City Paves the Way to Honor Its Famous
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The Monterey Park City Council has decided it isn’t too late to honor the city’s most notable historical characters--a group ranging from potato chip queen Laura Scudder to Tiburcio Vasquez, a legendary Mexican bandido.
The council approved a list of 20 names, each to be used whenever a new street is paved. The top six constitute a kind of A-list and will be used first.
Among the honorees is Scudder, who on Nov. 26, 1926, fried her first batch of potato chips in a factory in the city.
Vasquez was a stagecoach robber and horse-and-cattle thief. In 1874, according to popular legend, he buried $40,000 in gold on a ranch in Monterey Park, setting off a decades-long treasure hunt that proved fruitless.
First on the list is Kenneth R. Gribble, a former mayor and Chamber of Commerce president who died last year. His parents, who ran the city’s first grocery store, are also listed.
“There definitely should have been a street named after the Gribbles,” said Beatrice Rexius, a member of the city’s Historical Heritage Commission.
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