The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.
Pierre Nicolas was born in the French Alps, date uncertain. Upon migrating to the United States, he first settled in Northern California before settling in Whittier, where he raised cattle and sheep.
He married Hypolite Vicente, also from France, in Los Angeles in 1871.
In 1887, the year of the town’s founding, he moved to Fullerton. He was 42 years old. He purchased 131 acres on the east side of what is now Euclid Street, for cultivation of citrus, walnuts, and other crops.
According to Fullerton: a Pictorial History, “He later acquired interests in the central part of Fullerton, at one time owning a busy hotel, and much of that property remains in the family to this date.”
Tragedy stuck the family in 1899 when Hypolite died and that same year two of their sons, Hilary J. and Martin A., aged 14 and 12, died in a cave-in at a gravel pit.
Pierre’s son (also named Pierre) was born in Los Angeles in 1881. Growing up, he worked on his father’s ranch and when not in school or otherwise employed. Pierre Jr. married Kathryn Backs (from Anaheim) in 1914.
Upon the death of the elder Pierre, the property came into possession of his son, Pierre “all of which he improved with pipe lines and pumping plant and set to oranges, lemons, and walnuts…His greatest ambition was to make of his home a desirable place of residence and that he succeeded no one need doubt who has ever visited the spot. Here he and his wife entertained in true Californian style.”
Pierre the younger died in 1920 from the flu. After his death, management of the ranch and properties fell to his wife.
For many years, the street now named Euclid was called Nicolas Ave, in honor of Pierre Sr. I’m not sure if Nicolas Jr. High is named after the family.
This information is taken from Bob Ziebell’s Fullerton: a Pictorial History and Samuel Armor’s History of Orange County, California: With Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County who Have Been Identified with Its Earliest Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present.
Fullerton History 