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Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Adamson Family: A Piece of Malibu History

This week, we continue putting the pieces together in the massive, interesting puzzle that is Malibu history: the Adamsons.  You'll recall a few weeks ago we talked a bit about the Rindge family, a crowning family in Malibu royalty.  Another family famous in Malibu royalty is the Adamsons, who are actually related to the Rindges.  The original big Kahuna in Malibu, Frederick Rindge, had a number of children, including Rhoda Agatha Rindge.  Rhoda Agatha Rindge married Merritt Huntley Adamson and so became Rhoda Agatha Adamson.   They had a litter all their own, consisting of Rhoda May (three generations of the name Rhoda, I guess this really WAS a long time ago), Sylvia, and Merritt Jr. 

In 1916, Merritt Sr. and Rhoda Agatha founded Adohr farms, a dairy in Tarzana. This stayed in the family, having passed hands from Merritt Sr. to Merritt Jr., for 50 years until the increased price of feed forced the Adamsons to sell Adohr farms to Southland Corp. in 1966.  Merritt Jr. did make quite a few great strides in Malibu history, including donating a large part of Pepperdine's campus, built a mobile home park, condominiums, and Malibu Bluffs State Park.  In 1967, the Adamson siblings formed the Adamson Cos., a partnership aimed at developmement. The Adamson brother died of cancer in 1986, but the sisters still remain active in Malibu to this day.

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