Parts of the towns of Long Beach, Bellflower, Paramount, Signal Hill, Lakewood, and Los Alamitos emerged from former Bixby-held lands.
[1] The history of the land companies begins with the brothers Benjamin and Thomas Flint and their cousin Llewellyn Bixby, who left Maine for California in 1851, attracted by the Gold Rush.
[4] Jotham was the manager of Rancho Los Cerritos and later bought a half interest in it through his own firm, J. Bixby & Company.
[4][1] By the 1870s, sheep ranching was in decline in southern California and Jotham Bixby began to sell off this land for development.
[4] Part of the Bixby Land Company property was a sugar beet farm that was later redeveloped into the city of Los Alamitos.
[4] The banker Hellman received a southeastern section that became a housing development, and John's family kept the rest.