Negrohead Mountain Renamed After John Ballard, Black Pioneer Who Settled in the Peak in 1880s

Negrohead Mountain renamed after John Ballard, black pioneer who settled in the region after winning freedom from slavery.

Negrohead Mountain, formerly known as Niggerhead Mountain, located in Southern California's Santa Monica range, was officially renamed Saturday in honor of John Ballard, a former slave who bought land on the mountain in 1880.  The mountain, located near Malibu, is the highest peak in the area topping out at 2,031 feet. The original name, Niggerhead Mountain, appeared on federal maps but was changed to "negro" in the 1960s. According to the L.A. Times, about 90 people including two dozen Ballard descendants attended the renaming ceremony Saturday at the site where Ballard owned a 320-acre homestead near what is now the community of Seminole Hot Springs.

So, who is John Ballard? He was born in Kentucky and moved to Agoura in the Santa Monica Mountains after winning his freedom from slavery. He set up a new home in the mountains and continued with his trade, as a blacksmith. His family joined the 60 other black residents in Los Angeles county, which back then had a population of just 4,000, a far cry from today. Ballard is an unsung pioneer. He survived the physically challenging rigors of slavery, traveled across the country in a wagon and purchased a lot of land, founded the town's first African Methodist Episcopal church, sold lumber and still plied his trade as a blacksmith. He is a man worthy of admiration and his story should be told because he overcame insurmountable odds to triumph and leave an indelible mark on the fabric of American life.

John Ballard's story is very interesting and riveting.

The arrival of the railroad triggered a land boom in Los Angeles in the 1880s, boosting property values and bringing the city its first sense of class structure and the beginnings of segregation. Ballard packed up his family and moved about 50 miles west to the snug valley in the middle of the Santa Monica range. He settled first on 160 acres -- space that eventually doubled in size when one of his seven children, daughter Alice, claimed an adjoining plot. Besides raising livestock and a few crops, Ballard collected firewood in the nearby mountains and sold it in Los Angeles.

"The Ballard house was something to behold. It was built of willow poles, rocks, mud and Babcock Buggy signs ("Best on Earth"), Maier & Zobelein Lager Beer signs and any other kind of sign the old man picked up. Hardly a Sunday passed where there were not several buggies, spring wagons and loads of people going down the canyon to see the place," he wrote.

Ballard fought against some serious odds. The newly arriving white settlers wanted to have no part of living with a "negro." They forced him and his family out, by burning his house and harassed him until he moved 50 miles away and purchased 300-plus acres of land. The new settlers thought they won a major feat. They named the area Niggerhead Mountain in his honor, which, in my opinion, was another way of celebrating their racist victory. The reality is that good always conquers bad, even if it takes decades. John Ballard has finally gotten his due. He is a pioneer and his story should be told in schools. He was a visionary in his own rights, who was a major landowner during the dark days of America's history. He has shown us that you can succeed against all odds.