Water and Power Associates

Early Views of Pasadena

Historical Photos of Early Pasadena

1 2 3 / next / single page


(ca. 1880)* - Panoramic view of Pasadena in 1880's.

Historical Notes

Pasadena is a part of the original Mexican land grant named Rancho del Rincon de San Pascual, so named because it was deeded on Easter Sunday to Eulalia Perez de Guillén Mariné of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. The Rancho comprised the lands of today's communities of Pasadena, Altadena and South Pasadena.*^


(ca. 1880)* - View of Pasadena and it's surrounding areas, from Echo Mountain in the San Gabriel Mts.

Historical Notes

Prior to the annexation of California in 1848, the last of the Mexican owners was Manuel Garfias who retained title to the property after statehood in 1850. Garfias sold sections of the property to the first Anglo settlers to come into the area: Dr. Benjamin Eaton, the father of Fred Eaton, Dr. S. Griffin, and Benjamin Wilson.

Much of the property was purchased by Benjamin Wilson who established his Lake Vineyard property in the vicinity. Wilson, known as Don Benito to the local Indians, was also owner of the Rancho Jurupa (Riverside, California) and mayor of Los Angeles. He is the grandfather of WWII General George S. Patton, Jr.*^

In 1864 Wilson took the first white man's expedition to a high peak of the San Gabriel Mountains that would be named Mount Wilson. He hoped to harvest timber there for the making of wine vats, but he found the wood inadequate. The Wilson Trail became a popular one or two-day hike to the crest of the San Gabriel Mountains by local residents for years to come.*^


(ca. 1870)* - View from Bacon Hill. The Raymond Hotel was built atop Bacon Hill which lies between Pasadena and South Pasadena and was renamed Raymond Hill with the opening of the hotel in 1886.

Historical Notes

In 1873, Benjamin Wilson and Dr. S. Griffin subdivided their land (with Griffin getting almost 2/3 of the property, but Wilson retaining some better land (east of current Fair Oaks Avenue), near his Lake Vineyard property). Griffin then sold 2,500 acres of his property to the "Indiana Colony," represented by Daniel M. Berry. In 1876, after the Colony had sold most of its allotted land and established what would become the City of Pasadena, Wilson began subdividing and developing his adjacent landholdings which would become the eastern side of the new settlement.*^


(1876)* - View of Pasadena from south Orange Grove Avenue in 1876.

Historical Notes

In 1873, Dr. Daniel M. Berry of Indiana visited the area in search of a place that could offer better climate to his patients, most of whom suffered from respiratory ailments. Berry was an asthmatic and claimed that he had his best three nights sleep at Rancho San Pascual. To raise funds to bring the company of people to San Pascual, Berry formed the Southern California Orange and Citrus Growers Association for which he sold stock. The newcomers were able to purchase a large portion of the property along the Arroyo Seco and on January 31, 1874, they incorporated the Indiana Colony.

The Indiana Colony was a narrow strip of land between the Arroyo Seco and Fair Oaks Avenue. On the other side of the street was Benjamin Wilson's Lake Vineyard development. After more than a decade of parallel development on both sides, the two settlements merged into the City of Pasadena.*^


(1874)* - This is the first home built in 1874, at the corner of North Orange Grove and Lincoln Avenue.


(ca. 1875)* - Exterior view of the First Church in Pasadena. First Presbyterian - built on California Street near Orange Grove.


(ca. 1893)* - A man identified as Nels Eckline poses near a fence, behind which are the first church (background right) and the first school (background left) in South Pasadena as they appeared circa 1893.


(1876)* - Exterior view of the Presbyterian Church on the northwest corner of Colorado Street and Garfield Avenue, in Pasadena, in 1876. Tower was blown down in the windstorm of 1888. A trolley pulled by horses is shown in the foreground.


(1876)* - Exterior view of Col. Banbury's ranch in Pasadena. This is the second house built on the colony.


(ca. 1880)* - View of Pasadena in the early 80's. View is looking northeast.


(ca. 1880)* - Scenic view of Pasadena, north on Oak from Colorado. View shows cultivated fields, orchards and homes in the area.

Historical Notes

Prior to the 1890s, the mail was delivered to the Indiana Colony via Los Angeles. In an attempt to obtain their own post office, the Colony needed to change its name to something the Postmaster General considered appropriate. To this end the town fathers put three names up to a vote. The first was "Indianola," the second was "Granada," in keeping with the area's Spanish heritage. The third name was proposed by Dr. Thomas Elliott, who had contacted a missionary friend in Michigan who had worked with the Minnesota Chippewa Native Americans, although the Chippwa language had no ties to Southern California. He submitted four names for translation: "Crown of the Valley," "Key of the Valley," "Valley of the Valley," and "Hill of the Valley." All of the translations ended in "pa-sa-de-na," meaning "of the valley." Due to its euphonious nature, Pasadena was chosen, put to a vote, and accepted.

In March 1886, Pasadena became the second incorporated municipality, after the city of Los Angeles, in Los Angeles County.*^


(1880)* - View of Colorado Street, looking west, in 1880. People can be seen walking or riding on horse-drawn carriages, into the town. On the right there is a Lumber yard and a Carpenter's shop. Large building in the distance (left side), is the Ward Block, which includes the Pasadena Bank and the Grand Hotel.


(ca. 1880)* - Colorado and Fair Oaks looking west, in 1870. Ward Block is on the left, which includes the Pasadena Bank and the Grand Hotel. Several horse-drawn carriages are parked along the sides of the building. There is a Meat Market and a Livery Stable past Ward Block. Cultivated fields can be seen in the background.


(1884)**^ - Horse drawn carriage traffic around the Ward Block, at the dusty intersection of Colorado and Fair Oaks in Pasadena.


(1884)* - View of Colorado and Fair Oaks in Pasadena, in 1884. Building on the left is the Ward Block building. City Drug Store is on the right.


(1884)* - View of Pasadena in 1884 with orchards in the foreground.


(1884)* - View is looking east at Colorado Street in Pasadena, in 1884. Orchard fields are on both sides of the dirt road. Buildings and homes can be seen past the orchard fields.


(1885)* - Exterior view of Munger & Griffith Hardware store located on 19 East Colorado, in Pasadena.


(1885)* - Exterior view of Los Angeles House in Pasadena, in 1885. View also shows a horse drawn carriage stopped at the hotel, and several guests standing on the porch and balcony. Note a man standing at the top of the hotel next to the flag pole. A large sign reads, "Livery and Feed Stable."

(ca. 1885)^ - Auction of a Pasadena school building on the corner of Colorado Street and Fair Oaks Avenue. A large crowd of people standing behind a number of horse-and-buggies gather at bottom of the two-story schoolhouse, which sports a bell tower and clapboard veneer. Two horses attached to still more buggies are tied to a hitching post in the foreground, facing one another. A building in the background is under construction, fronted by scaffolding.


(1885)* - Exterior view of the Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, in 1885. Note the architectural design on the building.


(1886)* - An 1886 map of Pasadena, when it was largely a town of orange groves. Numbers superimposed on the map indicate approximate locations of events concerning the 1952 Rose Parade. Drawings of various buildings surround the map. Click on map to enlarge.


(ca. 1886)* - A panoramic view facing the eastern facade of the Raymond Hotel. The surrounding land is still rural with scattered houses and small buildings close to a dirt road that passes over a bridge covering a small wash.

Historical Notes

The Raymond Hotel was the first major resort hotel of the San Gabriel Valley and was only opened from December to April. It was built by Mr. Walter Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Agency of Boston, Mass. and sat atop Bacon Hill which lies between Pasadena and South Pasadena. Bacon Hill was renamed Raymond Hill with the opening of the hotel in 1886.*


(ca. 1886)* - View of the Raymond Hotel looking across the grounds at the western facade sans landscaping, located in South Pasadena.


(ca. 1886)* - View of the Raymond Hotel circa 1886. Landscaping covers the embankment to the right of the stairs.

Historical Notes

The Raymond Hotel was opened in 1886 but burned down in 1895. It was replaced by a second Raymond Hotel in 1903.*


(ca. 1887)^ - View of the Barney Williams' store in Pasadena on the corner of Colorado Street and Fair Oaks Avenue. A group of people stand on the porch of the two-story building while a horse-drawn carriage drives sits nearby. The building sports a clapboard veneer along with a balcony and a box window on its second floor. Several people attend a small horse in the background at right.

Historical Notes

Built by Lawson T. Hollingsworth in 1882, the building was later purchased by Romayne (Barney) Williams who named it Barney Williams Store and Hall. The store occupied the ground floor, and contained the first Post Office and had the first telephone connecting Pasadena and Los Angeles, as well as a hall. Later, the Parlor Theatre occupied the top floor.**


(ca. 1888)* - Group photo was taken in the Arroyo Seco area. In the background is the California Southern R.R. (now the Santa Fe), locomotive #13, built in 1882.


(1886)* - View of Colorado Street, looking west. People of Pasadena are celebrating advent of the 1st Railroad with a parade, September 30, 1886.


(1887)* - View of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad, crossing into Pasadena in 1887. The train is stopped on the bridge, and there are two men standing at the front of the locomotive, six other men are sitting/standing alongside the car at the end, and two men are standing at the back of the train.

(1887)* - View of Pasadena, looking east from the Salt Lake Railroad Depot along a rural street (Colorado Street?), ca.1887. The C. Ehrenfeld Carpenter Shop is in the right foreground. Railroad tracks (bottom foreground) run across the street. An orchard is on one side of the street. The residence of Dr. and Jeanne (the author) C. Carr is visible beyond the trees at center. A wooden building in the foreground at right has signs on it reading "C. Ehrenfeld, carpenter shop", "C. Ehrenfeld, architect & builder".^


(1887)* - Colorado and Fair Oaks in Pasadena, in 1887. View shows several horse-drawn wagons parked alongside the dirt road. Several businesses can be seen on the right: a Market, Pasadena Carriage Works, a Clothing store and a Dry Goods store.


(ca. 1888)* - The Los Angeles Terminal Railway in Pasadena near Raymond Hotel in background.

Historical Background

The Los Angeles Terminal Railway, earlier known as the Pasadena Railway, and unofficially as the Altadena Railway, was a small terminal railroad line that was constructed between Altadena and Pasadena, California in the late 1880s. It was a byproduct of a land boom period and a victim of the land bust that occurred soon thereafter. It opened officially on January 31, 1888.

The service was originally organized as the Pasadena Railway Company in 1887 by investors John Woodbury, James Swartout, and the two prominent and wealthy Altadenans, Andrew McNally and Col. G. G. Green (aka) George Gill Green, mutual friends from with McNally from Chicago and Green from Woodbury, New Jersey.

Andrew McNally was the co-founder of the famed map making company Rand McNally in Chicago and had retired to Altadena in 1887. Green had made his fortunes in patent medicines and elixirs with his company based in Woodbury, New Jersey and was invited by McNally to move to Altadena in the same year. McNally and Green were heavily invested in the small railway, and each had a siding for his own private car to be pulled up alongside their properties which stood on either side of Santa Rosa Avenue from each other.*^


(ca. 1888)* - View of Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena looking east from Marengo Ave. circa 1888. The church at right is First Methodist Church. The church at left is Pasadena Presbyterian Church, located on the northwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Colorado.


(1888)* - Exterior view of Garfield School located in Pasadena. A horse-drawn carriage is parked in front of the school.


(1889)* - A brass band heads the funeral cortege of Owen Brown, third son of the famous abolitionist, John Brown. The photo was taken January 10, 1889, looking east from Raymond Avenue along Colorado Blvd. The hill is at Marengo Avenue and was sliced away when Colorado was leveled in later years. The City Meat Market is on the left.


(1890)* - Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena near Fair Oaks Avenue in 1890. The Carlton is seen.

(1890)* - View of Colorado and Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, in 1890. Many storefronts can be seen on both sides of the street. On the left, there is: San Gabriel Valley Bank, a Drugs store and a Boots and Shoe store. On the right, there is: Oneill & Johnson Real Estate Insurance, a candy factory, Phillips Land & Real Estate Loans, and also the Ward Block building which includes the First National Bank. A trolley runs down the middle of the street and shares the road with horse-drawn vehicles.


(1890)* - View of the ornate facade of the Pasadena Grand Opera House with horses and carriages in front.


(1890)* - Tally-Ho leaving Hotel Green in 1890. The photograph identifies it as "Wiley & Greely's Tall-Ho."


(1890)* - Exterior view of the Raymond Station in South Pasadena, in 1890. A locomotive with cars, stand ready, outside the station. A horse-drawn vehicle is parked alongside of the station.


(ca. 1890)* - Exterior view of La Pintoresca Hotel in Pasadena. A horse-drawn trolley can be seen on the tracks in front of the hotel.

Historical Notes

Originally known as the Painter Hotel which opened in 1888, it was the third large hotel enterprise in Pasadena. It was built on the N.E. corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Washington Street, which is now a City Park. It was the distinguishing landmark of North Pasadena, and is historical because of other large enterprises connected with it. After the death of John Painter the name was changed to La Pintoresca. The hotel was later destroyed by fire, December 31, 1912. *


(ca. 1890)* - Exterior view of La Pintoresca Hotel in Pasadena. Palm trees and an orchard can be seen on the grounds in front of the hotel.


(1891)* - Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) parade in Pasadena, 1891.


(ca. 1890s)* - A flag-carrying marching group on Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, circa the 1890s. View is toward the north. William H. Staats Co. is on the left.


(1891)* - Carriage of President Benjamin Harrison makes a stop at the Los Angeles House in Pasadena, in 1891.


(1891)* - Panoramic view of two railroad bridges in Arroyo Seco, in Pasadena.


(ca. 1890)* - Two women and a young man sit astride donkeys as they ride down the dirt road, accompanied by two men, that leads from the Raymond Hotel. The women sit side-saddle.


(ca. 1890s)* - View of tally-ho in front of the Raymond Hotel in South Pasadena with Colonel Marshall C. Wentworth standing at right.


(ca. 1890)* - The staff of the dining hall in the Raymond Hotel pose in their uniforms as they stand around the tables ready for the hotel's guests.


(ca. 1890s)* - Mount Lowe - Tally Ho carriages parked in front of the Raymond Hotel, in Pasadena. Carriages take hotel guests to Mount Lowe and back.

Historical Notes

This is the original hotel built by Mr. Walter Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Agency of Boston. It burnt to the ground in 1895 and was replaced by a second Raymond Hotel in 1903.*


(ca. 1890)* - Postcard showing Pasadena and Mount Lowe taken from the Hotel Raymond in Pasadena.

(ca. 1890s)* - View of three streetcars full of travelers on their way to Altadena with continuing service to Mount Lowe, as indicated on the top car streetcar #45 on the left. Visiting Mount Lowe in the San Gabriel Mountains was a "must" for the local inhabitants as well as tourists. The journey started at Mountain Junction in Altadena, moved by electric car (such as shown here) to Rubio Pavilion, the bottom terminus of the Cable Incline Railway. This photograph was taken at Lake Avenue and Mariposa in Altadena.


(1893)^ - The great Cable Incline (seen above) went from Rubio Pavilion (the bottom) to Echo Mountain (at the top). In this picture one of the black cable cars, named "Rubio" sits at the bottom with some passengers aboard and others waiting nearby. Also on the left is the electric car which brought customers to the station from Mountain Junction.

Historical Notes

At the turn of the century (1893 - 1938) one of the most famous excursion in Southern California was the Mt. Lowe trip. Sightseers from all around the Los Angeles area took a Pasadena car to Altadena and Rubio Canyon. They then transferred to a cable car on the Incline Railway that went up a 62% grade to Echo Mountain. From there they would take a narrow-gauge trolley car winding its way up the rugged San Gabriel Mtns. and finally would arrive at Alpine Tavern on Mt. Lowe, a nearly 7 mile railway ride from the base of the mountain. The views of the valley floor and beyond were spectacular.*


(ca. 1915)**# - The Echo Mountain incline railway after Pacific Electric purchased it. Catalina Island can be seen in the distance.

Historical Notes

After Pacific Electric (owned by Henry E. Huntington) purchased Mount Lowe Railway around 1902, the cars used on the Great Cable Incline were rebuilt to include a roof on the top deck. These cars, stripped to their floors, were last used to carry salvage in 1938, when the Mt. Lowe line was scrapped.**#


(ca. 1890s)* - View of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley from Echo Mountain.

Historical Notes

Buildings at Echo Mountain, reached by the Mount Lowe Railway, included the Echo Mountain House, a 70-room hotel at an elevation of approximately 3500 ft., the 40-room Echo Chalet, the observatory, car barns, dormitories, repair facilities, and a casino/dance hall.*

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Mt. Lowe Railway.


(ca. 1890s)* - View of some of the hotel guest standing on the veranda and stairways at the front of Echo Mountain House.

Historical Notes

Completed in the fall of 1894, the Echo Mountain House was a marvel. The four-story Victorian building was marked by a tall, cylindrical tower and capped by a metal dome and a huge American flag. The bright white exterior was marked by a long row of windows on each floor. At the building’s entrance, two sweeping verandas looked off across the canyons and the valley. The interior of the hotel was extravagant, with detailed wood inlay, the finest floral-patterned carpet and handmade furniture throughout. There were seventy guest rooms, large areas for office space, a massive social hall and dining room, a souvenir shop, a Western Union office, a bowling alley, a billiard room, a barbershop and a shoeshine stand.^^


(1893)^ - Photograph of the first passengers of Professor S.C. Lowe's dramatic Mount Lowe Railway, July 4, 1893. There are a couple of dozen people in the rail car (number "9") which is headed toward the camera on the circular bridge. The trestle structure is visible below the rails. The hotel on the mountaintop is visible at left as is the rail approach to the hotel.

Historical Notes

From the top of Echo Mtn, passengers could transfer to another trolley line, the Alpine Division, which would take them to the upper terminus at Crystal Springs and Ye Alpine Tavern, a 22-room Swiss Chalet hospice with a complement of amenities from tennis courts, to wading pools, to mule rides. This phase of tracks cut through the broad Las Flores Canyon which gave a tremendous panorama of the valley floor below. At one point a tall trestle was required to bridge a broad and deep chasm with a bridge so named High Bridge.*^

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Mt. Lowe Railway


(1930)* - Caption on the verso of the image reads, "Redondo High School students arrive at Mt. Lowe Tavern for a snow battle royal."

Historical Notes

Ye Alpine Tavern was the end-of-the-line for the Mount Lowe Railway at the foot of Mount Lowe. It was renamed The Mount Lowe Tavern in 1925, and was burned down in September 1936.*^


(ca. 1893)* - Early building of the Pasadena Public Library, built in Richardsonian Romanesque style stone. It was demolished except for the entry, which remains in Memorial Park, formerly Library Park. Architect was Hamilton Ridgway.


(ca. 1894)* - A group of people, many of whom have bicycles, stands beside a Los Angeles & Pasadena Railway Company parlor car at the Altadena station. The parlor car was designed exclusively for scenic excursions to Pasadena and Altadena.


(ca. 1894)* - View of Colorado Street, Pasadena, looking west from Raymond Avenue. Horse-drawn carriages fill the unpaved street. Sign on the right reads: "Wetherby & Kayser -FINE- SHOES"


(ca. 1890s)^ - View of First National Bank on the northwest corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado Street.


(1895)* - Exterior view of Universalist Church on the southeast corner of Raymond and Chestnut Streets, in Pasadena.


(1895)* - View of the first electric car over Arroyo Seco near the Cawston ostrich farm on March 7, 1895. Pasadena and Los Angeles Railway Co.

(1893)* - Rose parades of early days were a far cry from the spectacular pageants of modern years. This photo shows the Tournament of Roses on New Year's Day 1893, three years after the Valley Hunt Club inaugurated the first pageant. This Rose Parade took place in the old Tournament Park on California Avenue directly across the street from where CalTech now stands. Note the derbies worn by some young railbirds!


(ca. 1894)* - A Rose Parade float with the words "1874 Crown of the Valley." The date refers to when the Pasadena settlement was first founded.

Historical Notes

Members of Pasadena's Valley Hunt Club first staged the parade in 1890. Since then the parade has been held in Pasadena every New Year's Day, except when January 1 falls on a Sunday.

Many of the members of the Valley Hunt Club were former residents of the American East and Midwest. They wished to showcase their new California home's mild winter weather. At a club meeting, Professor Charles F. Holder announced, "In New York, people are buried in the snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise."

So the club organized horse-drawn carriages covered in flowers, followed by foot races, polo matches, and a game of tug-of-war on the town lot that attracted a crowd of 2,000 to the event. Upon seeing the scores of flowers on display, the professor decided to suggest the name "Tournament of Roses."

Over the next few founding years, marching bands and motorized floats were added.*^


(1897)* - A large marching band with the members all dressed in white uniforms in the 1897 Rose Parade. The first marching band to appear in the Rose Parade was in 1891, with fewer than 20 members. This band has considerably more members. More than half carry flags toward the rear of the procession.


(1897)* - A large horse-driven carriage decorated with flowers serves as an early Rose Parade float. 15 men ride inside, two of them hold banners. One banner reads, "Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce", the other has initials and the year 1897 printed on it. Men riding horses follow the carriage.

Historical Notes

By 1895, the event was too large for the Valley Hunt Club to handle, hence the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association was formed. By the 11th annual tournament (1900), the town lot on which the activities were held was renamed Tournament Park, a large open area directly adjacent to Pasadena's world-famous institution of higher learning, Caltech. Activities soon included ostrich races, bronco busting demonstrations, and an odd novelty race between a camel and an elephant (The elephant won the race.) Soon reviewing stands were built along the parade route and newspapers in Eastern Seaboard cities started to take notice of the event.*^


(1897)* - Prize-winning entry of 1897; a basket which appears to be drawn by a team of flying doves is actually propelled by a man hidden inside the basket.


(1900)* - Exterior view of the Pasadena Library in Pasadena, in 1900. A horse-drawn buggy and several bicycles are parked along the curb.


(1900)* - View of a tree-lined unpaved Marengo Avenue, Pasadena, in 1900.


(1900)* - Abraham Lincoln Elementary School was built at its present location (Lincoln Avenue and West Peoria Street) in 1895. The original building was a large two-story structure facing Lincoln Avenue; a small building for the kindergarten was in the rear. The Board purchased a house and lot adjoining the school site in November 1901, and started the kindergarten class there in January of 1902.


(ca. 1900)* - Exterior view of the Green Hotel in Pasadena. The bridge that extends from the building crosses over Raymond Avenue. Pasadena trolley can be seen travelling on Raymond Avenue.


(1902)* - Exterior view of the Raymond Hotel located in Pasadena. View shows the stairs at the front of the hotel. Four tall pillars grace the entranceway.


(1902)* - This was the 1902 Tournament of Roses parade, with a butchers band marching down the Pasadena street. There was nothing spectacular about the parade then, and the spectators were few. This was also the first year of the Rose Bowl game.


(1902)* - First Tournament East-West football game, January 1, 1902, Michigan vs. Stanford. Note the crowd of people standing in foreground, and to the right side of the football field. Horse-drawn carriages are lined along a fence beyond the crowds of people.

Historical Notes

Before the Rose Bowl was built, 1923, games were played in Pasadena's Tournament Park, approximately three miles southeast of the current Rose Bowl stadium near the campus of Caltech. Tournament Park was determined to be unsuitable for the larger and larger crowds gathering to watch the game and a new, permanent home for the game was commissioned.*^


(ca. 1902)* - Exterior view of the Shakespeare Club, junction of Fair Oaks and Lincoln Avenues, in Pasadena.

Historical Notes

The Shakespeare Club of Pasadena was organized in 1888 and has the distinction of being the oldest women's club in Southern California. The Club's purpose has always centered around the cultural, educational and philanthropic interests of its members.*#


(1903)* - View of John Muir High School, built in 1903 on the north side of east Walnut Street, between north Los Robles and Euclid Avenue.

Historical Notes

John Muir High School was Pasadena's second High School. Later it served as a Junior High School for many years, and then a school for special classes. The name had been changed to Benjamin Franklin. Later it was condemned for school purposes and the Recreation Department used it for years.*


(1905)* - Two flower-covered automobiles in the 1905 Rose Parade. This appears to be in front of the Raymond Hotel.


(ca. 1905)* - View of Pasadena Park and City hall in the back left of photo.


(1907)* - Exterior view of the Classical Revival style building of South Pasadena High School, taken not long after the building was completed. This building, constructed in 1907, and two others added in 1912 stood until the 1950s, at which time they were demolished.


(ca. 1907)* - Exterior view of Lake Ave. Methodist Church on the southeast corner of Colorado and Lake Avenue, in Pasadena.


(ca. 1907)^ - Looking east on Colorado at Fair Oaks. Early model cars and bicycles are parked by the curb while a streetcar, horses, and pedestrians are seen on the road.


(1908)* - A furious chariot race at the Tournament of Roses at Tournament Park in 1908. In 1909 football was substituted for chariot racing as the midwinter attraction. The first game was played between Michigan (49) and Stanford (0). In the years that followed, the Rose Bowl game grew to become the "granddaddy" of all bowl games.


(ca. 1910)* - Exterior view of the Green Hotel looking from Central Park. View shows the towers of the building on the west side of Raymond Avenue, in Pasadena.

Historical Notes

Initially known as the Webster Hotel. Mr. Webster became nearly bankrupt while trying to finish his lavish hotel in time for its opening. It opened its doors to the public in the 1880s and was only open a few months before he sold it to George Green, who finished the construction and changed its name to the Hotel Green.

Built in 1903, it was home to both the Tournament of Roses and the Valley Hunt Club. The hotel was was supplemented by two later buildings, creating a complex of three structures.

Hotel Green, by Los Angeles-based architect Frederick Roehrig, was the first of the three buildings; it was published in the periodical The Western Architect in December 1905.

Castle Green was the second building in the complex and was originally known as the "Central Annex." By 1924 the hotel was owned by a group of investors who divided the hotel complex into three parts. The Central Annex was subdivided into fifty residential apartments and renamed the Castle Green. The Castle Green is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the State Historic Register, and the City of Pasadena's list of Historic Places.*^


(ca. 1910)* - The Hotel Green in Pasadena, in a lush garden setting. The Green was one of the leading Pasadena hotels, along with the Raymond and the Huntington, during Pasadena's heyday as a winter resort for wealthy Easterners in the 1890s and 1900s. The portion of the building which extends to the right crossed over Raymond Avenue.


(1910)* - A 1910 view of Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena looking west from the Maryland Hotel. Streetcar tracks and overhead wires are seen.

(1910)* - View is looking east on Colorado from Fair Oaks, in 1910. The Arcade building is on the left, which includes Grand Rapids Furniture House and several small storefronts. The First National Bank building is at the northwest corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado. People can be seen walking on the sidewalks and streets. A trolley runs down the middle of Colorado, and shares the street with automobiles and horse-drawn carriages.


(1910)^ - Another view of the intersection of Colorado and Fair Oaks. A trolley with a sign that reads: ALTADENA waits while another trolley with a sign that reads: NORTH SOUTH LOOP passes through the intersection. The sidewalks and streets are full with people, horse-drawn wagons, and a cyclist. To the right is a postal-telegraph office.


(ca. 1910)^ - The view looks north up Fair Oaks Avenue from Colorado Boulevard (then named Colorado Street.) A trolley and a horse-drawn wagon share the road.


(ca. 1910)^ - Looking south on Fair Oaks Avenue from just north of Colorado Boulevard, circa 1910.


(ca. 1911)* - Exterior view of City Hall in Pasadena. Note the architectural designs on the building. Horse-drawn buggy's are parked along the sidewalks.

Historical Notes

In 1911 City Hall occupied a building at Union and Fair Oaks. Since then City Hall moved several times, and the building was lost, only to be replaced in 2003 by a quasi replica now known as the Container Store.*^


(ca. 1913)* - View of the Colorado Street Bridge shows people walking on the bridge and enjoying the surrounding scenery. A few automobiles can be seen travelling on the bridge.

Historical Notes

The Colorado Street Bridge was designed and built in 1913 by the Kansas City (MO)-based firm of J.A.L. Waddell. With a span of 1,486 feet and known for its distinctive Beaux Arts arches, lights, and railings, the bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.*


(ca. 1913)* - Another view of the Colorado Street Bridge shows several groups of people walking on the bridge. The original La Vista del Arroyo Hotel can be seen in the background to the right of the bridge.

Historical Notes

The site's resort history dates to 1882, when Emma C. Bangs opened the original La Vista del Arroyo Hotel, a two-story, wood-frame building, and series of small cottages. In 1919, hotel tycoon Daniel M. Linnard, associated with such elegant Pasadena hotels as the Huntington and Green, purchased La Vista del Arroyo with the vision of developing the property into an opulent resort. Linnard commissioned the noted architectural firm of Marston & Van Pelt to design a large, two-story Spanish Colonial Revival hotel to replace the original structure. Once the popularity of the Vista had been established, select guests also built bungalows on the property.*^


(1913)* - Automobiles travel east on the Colorado Street Bridge, located over the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, captured not long after it was completed. Pedestrians are seen strolling along the path on the right.


(ca. 1914)* - Looking west from the Colorado Street Bridge, located over the Arroyo Seco. There are no cars or people on the bridge. The ornate 5-lamp streetlights are clearly seen perched on top of the bridge rails.


(1920)^ - Pasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge as it appeared in 1920. The bridge’s graceful Beaux Arts arches first crossed the Arroyo Seco in 1913.

Historical Notes

Rising 144 feet above the mostly dry ravine below, the bridge earned an unfortunate nickname — Suicide Bridge — after dozens of people leaped from the structure to their deaths during the Great Depression.^


(ca. 1920)* - View of the Colorado Street Bridge, also known as the Arroyo Seco Bridge, in Pasadena. The Colorado Street Bridge was designed and built in 1913.


(ca. 1920s)* - Aerial view of traffic congestion on the Colorado Street Bridge. Cars are backed up across the bridge, and further. The cars could quite possibly be heading to the first Rose Bowl game held on January 1, 1923.


(ca. 1931)* - View of the Colorado Street Bridge, looking southeast. The new additon to the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel, on the right, was built in 1931.

Historical Notes

In 1926, the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel and resort was sold the resort to H.O. Comstock. Comstock hired architect George H. Wiemeyer to redesign the hotel and added a grand six-story addition that consisted of a central bell tower and flanking wings set at an angle. The new Vista opened in 1931 with iridescent color, entertainment, and social gaiety. In 1936, Linnard repurchased the property and hired landscape architect Verner S. Anderson to improve the hotel's grounds by designing formal gardens and adding fountains, tennis courts, and a swimming pool.*^


(1917)* - Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena looking east from the Post Office in 1917.


(1917)* - The 100-inch telescope glass being hauled up the one-way dirt toll road from Altadena to Mt. Wilson by truck in 1917.


(1917)* - The 100-inch telescope being hauled up the one-way dirt toll road from Altadena to Mt. Wilson by truck in 1917. It was boxed in and draped with an American flag. A 200-inch mirror was put in place on April 10, 1936, giving astronomers the ability to see even further into space.


(n.d.)* - Exterior view of Mt. Wilson Toll House. Sign on left reads, "Private way to entrance to toll road to Mount Wilson..."


(n.d.)* - Postcard view of the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, and the San Gabriel Valley behind it.

Historical Notes

The above view is that of the original hotel on the site, built in 1906 by General Wentworth, a Civil War veteran, and designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey in Spanish Mission Revival-style. It opened in February 1907 as the Hotel Wentworth, but closed its doors after its first season. It was purchased by Henry E. Huntington in 1911 and reopened in 1914 as The Huntington Hotel after redesign by the architect Myron Hunt. The hotel remained under Huntington's management until 1918. California's first outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool was added in 1926, when the hotel, formerly a winter resort, began opening year-round. The hotel was later owned by Stephen W. Royce, who sold it to the Sheraton Corporation in 1954. It was subsequently renamed The Huntington Sheraton.

The hotel closed in 1985 after the main building ceased to meet new earthquake codes, which had been changed due to the disastrous 1985 Mexico City earthquake. It sat vacant until it was demolished in 1988, though the bungalows remained in operation as a hotel.*^

A new building, almost exactly replicating the original, opened in March 1991 as the 383-room Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel. It was renamed The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in April 1998. In 2006 the hotel underwent renovations, changed hands, and re-opened in 2007 managed by Langham Hotels International.*^


(n.d.)* - Exterior view of the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. Guests are playing on the famous obstacle golf course in front of the hotel.


(n.d.)* - Exterior view of the ivy-covered Huntington Hotel, located at 1401 S. Oak Knoll Avenue at Wentworth Avenue, in Pasadena.

Historical Notes

The Huntington Hotel, a Mission style resort hotel "where the sunshine spends the winter", was designed by architects Myron Hunt and Charles Whittlesey and built from 1906 to 1916. The hotel is situated on 23 acres at the base of the San Gabriel Mountain foothills with 380 guestrooms, suites, and cottages. The Huntington Hotel became the Huntington Sheraton in the 1950s; it was restored to its turn-of-the-century grandeur by Ritz-Carlton in 1991, after languishing for several years due to earthquake damage; and changed hands once again in 2008, becoming The Langham, Huntington Hotel & Spa. The hotel has been a Pasadena landmark since 1907.*


(ca. 1920)* - Aerial view of the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. View also shows the hotel's immense oval shaped lawn and the many roads in front of the building.


(1920)* - Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena looking east on Colorado Blvd. from the Elks Club (on right) in 1920. View is from just east of Orange Grove Ave.


(1920)* - Cars on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena in 1920. First Trust & Savings Bank is on the right, at Raymond Avenue.


(1920)* - Another view of Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena in 1920. A streetcar carries a sign, "Woodbury Road."


(1920s)^*# - Looking east on Colorado Boulevard from Fair Oaks Avenue.

(1920s)* - Side view of the Mother Goose Pantry, a restaurant in the shape of a Mother Goose shoe, that is located at 1951 East Colorado Boulevard in the city of Pasadena. Photo shows "Mother Goose" character greeting a large crowd of children. This is the solution to the Mother Goose rhyme: "There was an old woman, who lived in a shoe; she had so many children, she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth, without any bread; she whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed." - apparently, now everyone can be fed.

(1920)* - Early view of Pasadena's Brookside Park. It shows a stream of cars coming down the hill on the right, a parking lot mid-photo, and a large grassy area, possibly an equestrian field, on the left. Several people can be seen riding horses, possibly playing in a polo match, and more horses are visible in penned-in sections between the cars on the parking lot. Homes are nestled in the hills along the background.

Historical Notes

Brookside Park is Pasadena's largest park covering over 61 acres. It contains the world-famous Rose Bowl Stadium, Brookside Golf Course, and Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, as well as several regulation baseball fields, multi-purpose fields, picnic areas, tennis courts, badminton courts, handball courts, horseshoe courts, archery, casting and lawn bowling facilities, etc., making it Pasadena's largest fully maintained park facility. Brookside Park is located at 360 North Arroyo Boulevard in the city of Pasadena.*


(1921)* - A view of the road with 3 people on the edge of the bridge looking down at Devil's Gate Dam. On the left side of the picture is another road, and some water is collected in the area.


(1922)* - Exterior front of the Raymond Theatre, with cards parked in the street. Marquee reads: "Wallace Reid in The Love Special ; Ko'vert in Hanuya The Spirit of Evil ; Buster Keaton in Hard Luck".


(1922)* - Exterior view of a bank, located at 824 Fair Oaks Boulevard on the northeast corner with Mission Street in South Pasadena. At the time this photograph was taken, First National Bank was located in the building, but Security First National Bank also occupied this building.


(1922)* - Panoramic view of Pasadena and surrounding areas, as seen from top of Echo Mountain. View also shows, Mount Lowe Observatory in the foreground.


(1920s)* - Looking from the adjacent hillside we see the road, the dam and what appears to be a lake behind the dam.


(1922)* - People are gathered to look over the road road running across the Devil's Gate Dam.


(1922)* - After crowds out-grew Pasadena's Tournament Park, architect Myron Hunt drew up plans for the construction of the Rose Bowl stadium in 1920. On January 1, 1923, USC beat Penn State, 14-3, in the first Rose Bowl game. The stadium was enlarged several times, with the south end completed in 1928.

Historical Notes

The game now known as the Rose Bowl Game was played at Tournament Park until 1922. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, the game's organizer, realized that the temporary stands were inadequate for a crowd of more than 40,000, and sought to build a better, permanent stadium.

The stadium was designed by architect Myron Hunt in 1921. His design was influenced by the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, which was built in 1914. The Arroyo Seco dry riverbed was selected as the location for the stadium.*^


(1922)* - A closer view of the Rose Bowl under construction in 1922.

Historical Notes

The Rose Bowl was under construction from 1921 to 1922. The nearby Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum also was under construction during this time and would be completed in May 1923 shortly after the Rose Bowl was completed.

The first game was a regular season contest on October 28, 1922 when Cal defeated USC 12–0. This was the only loss for USC and California finished the season undefeated. California declined the invitation to the 1923 Rose Bowl game and USC went in their place.

The stadium was dedicated officially on January 1, 1923 when USC defeated Penn State 14–3. Originally built as a horseshoe, the stadium was expanded several times over the years. The southern stands were completed in 1928, making the stadium a complete bowl. The name of the stadium was alternatively "Tournament of Roses Stadium" or "Tournament of Roses Bowl", until being settled as "Rose Bowl" before the 1923 Rose Bowl game.*^


(1925)* - Aerial view of the Rose Bowl on New Years Day, January 1, 1925. The stadium is almost full, yet crowds of people are still walking in. The football score that day was: Notre Dame, 27 vs Stanford, 10.


(Late 1920s)* - Aerial view of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, possibly during a New Year's game. Though the stadium appears to be filled to capacity, people are still trickling in, and row upon row of automobiles can be seen neatly parked in the lots. View also shows the residential homes surrounding the stadium, as well as the mountains in the background.

Historical Notes

The stadium was originally built as a horseshoe and was expanded several times over the years; the design was intended to accommodate as many patrons as possible. The southern stands were completed in 1928, making the stadium a complete bowl. For many years, the Rose Bowl had the largest football stadium capacity in the U.S., and from 1972 to 1997, the maximum seating capacity was 104,594. Current official seating capacity is 92,542.

The Rose Bowl game grew to become the "granddaddy" of all bowl games, because of its stature as the oldest of all the bowl games. The Rose Bowl stadium is a National Historic Landmark, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 27, 1987.*^


(1929)* - Mizell of Georgia Tech, at left with ball, is shown at the start of a 32-yard gallop in which he carried the ball to California's 36-yard line in the game at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. January 2, 1929. Georgia Tech's football squad were one-point victors over University of California in the Rose Bowl classic.


(1924)* - Aerial view of the second Raymond Hotel looking across the grounds at the western facade, the main entrance to the hotel. Extensive urban development can be seen in the background.

Historical Notes

Located atop Bacon Hill, renamed Raymond Hill, which lies between Pasadena and South Pasadena, the first Raymond Hotel burned down in 1895 and was replaced by a second in 1903. The architect was T. W. Parkes. In 1934 the hotel was torn down for residential development due to fallout from the Great Depression.*


(1925)^ - View of the Pacific Southwest Trust and Savings Bank Building at 234 East Colorado Boulevard, at the corner of Marengo and Colorado.


(ca. 1925)* - Exterior view of the central fire house in Pasadena. View shows groups of firemen standing next to their fire engines outside of the building.


(1929)* - Group photo of Pasadena's motorcycle policemen.


(1927)* - Exterior view of I. Magnin store located in Pasadena. Note the architectural design on the pillars and front of the building. Placques outside of building reads, "Mullen & Bluitt..."


(1927)* - Exterior view of the Athletic Club located in Pasadena. Several storefronts can be seen on both sides of the building.

Historical Notes

The Pasadena Athletic Club was located at 425 E. Green Street. The building was torn down in 1977 to make way for the Plaza Pasadena Mall.


(1927)* - Postcard view of the interior of the Pasadena Public Library on Walnut Street, in Pasadena. Writing on postcard describes view as the "main hall of the Pasadena Public Library, which has remained essentially the same since its construction." Postcard is postmarked August 19, 1969. Construction finished in 1927.


(ca. 1927)* - Exterior view of the Pasadena Public Library, located at 285 E. Walnut Street in the Civic Center. The library was designed by architects Myron Hunt and H. C. Chambers in the Spanish Colonial Revival style and was built between 1925-27. View shows several automobiles parked along Walnut Street, where the front of the building is facing south on Garfield Avenue.


(ca. 1928)* - This large building, located on the corner of Mission Street and Mound Avenue, houses the South Pasadena Council Chamber and City Clerk Treasurer, as well as South Pasadena Fire Department, Engine Company #81. The entrance to the City offices can be seen at the left of the building with an address of 1424 Mission Street; the fire department is located at the rear, at 817 Mound Ave.

(ca. 1928)* - View of Colorado Street and Garfield Avenue in Pasadena, facing west. The original Italian Renaissance Post Office is visible in the forefront on the right; formerly the only Post Office in Pasadena, it is now a branch. The main building was designed by Oscar Wenderoth and was built in 1913. Citizens Savings Bank can be seen farther back on the right, and across the street from it the Pacific Southwest Bldg. is on the left. Several automobiles and pedestrians, as well as a dog, can be seen crossing the street.

Historical Notes

In early 2012, the post office building was renamed "First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post Office Building," in honor of an Altadena resident and Tuskegee Airman. Goodall lived in Altadena from 1961 until his death in November 2010.*


(ca. 1927)* - Exterior view of Pasadena's City Hall at 100 North Garfield Avenue, in Pasadena. View shows the entrance, rotunda and walkway leading to the building. Note the architectural designs over the entrance, on the rotunda and building. Date built: 1925-27.

Historical Notes

In 1923, the people of Pasadena approved a bond measure issuing $3.5 million towards the development of a civic center. City Hall was to be the central element of this center. The San Francisco architecture firm of Bakewell and Brown designed City Hall, which has elements of both Mediterranean Revival Style and Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture. It was completed on December 27, 1927 at a cost of $1.3 million. It measures 361 feet by 242 feet, and rises 6 stories. There are over 235 rooms and passageways that cover over 170,000 square feet. The defining dome, located above the west entrance, is 26 feet tall and 54 feet in diameter. On July 28, 1980 the Civic Center District, including Pasadena City Hall, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.*^


(1929)* - Excellent view of Pasadena's City Hall before it was surrounded by buildings. Note the architectural designs on the tower. Architects: Bakewell & Brown.

(1930)* - Scenic view of Pasadena City Hall and its surrounding area, with mountains in the background. City hall is located at 100 North Garfield Avenue in Pasadena. Building on left of photo (past the tall pine tree) is the Y.W.C.A., located on the southeast corner of Marengo Avenue and Holly Street. It is a 3 story, plain, boxy building with long horizontal windows. Date built: 1920-1922. Designed by Julian Morgan in Mediterranean style.


(1929)* - Scenic night view of Pasadena and surrounding areas in the Valley, from Mount Wilson in 1929.


(1929)* - Night view of the exterior of Ralphs Grocery Store in Pasadena, built in the 1920s.

Historical Notes

Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 by George Albert Ralphs with the original store being located at Sixth and Spring Streets in Los Angeles. The company employed notable architects in designing its stores.

Click HERE to see an 1886 photo of George Ralphs standing in front of his original store in the Early LA Buildings (1800s) Section.


(1930)*- View of Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena looking east from Marengo Ave. in 1930. The Post Office is at left, and Jordan's Inc. Dry Goods at right.


(1930)* - Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena looking east from the Elks Club (near Orange Grove) in 1930.


(1930)* - Colorado Blvd. at Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena in 1930. View is toward the west.


(1930)* - View of Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena in 1930, looking west from the Maryland Hotel.


(1930s)* - View of Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena circa the 1930s. View is looking north from Colorado Blvd. toward Union Street.


(1930)* - View of Orange Grove Blvd. in Pasadena in 1930. A residential area, it is lined with pepper trees.


(ca. 1930)* - Exterior view of Van de Kamp's Bakery in the corner of a small plaza, located in Pasadena.


(1930s)* - Exterior view of the entry and court of the Pasadena Playhouse, designed by architect Elmer Grey in Spanish Colonial Revival style and built in 1924-1925.

Historical Notes

Founded in 1917 by Gilmor Brown, the Pasadena Playhouse was designed by architect Elmer Grey and the cornerstone laid May 31, 1924. In 1928 the College of Theatre Arts was incorporated with the Pasadena Playhouse Association as a non-profit institution. In 1937, the Playhouse received the honorary title 'State Theatre of California' from the California Legislature.^*

The Pasadena Playhouse has been designated as California Historical Landmark No. 887 (Click HERE to see more California Historical Landmarks in LA County).


(n.d.)^*^ - The historic Pasadena Playhouse theatre was built in 1925 in the heart of Pasadena. This sign is on Colorado Boulevard just north of the theatre.


(ca. 1930)* - Scenic view of the Colorado Street Bridge showing the length of the bridge as it curves across the ravine. Part of the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel can be seen through the arches.


(ca. 1931)* - View of the Colorado Street Bridge, looking southeast. The new additon to the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel is seen on the right.

Historical Notes


(Early 1930s)* - Photo of horseback riders in the Arroyo Seco, overlooking the Colorado Street Bridge. The Vista Del Arroyo Hotel is on the right.


(ca. 1937)* - This view of the Vista del Arroyo Hotel in Pasadena shot through the Colorado Street bridge captures a dirt path lined with Cypress trees leading through the lush arroyo.

Historical Notes

In 1943 the U.S. War Department acquired the hotel complex and converted it into the McCormack Army Hospital and offices for the U.S. Army. In 1949, the hospital was deactivated and the old hotel, under the care of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), housed a variety of Federal agencies from 1951 to 1974.

In 1981 the Vista del Arroyo was placed in the National Register of Historic Places and GSA began design work to restore the building as the southern seat of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1995, the building was renamed to honor Judge Richard H. Chambers, whose concept it was to bring a Federal courthouse to Pasadena.*^


(ca. 1932)* - Exterior view of South Pasadena Middle School, formerly known as a junior high. The attractive campus, located on the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Oak Street (both are slightly visible in the foreground), includes a number of Italian style buildings. The San Gabriel Mountains are visible in the background.

Historical Notes

In 1924, bonds were passed to make money available to purchase the site for a junior high school. The town then waited for the population to grow which would necessitate construction. In 1927, $555,000 was budgeted for erection and equipping of the junior high school.

In mid-January, 1928 the ground was broken for the Junior high and on September 10, 1928 the school officially opened.^#


(ca. 1932)* - Closer view of the South Pasadena Middle School campus, ca. 1932.


(1934)* - A Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce float in the 1934 Tournament of Roses Parade. The street is wet.

(1937)* - Rose Bowl football is the classic of all "bowl" games. Here is how grid fans from all corners of--from New York to Seattle to Miami to Los Angeles--appear from above when this annual Pasadena classic is staged. This Kopec Air photo, taken from the Goodyear airship Volunteer, piloted by Art T. Sewell, shows the capacity crowd which witnessed Washington's demise when they met Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Panthers 21 - Washingtion Huskies 0. Photo dated: January 2, 1937.

(1938)* - Crowds watch an Altadena float that features a castle and Santa Claus with his reindeer at the Rose Parade held January 1, 1938. This float won first place in its city size category. Some businesses that can be seen on the north side of Colorado Boulevard between Hudson and Lake include: Pasadena Luggage Shop and, behind the light pole on the far right, Cake Box Products (839 East Colorado Boulevard).

(1938)* - A streetcar competes with automobile traffic and litter after the Rose Parade held January 1, 1938. The Banners across the street are connected to the streetcar lines, and although one banner is for Robin Hood, the central one is for Alabama, one of the two state teams playing in the Rose Bowl later that day. The Thrifty Drug Store visible on the far left was located at 355 East Colorado Boulevard.


(1937)* - The intersection of Colorado Blvd. and Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena on October 3, 1937. View is toward the east.


(ca. 1937)* - Looking northeast towards the post office in Pasadena, located at 281 E Colorado Boulevard. Two sets of streetcar tracks are visible on the boulevard.


(1938)* - Exterior view of the Pasadena Star News newspaper office and radio station on Colorado Blvd. and Oakland Ave. Radio towers are visible on the roof of the four-story building.


(1938)*^^ - Pedestrians stroll down the sidewalk in front of the Pasadena First National Bank building, on the northeast corner of Colorado and Raymond. The city has done an excellent job preserving parts of Old Pasadena: the view today is remarkably similar (link).


(ca. 1912)* - Exterior view of Throop Hall at the California Institute of Technology.

Historical Notes

Caltech began as a vocational school founded in Pasadena in 1891 by local businessman and politician Amos G. Throop. The school was known successively as Throop University, Throop Polytechnic Institute (and Manual Training School), and Throop College of Technology, before acquiring its current name in 1920. The vocational school was disbanded and the preparatory program was split off to form an independent Polytechnic School in 1907.*^


(ca. 1930)* - Graduation ceremonies held at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena. Graduating students are sitting in the front (middle), surrounded by family and friends.

Historical Notes

In 1910, Throop moved to its current site. Arther Fleming donated the land for the permanent campus site. Theodore Roosevelt delivered an address at Throop Institute on March 21, 1911, and he declared:

“I want to see institutions like Throop turn out perhaps ninety-nine of every hundred students as men who are to do given pieces of industrial work better than any one else can do them; I want to see those men do the kind of work that is now being done on the Panama Canal and on the great irrigation projects in the interior of this country—and the one-hundredth man I want to see with the kind of cultural scientific training that will make him and his fellows the matrix out of which you can occasionally develop a man like your great astronomer, George Ellery Hale.” *^


(1930s)* - Exterior view of Throop Hall at the California Institute of Technology. Designed by Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey, it was built in 1912.

Historical Notes

Although founded as a preparatory and vocational school by Amos G. Throop in 1891, the college attracted influential scientists such as George Ellery Hale, Arthur Amos Noyes, and Robert Andrews Millikan in the early 20th century. The vocational and preparatory schools were disbanded and spun off in 1910, and the college assumed its present name in 1921.*^


(1930s)* - The large building on the right is the Optical Shop in which a 200-inch disc of pyrex glass was ground and polished preparatory to being installed in the Observatory on Palomar Mountain in San Diego County.

Historical Notes

At a time when scientific research in the United States was still in its infancy, George Ellery Hale, a solar astronomer from the University of Chicago, founded the Mount Wilson Observatory in 1904. He joined Throop's board of trustees in 1907, and soon began developing it and the whole of Pasadena into a major scientific and cultural destination.*^


(1932)^*^ - Richard Tolman of Cal Tech stands next to Albert Einstein in 1932. Einstein came for a visit because he was interested in Cal Tech's work.

Historical Notes

Albert Einstein arrived on the Caltech campus for the first time in 1931 to polish up his Theory of General Relativity, and he returned to Caltech subsequently as a visiting professor in 1932 and 1933.

Since 2000, the Einstein Papers Project has been located at Caltech. The project was established in 1986 to assemble, preserve, translate, and publish papers selected from the literary estate of Albert Einstein and from other collections.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of the Astro-Physics Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Historical Notes

Since 1923, Caltech faculty and alumni have garnered 32 Nobel Prizes and five Crafoord Prizes.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of Arms Hall (left) and Mudd Hall (right), Geology studies, at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena on May 5, 1939. They are located on the south side of the quad.

Historical Notes

In 1910, a bill was introduced in the California Legislature calling for the establishment of a publicly funded "California Institute of Technology," with an initial budget of a million dollars, ten times the budget of Throop at the time. The board of trustees offered to turn Throop over to the state, but the presidents of Stanford University and the University of California successfully lobbied to defeat the bill, which allowed Throop to develop as the only scientific research-oriented education institute in southern California, public or private, until the onset of the World War II necessitated the broader development of research-based science education.

The promise of Throop attracted physical chemist Arthur Amos Noyes from MIT to develop the institution and assist in establishing it as a center for science and technology.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of High Tension Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. View shows the architectural designs over the entrance and on the building. View of entrance and facade. Architect: Goodhue and Associates. Date built: c. 1925.

Historical Notes

In the 1950s–1970s, Caltech was the home of Murray Gell-Mann and Richard Feynman, whose work was central to the establishment of the Standard Model of particle physics. Feynman was also widely known outside the physics community as an exceptional teacher and colorful, unconventional character.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of the Kerckhoff Biological Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology

Historical Notes

In addition to managing JPL, Caltech also operates the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, the Owens Valley Radio Observatory in Bishop, California, the Submillimeter Observatory and W. M. Keck Observatory at the Mauna Kea Observatory, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory at Livingston, Louisiana and Richland, Washington, and Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory in Corona del Mar, California.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of Dabney Hall of the Humanities at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Historical Notes

Caltech opened its doors to female undergraduates during the presidency of Harold Brown in 1970, and they made up 14% of the entering class. The fraction of female undergraduates has been increasing since then. In fall 2008, the freshman class was 42% female, a record for Caltech's undergraduate enrollment.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of the Biological Sciences building and Arcade Pavilion at the California Institute of Technology. View also shows the architectural designs above the entrance and around the windows of the building. West entrance of simplified Beaux Arts style laboratory building executed in poured concrete. Architect: Goodhue and Associates. Date built: ca. 1929.

Historical Notes

Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering.

Caltech was ranked 1st internationally in 2011 and 2012 by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Caltech was ranked as the best university in the world in two categories: Engineering & Technology and Physical Sciences. It was also found to have the highest faculty citation rate in the world.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of the Carnegie Seismological Institution Laboratory in Pasadena on May 4, 1939.

Historical Notes

In 2012, the Center for World University Rankings ranked Caltech fifth in the world and fourth nationally in its CWUR World University Rankings.*^


(1939)* - Exterior view of the Grace Nicholson Bazaar and Art Gallery, now the Pacific-Asia Museum. Photo is dated July 26, 1939. Mrs. Nicholson was a dealer in Oriental art and books, and this was her shop and home. Later it became the Pasadena Art Institute. This photo shows that she rented apartments, store space and assembly halls in this building.

Historical Notes

Grace Nicholson, a noted collector and authority on American Indian and Asian Art and artifacts, supervised the design of her combination gallery and museum which was completed in 1929. It has been called an outstanding example of 1920s revival architecture and is unique for its use of Chinese ornamentation. Since then it has been designated as a California Historical Landmark, No. 988, located at 46 North Los Robles Ave, Pasadena.

Click HERE to see more California Historical Landmarks in LA County.^*


(1939)* - Exterior view of War Memorial Building, located at 435 S. Fair Oaks Avenue in South Pasadena. Photo dated: March 3, 1939.

Historical Notes

The War Memorial Building, designed by Norman Foote Marsh, has served as a memorial to veterans and as a meeting place for South Pasadena's American Legion Post No. 140. In 1921, the cornerstone was laid and two years later General John J. Pershing planted a redwood tree on the grounds. The building is #2 on South Pasadena's Register of Cultural Heritage Landmarks.*


(1939)* - Exterior view of the Millard House, named "La Miniatura". It was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in a style resembling a Mayan temple, and set in a jungle-like landscape. The home was built in 1923. The view is from the gulch on May 17, 1939.


(1939)* - View of a football game, played in front of a packed stadium at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Photo dated: June 22, 1939.


(1940)* - Caption reads, "First motorists to travel over the new link are pictured at the Avenue 53 bridge. The freeway is divided in the center by a small parkway. Each side has three wide lanes for traffic. The new part runs from Avenue 40 to Orange Grove drive. The Glenarm-Fair Oaks section has been open some time." Photograph dated: July 20, 1940.


(ca. 1940s)* - Pedestrians and cars on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena circa the 1940s. View is looking north toward City Hall on Garfield Avenue.


(1941)* - View of 105 So. Fair Oaks Avenue at Green Street in Pasadena on December 24, 1941, site of a Market Basket grocery store.


(1942)* - View shows two groups of men building the railroad over the tressels. This area of the tracks is the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Railroad, crossing into Pasadena


(1947)* - View south on Lake Ave. from Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. The building on the left corner is the Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, next to it is a parking lot, and in the background, on the right, is Chapman's Famous Ice Cream shop. Several cars can be seen parked along the right side of the street.


(1949)* - View is of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, looking south from Bishops Road Bridge. The freeway is divided in the center by a small parkway. Each side has four wide lanes for traffic - though the southbound portion is not visible due to the parkway.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway, is the first freeway in the United States. It connects Los Angeles with Pasadena alongside the Arroyo Seco. Before the Parkway was built, cottonwoods filled the Arroyo Seco at Avenue 26. Originally, Indians used the Arroyo as a route to the sea. In 1895, T.D. Allen of Pasadena made the first survey for a highway through the Arroyo; design work began in 1937. The freeway opened in 1940, was renamed in 1954, and the name was reverted in 2010. The length of it spans 8.162 miles.

The state legislature designated the original section, north of the Figueroa Street Viaduct as a "California Historic Parkway" in 1993; the American Society of Civil Engineers named it a National Civic Engineering Landmark in 1999; and it became a National Scenic Byway in 2002. Finally, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.*


(1949)*** - Pacific Electric Railway cars 1243 and 1211 head eastbound on Colorado Boulevard at Oakland Avenue beneath banners for the 1949 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Historical Notes

The Pacific Electric Railway route consisted of travelling on Colorado Boulevard to Lake Avenue, then south to merge onto Oak Knoll where it ran further south to Huntington Drive and then west, on its way to the PE building at 6th and Main Streets in Los Angeles.***


(1950)* - A crowd of passengers wait to board the Pacific Electric Red Car No. 1148 at 6th and Main, going to Pasadena via Oak Knoll. A man carries a large package labeled "rush" and "fragile".

Historical Notes

The Red Car trolley line to Pasadena made its last run in 1950. The caption for the Oct. 3, 1950 photo read: "Its days are numbered. After Sunday, no more P.E. Oak Knoll Red Cars will rumble from Sixth and Main (above) to Pasadena".*


(1950)*^^ - A Pacific Electric street car turns onto Colorado from Lake, on the last day of the line’s operation in Pasadena, October 7, 1950.

(1951)* - Construction of the Pasadena Pioneers Bridge, also known as the Colorado Freeway Bridge, is underway directly north of the Colorado Street Bridge, seen on the right. The majestic Vista del Arroyo Hotel is visible in the background on the right. A portion of the photograph caption reads, "The mid-section of the new bridge will be 93 1/2 feet wide. Thirty-two thousand cubic yards of concrete will be poured into the bridge.

Historical Notes


(1953)* - Another view showing the almost completed new Pasadena Pioneer Bridge next to the Old Colorado Street Bridge.

Historical Notes

A plaque placed on Orange Grove overlooking the Ventura Freeway reads, "Pasadena Pioneer Bridge erected by the California Commission and the Division of Highways of the Department of Public Works, named by resolution of the 1953 state legislature and dedicated to all Pasadena pioneers especially the twenty seven who founded this city near this spot on January 27, 1874 dedicated October 8, 1953 by the City of Pasadena and a committee of citizens grateful for our illustrious past and committed to a more glorious future."*


(1954)* - View is looking east on Colorado Boulevard from Fair Oaks in Pasadena. J.J. Newberry's can be seen on the left side of the street. On the other side of the street is the still popular dive bar, Freddie's 35er.


(1989)* - Gil's Grill, a small street corner carry-out restaurant located at Colorado and Fair Oaks Boulevards.


(1987)* - It looks empty here, but the Rose Bowl is anything but on New Year's Day, when 100,000-plus fans rock the stadium.

* * * * *

For Other Historical Early Views click one of the following:

Hollywood (1850 - 1920)	San Fernando Valley	U.C.L.A .	Santa Monica
Hollywood (1920 +)	Early Plaza of LA	U.S.C.	Pasadena
LA Historical Landmarks	San Fernando Mission	Amusement Parks	Baseball in Early LA

See Our Newest Sections:

Early Views of San Pedro and Wilmington	Early Views of Mt. Lowe Railway
Aviation in Early Los Angeles	Early Views of the Hollywood Bowl

For more Los Angeles Historical Early Views click one of the following:

Early LA City Views (1800s)	Early LA City Views (1900 - 1925)	Early LA City Views (1925 +)
Early LA Buildings (1800s)	Early LA Buildings (1900 - 1925)	Early LA Buildings (1925 +)

To see how Water and Electricity shaped the history of Los Angeles click one of the following:

Water:

Water in Early LA	'Mother Ditch'	William Mulholland	Construction of LA Aqueduct	LA Aqueduct Opening
Municipal Ownership	MWD	Colorado Aqueduct	Early Water Reservoirs	2nd LA Aqueduct

Power:

First Electricity in LA	Electricity on the Aqueduct	Ezra Scattergood	Hoover Dam	St. Francis Dam
Power Generation	Power Transmission	Sub-Stations	Distribution	Street Lights