HIstoric Look at Altadena's Escalon School - Yesterday and Today

The large estate at 508 Mendocino St. in Altadena has seen better days, but its future looks promising.

The house served as Escalon School beginning in 1977 when owner Luella Huggins deeded the property to the school. According to an L.A. Times article, the school enrolled students with emotional disabilities. But in June 23, 1994 after several years of scraping by on a dwindling budget, it closed.

Pasadena Star-News, June 1977:

"Banner Day - Luella A. Huggins looks on as Bill Hayford, 17, raises a flag in front of her home at 536 E. Mendocino St. in Altadena Friday. Miss Huggins was honored by neighboring Escalon School as she presented the special education school with a deed to her property. Looking on from left are Jimmy Elliot, 12; Bobby Falcone, 16, and Victor Valencia, 15. The four are students at Escalon." (photo from AHS archives)

In 1997 the Altadena Town Council voted against Head Start's attempt to expand the facility and quadruple class size in the wake of complaints from residents in surrounding historic neighborhoods. (L. A. Times, Dec. 18, 1997)

Things are looking up now.  Waldorf School purchased the facility and will open a high school campus there soon.  Stay tuned for more information as it unfolds.

Altadena Author Zane Grey Topic of Historical Society Program

SENSATIONAL LIFE OF ALTADENA AUTHOR ZANE GREY TOPIC OF PROGRAM AT ALTADENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Free, 7:30 p.m. Monday Jan. 25, 2016 event at Altadena Community Center

The sensational and occasionally salacious life of best-selling Western author and longtime Altadena resident Zane Grey will be presented at the Monday, Jan. 25 meeting of the Altadena Historical Society.

The illustrated program will be presented by Grey expert Steve Lund, a member of the Zane Grey West Society.  The 7:30 p.m. meeting will be free and open to the public, and held in the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive.

Grey’s most famous work was the Western novel “Riders of the Purple Sage.” His numerous books and magazine stories became the basis of more than 100 Hollywood films, variously starring the actors Tom Mix, Fay Wray, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Barbara Stanwyck, Randolph Scott, even Shirley Temple.

Grey and his wife and family lived in a mansion at the southeast corner of Mariposa and Marengo in Altadena, now on the National Register of Historic Places.  Grey also built a unique, pueblo-style house in East Altadena for one of his secretaries.

An inveterate sportsman and outdoorsman, Grey set world records with his deep-sea catches off Catalina Island, where he had a home.  He also was reputed to be another type of adventurer; a 2005 biography of Grey by Thomas H. Pauly published by University of Illinois Press is titled “Zane Grey: His Life, His Adventures, His Women.”

People can learn more about Altadena at the Historical Society’s newly redesigned website, and at the Society’s archives and new museum in the Community Center.  The society is open from 9 to 11 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and by appointment at (626) 797-8016.

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Altadena's Rose Parade Floats: 1906, 1916, 1928, 1931, 1938

While you enjoyed the 2016 Parade of Roses Tournament this year, with it's corporate sponsored megafloats and amazing eye-popping floral displays, you might have been surprised to find out there was a time when any foothills community of modest means could participate. 

1906 - Altadena School prize-winner

For almost seven decades, through the late 1960s, Altadena had a float entered in the parade. (Read more about how escalating costs forced Altadena out of the competition.)

1957 Entry

The grassroots appeal of Altadena's floats, marching bands, equestrians, grand marshals and boosterism typified the Rose Parade's small town charm when foothill communities were pivotal to the event.

1928 Altadena Mecca of the World
The discovery of King Tut's tomb created 
a fashion obsession around the world. Altadena
was not spared.

 1916 Man of War on a Bed of Roses

Check out the little local sailors on board.

By the late 1920's the Chamber of Commerce was involved, and the theme often served to promote the community. This float was all about boasting access to the great outdoors via Altadena.

1931 Bridal Path of the Foothills

1938 The Night Before Christmas
Students and teachers from Altadena elementary
school rode on this float.  

See the entire exhibit, Altadena in the Rose Parade, at AHS, 730 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena, CA 91001. We're open Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 9 am -1 pm and by appointment. We're staying open Saturdays, too, from 2 pm - 4 pm through January 16, 2016.

The exhibit runs through June 2016.

How Much Did a Rose Parade Float Cost in 1941?

About $800 to $1000.   Accounting for inflation, that would be equal to about $16,000 in 2015 money. (Today a float cost upwards of $250,000)

The Altadena Chamber of Commerce sponsored the 1942 float and in 1941 raised funds directly from the community.  Most people gave between $1 and $5 dollars.  The largest donation was $100.

The Chamber kept a record of who gave how much.

This is how the Chamber described the float:  

"On an oval base 24 feet long and 12 feet wide, all in solid heather, will be placed a large shield with an open center, topped by a beautiful golden eagle with seven foot wing spread.  Directly below the eagle is a gorgeous flower ribbon bearing the words, "Lest we Forget".

List of flowers:

• 2500 sprays of heather
• 500 red hot-house roses
• 7500 Delphinium and corn flowers
• 10,000 white pom-pom chrysanthemums
• 18,000 white narcissus, maiden hair fern and other greens
• 5,000 sweet pea flowers
• 5,000 soleil d'or and yellow and bronze mums
• Lily of Valley as funds allow 

 "America's Heroes"

Today, Rose Parade floats cost upwards of a quarter million dollars.  Altadena was priced out of the pageant in the late 1960s when cost climbed to around $10,000. (That would be equal to $67,000 in today's money.)

Visit AHS to see an exhibit featuring Altadena's participation in the Rose Parade during the last seven decades.  We're open Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, 9 am to 1 pm.

Our special hours are Saturdays from 2 pm to 4 pm through January 12, 2016.  That means you can come in January 2 if you're looking for something fun for all those bored house guests.