Named for James Jackson Tweedy (1854-1928) on the site of his old orange grove. A relative of the Tweedys whose ranch is now part of South Gate (see Tweedy Boulevard), J.J. Tweedy was born in Conway County, AR, which is where Robert and Mary Tweedy – the South Gate Tweedys – were wed, but family trees show no close ties. (Confusing matters, Robert and Mary also had a son named James Jackson.) In any event, our Tweedy’s obituary stated that he came to SoCal in 1870 to work on his “uncle” Robert’s ranch, so let’s go with that. He married Eliza Ann Sutton (1854-1934), a Texas girl, in 1875, and they had five children. In 1881, the Tweedys bought 71 acres in Downey and initially grew corn and walnuts, but it was in citrus where J.J. would make his name as both grower and shipper: with partner Albert L. Ball, he would eventually own 900 acres of oranges. The 1925 ranch house of James Knox Tweedy, J.J.’s son, still hides behind thick greenery on Tweedy Lane.
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