July 14, 1971

    As I write this letter, I can well remember the first time I saw Palmdale.

    It was April, 1929. From the top of the hill south of Palmdale, I could see acres and acres of orchards. You have heard of the covered wagons, well, I came to Palmdale in a covered truck with all my worldly possessions. Health reasons of my first wife made me move from Los Angeles, and I can certainly verify I have enjoyed good health for the past 42 years.

    Coming into town, I started to look for a place to stay. All I could find was a small cabin at the Shelman Motel on Sierra Highway. The cabin was not heated, and the weather was cold, so we could not stay. We drove into Lancaster, and found one room at the Lancaster Inn. It would not accomodate the three of us, so I slept on the couch in the hotel lobby.

   The next morning we came back to Palmdale and found a small apartment at the Jones Apartments, which is now known as the Thomas Building, on 8th St. E. and Ave. Q-9. The business area of Palmdale at that time was mostly on the east side of Sierra Highway between Ave. Q-7 and Ave. Q-9. There was one grocery store, the Eichler's General Merchandise store. The Palmdale Inn Hotel- and a blacksmith shop on Ave. Q-7 and 8th St. E. There were two schools in Palmdale, one on 5th E. and Palmdale Boulevard, and there was the school on the site of the present Maryott School. There was very little development on the west side of the tracks, except there were some pear orchards south of Ave. R. and west of the railroad tracks. There was a land promotion from 1925 to 1929, and the people were brought from Los Angeles in busses. They were fed at the Gigliotti building on Sierra Highway and Ave. R-8. Then they were taken on a tour of the Fig Plantation, located west of 10th St. E. from Ave. R to Ave. S. and the pear and apple orchards west of the tracks. On the east side of 10th East, there were pear orchards and vineyards.

    I could not find work in Palmdale, so I moved out to Littlerock. I found a two room cottage that rented for $7.00 per week. In the Littlerock area, at that time, was a large Cal-Valley Fig Plantation. After living in Littlerock for two weeks, they raised my rent to $10.00 per week, so I moved back to the Jones Apartments in Palmdale, and started looking for a permanent location. Property in Palmdale was selling for $500 to $600 per lot along Sierra Hwy. and Palmdale Blvd. Mr. Jones told me there was a half acre on 8th St. E. and Ave. Q for sale for $350.00. I purchased the property and built a three room house which is still standing today. In those days, we had no refrigeration, but I made a make-shift cooler out of gunny sacks kept wet with water to keep my perishables cool. During the winter of 1929 and 30, I cut wood in Pine Canyon and sold it for $16.00 a cord. Also, two or three times a week, and during winter carnival at Big Pines, I made spaghetti and ravioli for the Palmdale Inn. They paid me 25› per serving, for the spaghetti and 35› for the ravioli. And, in turn, the hotel charged their customers 45› and 55›. Moore's Restaurant was next door to the Palmdale Inn, and I also supplied them with Italian foods. In the spring of 1930, I worked at a service station on the corner of Sierra Hwy. and Palmdale Blvd, which is now the Richfield Station. I was there about 6 mot After that time, I worked at a chicken ranch at 20th St. E. and Palmdale Blvd, east of 20th St and out to Four Points, there were pear orchards, plums, and peaches. There were four packing sheds in Palmdale and also a fruit dryer.

    I wanted to open my own service station, so I contacted Stark- sen's Chevrolet Agency at Ave. Q-ll and Sierra Hwy. They had two gas pumps in front of their place that were not in use, and I wanted to rent the pumps from them. I told Mr. Starksen I needed a location for my service station, so he took me to Lancaster to see Mr. Fischer and through him I leased ground on Sierra Hwy. and Ave. Q-4 just north of the present Penny's Store for five years. I was to pay $25 a month for the first year, and $50 a month for the balance of the lease. At this location, I built a service station; garage; store; and restaurant. I made the buildings out of adobe brick. I moved out of the three room house on Ave. Q and 8th E. and rented it out for $10.00 a month, and I lived in the back of the station. The restaurant was named "Dug Out''. When I opened the service station, I wanted to use independent gas, but could not get it delivered in Palmdale. I put a 500 gallon tank on my truck and would drive into Los Angeles after closing time at the station, and bring back a load of gas. In 1932, my brother Dan came from Chicago. He took over the operation of the service station and I became the distributor for Wilshire Oil Co. My area was from Saugus to Mojave. The earthquake hit Palmdale in 1933 and completely destroyed the school west of the tracks, and the school on 10th St. E was condemned, but they rebuilt it and made it out of stucco.

    In 1933, I was able to purchase five acres of land on the north- east corner of Sierra Hwy. and Ave. Q-6, looking forward to the time my lease would expire, and I would have to move. In order to buy the five acres, I sold my little house on 8th St. E. and Ave. Q. for $500. My brother and I built 8 motel cabins on the newly acquired acreage between 1933 and 1935. In 1935, Dan's family came from Italy and at that time, we built a service station on the corner of Ave. Q-6 and Sierra and built additional cabins for the motel. During this time, Dan's family and myself, we lived in two of the motel cabins.

    Also in 1933, we formed the Palmdale Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Owen Moulton was President. At that time, Palmdale had a population of 500 which was made up mostly of ranchers. (In 1951, I built a building for the Chamber, which they rented for $50 per month, and which they used until the mid 1950's).

    In 1938, we had a building boom. There were 4 new homes built. The McAdam house on 12th E. and Palmdale Blvd; the Jacobson house across on the other corner; a land promotion company built a house on Ave. R and 10th St. E; and the fourth house was the house that Dan and I built for his family. This house was made of adobe. We made all the bricks. We also planted a vineyard and raised all our own vegetables.

    In 1940, Teresa and I were married. To give her something to do, I built her a little eating stand in front of the motel cabins. She sold hot dogs for 15› and hamburgers for a quarter. For our opening, I gathered 41 varieties of wildflowers to decorate the stand.

    I served as a Volunteer Fireman for ten years from 1940 to app. 1950.

    In 1941, I was President of the Palmdale Kiwanis Club. In 1942 Palmdale had a victory bond drive. Mrs. Wm. Ritter (Mine) was Chair- man and I was Co-Chairman. Mrs. Floyd Lecher (Anita) also worked on this. Mr. Al Lulay was Kiwanis President and his daughter was dressed up resembling a flag to help us. For every $25 bond purchased, I gave the purchaser either a watermelon or 10 pounds of grapes. We sold $2600 worth in one day at our little eating stand. Mrs. Ritter wrote to the Treasury Department about the bond drive, and I received a citation from the Treasury Department signed by R.H. Molton, Chair- man of the War Finance Committee, and also received a silver medallion.

    During the war, there were very few business places in Palmdale and I wanted to do something to promote the area. In 1946, Ed Sulpi, my brother Dan, and myself bought the property on the west side of Sierra Hwy. from Ave. Q to Ave. Q-6. We subdivided this property into 100 foot lots. We set a price of $350 per lot, provided the buyer would build a building, and establish a business limited to one lot per person. At the time we set the price of $350 per lot, we were under the impression that the water company was going to in- stall the water lines, but it turned out they would not. We had to install the water lines ourselves, some 2000 feet, of which we dug by hand in order to cut down on our expense. By this time, in order to follow the requirements of the subdivision law, they required us to put in a service road, for parking, adjacent to Sierra Hwy. With this expense, we were actually loosing money on the lots. Of course, some of the local people were unhappy with us, because they could not buy more than one lot. We also asked the cooperation of the pro- perty owners, south of Ave. Q-6 to extend the service road all the way to Palmdale Blvd., but did not receive any cooperation. We would like to have had all the buildings in line, but now the buildings south of Ave. Q-6 set out in front of the subdivision property.

    In 1947, I was President of the Chamber of Commerce, and it was during this period of time that the first changes on the Palmdale Airport took place. During the war, the airport was leased to the Federal Governemnt. Los Angeles County wanted to buy the airport, and in 1947, it was sold to the County of Los Angeles for $30,000.00. The money from this sale was used to dig another well and fix the water lines for the water district. Since that time, the water dis- trict has been in fine shape. The county built the administration building, and also purchased approximately 400 more acres. In 1951, the County of Los Angeles sold it to the Federal Government for $2,250,000.00.

    In 1955, a shopping center developer purchased my five acres, and started construction of the Palmdale Plaza Shopping Center. All of the buildings were removed, except the service station that belong- ed to my brother, and the home that Teresa and I lived in. We moved this house to our present location of 11th St; remodeled it, and we still live in it.

    I have always promoted the community and worked very hard to serve the majority of the people. I was a member of the incorporation committee from 1954 until the successful conclusion in 1962. I never even thought that I would ever be a City Councilman, and I am very grateful to the people in Palmdale for supporting me in the 1962 elec- tion when I received the third highest number of votes; and in the 1964 and 1968 elections, I received the largest number of votes of any candidate. Also, I was selected by my fellow Councilmen to serve as Mayor of Palmdale in 1968.

    As I reminisce on happenings of many years ago, I can see great things coming to Palmdale, particularly the great Intercontinental Airport. I have always been in favor of having this airport here and know that Palmdale and the Antelope Valley will flourish and devel- ope into a major metropolis.


Sincerely,

DOMENIC MASSARI