Item 19 - Mills Act Agreement - 1218 N French St.

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Ft:onch Park Historic District, Santa Ana, CA Orange County we rwn , oir. 040 ar ^%W~ AW rweora United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 6 George Wright, who built the Wright Apartments (831-31/2 N. Minter) and the Wright Transfer Company (410 Vance) in 1919 was a pioneer truck and transfer owner who lived in the neighborhood beginning in the 1890s. He helped establish Flat Iron Park (now called French Park). Terry Stephenson, who built the house at 926 N. Lacy St. in 1915, was the editor and part owner of the Santa Ana Register from 1906 to 1927. He also served as Postmaster for Santa Ana, from 1923 to 1934, and as County Treasurer from 1935 to 1943. He is perhaps best remembered for his books about Orange County history, Camino Viejos (1930), Shadows of Uld ,Saddleback (1931), and Bernardo Yorba (1940). Several important Santa Ana business owners built or purchased existing homes during the prime historic period. The 900 block of N. French is a good example. John Beatty, editor and publisher of the Santa Ana Blade, built the house at 910. He also was a partner with Miles Crookshank in the Crooksha.nk-Beatty Company. George Smith, the builder of the impressive Colonial Revival house at 916, was a partner in the Smith -Tuthill Mortuary, an important mortuary firm in business here for more than fifty years. He served at County Coroner and Public Administrator in the 1910s. The house at 918 was built by Lester Gleason, a partner in the Gleason Furniture Store. He owned other businesses in both Orange and Los Angeles Counties. Lester Carden, the second owner was a partner in the prestigious firm of Hill and Carden Clothiers. Prominent attorneys William Thomas, the original owner, and Wallace Rutan owned the house at 932. The Yost family, owners of the Yost and Broadway Theaters, built the charming Spanish Colonial Marylin Apartments at 506-510 Wellington and 925 N. Lacy St. Roscoe Wilson, who built the large Colonial Revival house at 305 E. Washington, was the owner of the Santa Ana Preserving Co., and the Wilson Co., a manufacturer of perfume and toiletries. The Peter Pan Gardens, owned by Peter Dierker, a local contractor, were located at 910, 914, 914 1/2 N. Lacy St. An avid lover of birds and plants, Dierker operated the gardens as a business before building the second and third houses on the site in 1928 and 1946. Small business owners included William Cochems (720 N. French), who owned the Vienna Bakery; Nathan and Alice Beals of Beals and Son, Grocers, built houses at 821 N. Garfield and 1016 N. French St.; Alfred and