable town name: Freedom.
Today’s top stories
Sheriff’s officials identify the Baldwin Park shooting suspect
- The suspect accused of fatally shooting two people including a Baldwin Park police officer over the weekend has been identified as 22-year-old Eduardo Roberto Medina-Berumen.
- Two officers — Samuel Riveros and Anthony Pimentel — were struck and were rushed to a hospital. Riveros, 35, of Pasadena did not survive.
- Officers also found a man suffering from fatal gunshot wounds in the front yard of the home where the suspect was found.
- Investigators are still working to determine a motive in the shooting.
After half a century, California legislators are on the verge of overhauling a landmark environmental law
- Long celebrated and derided, the California Environmental Quality Act is facing its strongest overhaul in generations.
- Two proposals have advanced rapidly through the Legislature: one to wipe away the law for most urban housing developments, the other to weaken the rules for most everything else.
- Legal experts say the efforts would be the most profound changes to CEQA in generations. Negotiations could lead to new laws taking effect within weeks.
Walt Disney will live again as a robot. His granddaughter says he never wanted this
- This summer, Walt Disney will live again in robotic form as part of a new Disneyland attraction. The way his granddaughter Joanna Miller sees it, it’s an abomination.
- “Dehumanizing,” she wrote in a Facebook post that went viral among Disney’s vast fandom. “People are not replaceable. You could never get the casualness of his talking.”
What else is going on
- Forecasters say a triple threat is heading for SoCal: Thunderstorms, dry lightning, rip currents.
- ICE agents with assault rifles toss flash-bangs in a serene SoCal neighborhood. City officials outraged.
- Disney to cut hundreds of employees in the latest round of layoffs.
- Vietnamese American salon owners sue California, alleging labor code is discriminatory.
- The Supreme Court turns away a 2nd Amendment challenge to blue-state bans on assault weapons.
- Big Bear eaglet Sunny flies the nest. See the bittersweet moment.
- Jonathan Joss, the actor known for ‘King of the Hill’ and ‘Parks and Recreation,’ has died in a shooting.
Commentary and opinions
- Homeland Security’s ‘sanctuary city’ list is riddled with errors. The sloppiness is the point, argues columnist Gustavo Arellano.
- Make America Healthy Again report’s misrepresentations will harm public health and hit consumers’ pocketbooks, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
- Why ‘sitcom royalty’ Linda Lavin has a strong case for a posthumous Emmy, columnist Glenn Whipp writes.
- Thousands of party faithful gathered in Anaheim to sift the ashes of 2024 and plot Democrats’ way forward. There was yelling, finger-pointing and cursing galore, writes columnist Mark Z. Barabak.
- Newsom may dislike Prop. 36, but he is duty bound to help implement and enforce it, argues columnist George Skelton.
This morning’s must-reads
Deathracer413 is a group of skateboarders in their 50s and 60s who feel the dangerous sport is their key to health and longevity.
Other must reads
- A California teacher’s killing was a mystery for 47 years. Disclosure from the relative of a student solves it.
- How HBO keeps ‘The White Lotus’ on our minds — and screens.
For your downtime
Going out
- Restaurants: Three L.A. restaurants where you can find whole duck roasted and presented with Thai flavors, smoked duck from Korea and 14-day aged duck with shepherd’s pie.
- Travel: Why it can take hours to get through customs at LAX for some unlucky travelers.
Staying in
- Books: A new photo book by Metallica’s Kirk Hammett highlights his ‘holy grail’ of rare six-strings.
- Television: How Questlove uncovered those culture-shifting moments in his ‘SNL’ music doc.
- Recipes: Here’s a recipe for Taverna-style Greek gigantes.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What’s the best advice you’ve gotten from your father or father figure?
Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally ... your photo of the day
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Robert Gauthier at ACA Groves farm, where a farmer is fighting to save the iconic California avocado.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Hailey Branson-Potts, staff writer
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
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