Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Early Views of Pasadena

A City in Transition

Colorado Street Bridge

The Early Years 1913 to the 1920s

When the Colorado Street Bridge opened to traffic on December 13, 1913, it permanently altered Pasadena’s geography. For decades, travelers had descended steep dirt roads to the wooden Scoville Bridge at the bottom of the Arroyo Seco, then climbed the opposite bank through Eagle Rock Pass. The route was slow, muddy in winter, and increasingly inadequate for a growing city.

By the early twentieth century, Pasadena’s population and automobile ownership were rising rapidly. Civic leaders recognized that the arroyo was no longer a picturesque boundary but a transportation barrier. After years of discussion, the city approved funding for a permanent reinforced concrete span at Colorado Street. The contract was awarded to the nationally respected engineering firm of Waddell and Harrington of Kansas City.

The completed bridge stretched 1,467.5 feet across the chasm and rose approximately 150 feet above the arroyo floor. Its eleven open spandrel arches created strength without mass, while decorative Beaux Arts railings and five globe streetlights reflected the ideals of the City Beautiful movement. Infrastructure, in this vision, was meant to inspire as well as function.

From the day it opened, the bridge was more than a crossing. It announced that Pasadena had embraced modern engineering and the automobile age. This section traces its formative years, from construction in 1912 and 1913 through its establishment as a regional landmark in the 1920s.

Historical Notes

With eleven arches spanning the arroyo, the bridge was hailed as one of the highest concrete structures of its kind in the world at the time of completion. Its open spandrel design reduced weight while preserving strength, allowing it to appear light despite its massive scale.

In later years, particularly during the Great Depression, the bridge gained a tragic reputation after a number of suicides occurred from its height. That chapter lies beyond this early period, but it remains part of the structure’s complex legacy.

Historical Notes

Construction began in July 1912 and continued for roughly eighteen months. Between forty and one hundred men worked on the project at any given time. More than eleven thousand cubic yards of concrete were poured using aggregate taken directly from the arroyo, reinforced by approximately six hundred tons of steel.

For a brief period, the wooden Scoville Bridge and the rising concrete arches stood together. The scene captured a turning point in Pasadena’s transition from nineteenth century frontier town to modern city.

Historical Notes

Temporary wooden falsework supported each arch as it was poured in place. Workers balanced on scaffolding high above the ravine, often exposed to heat, wind, and limited safety protections compared with modern standards.

Their precision was critical. Each arch had to align perfectly across the wide span so that the completed structure would distribute its load evenly and remain stable for generations.

Historical Notes

Before 1913, wagons and early automobiles descended into the arroyo to cross the wooden bridge below. The climb up the opposite side was steep and frequently rutted.

The new elevated crossing eliminated this obstacle and dramatically shortened travel time between Pasadena and communities to the west. It immediately encouraged residential development beyond the arroyo.

Historical Notes

Each of the eleven arches was formed and poured on site, an ambitious undertaking for its time. The open spandrel system allowed material to be placed only where structurally necessary, reducing weight while maintaining rigidity.

The final cost approached two hundred forty thousand dollars, a substantial municipal investment that reflected confidence in Pasadena’s long term growth.

Historical Notes

In January 1914, heavy storms caused severe flooding throughout the region. The wooden Scoville Bridge was swept away and carried downstream into the Los Angeles River.

The survival of the new reinforced concrete span during this flood confirmed the wisdom of building a permanent and resilient structure.

Historical Notes

The decorative railings and lamp standards reflected early twentieth century civic ambition. Public works were designed to uplift the spirit as well as serve transportation needs.

From the beginning, the bridge was meant to be experienced. Wide sidewalks allowed pedestrians to pause and take in expansive views of the arroyo and surrounding hills.

Historical Notes

This view shows the bridge just before completion, when the concrete arches were finished but surrounding roadway improvements were still underway. At this stage, the structure already carried its full visual weight across the arroyo, even as grading and approach work continued.

The nearby houses illustrate how closely Pasadena’s residential neighborhoods bordered the arroyo. Once the bridge opened, access to these hillside areas improved dramatically, reinforcing the bridge’s immediate impact on local development.

Historical Notes

The bridge quickly became part of major regional routes and later carried U.S. Route 66 before traffic shifted to the Arroyo Seco Parkway in 1940.

Although only two lanes wide, it accommodated growing traffic throughout the 1910s and 1920s, serving commuters, visitors, and those attending civic events.

Historical Notes

The La Vista del Arroyo resort overlooked the bridge and benefited from improved access. Established in the 1880s and expanded in the 1920s, it reinforced Pasadena’s reputation as a winter destination for visitors from across the nation.

Together, the bridge and the resort framed the arroyo as both a natural landscape and a cultivated civic setting.

Historical Notes

Only two lanes wide, the bridge was considered inadequate as early as the 1930s. The bridge remained part of Route 66 until the 1940 completion of the Arroyo Seco Parkway. After the route moved to the Arroyo Seco Parkway, Colorado continued to be signed as Alternate 66 until 1964.

Historical Notes

Shortly after opening, residents crossed the bridge simply to experience it. Early automobiles shared the roadway with pedestrians who paused along the sidewalks to admire sweeping views of the Arroyo Seco.

The bridge quickly became both a transportation corridor and a destination. Its height and elegant arches made it one of Pasadena’s most talked about civic improvements.

Historical Notes

Newspapers praised the bridge as a triumph of engineering and civic pride. Photographs of its sweeping arches circulated widely in print and promotional materials.

The structure quickly became one of the most recognizable images associated with Pasadena.

Historical Notes

The Scoville Bridge survived until the flood of 1914, when the trestle was carried all the way down the Arroyo Seco and into the Los Angeles River.

Historical Notes

By the mid 1910s, the bridge had settled into daily use. Horse drawn vehicles, early motorcars, and pedestrians all relied on its elevated crossing.

Its concrete deck and steel reinforced arches required far less maintenance than the wooden structures it replaced, reinforcing public confidence in modern engineering.

Historical Notes

By 1920, the bridge was firmly established as a defining Pasadena landmark. Increasing automobile ownership placed steady demand on the two lane roadway.

The structure’s alternate name, Arroyo Seco Bridge, reflected its geographic identity as the principal crossing of the deep natural ravine that shaped Pasadena’s development.

Historical Notes

Early approach roads were vulnerable to erosion and landslides, especially during heavy winter storms. While the bridge itself was engineered for strength, surrounding terrain required ongoing grading and maintenance.

The later construction of the expanded Vista del Arroyo complex in the 1920s would further reshape this hillside landscape overlooking the bridge.

Historical Notes

By the 1920s, the bridge had become a frequent subject of postcards. Its sweeping arches framed against the San Gabriel Mountains symbolized Pasadena’s combination of natural beauty and civic ambition.

These images circulated nationally, reinforcing the city’s identity as a modern yet picturesque destination.

Historical Notes

The Colorado Street Bridge was soon joined by additional crossings of the Arroyo Seco, including the nearby Linda Vista Bridge. Together, they transformed what had once been a barrier into a connected transportation corridor.

Multiple spans across the arroyo encouraged residential expansion and strengthened links between Pasadena and surrounding communities.

Historical Notes

Automobiles lined the narrow roadway, reflecting the rapid growth of car ownership during the 1920s. The bridge often served as a primary approach to civic events, including early Rose Bowl games beginning in 1923.

Traffic congestion in this era foreshadowed later debates about widening, replacement, and long term capacity, issues that would shape the bridge’s future.

Historical Notes

The car seen above appears to be a 1920 Milburn Electric.

People liked them because in many ways early electric cars outperformed their gas competitors. Electric cars didn’t have the smell, noise, or vibration found in steam or gasoline cars. They were easier to operate, lacked a manual crank to start, and didn’t require the same difficult-to-change gear system as gas cars.

Electric cars became extremely popular in cities, especially with upper-class women who disliked the noisy and smelly attributes of gasoline-powered cars.
Like today, one of the challenges for early electric car owners was where to charge them.  By 1910 owners could install their own charging stations on their property, and an increasing number of car-repair shops popped up that allowed electric cars to charge overnight.

The production of electric cars peaked in 1912. And while at the turn of the century electric cars had made up a good proportion of the market, advances in gasoline-powered vehicles meant that electric cars owned a smaller and smaller market share as time went on.

When Henry Ford introduced the mass-produced and gas-powered Model T in 1908, it symbolized a death blow to the electric car. By 1912, a gasoline car cost only $650 while the average electric roadster sold for $1,750. In 1912 Charles Kettering also invented the first electric automobile starer. Effectively eliminating the hand crank, Kettering’s invention made the gas-powered auto even more attractive to the same drivers who had preferred electric cars.

By 1935, electric cars had all but disappeared from the road.*

Gamble House

The Gamble House in Pasadena is widely considered the finest example of American Arts and Crafts architecture. Designed in 1908 by architects Charles and Henry Greene of Greene and Greene, the home was built for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Company as a winter residence. Completed in 1909, it reflects an extraordinary level of craftsmanship, where architecture, furniture, lighting, and decorative details were conceived as one unified work.

Set on a private street overlooking the Arroyo Seco, the house blends structure, landscape, and interior design into a seamless composition. Natural materials, careful proportions, and handcrafted elements give the house a warmth and quiet dignity that continues to define its reputation today. It stands as a National Historic Landmark and one of the most celebrated homes in Los Angeles County.

Historical Notes

Completed in 1909, the Gamble House represents the highest expression of the American Arts and Crafts movement in Southern California. Designed by Charles and Henry Greene, the residence reflects a unified vision in which structure, materials, furnishings, and decorative details were conceived as a whole.

Set on Westmoreland Place overlooking the Arroyo Seco, the house blends architecture and landscape through deep overhangs, broad terraces, and carefully chosen natural materials. Its horizontal lines and handcrafted detailing establish it as one of the most important residential designs of the early twentieth century.

Historical Notes

The Gamble House was commissioned in 1908 by David Berry Gamble and his wife Mary Huggins Gamble of Cincinnati, Ohio. David Gamble, a second generation member of the Procter and Gamble Company, had retired in 1895. After spending several winters in Pasadena, the couple decided in 1907 to build a permanent seasonal residence.

In June 1907, they purchased a lot on the short and private Westmoreland Place, choosing it over the more fashionable South Orange Grove Avenue, then known as Millionaires Row. Construction began soon after, with the Greene brothers closely supervising the work to ensure exceptional craftsmanship in every detail.

Historical Notes

David and Mary Gamble lived in the house until their deaths in 1923 and 1929. After the death of Mary’s sister Julia in 1944, Cecil Huggins Gamble and his wife Louise Gibbs Gamble moved into the home. At one point they considered selling it, but changed their minds when potential buyers discussed painting the original teak and mahogany woodwork white.

Recognizing the architectural importance of the house, the Gamble family preserved it until 1966, when it was deeded to the City of Pasadena in partnership with the University of Southern California School of Architecture. This agreement ensured its long term protection and continued educational use.

Historical Notes

The interior showcases a masterful use of wood, including teak, maple, oak, Port Orford cedar, and mahogany. These woods are arranged in sequences that highlight differences in color, tone, and grain. Nearly every visible element, from built in furniture to lighting fixtures and hardware, was custom designed to complement the architecture.

Although the floor plan is organized around a central hall and follows a traditional layout, the low ceilings, deep overhangs, and filtered natural light create an intimate and harmonious atmosphere. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977, recognizing its national importance in American architectural history.

Historical Notes

Today, the Gamble House operates as a public museum offering guided tours. Each year, two fifth year architecture students from the University of Southern California are selected to live in the home as part of its stewardship program. In 2008, it was named one of the top ten houses in Los Angeles in a Los Angeles Times survey of architectural experts.

The house also reached a wider audience in 1985 when it was used as the exterior of Dr. Emmett Brown’s home in the film Back to the Future, introducing its distinctive design to a new generation while reinforcing its place in Southern California cultural history.

Merritt Mansion

Also known as Villa Merritt Ollivier
Later Ambassador Hall

The Hulett C. Merritt House is one of the grandest early twentieth century estates built along South Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. Constructed between 1905 and 1908, the mansion reflected both the immense wealth of its owner and the prestige of what became known as Millionaires Row. With its commanding hilltop setting, formal grounds, and richly detailed interiors, the residence symbolized Pasadena’s rise as a winter haven for America’s industrial elite.

Designed in an elaborate Mediterranean and Beaux Arts inspired style, the house combined European formality with the scale and craftsmanship expected of Pasadena’s most prominent residents. Over time, the estate evolved from a private mansion to a college landmark and today remains one of the most recognizable historic properties in the city.

Historical Notes

The Hulett C. Merritt House was built between 1905 and 1908 at a reported cost of approximately 1.1 million dollars, an extraordinary sum for its time. The property occupied four acres in Pasadena’s most exclusive residential district along South Orange Grove Boulevard.

Hulett C. Merritt made his fortune in the railway supply and steel industries, including large scale manufacturing interests in the Midwest. By the early twentieth century, he was regarded as one of Pasadena’s wealthiest and most influential citizens.

The scale of the residence, its elevated position, and its carefully planned landscaping reflected the social prominence of its owner. South Orange Grove Boulevard became widely known as Millionaires Row, home to a number of substantial estates built by business leaders and industrialists who chose Pasadena as their winter residence.

The estate was later referred to as Villa Merritt Ollivier. In the 1950s, the mansion appeared in the opening scenes of the television series The Millionaire, further increasing its public recognition.

Historical Notes

The interior of the Merritt House displayed exceptional craftsmanship and attention to detail. Extensive wood paneling, substantial ceiling beams, and custom millwork gave the rooms both warmth and dignity.

Large reception rooms were designed for formal entertaining, reflecting the social expectations of Pasadena’s upper class during this period. The balance of classical design and finely crafted materials created an atmosphere of refinement consistent with one of the city’s most prestigious estates.

The grounds of the Merritt estate were carefully designed to complement the scale and formality of the mansion. The sunken garden, with its fountains, pergola, and symmetrical layout, reflected European landscape traditions adapted to Southern California’s climate.

Large estates along South Orange Grove Boulevard were intended to impress both guests and passersby. Broad lawns, mature trees, and formal garden spaces reinforced the image of stability, wealth, and permanence.

Decades later, when the property became part of Ambassador College, formal gardens continued to play a central role in the campus design. The preservation of landscaped spaces helped maintain the estate’s historic character even as its use changed.

Historical Notes

This image captures the estate during the height of its residential use. By the early 1920s, the automobile had become both a practical necessity and a visible symbol of prosperity. The presence of a 1921 Ford Model T illustrates how even the wealthiest households embraced the rapidly changing technology of the era.

Following Hulett C. Merritt’s death, the estate remained in family ownership until 1956. That year it was purchased by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of Ambassador College, because the property adjoined the college campus.

The mansion was renamed Ambassador Hall. Terrace Drive was closed, and the address was redesignated as 100 South Orange Grove Boulevard. In the 1960s, Ambassador College constructed two modern classroom buildings flanking the historic mansion. A formal Italian style garden and central plaza unified the three structures into a cohesive academic center.

Ambassador College closed in 1997. After years of vacancy, the mansion and surrounding grounds were restored and are now operated as an event venue known as Ambassador Mansions and Gardens, preserving one of Pasadena’s most significant historic estates for continued public use.

Pasadena Post Office

Historical Notes

The Post Office Building is still standing today.

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.*^

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.*

Historical Notes

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.*^

Historical Notes

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.*

Historical Notes

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 1989, though the bungalows remained in operation as a hotel.*^

Historical Notes

From Jan. 9 through 12, 1949, snow fell in Pasadena, Los Angeles and Southern California.  In a Jan. 10, 1999, Los Angeles Times article, columnist Cecilia Rasmussen wrote:

“On Jan. 10, 1949, in the middle of the worst housing shortage in Los Angeles history, more than half an inch of snow covered the Civic Center. The San Fernando Valley was pelted with the unfamiliar white stuff for three days, accumulating almost a foot. The Rose Bowl was transformed into “a dishpan full of milk,” by one account. An Alhambra hardware store put up a sign that said, “Snow Plows for Rent–Hurry!” A snowman appeared in Eagle Rock, wearing a sombrero, and the city of Reno, Nev., sent L.A. a snow shovel.

In a semitropical climate where January sometimes feels like June, palm-lined boulevards were transformed into winter wonderlands. Altadena residents turned their evergreen-lined Christmas Tree Lane on snow-swaddled Santa Rosa Avenue into a miniature ski run, and golfers swapped nine irons for snow skis…" ^^*

Historical Notes

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.*^

Historical Notes

In 1905, railroad and real estate magnate Henry Huntington commissioned an engineer E.S.Code to translate his own simple sketch of what he wanted into a buildable design. By 1908, when he asked the distinguished Los Angeles architect Myron Hunt to take the project forward, he was already being influenced by the taste of his uncle’s widow, Arabella Huntington, whom he would marry in 1913. Retaining many of the features of the original plans, Hunt’s design subtly raised the game, removing Code’s neo-Palladian mannerisms, and restricting exterior classical ornament to the main compositions of the north and south fronts. To these he added a small porte cochere for the main entry, and the large peristylar loggia on the east, which to this day remains the building’s most distinguished architectural feature.^

Historical Notes

As a landowner and businessman, Henry Edwards Huntington, (1850–1927), played a major role in the growth of southern California. Huntington was born in 1850, in Oneonta, New York, and was the nephew and heir of Collis P. Huntington, (1821–1900), one of the famous "Big Four" railroad tycoons of 19th century California history. In 1892, Huntington relocated to San Francisco with his first wife, Mary Alice Prentice, and their four children. He divorced Mary Alice Prentice in 1906, and in 1913, married his uncle's widow, Arabella Huntington, (1851–1924), relocating from the financial and political center of northern California, San Francisco, to the state's newer southern major metropolis, Los Angeles. He purchased a property of more than 500 acres that was then known as the "San Marino Ranch", and went on to purchase other large tracts of land in the Pasadena and Los Angeles areas of Los Angeles County for urban and suburban development.*^

Historical Notes

As president of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, the regional streetcar/public transit system for the Los Angeles metropolitan area and southern California and also of the Los Angeles Railway Company, (later the Southern California Railway), Huntington spearheaded urban and regional transportation efforts to link together far-flung communities, supporting growth of those communities as well as promoting commerce, recreation, and tourism. He was one of the founders of the City of San Marino, incorporated in 1913.*^

Historical Notes

The Huntington Mansion originally came in at 55,000 square feet.  The south façade and terrace reflects Italian and Spanish Renaissance traditions of country house architecture, and the north façade is more in the French tradition.  As a whole, the house is a classic exercise in the emerging Mediterranean style of early-20th-century Californian architecture.^

Historical Notes

Henry Huntington's superintendent, William Hertrich, was instrumental in developing the various plant collections that comprise the foundation of the Botanical Gardens. Together, they molded the working ranch into a botanical collection of rare and exotic plants. They searched local nurseries and visited other plant collectors in the area to find mature and unique specimens. Mr. Huntington imported plants from many parts of the world to experiment with their cultivation in Southern California.^

Historical Notes

The garden was completed in 1912 and opened to the public in 1928. It features the drum or moon bridge, a large bell, the authentic ceremonial teahouse Seifu-an (the Arbor of Pure Breeze), a fully furnished Japanese house, koi-filled ponds, the Zen Garden, and the bonsai collections with hundreds of trees.*^

Historical Notes

The Lily Ponds were heated at the time to maintain the giant-leafed Amazon water lily during the relatively cool Southern California winters. Huntington and Hertrich also worked together on the Palm, Desert, and Japanese gardens and planned the North Vista and the landscaping around the mansion.

Today, forty gardeners, a curatorial staff of seven, and more than 100 volunteers maintain the botanical collections.^

Historical Notes

The Huntington Art Gallery, originally Henry and Arabella’s home, was designed by Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey. It was constructed from 1909 to 1911 and comprises 55,000 square feet. A 2008 renovation and adaptive reuse was led by Earl Corp. and Architectural Resources Group.

Historical Notes

Huntington's interest in art was influenced in large part by his second wife, Arabella Huntington, (1851–1924), and with art experts to guide him, he benefited from a post-World War I European market that was "ready to sell almost anything". Before his death in 1927, Huntington amassed "far and away the greatest group of 18th-century British portraits ever assembled by any one man". In accordance with Huntington's will, the collection, then worth $50 million, was opened to the public in 1928.*^

Historical Notes

In addition to the library, the institution houses an extensive art collection with a focus in 18th and 19th-century European art and 17th to mid-20th-century American art. The property also includes approximately 120 acres of specialized botanical landscaped gardens, most notably the "Japanese Garden", the "Desert Garden", and the "Chinese Garden" (Liu Fang Yuan).*^

Historical Notes

The building was constructed in 1920, at which time the Library was transferred from New York to San Marino. It is now being used extensively by scholars and is also serving the public through exhibitions of rare books and manuscripts from the collections.

Historical Notes

The Library building was designed in 1920, by the southern California architect Myron Hunt in the Mediterranean Revival style. Hunt's previous commissions for Mr. and Mrs. Huntington included the Huntington's residence in San Marino in 1909, and the Huntington Hotel in 1914.*^

Historical Notes

Today, the library contains a substantial collection of rare books and manuscripts, concentrated in the fields of British and American history, literature, art, and the history of science. Spanning from the 11th century to the present, the library's holdings contain 7 million items, over 400,000 rare books, and over a million photographs, prints, and other ephemera. Highlights include one of 11 vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible known to exist, the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer ca. 1410, and letters and manuscripts by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln. It is the only library in the world with the first two quartos of Hamlet; it holds the manuscript of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, Isaac Newton's personal copy of his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica with annotations in Newton's own hand. The first seven drafts of Henry David Thoreau's Walden, John James Audubon's Birds of America, and first editions and manuscripts from authors such as Charles Bukowski, Jack London, Alexander Pope, William Blake, Mark Twain, and William Wordsworth.*^

Historical Notes

The Huntington Library is one of the world’s great independent research libraries in the fields of British and American history, literature, art, and the history of science, stretching from the 11th century to the present. Among the collections:

7 million manuscripts

430,000 rare books

275,000 reference books

875,000 prints and ephemera

774,000 photographs

Historical Notes

In the west wing of the Library building is installed the Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection, consisting of Renaissance paintings and French decorative art of the XVIII century. The Library contains original manuscripts and first and early editions of English and American literary and historical works, and incunabula (or books printed before 1501).*

Historical Notes

This structure graced Colorado Blvd from ca. 1927 to at least the mid-1940s.

Historical Notes

In the 1920s, as the automobile was becoming the default way to get around the Southland, buildings and structures in the area became more unique, often resembling the merchandise or services they hawked.  These “hey-you-can’t miss-me!” buildings (referred to as Novelty or Programmatic Architecture) were made to pull automobile drivers right off the road.

Historical Notes

The restaurant served hearty meals from the whimsical shoe that attracted patrons driving along Route 66 from the east coast to Los Angeles. Diners would be seated on the ground floor and in a dining room upstairs.

Click HERE to see more examples of Programmatic Architecture.

Historical Notes

In 1912 the City of Pasadena purchased 30 acres of land known as Sheep Corral Springs for the development of a park in the Arroyo Seco. For many years sheep had grazed in that area.

While the park was being planned and constructed, it was known as Arroyo Springs Park.^

Historical Notes

TIn 1914 Mrs. Everett Wellington Brooks, the wife of a local investment banker, donated $3,000 to build a municipal swimming pool on a portion of land within what was then known as Arroyo Springs Park. The park was then dedicated in her honor (hence "Brookside") and the plunge was added later that same year.^

Historical Notes

Originally built as a horseshoe, the Rose Bowl stadium was expanded several times over the years. The southern stands were completed in 1926, making the stadium a complete bowl. The above photo was taken prior to 1926.

Today, 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.*

Historical Notes

From 1933 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1950, the Chicago White Sox held their spring training in Brookside Park.^

(1938)# - Chicago White Sox players line up in front of a movie camera for a newsreel that would be shown in theaters. (Brookside Park, Pasadena)

Historical Notes

In 1914 Mrs. Everett Wellington Brooks, the wife of a local investment banker, donated $3,000 to build a municipal swimming pool on a portion of a park located in Arroyo Seco. The park was dedicated in her honor (hence "Brookside") and the plunge was added later that same year.^

Historical Notes

There exists an uncomfortable racial history of the Brookside Plunge.  It was a different time in Pasadena and throughout the nation, and segregation was common.

Soon after the plunge was completed, city officials announced that it would be "set aside Wednesday afternoons and evenings for the use of the Negro population of Pasadena."

By 1930 use of the pool by people of color -- by now including residents of Hispanic and Asian descent -- was limited to one weekday from 2 to 5 p.m. The weekly event was dubbed "International Day." No white people were permitted to swim on that day. The pool was drained and cleaned at the end of each International Day and by the following morning there was fresh water in it.

After protracted litigation, the practice was ended in 1947 when the pool was opened to all swimmers in Pasadena, regardless of their race..*^*

In 1989 the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center opened on the site, funded with $4.5 million from the City of Pasadena and $2 million in private donations.

(1888)^#^ – Early view of Devil’s Gate showing the Arroyo Seco at its most narrow point. 

Historical Notes

The outcropping of rugged granite cliffs offered shade in the morning and late afternoon, make it a favorite community gathering spot. Local residents would pack lunches and have family picnics here.

(ca. 1910s)*^ - The Devil's Gate at the Arroyo Seco River prior to 1920 damming. Note the "devil's profile" in the rock to the right.

Historical Notes

Above Devil's Gate, the rapids of the Arroyo Seco are so positioned so that the falls make a beating, laughing sound. In Tongva-Gabrieliño traditional narratives, this is attributed to a wager made between the river and the coyote spirit.*^

Historical Notes

In the prehistoric past, Devil’s Gate was not a gate at all but a natural dam, formed where the stalwart granite of the San Rafael Hills merged with the bajada of the San Gabriel Mountains. For a time, this dam held back a natural lake fed by mountain streams. Then one day the dam burst. Spilling over the top, rushing water exploited weaknesses in the granite and punched a narrow gap through the rocks, unleashing a flood wave downstream. The gate—and its peculiarly shaped crag—was born. #^#^

Historical Notes

Disastrous floods in 1914 and again in 1916 prompted Pasadena and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District to reverse the work of that ancient cataclysm. Between 1919 and 1920, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District erected an arched, concrete dam just upstream from the Devil’s Gate formation. #^#^

Historical Notes

The Devil’s Gate Dam was built in 1920 as part of the Arroyo Seco flood control scheme designed to tame destructive rain-driven flooding as far south as downtown Los Angeles, whose river the Arroyo feeds. Though a dam now reaches across the gorge, the water still laughs as it flows through the sluice gates, and the Devil’s face ominously remains intact.^^^

Historical Notes

Devil’s Gate Dame, completed in 1920, was the first of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District's dams.

Historical Notes

The bridge on the left is the original bridge over the site of the Devil's Gate Dam. As of 1987, there is no longer a reservoir. The site may be seen from Highway 210, north of the Arroyo Seco and south of Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Look up location of Devil's Gate.*

Historical Notes

Soon after the dam was built it filled with water.  The dam was designed for both flood control and water conservation.  It also served as the main road between La Canada and Pasadena for many years.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco watershed begins at Red Box Saddle in the Angeles National Forest near Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains. As it enters the urbanized area of the watershed, the Arroyo Seco stream flows between La Cañada Flintridge on the west and Altadena on the east. Just below Devil's Gate Dam, the stream passes underneath the Foothill Freeway. At the north end of Brookside Golf Course the stream becomes channelized into a flood control channel and proceeds southward through the golf course.*^

Historical Notes

There was a great deal of anticipation leading up to the opening of Jensen’s Raymond Theatre on April 5, 1921. But there was also a sense of amazement in the cost of the construction.  The Star News, on May 6, 1920, reported that the project was over budget, with a cost to date of $592,644. When it opened, all was forgotten, and the Pasadena Star-News exclaimed the Raymond to be “Last Word in Modern Thespian Temples". *^^*

Historical Notes

This Beaux Arts style building, originally occupied by Security National Bank and today by Comerica Bank, was constructed in 1922 by an unknown architect. The building sits at the confluence of two early alignments of Route 66, and along two Pacific Electric Red Car lines that shuttled commuters and shoppers between Los Angeles, South Pasadena and Pasadena during the bank's heyday.*

Historical Notes

This Beaux Arts style building was “remodeled” during 50s, then restored in 2000s.