McKean, A. D.

A. D. McKean was born in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, on June 21, 1872, to Archibald McKean and Ellen Stoutenburg. He spent his youth working in Canadian lumberwoods, Michigan, and North Dakota before arriving in California in 1893 to work in Visalia and Hanford. Resolved to gain an education after turning twenty, he attended high school in Hanford and Chestnutwood Business College in Santa Cruz while pursuing farming and machine work.

In 1904, McKean settled on the Laguna de Tache Grant, where he farmed 140 acres and built a highly successful dairying operation. Moving to Riverdale, he established the town lumber yard, secured rail rights-of-way, acquired extensive land holdings, and served as cashier and director of the First National Bank of Riverdale. Prominent in local progress, the Odd Fellows, and the Christian Science Church, he became widely recognized as the leading citizen of Riverdale.