THE BEGINNING OF BUENA PARK
James A. Whitaker began the business area of his own town by building a general store near where the Santa Fe depot had been planned. However, the rail line was moved north from the Whitaker land. The store was moved to the west side of Grand Avenue on the north side of the Southern Pacific crossing. That railroad then built a depot on the expanded right-of-way donated by Whitaker, the original Almond area near Dale Street being disregarded. His nephew, J. Harry Whitaker, helped in the store and was the first postmaster of Buena Park. With. T. A. Deering, Harry bought out his uncle. Then he bought Deering's interest, and changed the name to Whitaker and Co. The business was sold to Perry and Co., who owned it when this picture was taken. Arthur Lyttle, an insurance agent in Indio, is the man in the white shirt. He clerked in the store in 1911 and 1912, and dated this picture.
Harry Whitaker and his wife were a young married couple at the time he was postmaster. It was not a difficult job, for a few pigeonholes in a corner of the store served as the post office. They still served in 1911, for the sign in the upper left corner shows it is still the "POST OFFICE, BUENA PARK, CAL."
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