Well, no story-- I just noticed that in a couple of your pics of the Chamber of Commerce that Oxy Life seems to have once occupied the old building--there is a painted OCCIDENTAL sign on the rear (ne) corner above the Examiner bldg (post #2248, third pic down), and a script rooftop sign (post #2251). The script sign replaced the WESTERN STATES LIFE sign seen in the second pic of post #2249. It seems logical that a company named Western States might have become Occidental, but a cursory Google doesn't bear that out.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/...568b51a2_b.jpg
Another photo looking south showing an Occidental sign on the C of C on 12th Street.