Monday, February 23, 2009

Old Irvine Store

An anonymous OCThen reader submits the following question about "Old Irvine Store", asking if anyone has any memories to share...

Does anybody remember the Old Irvine Store? I can remember going there as a kid and buying candy. My brother had a cool t-shirt with their logo on it. I think there was a small post office attached to it and the Old Irvine Hotel was across the street. I actually went to kindergarten at the Old Irvine School before Los Naranjos was built.
Post a comment below if you have anything to share...

22 comments:

  1. Yes, I remember it when it was on Sand Canyon just off the 5 freeway. The building still exists, but has been moved across the street. It's one of the buildings in the parking lot of the La Quinta Inn / Tia Juana's restaurant. Last time I was in it (years ago now) it held some kind of curio shop or something on the first floor.

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  2. Yep - we used to call it the "general store" because it looked like an old-time general store from the 1800s/wild west. I remember the huge jars of pickles on the counter near the cash register and the post office. When our Mom stopped there, we got to pick out candy.

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  3. We used to call it the "Irvine Store." I remember it had old wooden floor boards and good candy. When I was little I used to pretend I was going back in time when we went there.

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  4. I had forgotten about the store. We used to go there when I was stationed at MCAS El Toro. ..yes the pickles, great stuff there. I loved the smell of the orange groves in the spring.

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  5. From 1970 to ~1973 we used to ride to the old store, via the railroad tracks, once there we would pet the owner's/postmaster's german shepard and have our candy and coke.
    Chris Mizar

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  6. Yes there was Post Office inside and there was a lady by the name of Mrs Poh who ran it. it was moved to make room for the new freeway expansion. It was always a cool spot to stop and get a soda.

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  7. Too bad the freeway expansion didn't actually affect the land the store was originally on. It's just an empty lot last time I was through. I really wish that Irvine would have kept some of its old town charm and not yuppiefied itself....

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    1. I went to Mission Viejo High School with her son Mike.

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  8. the schoonovers were the owners of that store. I grew up in Irvine until I was 19. so much has changes now. I lived on Roberts which is now Walnut. It was beautiful back then

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    1. I went to school with their daughter.

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    2. Are you related to Margo? I went to school with a Margo Avila who lived in a little white house near some fields. Not in a regular housing tract.

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    3. I have a postcard showing the inside of the "Irvine Country Store and Post Office" with, I believe, the Schoonover daughter Denise, Mrs Poh standing at the East Irvine Post Office window, and a couple of local ranchers, that would have been taken in the late 60's. It also shows the huge and beautiful -- probably the original -- cash register very well. The card reads on the back; the store was established in 1909 and operated by Denise Schoonover and the post office was opened in 1914 and operated, at the time the photo was taken, by Ethel Poh.

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  9. Yes I remember, I went there from Kindergarten to 5th grade. We used to walk down the train tracks from the Ranch and turn in empty soda bottles for candy and drinks.
    Scott P

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  10. ok i just need to know, am i remembering this wrong when i was in 3rd grade on a school field trip we went to the city of irvine back then there was a visitor center off the 5fwy close to jamboree the year was 1969 or 70 we picked up a tour guide she got on the bus and started her info speech passed out some pamphlets we followed a route to certain points of interest like the blimp hangers,lake and so on. the tour guide told us about some big old cowboy gun battle and where it may have took place, then picos hanging tree oh and some ghost rumors that ties in the to storys, the agriculture and lots more. so now the one thing that sticks to me the most is turtle rock, i remember we drove by this area as we slowed down as the guide talked about this rock out in the distance and it looked like turtle, any way years later me and a bunch of friends were going to the drags races at OCIR, i tell this story to my girl friend at the time who now is my wife and friends so we had some to kill and we went to look for it. i drove by the area where i thought it was because on the school trip we never got off the bus and almost everything was visible from bus back then, so much had changed even at time and now wow if only i could upload the pictures in mind. so then did i dream this because i can't even find this info on the net or photos of what i remember seeing,i still see some of the school mates that i knew back then. we always talk about times when we were kids some remember that field trip that took but not in detail just certain things, i think some off these school mates killed one to many brain cells. any way thats a ghost story in itself, they kept fading in and out at times. where the heck is this rock so i can prove it to my wife who still gives crap about it when we visit her sister as we take the 5fwy. poking fun at me she said oh i know how the story went the rock was hanged and became a ghost,ha, ha, ha, so please can any one show or tell me if the rock is out there then show her ha,ha

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    1. There was/is a rock for which Turtle Rock was named, and yes, it looked just like a turtle. It was up the hill from UNI high. In my minds eye, I can walk right to it, but I can't tell you the street names any more, and I'm sure it looks SO very different now. I lived in Irvine from 1971-1983.

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    2. You were not dreaming. My family took the same tour when my parents were home shopping in 1965. The Visitor Center was on the SE corner of I-5 and what is now Jamboree, It previously was Myford Rdran. Myford ran N/S down along the east side of LTA, or officially named Santa Ana Naval Air Station / Marine Corps Air Station Tustin. Myford also ran north to Irvine Ave. Their crossing was the location of the headquarters for the Irvine Ranch and the home of James Irvine. The ghost was the "Blue Lady" -- supposedly James Irvine's wife, who would appear "on" the old curvy (and since realligned)Irvine Ave by the old El Toro Cemetary,and supposedly cause many car accidents along this stretch. It was a gret excuse to load up a car with friends and go searching for her, but we ususally ended up going in to the cemetary and "goofing around". Part of the tour included the aquaduct that started at the Santa Ana River at the mouth of Santa Ana Canyon. So much more to tell but gotta go, now. Jim Voelkl

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  11. I worked there stocking shelves back when the drag strip was still open, around 1980. It was actually haunted by the ghost of the man who built it in 1908, who died in the rear service porch. I've often wondered if he still haunts the building at its new location..............

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  12. Yes I remember very well. The Hotel was behind the store and a blacksmith was across the street.I have some pictures I could post if anyone would like to see them.

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    1. I would be very interested in seeing those pictures! I grew up in Irvine and have fond memories of the General Store! I went to the "Old Irvine School" and Irvine Community Church just down the street. I really miss the "Old Irvine"!!
      Gary.cooper2@gmail.com

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  13. yes I remember Irvine country ctore.I use to work for Orange County auto parts in Santa Ana.I would always stop at the store for snacks and a soda.I loved the old creaky wood floors.That was back in 1980.miss that place.If anyone has pic's could you please post Thanks.

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  14. Regarding "Turtle Rock"... via Wikipedia:
    Turtle Rock is a neighborhood in the south part of Irvine, Orange County, California near Concordia University, Irvine and the University of California, Irvine. It is bounded to the north by University Drive and Mason Regional Park, to the east by the Strawberry Farms Golf Club and Ridgeline Drive, to the south by Shady Canyon Drive, and to the west by Culver Drive. Turtle Rock is one of the five "villages" originally forming Irvine;[1] its 1967 founding is commemorated by a sculpture of a turtle in Turtle Rock Community Park, at the corner of Turtle Rock and Sunnyhill Drives.[2] A two-lane internal loop road, Turtle Rock Drive, encircles the village and carries traffic between housing developments and the city's main streets.

    Geographically, Turtle Rock lies in the San Joaquin Hills. Although the highest peak in the neighborhood is also sometimes called Turtle Rock, this hill has no official name. A lower peak to the north, also within the neighborhood, is called French Hill.[3] While it is not entirely clear where the name "Turtle Rock" comes from,[4] there is a rocky outcropping on Rockview Drive at the northern end of the neighborhood that is now maintained as part of an association park.[5] This rock has the shape of the front of a turtle's carapace, and is sacred to the GabrieleƱo Native Americans.[citation needed] It is often locally considered to be the origin of the name "Turtle Rock".

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  15. Bought beer there,bullets,chips.Always made a point to pet the dog on the front porch that seemed to be around the floor freezer right of the door. They had everything, cast iron cookware, gofer traps, denim overalls and band-aids.
    My granny and her best friend, Nellie Gale from the Moulton family would ride to the store and get candy, soda and mail from the PO boxes that were located left of the front door.
    If your car overheated the folks at that store always had a garden hose that you were welcome to.
    I miss that place, I miss that time and I miss the calm that rested over all things.

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