LA County Park in Arcadia, CA Christened in Interwar Years

Pictures sent from a friend in So. Cal.

I love the font on this sign.

LA County Park in Arcadia was christened as a public county park in 1937.  Prior to that, the area was known as Ross Field, [find more here] named for Lieutenant Cleo J. Ross of the 8th Balloon Company, where dirigibles were tested and military men trained in the interwar years. A note on him from Richard DesChenes from Military Museum,

It was in November that the school was formally named after Lt. Cleo J. Ross of the 8th Balloon Company. Lt. Ross and Lt. Herbert Hudnut were aloft and attacked by a Fokker D. VII, the balloon burst into flames. Lt. Ross made sure that his observer got over the side safely. He went over the side and after his parachute deployed, burning fragments of the balloon fell on the parachute. Lt. Ross fell to his death from several thousand feet. His was the only death in the Balloon Corps due to aerial activity.

It is 1 of 5 parks in Arcadia and 1 of 500 parks in LA County.

From the Living New Deal,

Dedication of the Arcadia County Park in 1937 culminated years of hard work by the County of Los Angeles and the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in converting Ross Field into a recreation facility. Completion of the swimming pool, tennis courts, golf course, bowling greens, picnic tables, and other facilities in subsequent years affords Arcadians and others a center for leisure.”

– Arcadia – Yesterday and Today
by Christine Van Maanen, City Clerk of Arcadia, 1956 – 1988.