Inspired by the San Gabriels: Five Men and the Mountains

The Altadena Historical Society continues its series of public educational exhibits on people and events from Altadena's fascintating past.  

"Inspired by the San Gabriels: Five Men and the Mountains" presents the unique personalities and accomplishments of Theodore Lukens, Will Thrall, Don McLain, L.T. Gotchy and George Wharton James. The exhibit includes  their words, maps, photos and memorabilia from the 1890s through the 1950s, 

These men dedicated their lives to charting, conserving and promoting the San Gabriel Mountains they loved. This exhibit kicks off a a free reception from 2 to 4 pm on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017 and continues through October 2018. 

The public is invited to discover the stories of these five men during the regular AHS hours from 9 am to 1 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. 

Altadena Historical Society

Altadena Community Center

730 E. Altadena Dr. 
Altadena, CA 91001-2351

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Oct. 26: Raise a glass for AHS at the Mt. Lowe Brewing Company

On Thursday, October 26, The Mt. Lowe Brewing Company will donate 10% of the day’s profits to the Altadena Historical Society.  Buy yourself a craft beer between 6 and 9 pm and help AHS.(Check out the food trucks, too!)

Oct. 23: Noted biographer to discuss the life of Will Thrall, hiker, writer, conservationist, explorer

Sometimes called “Southern California’s John Muir,” Will Thrall dedicated his life to the preservation of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Thrall’s acclaimed biographer, Ronald C. Woolsey, will present a program on his life story at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23 at the Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, sponsored by the Altadena Historical Society.

Altadena's Eldorado Inn Destroyed in 1969 Flood

We've updated this post because we now have a photograph of the Eldorado Inn before it washed away in the 1969  flood.  The photo, courtesy of Mark Molander, was taken in December, 1957, the day of his parent's marriage. 

Don't mistake the little run-off channel in the bottom of the photo for Eaton Canyon wash. That's just drainage for the parking lots. You can see the Eaton Canyon arroyo behind the restaurant sign.

July 24: Learn about the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team at a free program

Dramatic rescues of  lost and injured hikers in the San Gabriel Mountains by Altadena’s renowned Mountain Rescue Team will be featured in a 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 24 program sponsored by the Altadena Historical Society.

Pacific Electric - A Brief History

This year we were pleased to have Aveson Middle School student Asher Nee intern at archives.  Asher helped us with filing, copying, scanning and other AHS tasks, while learning more about Altadena's history. What follows is a brief history he wrote about Pacific Electric.

May 13: Have a (cannon)ball at our rummage sale

The Altadena Historical Society (AHS) will sell a wide variety of de-accessioned items from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 13, in the courtyard outside the Full Circle Thrift Store.

April 24: Learn about Altadena’s connection to the family of abolitionist John Brown

Writer and artist Hope Demetriades will discuss American abolitionists and Altadena’s connection to two sons of John Brown. The famous abolitionist lead the raid on an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia n 1859 in hopes of starting a revolution to end slavery.

She will also display her original works of art that memorialize and canonize abolitionists.

The program is free and open to the public.

Monday, April 24, 2017
7:30 pm

Altadena Community Center
730 E. Altadena Drive
Altadena CA 91001

Memories about Altadena's Grocery Stores

We received so many memories from readers commenting on our January 2017 post about the closing of Ralphs, that we decided to include them here: 

Dick Bale wrote:

The store described in the blog as being on the southwest corner of Fair Oaks and Mendocino, was actually just south of Harriet. It was owned and operated by the McQuown family in the late 1930s through the ‘40s – perhaps later. Our home was just a few doors from the store and as a nine year old I liked to hang out with the man who operated the produce department. I’d help trim a crate of lettuce, pulling off any damaged leaves and rinsing the head in an outdoor sink behind the store. The McQuown’s also operated another modest grocery store on the east side of Altadena. I’m not certain but I believe it was on Altadena Drive near New York Drive or Washington St. Sometimes I’d go there with the produce man who let me ride on top of crates of vegetables in the back of his small stake truck. In the spring of 1942, when Roosevelt ordered all people of Japanese descent incarcerated, the Japanese produce manager signed everything, including his bank accounts and home, over to Mr. McQuown. When the war was over McQuown turned everything back to the returning Japanese family.

Free panel discussion on authors and cultural appropriation

NOTED AUTHORS AND ALTADENA PUBLISHER DEBATE WHETHER AUTHORS’ RACE, GENDER LIMITS WHAT THEY CAN WRITE ABOUT

A spirited talk between an Altadena publisher and three of her acclaimed authors will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday Feb. 2 at the Altadena Community Center (730 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena, California 91001) The event is open to the public free of charge.

The panel discussion will be among Naomi Hirahara, an Altadena native who is author of a mystery series set in that foothill community; Rachel M. Harper, author of 2016’s notable novel, “This Side of Providence;” Joyce Gittlin, television writer and director and author of numerous movie scripts for Disney, Paramount and 20th Century; and Colleen Dunn Bates, founder and publisher of Altadena-based Prospect Park Books.

Their talk will focus on issues raised in the play “Bee-luther-hatchee” by Thomas Gibbons, being presented at the Sierra Madre Playhouse through Feb. 18.   The discussion is sponsored and produced by the playhouse, and is hosted by the Altadena Historical Society.

The play follows a publisher, Shelita Burns, who seeks to meet a reclusive author whose “biography” of a 72-year-old black woman has won a major award.  To her profound shock, the author is not whom Shelita expected.  The play is a provocative look at cultural appropriation and who has the right to tell someone else’s story.

Hirahara, Harper, Gittlin and Bates will discuss whether an author of one sex, or race, may write as another.  Hirahara, as a Japanese-American, writes primarily about Japanese-American characters and Harper, an African-American, wrote about a Puerto Rican family in “…Providence.”

The production and public discussion programs are being made possible by a grant to the Playhouse from the Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation.

Altadena' Most Memorable Floods

Although earlier flooding had taken its toll on Altadena decades before the 1934 flood that devastated La Crescenta, it was this flood that motivated the building of new infrastructure.

The 1934 flood took out large swathes of La Crescenta and Montrose
but most of Altadena was spared.

The New York Avenue extension bridge was finished soon after the La Crescenta Valley flood. Built by the WPA, it crossed Eaton Canyon wash to connect New York Drive to Sierra Madre Drive.

Free program on Jan. 23 on famed architects’ Altadena homes

Tim Gregory

CELEBRATED ALTADENA ARCHITECTS AND THE HOMES THEY DESIGNED FOR THEIR FAMILIES

Building Biographer Tim Gregory presents free Altadena Historical Society program Monday Jan. 23 on famed architects’ Altadena homes

Today, homes designed by Altadena architects Wallace Neff, Kenneth A. Gordon, Harold Bissner, and Theodore Pletsch are much sought after. But where did the architects themselves live?

Building Biographer Tim Gregory will present capsule biographies of these, and other, famous Altadena architects and of the Altadena homes they designed for their families in a free, public program presented by the Altadena Historical Society at 7:30 p.m. Monday Jan. 23.

History of Grocery Stores in Altadena including Ralphs

Bye Bye Ralphs

Competition from the new Aldi's store on the corner of Lake and Calaveras is the likely reason that Ralphs will be closing at the end of this month. And although many of us will miss the local market with its neighborhood ambiance, history shows that Altadena's grocery stores come and go as time marches on.

Now Ralphs, the building at 2270 Lake Ave., 

constructed in the 1950s, was originally Market Basket. The
building will be vacant soon.

Photo: Leon Ricks

In 1930 Altadena boasted 35 grocery and meat market stores. Altadena Grocery Company (below) catered mostly to mansions like those along Mariposa, keeping kitchens stocked with fresh produce.

Altadena Grocery Store (Now Ms. Dragon Printing)