|
*B10. Significance (continued)
<br />Z.B. West Jr. was the first owner and recorded occupant of the West & West House, according to city directories. Z.B. West
<br />Jr. graduated from Santa Ana High School and continued his studies at Stanford, where he graduated with honors in the
<br />class of 1917. After completing honorable and active service with the American expeditionary forces in France during WWI,
<br />West Jr. spent sixteen weeks at a French university. He then returned to California and was admitted to the bar in 1921,
<br />afterwhich he established his law practice in Santa Ana. Z.B. West Jr. followed in his father's footsteps and served as both
<br />Santa Ana City Attorney from 1923 to 1927 and District Attorney from 1927 to 1930.
<br />According to city directories, Franklin G. West resided at the residence after his brother, from 1932 until 1962. Franklin G.
<br />West also followed in his father's footseps, serving as a Superior Court judge. Franklin G. West passed the bar in 1923 after
<br />gradutating from Stanford, and practiced law with is brother Z.B. West Jr. in Santa Ana. Franklin G. West then went on to
<br />become Superior Courtjudge in 1938, and served in that capacity from 1939 unitl 1965. Franklin passed away in 1976.
<br />Franklin was held in such high esteem by the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA), that their highest honor bestowed is
<br />a lifetime achievement award, which was established in memory of Judge Franklin G. West. According to the OCBA, Judge
<br />Franklin G. West epitomized the best of the legal profession, both as an attorney and a judge. The award, which recognizes
<br />an outstanding attorney or judge whose lifetime achievements have advanced justice and the law, is presented annually.
<br />Outside of the courthouse, a third brother, Eddie West, made his name as the longtime sports editor of the Santa Ana
<br />Register. Eddie West Field at the Santa Ana Stadium is named in his honor.
<br />Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative town site on part of the Spanish land grant known as
<br />Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The civic and commercial core of the community was centered around the intersection of
<br />Main and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and
<br />selection as the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods
<br />developing to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with
<br />cultivated fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses.
<br />The West & West House is located in the Santiago Park neighborhood. The neighborhood is bounded by Santiago Creek
<br />and Park on the north, East Seventeenth Street on the south, North Lincoln Avenue on the east, North Main Street on the
<br />west, and the 1-5 freeway on the southwest. In large part these boundaries reflect the transportation lines that were
<br />constructed towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Pacific
<br />Electric interurban railroad ran up Main Street; the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe tracks followed Lincoln; and the
<br />Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way mirrored the freeway route.
<br />This area remained primarily agricultural well into the 1920s. As of 1905, the city directories listed around twenty households
<br />on East Santa Clara, Twentieth Street, "C Street" (now North Santiago Street), North Bush Street and North Main Avenue,
<br />the only streets in the area at the time. The vast majority of the residents were ranchers. By 1911, the number of households
<br />had increased to about thirty, and Edgewood Road and Valencia Street had been partially laid out, but most residents
<br />continued to list "rancher" or'fruit grower" as their occupation in the city directories. This pattern of land use was evident on
<br />the 1912 plat map of the City, which illustrated two small, Craftsman era subdivisions along Bush north of Santa Clara and
<br />on Valencia and Poinsettia south of Twentieth Street, with the remaining area divided into larger, agricultural parcels held by
<br />approximately forty landowners.
<br />While the area east of Santiago Street was not subdivided until after the mid -1920s, most of the present day streets west of
<br />Santiago had been laid out when the City was mapped in 1923. Ranching continued to be the most prevalent occupation in
<br />the neighborhood, but increasing numbers of professionals, small business owners, merchants, and people in service
<br />professions such as painters, electricians, and carpenters made their homes in the western half of the neighborhood during
<br />the 1920s and 1930s. The area also attracted several city and county officials, including the City Attorney (Z. B. West, Jr.,
<br />321 East Santa Clara Avenue), County Supervisor, First District (C. H. Chapman, 2315 North Santiago Street), County
<br />Surveyor (E. H. Irwin, 2407 North Santiago Street), and County Auditor (William C. Jerome, 2422 Poinsettia Street). By April
<br />1942, when the Sanborn Company first mapped the western half of the area, most of the lots had been improved with
<br />single-family homes, many in the revival styles popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Subsequent development of the
<br />eastern half of the neighborhood and infill construction in the western half displayed the simplified ranch style that emerged
<br />following World War 11.
<br />The West & West House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 4 for its
<br />association with famous people in history of Santa Ana. Additionally, the house has been categorized as Key"because of
<br />its association with two significant persons in the history of Santa Ana and of Orange County, Z.B. West Jr. and Franklin G.
<br />West. Character defining features of the West & West House that should be preserved, include, but not limited to: exterior
<br />materials and finishes (half-timbering); roof configuration, materials, and treatment; massing and composition; doors and
<br />windows (original multi -pane wood casement windows, where extant); chimney; and, arched entry.
<br />25C-53
<br />
|