Los Angeles
County
Biographies
ALFRED EDWIN HART
(Deceased)
London,
England, and Rosemead, California, USA, though only a half a world apart in
distance, are worlds apart in atmosphere – compared to the centuries of civilization
that London has known, Rosemead was still the Western Frontier when Alfred
Edwin Hart came to the area in 1920 and commenced to live the second half of
his life there. When the thirty-four
year-old Englishman decided to cast his lot with Rosemead it was to her
advantage; he served the community well until his death at the age of seventy
in 1956, having been honored with the title, “Mr. Rosemead”.
Mr.
Hart established the first real estate office in Rosemead in 1920 at the corner
of Valley and San Gabriel boulevards, the only realty between Los Angeles and
El Monte, known as the Hart Realty Company.
In 1923 he undertook the subdivision of the Guess property of about one
hundred thirty acres at that time south of Valley Boulevard. Mr. Hart moved his office to the corner of
Valley and Rosemead where the First City Bank, formerly the First State Bank,
now stands. Mr. Hart built houses and
tracts in Rosemead and built some of the first stores on Valley Boulevard.
The
son of William and Mary Ann (Smalley) Hart, Alfred Edwin Hart was born on April
30, 1886, in London, England. He was a
graduate of King’s College in London.
Coming to the United States as a young man, he returned to England to
serve for four years as sergeant in the Canadian Army Expeditionary Forces
until his discharge on February 28, 1918.
He returned to the United States, came to Los Angeles County, and
settled in Rosemead in 1920.
Mr.
Hart contributed to almost every phase of Rosemead’s development – social,
religious, financial, and cultural. He
was one of the founders of the first City Bank of Rosemead in 1926; the bank
received its charter in 1928, and Mr. Hart was a director for some time. He was one of the organizers of the Community
Methodist Church, was a member of the old Forum Club and then of Kiwanis, was a
member of the Los Angeles County Library Board, and donated the property for
the present Boy Scout Hut. He was twice
president of the Rosemead Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Hart was also a member of the Masonic Order and a Shriner,
affiliated with Al Malaikah Temple in Los Angeles. He belonged to the Alhambra Elks Lodge. A Republican, Mr. Hart was an active campaign
worker.
The
late Beatrice O’Dell Hart, Mr. Hart’s first wife, was also active in
Rosemead. She was one of the founders of
the Rosemead Women’s Club and was very generous in donating land for worthy
causes such as the land for the present library board, for the Rosemead Wading
Pool, and for the Girl Scout building on Newby.
On
November 12, 1952, in Battle Creek, Michigan, Alfred E. Hart married the former
Helen Irene Tompkins of Morgan, Minnesota.
She sponsored and organized the Rosemead Friends of the Library and is a
member of the Los Angeles County Advisory Board for Region Number 7 of the
Philanthropy Club, Chamber of Commerce, and Community Methodist Church. She belongs to the American Association of
University Women, formerly the Alhambra branch, presently the Arcadia
branch. Active in Republican politics,
she is a member of the Rosemead Republican Club, Women’s Division.
Mr.
and Mrs. Alfred Hart gave a still-active scholarship to Rosemead High School
for one or two outstanding boy or girl students; the scholarship is given each
year in which there are outstanding students.
Alfred
Hart’s hobby was traveling. He had many
times been around the world.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 832-834, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN
NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES