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La Habra community gathers to toast town’s 100th anniversary

January 23, 2025

An enlarged photo of a 100-year-old document is displayed prominently on a wall in the atrium of La Habra City Hall.

A headline, in bold capital letters reads: VOTE FOR INCORPORATION.

People raise a glass in celebration as the City of La Habra kicked of its 100 year centennial celebrations with a mural unveiling and speeches at City Hall on Jan. 21, 2025 in La Habra CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer)

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Following are details of the array of benefits incorporation would bring to the town: police and fire protection, streetlights, sanitation and increased property value.

And the residents of La Habra agreed those 100 years ago, overwhelmingly voting in favor of incorporation, 311-146.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, generations of residents, some perhaps descendants of those who cast votes that day, joined with city officials, long-time business owners and others in the atrium to celebrate La Habra’s centennial.

Several local notables shared memories and recounted the city’s roots as a citrus hub, along with subsequent milestones over the years.

Then, the hundreds in attendance raised their champagne glasses to toast the city.

At the same time, a two-story tall mural depicting an avocado tree – a symbol of the city and its agricultural history – was unveiled at the south end of the atrium.

Longtime councilmembers Jim Gomez and Rose Espinoza, both La Habra natives, recounted the roots of their respective families and chronicled the town’s growth.

“Everyone here represents La Habra’s past, present and future,” said Gomez, a councilmember since 2002 and grandson of early residents. “We’re all woven together like a beautiful blanket is woven together.”

Gomez recounted his youth, attending La Habra schools from kindergarten through high school, and highlighted the growth of the town’s business community.

He mentioned the original Parkview Market, owned by Howard and Nancy Lu, the first Chinese American couple to open a business in La Habra, adding, “And eventually this Chinese couple spoke Spanish, and they were dear to our heart.”

And he remembered George Williams, who, as proprietor of a small body shop, was the town’s first Black business owner and part of the first Black family to make the city home.

“It was George who restored my grandfather’s 1928 Ford Model A in 1981,” Gomez recalled. “There’s no other place that I’d rather be than La Habra with all of you. All roads of La Habra lead to my heart.”

Also among the celebrants was Cynthia Cramer Freeman, daughter of noted Orange County historian Esther Cramer, a lifelong resident of La Habra and author of multiple books, including “La Habra: The Pass through the Hills,” published in 1969.

Esther Cramer died in 2012 at age 85.

Cramer Feeman recounted her family’s Swiss heritage and roots in La Habra going back 128 years.

“There were no trees then,” Cramer Freeman said. “There were just rolling hills and land and it looked like opportunity.”

Cramer Freeman’s grandfather purchased small ranches, some along a section of La Mirada Boulevard, which later became Beach Boulevard.

“We watched as the groves were planted and we had citrus everywhere,” she said. “We were the heart of Sunkist oranges, Sunkist lemons, and then Hass avocados, as you probably well know.”

She pointed out that the largest Hass avocado grove in the world once grew along La Mirada Boulevard.

Espinoza was raised in the so-called Red Camp built by the La Habra Citrus Association for migrant workers and attended a segregated school as a child.

As the youngest of eight children whose parents were fruit pickers, Espinoza said she would also sometimes help her mother clean houses.

In 1991, out of concern for the growing gang activity in her neighborhood, Espinoza founded Rosie’s Garage, an after-school tutoring program she started in her garage.

As Rosie’s Garage expanded over the years, the program rooted in La Habra earned national recognition and was featured in multiple publications and documentaries.

“Knowing how much our city has grown and accomplished over the last 100 years is truly remarkable,” Gomez said. “Something we should be proud to celebrate together.”

La Habra community gathers to toast town’s 100th anniversary Orange County Register

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La Habra community gathers to toast town’s 100th anniversary

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