From Ranching to Real Estate
John Bixby died in 1887, one year before the Alamitos Land Company was formed in 1888 to subdivide land and sell parcels for residential development. Shortly before John's estate was settled in 1891, Ranch Los Alamitos was further divided into three parts. One of the three remaining parcels went to John’s heirs, another went to Hellman and the third went to J. Bixby & Co. The J. Bixby & Co. parcel would later become the initial holdings of the Bixby Land Company.Bixby Land Company was founded June 13, 1896, and its first project was to subdivide a portion of land for the raising and processing of sugar beets. That project grew to become the City of Los Alamitos, and over the next 100 years the company progressed from ranching to commercial real estate. Bixby Land Company operated dairies, built the first Sears store in the Long Beach area to accommodate automobiles (1928), built some of the first gas stations for General Petroleum, Shell and Texaco, and developed business parks, car dealerships, hotels and shopping centers.
[ History Continued ]
