Los Alamitos ("The Little Cottonwoods" in Spanish) is a small city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,449 at the 2010 census, down from 11,536 at the 2000 census. It is often mistakenly thought^[ to include the adjacent but unincorporated community of Rossmoor (population just under 11,000), which uses Los Alamitos as its mailing address. Although Rossmoor is not part of Los Alamitos, it is speculated that it may be annexed to the city, or Rossmoor, Seal Beach, and Los Alamitos will combine to form one city. The Los Alamitos Race Course is also widely believed to be in the city; although it does have a Los Alamitos postal address and zip code, it actually lies in the neighboring city of Cypress.

The USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center is located on the US Military Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. The training base includes the Los Alamitos Army Airfield.

History

The clusters of cottonwood trees Spanish explorers saw more than 200 years ago inspired Los Alamitos' name, but it is the sugar beet that figured most prominently in the area's later history. The history of the area during the Californio period and after U.S. annexation is detailed in the article on Rancho Los Alamitos.

The individual history of Los Alamitos separate from the rancho begins with the purchase by John Bixby of the Rancho Los Alamitos. John put together a consortium of himself, his cousins Lewellyn and Jotham (owners of Rancho Los Cerritos) and banker I.W. Hellman to finance the purchase of the Los Alamitos. Upon John's sudden death in 1888, the ranch was divided between the three owning families. The northern third%uFFFDthe land roughly north of present Orangewood Ave. -- went to the Lewellyn-Jotham faction (which later became the Bixby Land Company). By the mid-1890s, after the crash following the land boom of the 1880s%uFFFDthis group was relatively cash-poor and land rich. Having experimented in Northern California with sugar beets, the Bixbys agreed to provide the land, and contracted with Montana silver baron William A. Clark to provide the capital, and got E.A. Dyer to provide the expertise to build a new sugar beet factory on the Bixby's land. The community that grew up around this new sugar beet factory complex%uFFFDwith its streets of company houses for workers and surrounding farms%uFFFDcame to be called Los Alamitos. (As part of his arrangement to build and operate the sugar beet factory, William Clark and his brother H. Ross, who actually ran the Los Alamitos operation, also arranged to purchase significant area east of the factory as well as 8,000 acres (32 km²) of land north of the sugar plant%uFFFDmost of the latter in the Rancho Los Cerritos boundaries%uFFFDthat would eventually become the city of Lakewood. Also, Clark and Hellman were intricately involved with the machinations and corporate dealings of railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman and Henry Edwards Huntington and the destiny of the Southern Pacific in Southern California. In addition, some time after establishing Los Alamitos, the Clarks completed their railroad from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, establishing the desert stop of Las Vegas in the process.

In the early 1900s, sugar beets were delivered to a factory by horse and wagon. Economics, combined with an insect infestation in 1921 caused sugar-beet crop to drop significantly and the eventual demise of the sugar beet industry in Los Alamitos. But the town that had sprung up continued to grow.

On the lands south of the factory (and current Orangewood Avenue), Fred Bixby, son of John Bixby and future member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame, used the sugar beet lands as a finishing ranch to fatten cattle before sending them off to slaughter (he also managed Hellman's lands in present Seal Beach). Bixby, one of the more progressive ranchers of his time, allowed European immigrant, Mexican, and Japanese farmers to rent the land and grow crops. At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese farmers were rounded up and relocated to internment camps at Manzanar and elsewhere.

Just prior to and during early World War II, the area around Los Alamitos became a major center for the aircraft industry. The Clark heirs arranged for Donald Douglas to build a major plant adjacent to the airport in Lakewood and Long Beach. Soon after the Navy decided it wanted the level ground just south of Los Alamitos for its training field, which it moved from Terminal Island. The new base provided many jobs and spurred modest growth. In 1973, the base was designated an Armed Forces Reserve Center. Today, it is a reserve support center for units of the Army, Navy, National Guard and Marines.

Many former military personnel chose to stay on in Los Alamitos after the war, living in such neighborhoods as Carrier Row, where streets are named for World War II aircraft carriers. Other than "the base" the area remained unchanged until 1956 when builder Ross Cortese purchased land to build the walled community of Rossmoor just southwest from the townsite of Los Alamitos. Rossmoor, still the largest single development in Orange County, was the first walled community in the United States and quickly became home to over 10,000 upper middle class professionals. Rossmoor's homes were designed initially by Earle G. Kaltenbach (who also designed Disneyland's original Tomorrowland) and then by Chris Choate, who achieved much fame as the frequent partner of Cliff May. Together the two men were among the most responsible for designing and popularizing the "ranch" style homes which dominated the suburban explosion of the 1950s.

Although Rossmoor never officially became part of Los Alamitos proper, it has become inextricably linked to the town. When Los Alamitos incorporated in 1960 its population was only about 3,400, while still-growing Rossmoor was nearing 10,000. Now they are fairly equal with Los Alamitos being slightly larger than 11,000, and Rossmoor just below that. Rossmoor, still an unincorporated part of Orange County, doesn't pay taxes to Los Alamitos, but the city virtually treats Rossmoor residents as if they were residents. In exchange, the city's many youth programs benefit from the overwhelming number of Rossmoor residents who volunteer for those programs.

The ambitious sugar-beet processor of today would be hard pressed to set up shop in Los Alamitos. Zoning laws keep out heavy manufacturing or industry because nearly all the city land is developed. The Armed Forces Reserve Center takes up 48 percent of the city's 4.3 square miles (11.1 km²). The rest of the city is a snug fitting mix of homes, apartments, businesses and open space.

The small city has been the hometown for a number of noted athletes including Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby, and many major league baseball players, including Andy Messersmith, who challenged baseball's reserve clause and helped established free agency in professional sports . At one point in the late 1980s, six natives of Rossmoor and Los Alamitos were playing baseball in the major leagues -- Robb Nen, J. T. Snow, Greg Harris, Dennis Lamp, Greg Pirkl, and Mike Kelly. The area is also home to record holding long distance swimmer Lynne Cox. It was also home to California Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas while he served on the Court, and to award-winning mystery writer Jan Burke.

Climate

Gardeners use several climate zone indicators to determine the proper plantings for an area. In the U.S. most plants and seeds are indicated for a particular climate by the USDA Hardiness Zone. A more exact measure is the Sunset zone. In Los Alamitos, the USDA Hardiness Zone is 9. http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-sw1.html The Sunset climate zone is 22. http://plantfinder.sunset.com/sunset/plant-home.jsp

Business

• Neverland Studios, a recording studio originally located in Los Alamitos that was often used by Christian Rock bands.

Top employers

According to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Notable residents and natives

• Allison Mack, actress (famously known as "Chloe" from Smallville)
• Lynne Cox, long-distance swimmer
• Taryn Manning, actress
• Cathy Rigby, Olympic gymnast and actress
• Jodie Sweetin, actress ("Stephanie Tanner" from Full House)
• Aaron Barrett, musician
• Scott Klopfenstein, musician
• Kami Cotler, actress
• Tony Muser, former MLB player and manager
• Jonathan Bornstein, soccer player for the USA National Team and Chivas USA
• Matt "Money" Smith, Fox Sports Radio talk show host
• Landry Fields, basketball player for the New York Knicks of the NBA
• Chris Kluwe, punter for the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL
• Tim Carey, American football player

Schools

It is a part of the Los Alamitos Unified School District.

• Los Alamitos High School
• Laurel High School
• McAuliffe Middle School
• Oak Middle School
• St. Hedwig School, K-8 Private School
• Hopkinson Elementary
• Lee Elementary
• Los Alamitos Elementary
• Rossmoor Elementary
• Weaver Elementary