Not named for Warner Bros. but for Jonathan Trumbull Warner (1807-1895), one of the first white settlers in Los Angeles. Born in Connecticut, Warner came to California in 1831 and shuttled between L.A. and San Diego for years. As California was then controlled by Mexico, Warner became a Mexican citizen in order to own some 48,000 acres in San Diego County, even changing his name to Juan José Warner in the process. (The name change may have actually been part of his conversion to Catholicism in order to marry a Mexican woman.) It’s said that Warner’s 6’3″ height also earned him the nickname “Don Juan Largo”; regardless, records after CA statehood have him listed as “Jonathan”. Warner led a long, rich life: he was a fur trapper, rancher, trading post owner, newspaper publisher, attorney, and finally a historian. He was good friends with Judge Benjamin Hayes and Governor Pío Pico, whose own mother reportedly raised Warner’s future wife Anita Gale (c. 1821-1859). His San Diego land carries the name Warner Springs to this day.
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