It was once the home of the Mussachia Family, pioneers here in Downey. They first arrived in 1885, and a son, Tony, graduated from Old River School’s Class of 1906. He later married a Downey girl, Anna Riemer.
For a wedding gift, the bride’s father gave them 20 acres of land, to which Tony later added 20 more. Those 40 acres of farm land are now the northern portion of Rockwell, bounded by Stewart and Gray to the north, Bellflower to the east and Lakewood to the west.
Tony and Anna had four children, Carl, Frank, Anna Marie and Anthony, all of whom attended Downey High.
During the height of the depression from 1934 to 1938, Mrs. Mussachia opened a restaurant, the Airport Cafe, located where the old Rockwell lobby stands today.
But the land was sold to Vultee Aircraft in 1938. The ranch house was then moved to Stewart and Gray, but had to be moved again when that road was paved through to Lakewood Boulevard. The house still sits in the 8700 block of Stewart and Gray Road today, a monument to the pioneer family which built it.
Meanwhile, the restaurant was moved to Lakewood and Borton Street in Bellflower. Unfortunately, it later burned. The foundation can still be seen next to Frank’s TV Shop.
As for the family, Carl worked for Vultee, North American and then Rockwell. Frank ran a parking lot across the street from Vultee from 1937 to 1942. The old lot is now occupied by a rest home.
Frank then entered the Air Force, serving as a turret gunner in B-24 Liberators based both in North Africa and later in Italy. He was even shot down over Yugoslavia at one point, but made his way safely back to allied territory.
When he returned to the U.S., he built Frank’s Cafe in 1945. He ran the cafe until 1950. The location is now occupied by a chiropractic office in the 12100 block of Lakewood.
Carl and Frank are retired now, but both can take pride in their family’s pioneer history here. The old house is a testimonial to the generations of Mussachias who helped shape Downey.
(The Time Traveler wishes to thank Bob Thompson who did much of the research for this column).