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Project Description
In January of 2005, the Habitat Authority contracted with the Department of History of Claremont Graduate University to provide student researched papers about the history of the Puente Hills. The History Department believed that such a sponsored research project would be an ideal way to acquaint the public with the Preserve area and also provide graduate students in the doctoral and master’s programs with professional experience in producing local history for a sponsor.
Over the course of the next two years, six students researched and wrote papers on diverse aspects of the history of the Preserve. They researched these to the best of their abilities. The final products as provided below represent a snapshot of the vast historical layers of the hills. Any opinions that are expressed in the research papers are those of the writers of the papers and are not endorsed by the Habitat Authority.
An additional group of graduate history students contacted local libraries, museums, historic houses, special collections, and archives to create a directory of resources pertinent to the Preserve area. This they produced as a Directory of Resources. Two additional history students visited local repositories and took digital photographs of materials to visually supplement the research papers and the directory.
The project concluded in December 2006. The final products are available through links at this website. We hope that you enjoy these brief local histories of one of Los Angeles’ most cherished open land preserves.
The History Department is deeply grateful to the Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority for their generous support.
We extend our special thanks to the following institutions for permission to reproduce in the papers and directory photographs of materials in their collections:
• Baldwin Park Historical Society/Baldwin Park Museum
• The Bancroft Library, University of California
• Covina Valley Historical Society
• Hacienda Heights Public Library
• The San Gabriel Mission Museum
• The Whittier Public Library
• The Workman and Temple Family Homestead
Janet Farrell Brodie
Professor
Department of History
School of Arts and Humanities
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, CA 91711
Project Documents
Please Note: These research projects are Adobe Portable Documents (.pdf) and will require you to have the Adobe Acrobat reader to open and view them. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, follow the link below to download a free copy.
The projects are large files, depending on the type of connection you are using they may load slowly, so please be patient. You may wish to download a project. To download a project, right-click on the link (View/Download Project) and choose Save Link As/Save Target As/etc. from the drop–down menu that opens. If you are having trouble viewing or downloading a project, please contact the History Department at Claremont Graduate University and/or the Habitat Authority.
All papers are subject to copyright law.
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Directory of Local
Historical Sources: Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat
Authority Students contributing to the Directory of Resources: • Michael Keating (MA in history) • Justina Buller (Doctoral Student in history) • Elaine McLemore (Doctoral Student in history) • Ricardo Mendoza (Doctoral Student in history) Department of History, Claremont Graduate University Download the PDF (5.89 MB) |
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Head to the Hills: A History of Recreation in the Puente Hills • Ashley Haines (Masters Student) Department of History, Claremont Graduate University Download the PDF (1.4 MB) |
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Black Gold in the Golden State: The Role of Oil in the Development of the Puente Hills • Michael T. Keating (MA) Department of History, Claremont Graduate University Download the PDF (1.5 MB) |
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Land, Labor, and Livestock: The Uses of the Puente Hills Region, 1769 – 1880 • John Macias (Doctoral Student) Department of History, Claremont Graduate University Download the PDF (1.48 MB) |
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From Rock, Wind, and Water: A Natural History of the Puente Hills • Richard H. Ross (Doctoral Student) Department of History, Claremont Graduate University Download the PDF (2.7 MB) |
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A Brief History of the Tongva Tribe: The Native Inhabitants of the Lands of the Puente Hills Preserve • Rosanne Welch (Doctoral Student) Department of History, Claremont Graduate University Download the PDF (369 kb) |
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The Puente Hills Habitat Authority: A Preservation Success Story • Amanda C. West (Doctoral Student) Department of History, Claremont Graduate University Download the PDF (4.56 MB) |