City was founded on planting trees

Many who spend time in the area know eucalyptus trees are a defining part of Downtown Laguna Beach’s character. They line many streets and are a prominent part of the landscape.

The reason the large Australian trees line Laguna Canyon Road and other streets goes deep into Laguna history.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. The Act encouraged people to settle in the western territories by giving them free land.

The law said anyone who squatted on a section of federally owned land for five years, and could prove they had improved it somehow, was entitled to 160 acres of land — for free.

Unlike much of Southern California, the Laguna Beach area was not part of any Spanish land grant holdings, and therefore the land was up for grabs.

In Laguna, planting eucalyptus trees was used as a way to improve land. The city maintains a registry of these protected Heritage Trees.

According to Belinda Blacketer’s article “History of Laguna Beach,” Henry Rogers homesteaded 160 acres near Bluebird Canyon. To improve the land, he and his brother, George, planted many eucalyptus trees in 1878.

George Rogers also planted the pepper tree that still stands in front of City Hall.

In 1916, Laguna Art Museum founder Anna Hill organized the planting of oak, sycamore and eucalyptus trees along Laguna Canyon Road to make the trip an enjoyable scenic route.

Eucalyptus trees are known for growing to be large and many were used as windbreaks in bean fields in the canyon.

Blacketer’s article states that in 1938, the canyon was flooded by heavy rains and two homes were lost to falling eucalyptus trees.

Numerous eucalyptuses fell because the water undercut their banks and loosened their roots. Many of the original trees still remain, however.