In 1876, three brothers from Costa Rica came here with their families, purchased 5,563 acres of Rancho La Puente from John Rowland‘s widow Charlotte, and attempted to grow coffee. That’s right: a coffee plantation in the SGV. As you might guess, it didn’t work out. The surname of the brothers was in fact Badilla, so this really should be “Badilla Street”. The brothers – José Julián, Pedro María (a priest), and Pedro Antonio – were inspired to come here by J.E. Hollenbeck, who had met them during his long sojourn in Central America. After the Badillas purchased the rancho, Hollenbeck floated them a loan that they couldn’t repay after their coffee plants failed, so he took possession of the land in 1879. Three years later, he sold 2,000 acres of it to Joseph Swift Phillips, who established Covina here in 1884, laying out the misspelled Badillo Street that November. Epilogue: While Pedro Antonio eventually returned to Costa Rica, José Julián and Pedro María both moved to Arizona. Pedro Antonio’s daughter Francisca remained in Covina to work for J.S. Phillips; in February 1886, she sued him for “seduction”, claiming that he had impregnated her eight months earlier and demanding $25,000. (The family’s descendants contend that she was raped.) The case was dismissed.
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