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Daniel and Monroe D Halladay, left an indelible imprint on the City of Santa Ana with their innovative inventions and unconventional farming practices. Visit the historic old Halladay House on the corner of Chestnut and Halladay.

Owning 40 acres of land between them, spanning First Street to McFadden, the Halladay Brothers built two of the first houses on Santa Ana’s Eastside. one of which remains standing on the corner of Chestnut and Halladay. They planted some of the first orchards in Santa Ana, held election polls on their property, and hosted the city’s croquet matches.

Elder brother Daniel Halladay was a man of ideas. Born on November 24, 1826 in Vermont, Daniel developed a predilection for all things mechanical. He started apprenticing as a teenager to become a professional machinist, first in Boston, Massachusetts then in Springfield, Illinois. Soon Halladay became the youngest foreman at American Machine Works. Spotting promise in the young man, his employer sent him to London, England for the 1851 World’s Fair. Daniel studied the latest mechanical innovations displayed by nations around the world, as he supervised his company’s exhibit at the Crystal Palace. Upon returning to the US, Halladay invented the modern wind turbine, becoming known as the “Wind Wizard” since he captured the wind’s power as no one had before. His self-directed windmill automatically turned to face changing wind directions, and it maintained a uniform speed by changing the pitch of the sails without human oversight. After patenting his invention in 1854, Daniel founded the Halladay Windmill Company in Coventry, Connecticut, which was wildly successful.

With its distinctive tail, Halladay’s windmills were critical to the development of the U.S. rail system and transformed the Western US landscape, being featured in many iconic paintings and photographs. After several decades of fruitful business, Daniel sold his interest in the company for a handsome profit. He retired to Santa Ana in 1880, home of the infamous “Santa Ana Winds” and where his younger brother Monroe owned a thriving orchard. Buying 20 acres along First Street extending South towards McFadden, Halladay used his wealth to enter the world of finance, becoming the president of Santa Ana’s first Commercial Bank in 1882. He later worked with Farmers & Merchant bank, advised Orange County Saving and Trust Company, and became the Director of the Santa Ana railway which once ran along the Pacific Electric Bike Trail. Daniel Halladay’s home at 708 E. First Street was the site of a popular polling station and his untiring energy contributed much to the growth of early Santa Ana.

Daniel’s younger brother, Monroe D. Halladay, was a man of the earth and an adventurer, transforming the Eastside of Santa Ana into a prosperous orchard with his unconventional farming practices. Born on May 8, 1831, Monroe left Vermont in his mid-20’s to work on an English sailing vessel off the West Coast of Africa. He saw the notorious ship the Wanderer at the mouth of the Congo, was involved in arresting the vessel, and freed over 300 captives. Returning to the US, he enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War as a musician in the Regimental band for Company D, Ninth Michigan Infantry. Monroe was captured in battle, remaining a prisoner until the end of the war. During this time, he reflected on his life and chose to settle down.

As soon as the Civil War ended in 1865, Monroe married and started a family. He moved to Santa Ana in 1876, buying a 20-acre ranch from N. O. Stafford and planting a fruitful orchard. The Halladay ranch grew grapes, oranges, apples, figs and corn. Halladay employed a unique agricultural technique, where he plowed his soil before rains instead of irrigating it. In the fall, just after the first rains, he would turn up the soil not less than sixteen inches deep, after which he cultivates to keep down the weeds. Monroe claimed that a sufficient amount of water fell during the year to supply moisture to the earth, if the soil was properly tilled, so as to retain the water instead of allowing it to run off after soaking in a few inches.

Proving his theories right, Monroe’s annual yields often exceeded those of neighbors who watered their land conventionally, and the quality of his fruit was said to be sweeter. From 17 fig trees, he would harvest two tons of fruit. Each apple tree yielded over 30 pounds of fruit and from five acres of corn, he gathered over 400 bushels. Monroe Halladay’s harvests were so huge, he once shipped over 21 tons of grapes to Chicago!

Halladay was just as passionate about civic life as he was about agriculture, serving on the Santa Ana City Council and hosting a polling station in his barn. He also loved croquet and often held the town’s “Unbeatable Club” meets in the croquet court of his Queen Anne home, which still stands on the corner of Chestnut and Halladay. Monroe D. Halladay was known as “a man with many friends, and one in whom all who knew him had full confidence” according to the Santa Ana Register on August 4, 1917.

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Photos from The Online Archive of California