LAKE AVENUE BEGAN IN THE MISTS OF TIME
Lake Avenue began in the mists of time as a footpath connecting the flat lands of the San Gabriel Valley at one end with the Sierra Madre mountains on the other end. The Tongva people guided the Padres to the forested mountains to cut timbers for the San Gabriel Mission in 1776.
In 1838, the Mexican government gave an Indian woman Victoria Reid, the wife of settler Scotsman Hugo Reid, a portion of the vast San Gabriel Mission estate for her past service to the mission. In 1854, Reid's Indian widow sold her rancho, the 128-acre La Huerte del Cuati, to Benjamin Wilson, a trapper, trader and early area businessman, which Wilson renamed Lake Vineyard. It consisted of a ranch with a 40 acre shallow pond fed by streams of Old Mill "El Molino Viejo" Canyon and Wilson Canyon (Wilson Creek / Woodbury Creek of Washington Park). The property included Alhambra, San Marino, South Pasadena, and Pasadena--and Wilson's Lake / Kewen Lake (now San Marino's Lacey Park, the lake has been filled in) which became a swimming hole for the residents of the valley.
Lake Avenue began in the mists of time as a footpath connecting the flat lands of the San Gabriel Valley at one end with the Sierra Madre mountains on the other end. The Tongva people guided the Padres to the forested mountains to cut timbers for the San Gabriel Mission in 1776.
In 1838, the Mexican government gave an Indian woman Victoria Reid, the wife of settler Scotsman Hugo Reid, a portion of the vast San Gabriel Mission estate for her past service to the mission. In 1854, Reid's Indian widow sold her rancho, the 128-acre La Huerte del Cuati, to Benjamin Wilson, a trapper, trader and early area businessman, which Wilson renamed Lake Vineyard. It consisted of a ranch with a 40 acre shallow pond fed by streams of Old Mill "El Molino Viejo" Canyon and Wilson Canyon (Wilson Creek / Woodbury Creek of Washington Park). The property included Alhambra, San Marino, South Pasadena, and Pasadena--and Wilson's Lake / Kewen Lake (now San Marino's Lacey Park, the lake has been filled in) which became a swimming hole for the residents of the valley.
Lake Ave!...(where's the Lake??) Dry Lake Ave?!
ReplyDelete(Your photo above looks like San Marino with the Old Mill. So I assume it's Mission or Wilson's Lake in the background.)
I need to blog about local history myself, sooner or later!
I wonder if Don Benito felt Mrs. Reid screwed him in the land deal?
I was not aware of this history. Thanks for the info!
ReplyDeleteThere's very little the Pasadena PIO Emeritus isn't aware of in Pasadena & the gossip surrounding it. (scary thought!) ;)
DeleteI guess the lake had dried up, blame it to climate change lol. I wonder if someone here knows a drug treatment center in Pasadena? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDelete