The Street Seen: Main St Feed and Fuel
2620 - 2622 Main Street @ Ocean Park Blvd
This is the second in a series obsessing over the southwest corner of Main St and Ocean Park Blvd. A corner that didn’t exist until 1909.1 In 1901, there is a grocery store on the property. From 1908 to 1926, there is a Feed and Fuel Store.2 The Feed and Fuel Store is demolished in 1926 to make way for the widening of Main St.
From 1901 to 1904, Chris Johnson3 opens The People’s Grocery on the west side of Main St just south of present-day Ocean Park Blvd.4,5
In 1901, Johnson constructs a sidewalk on the north side of his store that connects Main St to the Dwight Ave sidewalk - providing much-appreciated pedestrian access to the beach. In 1901, the Sunset Telephone Company has its Ocean Park central station in the People’s Grocery.6
In 1905, C. K. Towt7 is operating the People’s Grocery. In 1910, C. Johnson sells the property.
From 1910 to 1912, Albert Dickens,8 a former motorman with the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (LAP), operates A.J. Dickens’ Feed & Fuel at 2620 Main St. His wife May runs the associated grocery store.
In 1912, Philip (age 18) and Harry Tovrea (age 22), sons of wealthy Phoenix, AZ meat packer E.A. Tovrea, come to Ocean Park (they live at 2453 Main St).9 P.E. Tovrea & Bro buy the A.J. Dicken’s feed and fuel store but sell it the same year to Helton & Barnes.
In 1912, Frank A. Helton10 and Ward E. Barnes11 acquire the feed and fuel business of P.E. Tovrea & Bro. They open Helton and Barnes Feed & Fuel. In 1914, Barnes dies of Typhoid fever. Helton continues to operate the business as F.A. Helton Feed & Fuel.
In 1922, Helton, upon being an elected a Santa Monica City Commissioner,12 sells his feed and fuel business to Fillippo Bosio13 and his brother-in-law John Bovero.14
In 1926, the feed and fuel buildings are demolished to make way for the widening of Main Street.
Dwight Ave, the predecessor to Ocean Park Blvd, is established in 1900. In 1909, Dwight Ave is extended across the railroad right-of-way (across present-day Neilson and city parking lots) to intersect Main St. A fuel (wood & coal) building in the way is torn down.
Feed and Fuel Stores emerge in the 1800s when horses are the primary mode of transportation. The Feed and Fuel Store is a single location where horse owners come for tack and feed. Homeowners come for firewood, coal, home heating fuel, and kerosene. Contractors come for building materials. Limited groceries are also sold.
As automobiles become more prevalent, Feed and Fuel Stores begin selling gasoline. Over time, Feed and Fuel Stores continue to diversify their offerings to include poultry supplies, pet food, and gardening products.
Livery stables provide both feed and boarding for animals (horses) - and are undesirable neighbors.
Chris Johnson (1853 – 1933). Born in Denmark, in 1873 marries Inga Marie Sorensen (1854 –1925). In 1874, they come to the US. In 1900 they are in Denver, CO. From 1901 to 1904 they operate a grocery store on Main St. They live at 915 Ashland Ave.
Main St is established in 1883 as Lucas Ave. In 1895, the name is changed to South Second St, and then in 1905, to Main St. For consistency, street addresses in Santa Monica are re-numbered in 1908. 1015 South Second St becomes 2620 Main St.
The Feed and Fuel Store property is lots 36, 37, and 38 of Block R of the 1892 Santa Monica Commercial Company Tract. The Santa Fe tracks on the west side of the property are convenient for the delivery of wood and coal.
The Ocean Park branch of the Sunset Telephone Company has 38 subscribers. Carrie Jones is the operator. Johnson finds the station inconvenient and asks for it to be removed. In 1902, the station moves to the post office in L.B. Osborne’s store on Main St just south of Hill St. Miss Jones is employed in the new office.
Charles Kincheloe Towt (1865 – 1931). Born in MO, he remains in Kansas City till moving to Hawaii in 1900, where he plants sugar cane in Kona. He comes to Los Angeles in 1905. Towt buys a property on the corner of Marine & 4th with plans to build a large house. He moves to Lindsay in 1910. In 1913, Towt buys 20 acres of orange trees. Towt is president of the Lindsay National Bank.
Albert Jackson Dickens (1864 – 1916). Born in NC, in 1901 he marries May E. Matteson (1876 - 1914) in Los Angeles. In 1902, Dickens operates a steam locomotive on the Long Wharf with the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (LAP). When Pacific Electric absorbs LAP, Dickens operates a feed and fuel store on Main St. In 1913, he joins the Santa Monica Police Department. In 1914, while attempting to arrest a burglar at W.E. Jones dry goods store on the corner of Main and Hill, Dickens suffers a bullet wound to the head. In 1915, he marries Myra Havens (1891 – 1974), who nursed him while recovering from the bullet wound. In July 1916, a court denies him City of Santa Monica disability compensation due to his failure to file a timely claim. In September 1916, the Ocean Park Bank forecloses on his loans. Dickens (age 51) dies in November 1916.
In 1912, the Tovrea brothers’ divorced mother, Lily Tovrea (1865 – 1926), lives at 128 Raymond.
Frank A. Helton (1875 - 1941). Born TN, in 1900 he marries Bertha Lillian Dennison (1880 -1957). In 1908, Helton, an attorney in Decaturville, comes to Santa Monica - lives at 843 5th St. He operates a feed and fuel store on Main St from 1912 to 1921. Helton is elected as Santa Monica Commissioner of Finance from 1921 to 1931. After 1931, Helton is a Congressional district supervisor for the 1940 US Census. In 1938, he directs the campaign in Santa Monica against the “Ham and Eggs” issue.
Ward Edward Barnes (1887 – 1914). Born in KS, from 1904 to 1909 he works in the grocery business in Stockton, KS. He comes to Ocean Park in 1909, and works in the grocery businesses of A.F. Johnston and Lee H. Young. Barnes builds a house at 509 Raymond Ave. In 1913, he marries Alice G. Parker Howard (1886 - 1948). Barnes (age 27) dies from typhoid fever in 1914.
In 1915, Santa Monica city government is structured as an elected three-person full-time board of commissioners, set up to meet daily and set policy. Under the new charter (1915 -1946), the City government consists of 3 departments: Public Safety, Public Works, and Finance, with one Commissioner responsible for each department. The Commissioner of Public Safety is the ex officio Mayor.
Fillippo Bosio (1884 - 1955). Born in Turin, Italy, Bosio comes to Ocean Park 1911. He is a member of the Santa Monica Municipal Band, and marries Vincenza Maria Bovero (1886 - 1988). In 1921, after retiring from the band, he runs F. Bosio chicken ranch at 2304 16th St. In 1922, he opens Bosio & Bovero Feed & Fuel on Main St with his brother-in-law John Bovero.
John B. Bovero (1888 – 1965). Born in Turin, Italy, Bovero comes to Venice in 1911 and operates a grocery store. In 1922, he opens Bosio & Bovero Feed & Fuel on Main St with his brother-in-law Fillippo Bosio. In 1923, he marries Velma Natalia (Vilma) Massetti (1898 –1961). In 1926, he opens Bovero’s Feed & Seed at Westminster & 5th in Venice.
