The House on Valido Road: Hearth and Home
By Lee C. Hanson, Ph.D.
With historic descriptions from Esther Egan, daughter of the Egan Homesteaders
Since Will Egan and Jim Shrewsbury had agreed to work their land together, they decided it was a good idea to have their houses (along with equipment and livestock) within easy reach of one another.
The Homestead Act required that each entryman make improvements to the property which would include building “a dwelling” on his own homestead and living in it for five years. Will and Jim were on their way to meeting these requirements when they selected sites for their houses that were a short distance from one another and within the boundaries of their individual homesteads.
First, Will Egan built the 10’ x 16’ cabin above what is now called West Street; then, as Esther wrote on her notecards:
…they built one room for a home for Uncle Jim and our Grandmother Beach, which also still stands above Scenic Drive in South Laguna (near the Eucalyptus grove).
(Although Uncle Jim’s house was standing when Esther wrote on her index cards, it is no longer there.)
At the time the two homestead dwellings were constructed, it was only a short ride between them. Visiting Grandmother Beach was a treat for the Egan sisters. The trip itself was another matter.
Esther’s notecards describe the young girls’ reaction:
My sister Frances and I remember it was very scary going from our house to Grandmother’s, especially near dusk when we could hear mountain lions roar or coyotes barking back in the hills. We would sing “Jesus Loves Me,” all the way.
In the 1900s when the two homestead “cabins” were built, there were only rough dirt roads linking fields and homesteads. (Even today’s Coast Highway was not paved until the 1930s.) The dirt path to Grandma’s house passed through land that Will and Jim had rented and planted (clear down to the ocean according to Esther’s notecards).
That first path most likely followed as straight a line as possible between the two homes, a path which would eventually be called Summit Road. Luckily, this path was less than a half mile long, so the scary trip was quickly over for the Egan daughters.
Click on photo for a larger image
Courtesy of Randy Majors Research Hub: Section Township Range and Microsoft Paint 3D
Path to the house where Grandma lived
Later, as the community grew and more paths were created, families like the Egans and Shrewsburys could travel on dirt roads that became paved streets, like those today named Valido, West, Egan and Scenic.
Courtesy of Deborrah Allen, representing the Egan family
Frances (passenger) and Esther (driver) playing in Uncle Jim’s car parked behind his house. The bean fields can be seen in the distance.
Grandmother Beach was Jim Shrewsbury’s sister; as children, they had traveled with their family across the plains in a covered wagon. After her husband died, Mary Beach moved to a cottage in Spadra, the town where her brother lived.
When Jim took up homesteading, Mary moved with him to South Laguna. She and Bertie took care of their homes while the men worked in the fields. Like women homesteaders before them, they found that hearth and home required constant upkeep and filled a seven-day week with back-breaking work.
As Esther reported on her index cards, Grandmother Beach was up to the homestead challenge:
For our Grandmother Beach it was not a rough life because she had crossed the plains from Missouri to California via covered wagon when she was 10 years old with her family – just two years after the massacre of the Donner Party. Their wagons were surrounded three times by Indians in war paint, but who were after other tribes, so they were not attacked.
In the spring of 1860, when Mary Shrewsbury was 9 years old, she and her family traveled by covered wagon from Missouri to California. Her younger brother James was just 6 years old when they made the cross-country trek.
Mary and Jim were allowed to take two guinea fowls with them, a hen and a rooster. Although the Indians along the way tried to get the birds, the children managed to bring them safely through to California.
According to Deborrah Allen (Will and Bertie Egan’s great granddaughter and the family historian), “These much traveled fowls were the parents and grandparents of a large flock, probably the only flock of guinea fowls in California in those early days.”
Covered wagons were organized so that all essential goods, from food to tools, were carefully arranged to maximize the limited space inside the wagon. Sugar was packaged as solid “sugar loaves” in buckets with tight-fitting lids.
Click on photo for a larger image
Courtesy of Deborrah Allen, representing the Egan family
The Shrewsbury sugar bucket and Bertie’s rolling pin
This bucket was used for storing the Shrewsbury’s sugar during the long trip across the plains in their covered wagon. The rolling pin (made of solid cherry wood) belonged to Bertie and is still used by Deborrah Allen.
The most perilous experience recalled by Grandma Beach was the crossing of the Platte River. Mary Shrewsbury Beach described it as “a wide, deep stream, swollen by melting snows with no bridge to serve them. Here the stoutest hearts were dismayed.”
The third wagon to cross was the one in which little Mary Shrewsbury rode. She said:
“Horsemen pulled on ropes fastened to the oxen and the wagons – keeping the oxen moving for fear they would stop and cause the precious burdens to sink in the quicksand. Finally, every wagon was safely across and the caravan again moved on.”
Grandmother Mary Beach’s story of crossing the plains in a covered wagon was printed in Los Angeles history books used in elementary schools for years.
Deborrah Allen reprinted the story in a book called Mystery of the Red-Work Quilt Squares.
Click on photo for a larger image
Courtesy of Deborrah Allen, representing the Egan family
“Mystery of the Red-Work Quilt Squares” cover and title page
Here is another mystery for you. “Grandmother Beach” was not a grandmother. So why was she called that?
Mary’s older sister was Will’s mother who died on Christmas day when her son was 12 years old. Mary, a widow having no children of her own, stepped into the role of mother and “grandmother” in her sister’s place.
Mary Beach was a witness at her nephew’s wedding, a companion to Bertie during her pregnancies, told countless stories to Will and Bertie’s children, and stayed beside the family, sharing in their joys and heartaches throughout decades. She truly lived up to her title as “grandmother.” The family loved and honored her for it.
Courtesy of Deborrah Allen, representing the Egan family
Grandma Beach hated to have her picture taken – she would run and hide when she saw a camera
• • •
Previous installment: See How It Grew
Next installment: Egan Family Tradition
• • •
The words of Esther Egan (Will Egan’s daughter) are part of a record buried in the files at the FamilySearch Library in Los Angeles. Over the years, Esther documented historical and family events, writing on a series of index cards which were passed down to her granddaughter, Deborrah Allen. It was Deborrah who included the cards – her grandmother’s words – in the tribute: Our Family Heroes – My Grandmother Esther Egan Hind.
Researcher/author Dr. Lee Hanson taught in the Art Department at San José State University for several years; she moved to Southern California and retired while serving as associate director of Arts Education, Art Department, School of Arts and Architecture, UCLA.
Editor’s Note: The Egan Homestead property includes the original historical one-story homestead house, started in 1909 and completed in 1928, and the adjacent building which was used as a stable and for equipment storage, and it housed Kirke Thompson, their farm hand.
A proposed development would demolish these buildings to make way for a new 3,811-sq.-ft. residence, decks and garage. The Design Review Board approved the demolition and new construction at their meeting on September 25. Chair Gibbs stated that this was the hardest decision he has had to make since he has been on the board. The city-commissioned historical resources report found that the property is eligible for the California Register of Historical Resources and the National Register of Historic Places for its association with the Homestead Act signed by President Lincoln in 1862.
The Egan Cottage is the only surviving homestead house in Laguna Beach and the only known example in all of Orange County. The approval has been appealed by neighbors, the South Laguna Civic Association and Village Laguna. The appeal will be heard at the Council meeting on January 13, 2026.
