THE EARTHQUAKE AND FLOOD

By 1950, the Southern Pacific depot had been removed, stores had been built on the southwest corner of Grand Avenue and 9th Street, and the business area between the railroad and Manchester Boulevard on Grand Avenue was nearly filled. The Santa Ana Freeway was using Manchester Boulevard, but the state, realizing this could be only temporary, had obtained a right-of-way between Manchester and the railroad. This went straight through the business district.

The cannery had greatly expanded from the original creamery building in both factory and warehouse.. While BEANS had been the main canning product, as shown by the wording on the end of the large warehouse in the lower right corner of the picture above, this was soon to change to tomatoes.

THE BUSINESS AREA AND THE FREEWAY, R.O.W.

The town itself was a compact entity, containing some dairy farms and a few groves. But particularly south of the town, citrus groves covered nearly every area that was soon to become the city. This aerial photograph taken in 1952 looking north with Crescent Avenue across the bottom, shows Knott's Berry Farm surrounded by groves and the town of Buena Park beyond them. Except for the extreme upper area, all land in the picture is now a part of the city.

BUENA PARK AREA JUST BEFORE INCORPORATION