Photography Exhibit: Altadena, Then and Now

Don't miss this photography exhibit featuring the images of Altadena eccentric Leon Ricks. Leon documented Altadena between the 1960s and early 2000s. Twenty of his early photos are on display Feb 20 - July 20 in the gallery corridor at Webster's Community Pharmacy  (2450 N. Lake Avenue)  flanked by the same views today.  

Read Larry Wilson's Pasadena-Star News column about Ricks and the exhibit.

     In 2013 after Rick’s death, the Historical Society received 1,000 slides he had taken of Altadena intersections, buildings, streets and

Ricks in the 1960s

scenes.

     For the Webster’s exhibit, Altadena photographer and director Rod Holcomb cleaned the negatives and then returned to the sites of Ricks’ photos to record the same views today--taking special care to place telephone poles and other landmarks in exactly the same position.

     Ricks was socially awkward and had mannerisms that were eventually thought to be symptomatic of Asperger’s Syndrome. He photographed the same intersections numerous, identical times. He saved every page of the Los Angeles Times and the Pasadena Star-News, filling every room of his house to a depth of several feet.

Pacific Electric Substation #8 before restoration, 1970s

Pacific Electric Substation #8 today

     And he spent decades engrossed in reincarnation and parapsychology, especially his theory--which he called “The Pattern" - having to do with Altadena and the reincarnation of Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon.  

     Ricks was a good photographer and his views of Altadena will bring back a flood of memories for anyone who grew up here.

On Saturday March 14 from 12 to 4 p.m. Webster's Community Pharmacy will host a public reception celebrating the "Altadena Then and Now" photo exhibit mounted by the Historical Society in the store's east hallway gallery. Enjoy refreshments by Park Bench Grill. The store is at 2450 N. Lake Ave. "Everyone is invited to stop by, enjoy this fantastic exhibit of 40 photos and exchange their Altadena stories and memories," said Meredith Miller, Webster's Community Pharamacy co-owner.

Switzer Camp

(These photographs of Switzer Camp in the San Gabriels

are courtesy of a friend of Altadena Historical Society.)

Founded in 1884, Switzer Camp was the idea of Perry Switzer who lived in Pasadena and made his living as a carpenter. His arroyo rock village, one of many privately owned attractions that dotted the front range of the San Gabriel mountains, hosted outdoor enthusiasts who hiked from one lodge to the next.

Inside the lodge

In 1896 Switzer Camp was destroyed by forest fire. In 1905, when the camp was rebuilt the name was changed to Camp Losa-Dena (a combination of Los Angeles and Altadena).  It changed hands again in 1911, and was renamed Switzer-Land.  The chapel, perched precariously above the falls, was built after 1911.

The chapel, built from canyon arroyo rock, 
had a piano, bell tower and stained 
glass window. It held 200 people.

Today all that remains of Switzer Camp are the chapel's arches and the overgrown foundation of the lodge. Hikers can access the shady canyon and falls area from Angeles Crest Highway (CA 2).

View from the chapel

To see all 46 photos go to this link.

Altadena's James McFadden House

James McFadden, who founded Balboa Island and Newport Beach in the 1860s, built Villa Mara on the northwest corner of Altadena Drive and Holliston. The prairie-style estate was built in 1913 for $70,000.  

The McFadden family sold the property to "South American Doctor" Dr. and Mrs. J. S. Passeron of Buenos Aires.  It was listed in the real estate section of The Altadenan June 30 1938.  

"…Sale of the well known Jennie E. McFadden estate, a large two story semi-Colonial stucco [house] consisting of more than an acre of beautiful landscaped grounds with many rare ornamental trees and shrubs adorning the place." 

Villa Mara Today

Read more about Villa Mara

Telephone Use in Altadena Circa 1937

That mysterious building without windows on the northwest corner of Lake and Elizabeth (which is now in Pasadena) used to be the phone exchange sub-station for all phones in Altadena.  According to an article in the Tuesday, April 1, 1937 edition of The Altadena Press, "STerling-NIagara exchanges [are] all handled in this building of the Southern California Telephone Company."

The building in 1937

"Busy Lines Hum in Phone System for Community - 12,200 Instruments in Use through Exchange for Altadena District."

 All of Altadena's lines were in the STerling and NIagara districts. In 1937, the total number of phones in all of Pasadena was given at 40,941.

The building today. But what's inside?

Altadena's Kate Crane Gartz House

Adolph and Kate Crane Gartz built  a spectacular $25,000 house on the northwest corner of Mariposa and Santa Rosa in 1908.  (The house was razed in 1953. Today the property is a Girl Scout camp.)

Kate Crane Gartz was heiress to Crane Plumbing Company.

AHS has only one photo of the home's exterior so imagine our surprise when we came across the picture below on google images that shows the interior of the house.

Under the photo it says:  Drawing-room of
"The Cloister," where radical lectures are given.

Author Michele Zack tells us that Kate Crane Gartz was "a woman of progressive ideas. The Cloisters, as their home was called, became the center for political, cultural, and civic activities in the teens and continued in that capacity after Adolph's death in 1930." (Altadena: Between Wilderness and City, 2003, p. 125 ) 

Mrs. Gartz was committed to social justice and political reform. For thirty years she hosted a salon for intellectuals including Upton Sinclair, Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein and others.

Altadena Facts Circa 1930

Front page article in the December 20, 1930 issue of The Altadena Press 

Do You Know Altadena? Here are a Few Facts

By Jay V. V. Green, 

Secretary, Altadena Chamber of Commerce

• 4800 telephones
• 35 grocery, meat market stores
• 1 newspaper
• 2 banks
• 8 drug stores
• 7 florists and nurseries
• 7 restaurants
• 2 miniature golf courses
• 4 dressmakers
• 3 beauty shops
• 4 hardware stores
• 2 lumber yards
• 3 electricians
• 1 department store
• 2 plumbers
• 36 gasoline stations  
• 5 cleaners
• 2 dairies
• 3 bakeries
• 4 shoe repairs shops
• 8 barbers
• 75,000 visitors to Christmas Tree Lane