Editing Downey, California (section)

==History==

===18th century to World War II===
{{see also|Spanish missions in California}}
[[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel]] was initially founded on September 8, 1771, near settlements of the [[Tongva]] people. It was located in the Whittier Narrows on a bluff overlooking the Rio Hondo, near the modern intersection of San Gabriel Blvd and Lincoln Avenue.<ref name="Kyle">Kyle, Douglas E. (1990). ''Historic Spots in California'', 4th ed. Stanford, CA: [[Stanford University Press]].</ref> After five years, flooding forced the relocation of the mission to its present site in [[San Gabriel, California|San Gabriel]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (CA Mission #4) |url=https://theclio.com/entry/54297 |access-date=June 26, 2022 |website=Clio |language=en}}</ref>

In 1784, Governor [[Pedro Fages]] granted to former soldier [[Manuel Nieto (soldier)|Manuel Nieto]] (1734–1804) the largest of the land concessions made in what was then [[Alta California]], a province of [[New Spain]]. Its {{convert|300,000|acre|ha|abbr=off}} stretched from the [[Santa Ana River]] on the east to the Old [[San Gabriel River (California)|San Gabriel River]] (now the [[Rio Hondo (California)|Rio Hondo]] and [[Los Angeles River]]) on the west, and from the mission highway (approximately [[Whittier Boulevard]]) on the north to the ocean on the south. Its acreage was slightly reduced later at the insistence of [[Mission San Gabriel]] on whose lands it infringed. The Spanish concessions, of which 25 were made in California, were unlike the later Mexican land grants in that title was not transferred but were similar to grazing permits with the title remaining with the Spanish crown.<ref>Beck, Warren A., Haase, Ynez D. (1974). ''Historical Atlas of California''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.</ref>

The [[Rancho Los Nietos]] passed to Manuel Nieto's four children upon his death and remained intact until 1833 when his heirs petitioned [[List of pre-statehood governors of California|Mexican Governor]] [[José Figueroa]] to partition the property. The northwestern portion of the original [[Ranchos of California|rancho]], comprising the Downey-[[Norwalk, California|Norwalk]] area, was granted as [[Rancho Santa Gertrudes]] to Josefa Cota, the widow of Manuel Nieto's son, Antonio Nieto. At approximately {{convert|21,000|acre|ha|abbr=off}}, Santa Gertrudes was itself a sizable rancho and contained the old Nietos homestead, which was a center of social life east of the pueblo of Los Angeles.<ref>Quinn, Charles Russell (1973). ''The History of Downey, California'' Published by Elena Quinn; copyright by City of Downey, California.</ref>

[[File:John G Downey by William F Cogswell, 1879.jpg|thumb|upright|Governor John G. Downey by [[William F. Cogswell]]]]
Dairy was a major industry in Downey. The Central Milk Agency marketed the milk for "seven hundred dairymen whose dairy herds range from thirty to two thousand head" with the value of the products marketed in excess of $1,000,000 per month.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morrison|first=Easter Bangle|title=History of Downey and Vicinity|date=1939|page=118}}</ref> 
 
Some of Downey's settlers came from [[Ireland]].<ref name=Ireland>{{cite web|url=http://www.jdcjr.us/irish.html|title=John's Irish History|access-date=April 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310024926/http://jdcjr.us/irish.html|archive-date=March 10, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Downey was founded by and named for the former and youngest ever [[governor of California]], [[John G. Downey|John Gately Downey]], who was born in Ireland. Although he was an Irish Democrat, he supported the Republican Lincoln in his efforts to keep the Union intact during the [[American Civil War]]. He pioneered the modern [[subdivision (land)|subdivision]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sonksen |first=Mike |date=2015-06-22 |title=Downey: From Orange Groves to the Apollo Space Program |url=https://www.pbssocal.org/history-society/downey-from-orange-groves-to-the-apollo-space-program |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=PBS SoCal |language=en}}</ref> with land he acquired between the [[Rio Hondo (California)|Rio Hondo]] and the [[San Gabriel River (California)|San Gabriel River]], in about 1865. Downey was convinced that oranges would flourish in Southern California, so he imported several varieties, and therefore set in motion what became one of the state's biggest cash crops.<ref name=Ireland/>

===Gallatin===
Two small settlements were established along the Rio Hondo River - '''College Settlement''' and '''Gallatin''', near where the modern Paramount Boulevard and Florence Avenue cross. In the late 1860s, the Gallatin residents built a small school known as the "Little Red Gallatin School House". By 1871, it was not large enough and a two-story school was built. Gallatin School moved in 1893 to its present site. Later, Alameda School and Downey School were built. By 1883, College Settlement, Gallatin and Downey joined and with the help of Governor Downey convinced the Southern Pacific Railroad to route through and stop in Downey. The new center of activity migrated to the depot area and this became the center of a new larger Downey, uniting the three previous settlements.<ref>{{cite news |title=Looking back on Gallatin Elementary School|publisher=Downey Patriot|date=January 8, 2010|last=Pierce|first=Eric|url= https://www.thedowneypatriot.com/articles/looking-back-on-gallatin-elementary-school?format=amp}}</ref>

===After World War II===
[[File:Vultee Vengeance production at Downey CA.jpg|thumb|right|Workers in Downey building [[Vultee A-31 Vengeance|Vultee Vengeance]] bombers for the [[Royal Air Force]] in 1943<ref name="Parker, Dana T. p. 107-20">Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II,'' p. 107-20, Cypress, CA, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref>]]
Farmers in the area grew grain, corn, [[castor bean]]s, and fruit, and by 1935 Downey was characterized as an "orange-grove town".<ref>Romance & History of California Ranchos. Myrtle Garrison. 1935. page 11. Harr Wagner Publishing Company, San Francisco, CA.</ref> 
Downey was incorporated in 1956 and instituted a [[Municipal charter|charter]] form of government in 1964. Suburban homes and factories replaced the farms after World War II.

====Aerospace====
[[Vultee Aircraft]] was Downey's largest employer during World War II producing 15% of all of America's military aircraft by 1941.<ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II,'' p. 107, Cypress, CA, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref> The company was a pioneer in the use of women in manufacturing positions and was the first aircraft company to build airplanes on a powered assembly line.<ref name="Parker, Dana T. p. 107-20"/> Vultee became a part of [[North American Aviation]] (later [[North American Rockwell]], then [[Rockwell International]] which was then bought by the [[Boeing]] company) whose facilities were the birthplace of the systems for the [[Apollo program|Apollo Space Program]] as well as the [[Space Shuttle]]. For over 70 years, Downey's Rockwell [[NASA]] plant produced and tested many of the 20th century's greatest aviation, missile, and space endeavors.

The seventy-year history of airplane and space vehicle manufacturing in Downey came to an end when the Rockwell plant closed in 1999. The plant was demolished and replaced by the [[Space Shuttle Columbia#Tributes and memorials|Columbia Memorial Space Center]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbiaspacescience.org|title=Columbia Memorial Space Center -|access-date=April 22, 2016}}</ref> Downey Landing shopping center, [[Promenade at Downey]] shopping center (the former [[movie studio]] site of [[Downey Studios]]), a [[Kaiser Permanente]] hospital, and a city recreation fields park.

====Other landmarks====
Near the center of the city lies what was in the 1960s one of the busiest intersections in California, the intersection of Lakewood Boulevard ([[California State Route 19|State Route 19]]) and Firestone Boulevard (former [[California State Route 42|State Route 42]]). Route 19 was a major thoroughfare between [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]] and the port at [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] and Route 42 was along part of the old Spanish [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]] trail that connected the [[Pueblo de Los Angeles]] to [[San Diego]].

In the 1960s, the town's Downey Records achieved some notoriety with recordings such as [[The Chantays]]' surfing instrumental "[[Pipeline (instrumental)|Pipeline]]"; nearly two decades later, Downey's local music scene led to the founding of [[The Blasters]] and [[Dark Angel (band)|Dark Angel]].

[[Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center]], the main public rehabilitation hospital for [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]], is located in Downey. Rancho Los Amigos is renowned worldwide for its innovative contributions to the care of [[Spinal cord injury|spinal cord injuries]] and [[post-polio syndrome]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rancho.org|title=Official Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center website|access-date=July 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224085939/http://www.rancho.org/|archive-date=February 24, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Downey was featured in the 2008 American action-comedy film ''[[Pineapple Express (film)|Pineapple Express]]''. Many of the buildings along Florence Avenue are seen in a driving sequence early in the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910936/locations?ref_=tt_ql_dt_6|title=Pineapple Express (2008)|work=IMDb|access-date=April 22, 2016}}</ref>

Downey is home to the world's oldest existing [[McDonald's]] Restaurant, the so-called Speedee McDonald's Store, which opened in 1953 at the southwest corner of Florence Avenue and Lakewood Boulevard. Damaged in the [[1994 Northridge Earthquake]], the store reopened in 1996 along with a museum and gift shop.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=51959|title=The Speedee McDonald's Store|work=The Historical Marker Database|access-date=May 19, 2024}}</ref>