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.
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Until it was washed away in 1969, the Eldorado Inn was on New York Avenue near Altadena Drive, about a quarter mile southeast from where the Nature Center is today.
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| Same location 2017. Note wooden power poles and Eucalyptus Tree left side. |
From the January 30, 1969 "Altadenan": "Twenty-two and a quarter inches of rain that fell in a nine-day period here was climaxed Saturday when torrential morning-long downpours devastated mountain areas inundating homes with flood and mudflows."
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| Red dot shows restaurant's location. Red line shows where New York Drive was rebuilt after flood. |
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| Ship on menu is a nice touch. Purely coincidental. Read more about Altadena's significant floods. |
It looks like the El Dorado Inn was southeast (not southwest) of the Nature Center. Is that right? I'm thinking it was just east of the current channel, north of Eaton Canyon Rd.
ReplyDeleteyes. When you make a right on New York extension from Altadena drive you can see part of the old street as a driveway to the house on the corner. It was the first building East of the Eaton canyon stable.
DeleteAs memory serves me I would agree with you Eric.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember any of the waiters' names?
ReplyDeleteYes; "Jackson" & Lindsay".
DeleteEmployees I remember at the Eldorado Inn. Head waiter was Lindsay... other waiters were Ike, Glover and Pat Brown.. cashier was Bernice, bartender was Al and the manager was Keith Landon. One of the hostess was Cathrine.
DeleteWhen the Eldorado first opened we had a lady who played the piano. a few years later my dad hired
Rex was the organist who sang and entertained there for many years. Roger and Margaret Lewis were my parents and the owners of the restaurant. They opened right before the holidays in 1955 and owned it until is was destroyed in the flood.
My father was a organ and singer there when it happen
ReplyDeleteI was there day that back wall to bar fell into wash and all the bottles fell into the rushing water. We were evacuating my sisters horse from Eaton stables.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the covered wagons that were a restaurant prior to the El Dorado ?
ReplyDeleteAs the owners daughter. I don't remember any covered wagon, however there were Calistoga wagon wheels in the planters along the front of the restaurant until they were stolen.... Rosie Johnson who owned Eaton Canyon stable had a real Calistoga wagon in the parking lot of the stable. we used to sit in it when we watched the horse shows.
DeleteI hear that Richard and Rosie Johnson owned the land that the Inn was built on and that they leased to the owners of the restaurant. Is that true? If so, who operated the Inn?
ReplyDeleteRichard and Rosie Johnson owned the land. There had been another restaurant on the property but it burned down. My parents Roger and Margaret Lewis built the Eldorado Inn and owned it. My dad paid for the lease of the land. After the restaurant washed out, Rosie sued the county and the city for the loss of the use of her land. I don't know what she was awarded. My parents also sued the county and city for building 7 city drains behind the restaurant (after it was built), these drains emptied into Eaton Canyon. Briefly, this is why my parents won their court suit many years later, the the reward was not enough to rebuild.
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