Los Angeles County
Biographies
EUGENE ELIAS
DENTON
DENTON,
EUGENE ELIAS, Investment Broker, Los Angeles, California, was born in Clyde,
Ohio, June 20, 1876, the son of George Downs and Carrie C. Denton. He married Jennie S. Ward, at Clyde, November
29, 1899, and to them there have been born two children, Helen Ione and Marie
Harriet Denton. Mr. Denton is descended
from one of the very old New England families, five of the Denton brothers
having come to America shortly after the Mayflower party.
Mr. Denton, who is one of
the progressive business spirits of the Southwest, belongs with the list of
successful Americans who have carved their own careers and made the world at
large their schoolhouse. He attended the
public schools of his native town and entered High school, but left in the
second year of his course and went to work.
This was in 1891 and his
first position was that of clerk in a clothing establishment at Clyde. About a year after he became connected with
the establishment, the owner became ill and Mr. Denton, then a lad of sixteen
years, was given the sole management of the business. He carried this responsibility for about six
months, then, his employer having recovered his health, Mr. Denton resigned and
went West with his mother.
Locating in San Diego,
California, in the latter part of 1893, Mr. Denton shortly afterwards obtained
employment with the Gregory-Damon Abstract Company, and for four years was
engaged in record and research work.
In 1898 Mr. Denton went into
business for himself as a broker and real estate operator, and in that same
year was elected to the City Council of San Diego for a term of two years. During his service in that body he originated
the celebrated Denton ordinance, a historic piece of legislation which caused
the San Diego Flume Company to sell out its distributing system to the City of
San Diego and retire from business. This
company, owned by an English syndicate, was accused of various misdeeds and Mr.
Denton, as one of the Board of Delegates, was one of the leaders in the
opposition to it. His activity in this
matter engendered so much hostility that Mr. Denton felt its effects in his
business and transferred his operations to Los Angeles, where he has been located
since.
At the time he became
involved in the political controversy which caused him to abandon San Diego as
a field of activity, Mr. Denton owned a half interest in the famous San Pasqual
ranch, one of the greatest alfalfa properties in San Diego County, and also had
other large real estate holdings, but he quickly disposed of all of them.
After locating in Los
Angeles, Mr. Denton was engaged in general brokerage business, and for the last
six years has been one of the most active men in the field. He has made a specialty of small deals and in
this way has built up one of the most substantial business enterprises in Los
Angeles.
In 1911, Mr. Denton
organized the California Pacific Investment Company, a private corporation, in
which he is President and Director. This
Company, in conjunction with the Lone Pine Mill & Lumber Company, of which
he is President and General manager, is engaged in mammoth development
enterprises in Southern California. The
company purchased six hundred acres of highly attractive land on the slope of
the Sierras and Mr. Denton and his associates are engaged in the building of an
elaborate summer resort, seven thousand feet above sea level, to be known as
“The Big Pines,” and it is the aim of the promoters to make it the “Adirondacks
of the Pacific.” This is one of the most
ambitious resort enterprises of the Coast, including in its plans a great
summer hotel and club house for the use of professional and business men. It is located under the brow of Mount Baldy,
twelve miles from the Santa Fe Railway in Los Angeles County, and will be
reached by means of a “trackless trolley.”
This latter, being built by
the Lone Pine Utilities Company, of which Mr. Denton is Vice President,
Director and General Manager, is an innovation in American transportation
methods, although it has been operated for many years with great practical and
financial success in various parts of Europe.
It is the first of its kind to be built in the United States and will
cover a distance of twelve miles, ascending the mountain to the resort, which
is located seven thousand feet above sea level.
The plans for the road call for modern, high power electric equipment,
the trains to be operated to and from “The Big Pines” on a fast schedule. As General Manager of the Lone Pine Utilities
Company, which was incorporated under the laws of California in May, 1911, Mr.
Denton has charge of all the preliminary details of the trackless trolley, such
as securing the rights-of-way and directing construction.
The “Big Pines” project is one
which will take two years to complete and it is estimated that it will cost
more than a million dollars before it is ready for the reception of visitors
and residents.
Southern California is noted
for its beautiful resorts and it is the plan of Mr. Denton and his associates
to make theirs one of the greatest on the Pacific Coast, and one of the show
places to be visited by the thousands who go to California in 1915 for the
Panama Exposition.
Transcribed 6-24-09 Marilyn R.
Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Pages 301-302, International News Service,
New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2009 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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