Features
Nike-Ajax LA-29 Missile Site
Built in the mid 1950's during the Cold War, the LA-29 nuclear missile site was part of the Los Angeles defense program to protect the infrastructure of vital national interest. The fear of war, especially the close encounter with the Cuban Missile Crisis, led Los Angeles to be fortified with 16 Nike nuclear missile sites, each with its own IFC (Instruments and Flight Controls), Battery Control Area, and launch site. This includes the LA-29 missile site near Brea! Nike (Nike-Ajax, Nike-Hercules, Nike-Zeus) missiles had the ability to intercept and destroy supersonic ballistic missiles (sent by Soviets) if one was launched in the direction toward Los Angeles.
A lineup of four Ajax missiles.
The missile site was decommissioned in the 1970s (more specifically in 1974, but no evidence to support that claim) along with other missile sites as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was put in place and budget cuts occurred.Read more here:
Stewart Farm Tank Fire and Orange Groves
In 1926, a lightning bolt struck two crude oil tanks that ignited Brea's most devastating disaster. The explosion created fireballs and cyclones that were picked up by wind that damaged properties across Brea. The fire lasted 48 hours, with every oil company in Southern California rushing down to help.
Aerial view of the Stewart Fire.
No one was killed, but it convinced Union Oil, the company that owned the farm, to look toward a different industry: agriculture. As oil production declined, Union Oil utilized their land as orange ranches and also lemon ranches. Orange ranches were more abundant, and contributed to the population boom of Orange County during the 1990s.Read more here:
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway was another LA project that existed from 1901 until 1953 that served as a means of transportation for many across Southern California, not just Los Angeles. This time period was known as the Red Car era, since the trolleys that made up the program were iconic; it serves as a memento of the history of transportation.
A Pacific Electric Red Train heading to Los Angeles.
One railway passed through the city of Brea, which connected the upper half of Orange County to Los Angeles. The Brea railway was discontinued when the construction of Imperial Highway, specifically the segment between Brea and Yorba Linda, was completed in 1938.Read more here:
A interactive map viewing the routes of the Pacific Electric Railway.