Near the southwest corner of Paramount Blvd and Civic Center Drive in the city of Paramount. You’ll find the nearly 130 year old “Hay Tree.” One of the last surviving links to the city’s agricultural past.
During the early half of the 20th century, dairy farming was the largest industry in L.A. County. The majority of which was concentrated In the southeast region. The towns of Hynes and Clearwater, which would later incorporate into the city of Paramount, became the epicenter of the Southern California dairy industry due to their excellent cattle-grazing pasture and location in the middle of the extensive region of dairy farms. Many of the towns’ dairy farmers were dutch immigrants; so much so that Hynes became known as “Little Netherlands.” Although there was also a sizable Portuguese community.
Hynes-Clearwater eventually became the central marketplace for trading hay and cattle and came to be known as both “The World’s Largest Hay Market” and the Milk Shed of Los Angeles.” Hynes-Clearwater had the greatest number of dairy cows per square mile west of Chicago; A total of 25,000 at its peak. Its companies were doing over a million dollars worth of business each month in the 1930s. In 1932 Hynes was the receiving point for more alfalfa hay than anywhere in the US with Almost 136 tons received that year.
Hynes-Clearwater’s reputation as hub of the Southern California’s dairy and hay industry was a point of pride and celebrated with an annual Hay and Dairy Fiesta; that included parades, milking contests, dutch games, and other festivities.
The popular slogan of the time was “enough hay to build the Washington Monument and enough milk to float the navy’s largest battleship” and that was certainly not an understatement; huge truckloads of baled hay drove into town every morning to be sold to the region’s dairy farmers. The biggest hay supplier in Southern California, Western Consumers Feed, had its headquarters in Hynes. Right next door was the Trevor Moore Sales and Service co. that for decades was the largest dairy broker in California.
In between both businesses was a camphor tree with a wide and shady canopy. Major hay sellers would gather each morning under this tree to determine the day’s composite price for hay, which Western Consumers would then forward to brokers in Chicago and New York City to set the price for hay sellers around the world. t’s no wonder it ended up being dubbed “The Hay Tree.” It was also a cherished informal gathering place for all—many a lazy lunch or game of cards took place under its shade.
The towns of Hynes and Clearwater unified under the name of Paramount in 1948 and eventually incorporated as a city in 1957. The dairy and Hay Industries had continued to thrive—By 1953, 32 million dollars worth of hay was sold a year. However, in the ensuing decades, the region urbanized and the land became more valuable for development than milk production, and the last dairy farm in Paramount shut down in 1977.
Today, the dairies are long gone, but that agricultural past is still very much a part of the city’s identity. Vacant lots have been converted into pocket parks with metal cutouts of cows. A series of utility boxes are decorated with the names of dairy and hay businesses that once called Paramount home. The city has also brought back festivities celebrating those industries; an annual heritage festival has been celebrated since 2017 and a heritage parade was re-introduced in 2019. Something that hadn’t taken place since the 1960s.
And of course, the Hay Tree continues to be cherished city landmark. The civic center plaza was built around the Hay Tree as the city’s anchor; with a small, permanent park set aside around it. There is an annual “Night Under the Hay Tree” event where people once again gather under the its canopy, much like those farmers, truckers, and dairy workers did so many decades ago.
References:
“Dairy Center Plans Week-end Rodeo” by Staff. San Pedro News Pilot, Aug. 31, 1933.
“Hay, Dairy Fiesta Slated Sept. 8-8” by Staff. San Pedro News Pilot. Aug, 21, 1939.
“Paramount Hay Tree—Last Vestige of a Once Mighty Industry” by Christopher Callard
“City Profile/History” | City of Paramount Website
“Photos: Paramount Pays Tribute to Dairy Roots by Bringing Back Parade” by Staff Report, The Long Beach Press-Telegram. June 1, 2019.
“Paramount a Model of Reinvention” by Long Beach Press Telegram Staff, The Long Beach Press-Telegram. Aug. 28, 2009.