Lewis Byington Ford (November 1, 1890 – January 19, 1985) was a Monterey Peninsula real estate developer. He was a major force in developing Pebble Beach and Carmel Woods. Ford established the Carmel Valley Airport, the first airpark of its kind in the United States,[1] and developed a nearby business district.[2] He established the Carmel Realty Company, was a cartoonist, poloist, baseball player, coach in the Carmel Abalone League, and acted in and directed over 45 plays. Ford was a major part of the social circle and society leader in the Monterey Peninsula.[3] His ancestry dates back to the French Huguenots.[4]

Early life

Byington Ford was born on November 1, 1890, in DownievilleSierra CountyCalifornia to Tirey L. Ford and Mary Emma Byington. His family moved to San Francisco in 1895. He experienced the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire when he was fifteen years old.[3]

Ford graduated from Santa Clara College in 1910 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. At Santa Clara College, he acted in the Nazareth: The Passion Play of Santa Claraand was elected president of the debating team. He went on to get his master's from the University of California at Berkeley, graduating in 1913, where he earned his Master of Arts degree.[5] The thesis for his master's degree was A History of the County Court of England from 1066-1307.[6] Ford studied law at St. Ignatius Jesuit College, now the University of San Francisco, but gave up the idea of practicing law and instead went into the real estate.[7]

In 1919, Ford, Samuel B. B. Morse's brother-in-law, was the sales manager of the subdivision for the Del Monte Properties Company. He worked with the Carmel Trustees and the Carmel Planning Commission on the development plans, which included curving the roads and lots to blend with the canyon landscape. Source: "Announcing Carmel Woods"Monterey Daily Cypress and Monterey American. Monterey, California. June 8, 1922. p. 2. Retrieved December 18,2021.

On November 17, 1920, Ford married Marion Boisot in Pebble Beach, California, where he built their home on 17-Mile Drive two years later. He had three children: Mary Jane, Patricia and Audrey Ford.

In 1926, developer Frank Porter acquired a portion of the Hollins ranch and sold it to Ford, who used |400 acres as a summer ranch and named it ''Moon Trail Ranch''. Source: Fink, Agusta (1972). Monterey County The Dramatic Story of Its Past Monterey Bay, Big Sur, Carmel, Salinas Valley. San Francisco, California: Western Tanager Press/Valley Publishers. The ranch was later sold to William May Garland II around 1970, who also bought other ranches in the area. The ranch was located off Carmel Valley Road and extended across the Carmel River up to the hayfield called "La Mesa". 

On February 22, 1937, Ford married his second wife, Ruth Austin Mattimore, in Reno, Nevada.[8]

Animated Film Corporation


Animated Film Corporation, ca. 1916.

In 1916, Ford was director of the Animated Film Corporation in San Francisco, of which his father, Tirey L. Ford, was president. The endeavor ended with the entry of the U.S. into World War I.[3]

Angel Espoy moved to San Francisco in 1914 where he made cartoons for movies for seven years and painting on weekends with artists Manuel Valencia, Carl Jonnevold and John Califano.[1] Espoy worked at the Animated Film Corporation in San Francisco, of which, Byington Ford, was director along with Tack Knight and Pinto Colvig. Source: Eisner, Judith A. (September 24, 1970). "The fabulous career Byington Ford"archive.org. Carmel Pine Cone. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

Military

In 1917, Ford enlisted in the California National Guard and went to Officers Training Camp at the Presidio of San Francisco where he was commissioned and then sent to France during World War I. He was captain in the 26th "Yankee" Division. In France, he trained at the Saint-Cyr cavalry school.[9] He was in the engagements of Château-ThierrySaint-Mihiel and the Toul sector. On March 10, 1919, Ford returned home after recuperating from a poison gas attack suffered during an advance in Troyon, France. Ford saw active service practically the whole time he was in France. He brought a detachment of soldiers to New York from France.[10]

In 1941, Ford enlisted in the U.S. Army air force during World War II and became a lieutenant colonel.[11][12]

Politics

While living in Carmel, Ford became involved in local politics. On August 25, 1934, speakers of the Carmel citizens' committee directly accused the John Reed Clubs of being a communistic organization. Ford, chairman of the committee, read reports from the national committees and showed charts seized in recently raided communist headquarters. Ford headed the citizens' committee to oppose the JRC and their activities.[13]

Real estate

In 1919, working with Samuel Finley Brown Morse, Ford became manager at the Del Monte Properties in Pebble Beach, California, heading their real estate department for twelve years. He rode horseback through the undeveloped parts of Del Monte Forest to survey the land for development.[3]

Carmel Realty Company

On November 6, 1931, Byington Ford put an ad in The Carmel Pine Cone saying: BYINGTON FORD Real Estate, Insurance, Rentals, Loans, Notary; Ocean Avenue. [14] On October 27, 1933, Byington’s real-estate business merged with the Carmel Realty Company, which was owned by Ray DeYoe.[3] hat same day, Ford puts a Certificate of Doing Business Under Fictitious Name in the Carmel Pine Cone saying that he is the sole owner of said business conducted under the name of Carmel Realty Co.; and that his residence is in Pebble Beach. In 1942, In 1938, Corum Jackson became a partner in the Carmel Realty Co., and bought the business from Ford in 1942.[20

 


Carmel Valley Airport

Ford developed the first airpark in Carmel Valley. According to the Carmel Valley Historic Airport Society, "Convinced that mass production of small aircraft would put a plane within the reach of anyone who could afford a car, in the late 1930s Byington bought the northeast corner of Rancho Los Laureles for an airpark."[1]

He and his brother Tirey Ford developed the Carmel Valley Airport for pilot-owners who would want to be at home a minute or two after getting out of their plane. A nearby road was named after him called Ford Road.[15] Ford constructed the first two "hangar homes" when he opened the air park to the public on December 7, 1941; his timing proved unfortunate as this was the same day Pearl Harbor was bombed.[16]

In 1954, Ford retired and Peter Delfino purchased the Carmel Valley Airport property for $35,000.[17] In December 2020, Mary Delifno sold the Carmel Valley Airfield land to a local nursery owner, Griggs Nursery, with plans to use the area not for housing but to grow plants for retail sale.[18]

In 1946, Byington and his brother, Tirey Ford, Jr., developed the Carmel Valley Village and Airway Market, first known as the General Store, which featured a barber shop, drug store, soda fountain, beauty shop and liquor store; all were in walking distance of the Airpark. Artist Bruce Ariss painted murals on each store to resemble a Spanish village.[2]

Directing

Remsen's musical fantasy play Inchling was published after Remsen's death, by C. C. Birchard Co., of Boston in 1931, with lyrics by Irene Alexannder and a musical score by Thomas Vincent Cator. It has been produced by schools and children's theater groups throughout the county. Byington Ford directed Inchling at the Douglas School (now Stevenson School) in Pebble Beach, California in June 1934. Source: "Village Fair And Inchling For Forest Theater Soon"Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. 31 Jul 1936. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-09-11.

Abalone League

The founders of the Abalone league and first board of directors were aviator and developer Byington Ford, businessman James Cooper Doud, Talbert Josselyn, director Frank Sheridan, and businessman Ernest Schweninger. "Carmel Ball League Is Now Incorporated"The Californian. Salinas, California. 8 Sep 1927. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-07-15.

Other developments

In 1936, Porter acquired 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the Marion Hollins ranch in Carmel Valley for $32,000 (equivalent to $702,619 in 2023). Hollins was an athlete and a golf course developer. Porter sold a portion of the ranch to real estate developer Byington Ford for what is now the Carmel Valley Village. Source and Source2

Later life

In 1955, he wrote a sketch book called A Cartoon Sketch Book for Beginners.[19]

Death

On January 19, 1985, at age 94, Ford died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Ventura, California.[7]

Notes

  1.  Discharged from command-rank of Captain and re-enlisted at rank of Lieutenant colonel.

References

  1.  Allaire, Lou (2014). "Carmel Valley Vintage Airfield 1941-2002"carmelvalleyhistoricalsociety.org. Carmel Valley Historical Society. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  2.  Fink, Augusta (2000). Monterey County: The Dramatic Story of its Past. Valley Publishers. p. 202. ISBN 9780913548622. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  3.  Eisner, Judith A. (September 24, 1970). "The fabulous career Byington Ford"archive.org. Carmel Pine Cone. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  4.  Burdette, Robert J. (1910). American Biography & Genealogy, California Edition, Volume I. Chicago, New York: The Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 201-207.
  5.  "Byington Ford in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016"University of California Berkeley. Berkeley, California, USA. 1913. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  6.  Ford, Byington (1913). A History Of The County Court Of England From 1066-1307. California: University of California.
  7.  "Byington Ford"Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. January 31, 1985. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  8.  "Movie Actor's First Wife Weds Byington Ford"Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. February 22, 1937. p. 1. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  9.  "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918"Archieves.gov. August 15, 2016.
  10.  "Capt. Byington Ford Returns From France"The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. March 10, 1919. p. 9. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  11.  "Maj. Ford Name Troop Executive"Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. November 21, 1943. p. 11. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  12.  "Four Wright Field Appointments Made"Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. July 20, 1945. p. 14. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  13.  "Carmel Citizens Attack Reed Clubs"Salinas Morning Post. Salinas, California. August 25, 1934. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  14.  "Announcement"archive.org. Carmel Pine Cone. 1933. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  15.  "Carmel Valley Air Park"Carmel Magazine. 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  16.  "Living at Runway's Edge"The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. July 3, 2001. p. 46. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  17.  "Carmel Valley"The Californian. Salinas, California. February 15, 1954. p. 9. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  18.  Shalev, Asaf (December 3, 2020). "Carmel Valley airfield property sold to local nursery owner"Monterey County Weekly. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  19.  Ford, Byington (1955). A Cartoon Sketch Book For Beginners. Carmel Valley, California.
  20. Peninsula Citizens To Honor Jackson With Dinner June 30, Carmel Pine Cone, JUne 16, 1955. page 12.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Byington Ford.