Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the land was populated by the Tongva (Gabrielino) Native Americans. The Tongva lived in dome like structures with thatched exteriors. Both sexes wore long hair styles and tattooed their bodies. During warm weather the men wore little clothes but the women would wear minimal skirts made of animals hides. During the cold weather they would wear animal skin capes. By the early 1800s, the area was part of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel mission system and later, the Rancho San Antonio. The area first received a separate identity when Alessandro Repetto purchased 5,000 acres (20 km sq) of the rancho and built his home, not far from where the Edison substation is now located on Garfield Avenue. By this time European diseases had killed off many of the Tongva, and by 1870 the area had few left. It was at this time, Richard Garvey, a mail rider for the U.S. Army whose route took him through Monterey Pass, a trail that is now Garvey Avenue, settled down in the King's Hills. Garvey began developing the land by bringing in spring water from near the Hondo River and by constructing a 54-foot high dam to form Garvey Lake located where Garvey Ranch Park is now. To pay for his development and past debts, Garvey began selling portions of his property. In 1906, the first subdivision in the area, Ramona Acres, was developed north of Garvey and east of Garfield Avenues. In 1916, the new residents of the area initiated action to become a city when the cities of Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, South Pasadena, CaliforniaSouth Pasadena, and Alhambra, CaliforniaAlhambra proposed to put a large sewage treatment facility in the area. The community voted itself into city hood on May 29, 1916, by a vote of 455 to 33. The City's new Board of Directors immediately outlawed sewage plants within city boundaries and named the new city Monterey Park. The name was taken from an old government map showing the oak-covered hills of the area as Monterey Hills. In 1920, a large area on the south edge of the city broke away and the separate city of Montebello, CaliforniaMontebello was established. By 1920, the white and Spanish-surname settlers were joined by Asian residents who began farming potatoes and flowers and developing nurseries in the Monterey Highlands area. They improved the Monterey Pass Trail with a road to aid in shipping their produce to Los Angeles. The nameless pass, which had been a popular location for western movies, was called Coyote Pass by Pioneer Masami Abe. In 1926, near the corner of Atlantic and Garvey Boulevards, Laura Scudder invented the first sealed bag of potato chips. In an effort to maintain quality and freshness, Laura's team would iron sheets of wax paper together to form a bag. They would fill these bags with potato chips; iron the top closed, and then delivered them to various retailers. Real estate became a thriving industry during the late 1920s with investors attracted to the many subdivisions under development and increasing commercial opportunities. One such development was the Midwick View Estates by Peter N. Snyder, a proposed garden community that was designed to rival Bel-Air and Beverly Hills. Known as the "Father of the East Side", Mr. Snyder was a key player in the vast undertaking in the 1920s of developing the East Side as part of the industrial base of Los Angeles. His efforts to build Atlantic Boulevard, his work with the East Side organization to bring industry to the East Side and his residential and commercial development projects along Atlantic Boulevard (Gardens Square, Golden Gate Square, and the Midwick View Estates) were a major influence to the surrounding communities. The focal point of the Midwick View Estates was Jardin del Encanto, otherwise known as "El Encanto", a Spanish style building that was to serve as the administration building and community center for Midwick View Estates and an amphitheater to be nestled into the hillside above Kingsford Street. Although the amphitheater was never built, the observation terrace from which viewers could look down to Jardin del Encanto and the fountain with cascading water going down the hillside in stepped pools to De La Fuente remains and is now known as Heritage Falls Park or "the Cascades". It was result of the Depression that brought an abrupt end to the real estate boom and the Midwick proposal. The City had little development for nearly two decades. The end of World War II resulted in a revived growth trend and explosive population gains during the 1940s and 1950s. Until this time, the population was concentrated in the northern and southern portions of the city, with the Garvey and Monterey Hills forming a natural barrier. With the renewed growth, many new subdivisions were developed, utilizing even the previously undeveloped central area to allow for maximum growth potential. A series of annexations of surrounding land also occurred. In the 1970s a shooting at Mark Keppel High School left many residents looking for a safer neighborhood for their children. Many White residents sold their home to Taiwanese buyers who were willing to pay cash and overinflated prices and moved to Arcadia, CaliforniaArcadia, Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights, CaliforniaRowland Heights. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey_Park%2C_California