Avenue to the Sky - Lake Avenue, Pasadena

MINIT-MAN Automatic Car Wash, 140 N. Lake Avenue (Next to Farmers Market), SYcamore 6-2747

2011-11-11T12:00:00.001-08:00

The beautiful Beaux-Arts style Columbia School was discontinued at the end of the school year 1930-31 and the property on the North East corner of North Lake Avenue and Walnut Street was sold.

The school building was demolished and the Farmer's Market complex was built on the site and today Ralphs market is located here, the only remnant of an early shopping center complex, comparable to the still existing Farmer's Market Shopping Center located at Fairfax and 3rd in Hollywood. There were many individual shops located at the Pasadena complex, including Japanese owned and operated fresh fruit and vegetable grocers and florists who used to be a fixture of the Pasadena landscape. We sadly miss most of those businesses, but a few survive in the city such as Johnny's Sport Shop located at 1402 N. Lincoln, a walk back in time, and the Bellefontaine Nursery located at 838 S. Fair Oaks. The Japanese community has always been an important part of Pasadena history.

Recently found at a local estate, an advertising pencil for the MINIT-MAN Automatic Car Wash which was located just south of the Pasadena Farmer's Market Shopping Center.

Does anyone remember the Farmer's Market Shopping Center and/or the MINIT-MAN Automatic Car Wash? I would love to see some photographs.....

Port O'Call Gifts and Antiques, 388 South Lake Avenue, Historic "Oak Knoll" South Lake Shopping District

2011-09-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

In 1957, Mary Elizabeth Colby co-founded with her husband Port O'Call Gifts and Antiques in a tiny gray bungalow on Granite Drive in Pasadena, also soon including a larger bungalow located at 388 South Lake Avenue. The shop complex offered contemporary California gifts and crafts and European gifts and antiques, and later clothing. It was a remarkable institution which lasted from 1957 through 200?, when the property was sold and the bungalow at 388 South Lake was demolished and replaced with a modern non-descript stucco box which now houses a realtor.

I remember the buyer coming to American Express on South Lake Avenue and purchasing British Pound denominated Travelers Cheques to go on annual buying trips. The Port O'Call shop complex always had unusual treasures, both contemporary and antique, from the entire world. Such an unusual and upscale shopping experience is sorely missed on South Lake, just as Gump's Luggage, I. Magnin, Hall's Jewelers and Bullocks are missing from the once high end exclusive "Oak Knoll" South Lake Shopping District.

There are remains of Port O'Call behind the businesses on Granite and South Lake, Ghost signs showing the way to the dearly departed destination. I found a gift box from Port O'Call recently, with the tasteful Tarot Card design covering, just as with their gift bags, and containing a piece of Meissen German porcelain, a beautiful pheasant. What a nice gift!

Here is an article from the Los Angeles Times in January 19, 2008, about Mary Elizabeth Colby, co-founder of the Port O'Call chain of gift stores: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/19/local/me-colby19

What will become of bricks and mortar shopping? Will the exclusive "Oak Knoll" South Lake Shopping District ever come back? Please share your memories of shopping on Lake Avenue in Pasadena....

Presenting in Pictures - PASADENA DEPARTMENT STORES - Each Distinct in Their Chosen Architectural Loveliness

2011-08-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

This is a page from the Pasadena Independent, Wednesday, January 1, 1947, celebrating all things Pasadena. Department Stores were destinations here at that time, a place to go to shop, dine, experience.

Unfortunately, all we have left in Pasadena Department Stores are two Macy's, one in the old Bullocks Pasadena on South Lake and one in the Broadway Bunker in the Paseo, two Targets on East Colorado, and one almost dead Sears in Hastings Ranch. Small locally owned retail is certainly almost dead in Pasadena save for Berg and Crown Hardware and Vroman's, otherwise we have a ghost town on North and South Lake with retail vacancies at more than 50%! Reminds me of Jerome, Arizona, the old mining ghost town on the hill where they put cardboard ghosts in the empty shop windows. Charming.......

I do see that on North Mentor and sometimes on Colorado and sometimes on South Lake there are art installations in the vacant storefronts. Until the City of Pasadena and the diverse shopping districts figure out a way to allow Live/Work space for artisans and art galleries in these vacant retail spaces, empty space is what we will have to live with.

Small locally owned retail is unlikely to come back even in better economic times; that business model is probably headed for extinction. The restaurants like Hamburger Hamlet and Bob's Big Boy on South Lake seem to be doing o.k., also Burger Continental and bars like Magnolia. So hopefully the City of Pasadena and our business community will figure out a new model to fill up all that "haunted" space and make the urban streetscape more interesting. Hope springs eternal!

Do you remember when Mather's was on the NW corner of Marengo and Colorado, Nash's was on the NE corner of Arroyo Parkway and Colorado, Broadway was on the NW corner of Los Robles and Colorado and Sears was on the SW corner of Madison and Colorado, just west of the ornate I. Magnin which was torn down to make room for a parking lot for Sears in the late 1940's!! and then built a new building just south of the new Oak Knoll Shopping District's Bullocks?

I like that previous classy name for South Lake " The Oak Knoll Shopping District !" Now that label sounds like a million bucks! Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and the South Lake Shopping District, are you listening? Try a rebranding and then a rezoning for an Arts District, how about " The Oak Knoll Arts, Entertainment, and Shopping District?" Watch out "Playhouse District!"

Washington Blvd. Road Widening - Perhaps Now Needs to be Reversed - How About a Road Diet?

2011-07-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here you have the before and after of the 1958 Washington Blvd. street widening. looking west from the intersection of Washington Blvd. and North Los Robles Ave., which was protested against by neighbors, unsuccessfully. As you can see, part of the front yards on the south side and north side were taken, along with the street trees (ever wondered why there are no stately palms along this stretch, like there are east of Lake Avenue?) The City did go to a lot of trouble to rebuild the stone retaining walls on the north side of Washington Blvd., we have to give them credit for that.

Here you have the before and after of the 1957 Washington Blvd. street widening, which appears to be taken looking west somewhere east? of the intersection of Washington Blvd. and Navarro Ave., with the absence of retaining walls and the slope downward. Let me know if you can find the location exactly. (Update: the row of palms on either side in the distance appears to be West Washington Street west of North Lincoln Avenue, so this picture in the foreground is likely a portion of Washington Blvd. looking west from about just east of Mentone Avenue, an area erased by the building of the Foothill Freeway through this stretch.)

Since the City of Pasadena has put Cordova Street on a "Road Diet", it seems like Washington Blvd. could use also the same "Road Diet" from El Molino Ave. west to Lincoln Ave. Let's give back the front yards and parkways and make this stretch of Washington Blvd. back into Washington Street and give more room for pedestrians, bicyclists and street trees. It really would improve the feel and look of the neighborhood and slow down traffic.

There were plans by the City, at one time, to widen North Los Robles Ave., North Fair Oaks Ave., North Marengo Ave., North Fair Oaks Ave., North El Molino Ave., etc. in the interest of improving "traffic circulation." Just recently, North Lake Ave. was widened just south of Walnut Ave. to facilitate a right turn lane! Notice how North El Molino widens just north of the freeway bridge, and how North Fair Oaks widens just north of the freeway.

Our friends in Altadena would like to see North Marengo narrowed north of Woodbury, a street that receives little traffic anyway (at least from the living....the Columbarium excepted) and the street could be narrowed and the resulting land on either side given back to the property owners for reconstituted front garden traffic buffering beauty zones.

What is possible? We probably should forget about widening freeways and streets, like the money wasting San Diego Freeway/Sepulveda Pass project starting this weekend, and go back to alternative ways of getting around. Let's try to get the City of Pasadena and L.A. County in Altadena to start putting many of our local streets on a "Road Diet" to fight street obesity! See you out on our widened tree shaded sidewalks.......

1958 Demonstration Against Washington Blvd. Street Widening - 292 E. Washington Blvd.

2011-07-07T14:04:00.001-07:00

When the City of Pasadena wanted to widen Washington Blvd. west from Los Robles Ave. in 1958 to facilitate traffic flow, making the picturesque two lane country road into a four lane expressway, the residents protested having their front yards being obliterated, their street trees being pulled out and cars racing along a wide Washington Blvd.

The residents took it to the Board of Directors (City Council) at City Hall and also demonstrated on the street. This picture was taken by the Pasadena Star News of the housewives demonstrating against the street widening in front of the house located at 292 E. Washington Blvd., which would end up losing most of its front yard.

These housewife protestors look like they're having fund in the midst of a serious citizen uprising, their husbands, however, put on a stern face at City Hall. I'll have to find the additional photos I have of this neighborhood tempest and add them later.

So we haven't changed all that much and with the pending General Plan Survey I hope you'll join me in voting for less density and less congestion. I think we could all do with less roads and cars, and much more open/green space and trees. Maybe we need another good neighborhood protest. Let's hear it for more picturesque and less asphalt!

Acacia Inn of Pasadena, 811 East Washington Blvd.

2011-06-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Acacia Inn of Pasadena - An Exclusive Residence for the Retired, 811 East Washington Blvd., SYcamore 4-1131, All Private Rooms with Baths and Patios, Delicious Meals, Daily Maid Service, Nurse for Emergencies, Monthly Rates - BROCHURE ON REQUEST

This postcard is from about 1958, notice the brilliant blue sky, and the note on the back "Where I live, Oats." The Acacia Inn is now the Arbor Vista and they unfortunately destroyed their historic neon sign recently, although they did use the original frame for their new sign.

Lake Washington Village looked almost like a resort town in the old photographs. I like the copy "An Exclusive Residence for the Retired", and it's true that a movie theater, drug store, soda fountain, dime store, bank, beauty parlor, restaurant, park with tennnis courts and other amenities were only 5 minutes or less by foot away.

Hopefully, in our old age we will have things so nice and easy.

By the way, take a look at Cafe Pasadena's Pasadena History posts. Then and now, they're great: http://cafepasadena.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/pasadena-history-corner/

White House Country Store, 188 S. Lake Avenue, Pasadena, Oak Knoll Shopping District

2011-05-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

This postcard is probably from the late 1930's, when Lake Avenue south of Colorado was known as the Oak Knoll Shopping District and was served by the Pacific Electric Streetcars.

As you probably know, Lake Avenue turns into Oak Knoll Avenue south of California Boulevard, with a few shops still south of California, such as the very old French Laundry and the former Jurgensens Market, now Fresh and Easy. The stretch north of California to about Green Street was made up of residential dwellings, many converted by the 1930's into retail establishments, similar to what is seen on North Lake north of the freeway today going up into Altadena.

South Lake remained nearly only residential structures, with restaurants and retail in some, until 1947 when the fashionable Bullocks Department Store was built just south of Del Mar. With the opening of Bullocks, more and more purpose built retail came to South Lake, such as I. Magnin moving from their beautiful Beaux Arts Style Colorado and Madison shop location to a new Streamline Moderne Style building just south of Bullocks, this in 1949.

Still, South Lake had many old homes hosting retail and dining up until the 1960's, when the Union Bank project between Cordova and Del Mar was built, spelling the demise of the charming Oak Knoll Shopping District and ushering in the upscale South Lake Shopping District.

A Japanese Florist managed to survive in a Victorian Style home just south of Wells Fargo Bank up until the 1990's, when it was demolished and replaced with a modern building. The Magnolia Lounge Speakeasy Bar just south of the Mobil Station, 492 South Lake, is located in a bungalow which has survived, well worth a visit. Another large home survives in the middle of the block on the east side at 142 South Lake, the present home of the Williams-Sonoma store.

The White House Country Store looks so inviting with its old wagons in front and promise of antiques. What antiques may have been available in 1939? Perhaps a Wells Fargo strongbox or an 1849 gold panning dish? One can only imagine.

John R. MacDonald, President, Lake Washington Association, 1958

2011-04-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, Lake Washington Village was a happening place. The time period from the 1920's through the 1960's found the area with a very active and engaged business association, which organized many events. The trouble brewing in Europe from the 1930's and its aftermath post 1945 brought many European immigrants to the area, particularly from Germany, as was also the case in Montrose and La Crescenta.

Many German immigrants were learned craftsman and left their mark on the homes in the area. Also, many were involved with the Hollywood film studios in one capacity or another. The previous owner of my home was an accountant for Pathe Studios in Hollywood.

Many events were put on by the Lake Washington Business Association during these years, such as " Moonlight Madness " sales, cooking classes at the Washington Theatre, and evening street dance and music festivals featuring German Oompah-pah music and polka dancing.

This 1950's desk lamp was found at a local antique mall, with an engraved brass plaque dedicated to " John R. MacDonald, President, Lake Washington Association, 1958 ." Remember when they used to meet at the restaurant on Washington Blvd. just east of Lake?

Pasadena Streetcar Plan - From the January 22, 2011 Regional Transportation Forum

2011-04-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here is the map of the tentative first stage route of the proposed Pasadena Streetcar System, presented by the Pasadena Department of Transportation at the January 22, 2011 Regional Transportation Forum held in Pasadena.

Trolleys on tracks would run east on Green Street from Pasadena Avenue in Old Pasadena to Lake Avenue, eventually continuing in the next phase to Hill Street and Pasadena City College, and then turn north to Union Street and run west back to Pasadena Avenue completing the loop. There would also be a spur serving South Lake Avenue to California Boulevard, eventually in the next phase linking to CalTech.

This is no doubt the future, with an increased emphasis on public transportation and a deemphasis on cars and busses. Hopefully, when this recession is over, we can find a way to pay for this and a greater regional trolley systen which would also link up Altadena and boost tourism to our mountains from the Altadena/North Pasadena Portal.

I wrote about this previously on Avenue to the Sky on August 5, 2009.

The Marcell Inn - Altadena's Famous Speakeasy Club, 2900 Lincoln Avenue

2011-02-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

The Marcell Inn opened in 1922 on Lincoln Avenue and was very popular with the Hollywood crowd, bootleg alcohol being served along with fine French food, and all that was necessary to find the out-of-the-way location was to look for the searchlight beacon mounted on a tower on the roof of the Inn. Altadena Drive back then was called North Foothill Boulevard, and was used as a major east-west thoroughfare, so most folks could see the beacon coming from either direction without too much trouble.

The story was, during Prohibition, that if you needed to find the Altadena Sheriff, just look for his car in the parking lot of the Marcell Inn first, as usually he hung out there as his unofficial office. Apparently, he was good pals with the owner, Joe Marcell Annechini. However, the local cops weren't able to help Joe on November 12, 1923, when the Feds busted him and nine others, after showing up unexpectedly and a full house of 300 headed for the hills. The L.A. Times story doesn't say if the Altadena Sheriff got hauled in, too, but back in those days law enforcement usually gave other law enforcement a free pass. Joe posted $2000 bond and could go home.

The Marcell Inn was written up at the time in the 1930's as a great place to go and get excellent cuisine. It was also popular with the Santa Anita horse racing set when California allowed horse racing again in 1933 at the same time Prohibition was ended.

However, the Marcell Inn was just too out of the way as the Depression dragged on and it was out of business and sold in 1937. For a number of years the Mt. Lowe Military Academy used the buildings and grounds for their school, and now the grounds, the buildings being long since demolished, are the location of a community garden, with only the front gate stone columns and ornamental ironwork still surviving to be seen on West Palm Street just east of Lincoln Avenue.

Lake Pasadena Adjacent - The View from Linda Vista Avenue in the 1920's

2011-01-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

The View from Linda Vista Avenue, Circa 1929, attributed to Orrin A. White, Oil on Board, Courtesy of the Armitrading Foundation

As promised, here is another oil painting in the collection, looking north on Linda Vista Avenue towards Lake Pasadena and the San Gabriels with what I believe is Orrin White's house, located now at 1860 Linda Vista Avenue.

The above oil painting featuring the Flintridge Biltmore Hotel Hill and the San Gabriel Mountain peaks was possibly painted by Orrin A. White, a local Arroyo painter who lived just below the hotel at what was then 1205 Linda Vista Road in a Spanish Hacienda designed by noted local architect Garret Van Pelt. The artist's signature may be hidden by the frame, which I have not yet removed from the painting, but the style seems to be similar to White's and the structure featured seems to he his house, at least this is the oldest remaining house in the area, built in 1921. http://www.zillow.com/homes/1860-linda-vista-avenue,-pasadena,-ca_rb/

Over the years, as an area is built up, addresses change to reflect the growing number of individual lots. In 1921, this area was relatively sparsely populated, and White's house was on a curve on the western edge of the Arroyo, giving him a commanding view north to the mountains and south of the Arroyo.

At one time, Linda Vista Avenue was proposed to be part of a major north south boulevard, the "Proposed Boulevard from the Mountains to the Sea" (Plan of the Los Angeles Park Commission, 1912). More on that in the future.

Lake Pasadena to Return - Devil's Gate Dam Will Replenish the Aquifer in the Hahamongna Basin as Originally Intended

2010-12-28T10:44:00.000-08:00

Lake Pasadena and the Flintridge Biltmore Hotel from Linda Vista Peak, by Orrin A. White, Courtesy of the Armitrading FoundationLake Pasadena to Return - Devil's Gate Dam Will Replenish the Aquifer in the Hahamongna Basin as Originally Intended!

I'm looking at the Hahamongna Watershed Park Master Plan on the City's Website:http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/publicworks/PNR/ArroyoSeco/pdfFiles/Hahamongna%20Watershed%20Park%20Master%20Plan/Hahamongna%20FULL%20DOC.pdfand I see in 1978, "the Division of Safe Operation of Dams (DSOD) imposed an operational restriction on Devil's Gate Dam and officially declared the dam seismically unsafe. These actions were taken in part due to the 1971 Sylmar earthquake."and in Jan. 1996, "the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) began the seismic strengthening and spillway modification to Devil's Gate Dam. This project was completed in the winter of 1998."So it seems we need to ask our public officials to look into retaining more Arroyo Seco stream runoff to keep water behind the dam, which it is designed and rehabilitated to do, in order to increase the replenishment of the Raymond aquifer. I have contacted Brad Bowman, Engineering Manager at Pasadena Water and Power to ask for his help in looking into this matter.

Apparently our wish has been granted and we can get Lake Pasadena back for a major portion of the year and it can function as originally intended!

This from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works:

Devil's Gate Dam and Reservoir Post Fire Sediment Removal Project

The 2009 Station Fire was the 10th largest fire in California since 1933 and burned over 160,000 acres before containment. The fire burned nearly 100% of the undeveloped watershed tributary to Devil's Gate Dam and Reservoir, leaving vast areas of the San Gabriel Mountains denuded and sediment deposition inevitable. The 2009-2010 Storm Season brought in approximately 936,000 cubic yards of postfire debris and more is expected in the upcoming years. Los Angeles County Department of Public Works is planning a major sediment removal project for Devil's Gate Reservoir to remove the accumulated sediment and make room for future sedimentation that will undoubtedly occur. Construction is expected to begin as early as September 2011 and final details of this project are still under consideration.

The following presentation was presented to the City of Pasadena Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee on November 30,2010.

HWPAC Presentation

Click here For the PDF version of the presentation.

The above oil painting featuring Lake Pasadena, the Flintridge Biltmore Hotel and the San Gabriel Mountain peaks was painted by Orrin A. White, a local Arroyo painter who lived just below the hotel at 1205 Linda Vista Road in a Spanish Hacienda designed by noted local architect Garret Van Pelt. In an upcoming post I will feature a painting of White's home with the San Gabriels as a backdrop.

For more on the Myron Hunt designed Flintridge Biltmore, which still exists, please go to this link: http://www.fsha.org/podium/default.aspx?t=118031 It's a beautiful site to visit and also has a bridge similar to the Picture Bridge at the Huntington Hotel in the Oak Knoll District of Pasadena. There are many hiking and equestrian trails surrounding the Flintridge Biltmore, connecting it with the natural landscape in many directions. This is not to be missed and is as nice as any Santa Barbara or Ojai resort! Such outstanding vistas!

So the restoration of Lake Pasadena will help us solve our water woes in the area and make us less dependent on imported water supplies. This is a very good thing! I'm looking forward to the historic restored vista shown to us by Orrin White's painting of Lake Pasadena!

After the tremendous rainfall of the last week, the possibilities of recharging our local aquifer below Hahamongna look promising! Happy New Year to All!

Christmas Tree Lane's Mansions - G.G. Green's Mansion, Gartz' "The Cloister", McNally's Mansion, Theosophical Society's Mansion

2010-11-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

All that's left of Colonel G.G. Green's mansion, Colonel Green the "Patent Medicine King" and namesake of Pasadena's Hotel Green and Green Street, is just Green's carriage house, which is just south of the present Altadena Library, located at Maripose and Santa Rosa. In 1961, the Altadena Library Board of Trustees bought Colonel Green's southeast corner mansion located at Santa Rosa and Mariposa and the northerly estate grounds, minus the grounds of the carriage house, to build a new library. Architect Boyd Georgi was hired in 1964 to design the modernistic library which was completed in 1967.

Also, on the northwest corner of Santa Rosa and Mariposa, stood the imposing mansion of Altadena/Pasadena social activist Kate Crane Gartz, "The Cloister", where she held a Sunday salon from the 1920's through the 1940's attended by socialist and left-wing political activists, authors, and actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Upton Sinclair, Mary Sinclair, Gaylord Wilshire, Mary Wilshire, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells and other well known personalities of the day.

Gartz mansion is also gone, demolished after her death to be replaced by a Girl Scout campground.

On the southeast corner of Santa Rosa and Mariposa, we have the still extant Andrew McNally estate, showplace home of the map printing magnate from Chicago who built a maginificent edifice replete with a wing housing the interior smoking room of the "Turkish Pavilion" from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The mansion was surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens now subdivided for newer homes.

On the northeast corner of Santa Rosa and Mariposa, we have the imposing estate and gardens of the "International Headquarter of the Theosophical Society" which was formerly located on Point Loma in San Diego, a Utopian campus created by famed founder Madame Blavatsky.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ts/tshist.htm

The Christmas Tree Lane Lighting Ceremony will be this year on December 11. Here are the details, be sure not to miss it:

http://www.altadenablog.com/2010/11/christmas-tree-lane-lighting-ceremony-dec-11.html

I like to tell everybody that I live near Christmas Tree Lane and in the shadow of Mt. Lowe, which I can see from my living room and bedroom window. Aren't we very lucky to live here?

Henries Toys, 1328 North Lake Avenue, Lake Washington Village, 1947 to ?

2010-11-04T11:39:00.001-07:00

Here is what appears to be Henries Toys in circa 1978, what is now the Billard Parlor. The added on arches are not attractive. Were these false facades added due to earthquake damage from the Sylmar quake of 1971? No wonder I overlooked this dreary looking place back in the late 1970's, as the wonderful Cornet 5 & 10 was directly across the street and inviting!

Here the March 1st, 1967 Pasadena Star News page showing the Lake Washington Village Dollar Days advertising with Henries Toys having a big sale. Looks inviting!

Here a list of Marklin train dealers from about 1967. Marklin of Germany is the oldest toy company still in business in the world, since 1859, and has always been a high quality maker of high end expensive toy and model trains. Suprising to find Henries as an outlet....

Here the section showing Henries as an outlet for Marklin trains, but a discrepancy with the address. This will require more research. Even Model Grocery on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena was a dealer of Marklin trains, and it appears that Model Grocery was a purveyor of fine things besides high quality groceries.

Here a Marklin catalog from the mid 1960's

We've discussed Henries Toys on North Lake in the Lake Washington Village previously, but I thought I would provide what I believe to be a photo of the last iteration of Henries as a discount toy outlet. Not a pretty picture.

We know Henries Toys survived more than 20 years, as they were celebrating their 20th anniversary in 1967 according to their advertisements in the local papers of the day. Does anyone have any memory of buying cherished childhood toys and hobbies at Henries? I'm a vintage toy and train collector and had many Shuco wind up toys in the 1950's, later Marklin trains, really nice quality toys from old Germany. Don't remember buying any at Henries though.

Please let me know what you remember about Henries Toys. We are trying to get the "Original Whistle Stop" train shop http://www.thewhistlestop.com/ and their wonderful animated projecting neon sign http://www.thewhistlestop.com/images/22.jpg to relocate to Lake Washington Village, so please keep your fingers crossed! What kind of shops would you like see return or locate to the Lake Washington Village?

2010 Update - Home Savings/Wamu/Chase - The Millard Sheets Pasadena Mural Panic!

2010-10-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Now Chase is lighting up their Colorado and Lake location at night with blue neon!

Here is an update on the Millard Sheets murals which were removed from this location, even though they depicted a Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade scene from the turn of the 20th century! Perhaps we should be boycotting this bank, as they do not seem to respect the community they live in; First Federal was more sensitive in Claremont as you can read in this article: http://pasadenaindependent.com/latest_news/relocation-of-banks-millard-sheets-mural-under-discussion/

Rochelle Branch, City of Pasadena's Manager of Cultural Affairs sends us this email: The mural panels were donated to the Millard Sheets Foundation. Tony Sheets, his son and foundation president, has met with members of PCOC who have expressed a serious interest in exhibiting them there. I believe he has committed to trying to work with them. The family sculpture is still in the bank as from what I understand will stay there.

Here is information on the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts (Millard Sheets Foundation in the above email): http://www.lacountyfair.com/fp/foundations/millardsheets/index.asp

End of update: We have lost some very significant Pasadena-specific public art due to unbridled capitalism, again. Perhaps we should exercise our economic muscle and move our accounts to a local credit union, as we have been advised by many financial experts.

We were alerted that Chase Bank at Lake and Colorado, located in what was Washington Mutual, who inherited art works commissioned by the Ahmanson Corporation, the owners of Home Savings which was originally located at this site, were about to do something nefarious to the Millard Sheets mural panels depicting the Pasadena Tournament of Roses around 1890, located on the walls behind the teller area.

Rochelle Branch, of the Pasadena Cultural Affairs Office was alerted to this by an observant Pasadena Library employee, Catherine Haskett-Hany (here from another blogpost: Pasadena Branch @ Lake and Colorado is now being converted to CHASE and they were about to paint over the mural. Stopped by alert Library employee. Cultural Affairs will follow-up to find a new home. Sculpture also).

You can read about the Home Savings artwork and contribute to its saving by going to this blog, The Home Savings bank art project:

http://adamarenson.wordpress.com/homesavingsbankart/

For those of you who do not know Millard Sheets, he was one of the preeminent local artists of the 20th century and his work is all over the country, including a number of murals in public places.

At the moment, Chase has put the mural behind a wall, so it's not very visible except at the ends. This artwork is monumental and is about 15 feet tall and about 100 feet wide. Unfortunately, I have no picture. I wish I would have taken one when it was fully visible! So let that be a lesson to all of us, don't assume what you see today will be there tomorrow!

Apparently, the sculpture, depicting a man, woman and child, was originally on the corner of Lake and Colorado, in the midst of a fountain. The Home Savings building was demolished in the 1990's and replaced by what you see there now.

If you appreciate something let others know, and if it is in any way historic, let the City's Design and Historic Preservation Department know so we can keep an eye on it and also inform the owners of its value to our community.

Tonight, Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 - Art Deco Landmark Designation Hearing

2010-09-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hearing tonight at the Historic Preservation Commission in regards to the landmark designation application for the Art Deco style garage building on the NW corner of Rutan and Washington Blvd., 731 E. Washington Blvd., in the North Lake Specfic Plan Area, site visit at 4:45 pm., Historic Preservation Commission meeting at Planning, 175 N. Garfield, Hale Bldg., 6:00 p.m.

This building was originally a drive-in corner market, designed by local architect Glen Elwood Smith, who worked with Myron Hunt, and designed a number of significant local structures such as the Masonic Lodge located at 17 South Sierra Madre Blvd.

731 E. Washington is landmark eligible being a largely intact locally significant auto-related building in the rather rare Art Deco Zigzag style, an architectural style which has not survived very widely in Pasadena. This potential landmark property is prominently sited on a corner raised lot located on the busy Washington Blvd. thoroughfare in the historic Lake Washington Village District.

If you would like to support this landmark designation, please call Planner Vicrim Chima at 626 744-6791 or email him at vchima@cityofpasadena.net, as soon as possible, as the meeting is tonight in a few hours and we apologize for the late notice.

Changes Coming Again to Lake and Colorado, the Oak Knoll Shopping District of Old

2010-08-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

Exterior view of Lake Avenue Methodist Church on the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue in 1907, looking north on Lake Avenue just south of Colorado Boulevard

Exterior view of Lake Avenue Methodist Church on the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue in 1907, looking south on Lake Avenue from the intersection with Colorado Boulevard. This Mission Revival style church building was demolished about 1927 to make way for the following bank and office building

The Oak Knoll Office and Bank Building as proposed in 1927 in the architectural drawing, to be located on the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue in the Oak Knoll Shopping District

The Oak Knoll Office and Bank Building as built in 1928, only one wing executed, located on the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue in the Oak Knoll Shopping District, later called the South Lake Shopping District, this was the Oak Knoll Branch of the Pacific Southwest Bank, later Security Pacific Bank. Demolished 1974; from Sid Gally: "The caption on a photo in the Star News of March 11, 1974 says,”The six-story structure was uneconomical to maintain and remodel, according to bank officials.”

Here is Sid Gally's piece about this corner:

Past on Parade: Corner in Pasadena has been a busy placeBy Sid Gally, CorrespondentPosted: 10/18/2009 10:11:34 PM PDT The occupancy of the southeast corner of Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard has changed as this area of Pasadena has evolved from agriculture to business. The site once held the fruit-drying operation of R. W. Teeple. "Seven hundred tons of peaches and apricots and many tons of prunes, all produced in the Pasadena region, were dried at this plant in the season of 1893," said the Star-News. The fruit was pitted and cut open by hand and placed in wooden trays. The fruited trays were treated with sulphur dioxide fumes in enclosures and then the trays were spread on the ground for the fruit to dry in the sun. Schoolchildren often earned money in the summers by cutting fruit. The Mission-style Lake Avenue Methodist Church opened on the site in 1907. It remained at Lake and Colorado until the 1920s. The building was demolished and the congregation moved east to become the Holliston Avenue Methodist Church. The "new" church was really old, moved stone by stone from Colorado and Marengo. Then in 1928, the Oak Knoll Office and Bank building containing the Oak Knoll branch of the Los Angeles First National Trust & Savings Bank opened for business. The building was designed by architects Marston & Maybury. The Star-News wrote, "The Oak Knoll Bank building, the architecture of which combines the types of Italian Renaissance developed in Florence and on the adjoining plains of Tuscany in the fifteenth century, is a striking and outstanding building of six stories." The bank occupied the entire ground floor and basement. It had a spacious public lobby, a writing room for the ladies, and a desk platform for the officers. "All of the banking screens and counters are of Italian walnut finish, rather than the usual marble found in many banking houses," said the paper. R. W. Caspers, the bank manager, touted the security of the bank, its vaults and its night deposit system. Sound detectors would set off the alarms upon picking up noises of unlawful entry. The bank promoted its investment arm. "It maintains at all times, Mr. Caspers pointed out, a well diversified list of high grade bonds," the newspaper reported. The Bank of America, in a two-story building with outdoor ATMs, occupies the site today. - Sid Gally is a Pasadena Museum of History volunteer.

And here is what is now planned for the corner:

http://www.parkplacelp.com/images/p-2.jpg

and for the whole story of the proposed development:

http://www.parkplacelp.com/About%20Us.htm

We can only hope the final design is worthy of this important corner. The restoration of the Hotel Constance on the southwest corner of Mentor and Colorado in the same block is a wonderful thing. The Hotel Constance was a bookend to the Oak Knoll Office and Bank Building and now we have a chance to put the west bookend back on this block at this prominent Pasadena intersection of Lake and Colorado. Watch for this development coming in the next months to the Design Commission and there will be a chance for public comment. You will have a chance to have your say about what happens on this corner.

Old Glass Sign Enigma at Canterbury Records on Colorado just west of Lake

2010-08-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Canterbury Record Shop historic projecting sign which we are all familiar with. The enigma of the Colorado Blvd. Canterbury Record Shop: the antique glass mirror facade sign, as seen below. What does it mean and what is it advertising? The design appears to be a "P" inside a stylized lyre. It must be very old. Does Pasadena have the only historic glass mirrored advertising sign left in the West?

The only place I've seen glass mirrored advertising signs is in Europe years ago, in Bavaria and in Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia, but they are mostly gone or badly deteriorated, such as the one pictured below.

The Canterbury Record Shop has been at this general location for a very long time, decades in fact. They took over and expanded in the former See's Candy location which went to the corner of Hudson, when See's Candy moved, I think back in the 1970's. But I don't understand the stylized "P" in what looks like a lyre of this gold mirrored sign. This is a little historic jewel and probably not noticed by most passersby. Hopefully, we can protect it and allow it to survive into the coming years, through all facade improvements of this buildings, for future generations to puzzle about and admire its beauty. Let me know if you've seen it and what you think it is.

Lake Washington Village Dance Party 2010 - Crown Rooftop Sign Update August 2010

2010-08-13T10:34:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the 21st Century in the heart of the Lake Washington Village! The Crown Sign has been reborn and relit, advertising the "Fred Astaire Dance Center", a wonderful example of adaptive reuse of a historic rooftop figural sign. Now if the sign could only be outlined in neon? One can hope for the future. Keep on dancing and maybe the music will never stop! We really have seen some wonderful improvements in the area; things are looking better all the time.

Lake Washington Village Dance Party Continues in 2010 - The Crown Sign

2010-08-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Crown Market located at 1368 North Lake Avenue, just north of Washington Blvd. in the heart of the Lake Washington Village District, did a brisk business from the 1920's through the 1970's in gourmet food, supplying many of the leading hotels and restaurants in Pasadena, as it was known also as the Crown Restaurant Supply Company. The most distinguishing feature of the Crown Market was its huge rooftop neon sign, double sided, in the form of a crown, outlined in neon, and flashing "M E A T S" to passing motorists and pedestrians.

In the intervening years this was the location of a foam, upholstery and fabric supply store, where the sign was painted with "F O A M & F A B R I C" simply on each side and then in more recent time was painted black after the Arthur Murray Dance Studio moved in and now it has become the Fred Astaire Dance Studio. We held our breath to see what would happen to the historic rooftop sign, listed on the City of Pasadena's historic sign inventory, thereby protected from removal or structural alteration.

Take a look at what has happened! Simply amazing! I will publish photos of the present condition very soon. Please check back and see the unexpected.

Lake Washington Village Night Parade and Street Dance on North Lake Avenue

2010-07-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Evening, July 30, 1952

In the auto repair courtyard next to Towne Furniture located at 854 E. Washington

http://avenuetotheskylakeavenuepasadena.blogspot.com/2010/03/sad-fate-of-towne-furniture-store-bldg.html

The " Melody Men " Polka Band, apparently a German band from the looks of the alpine caps with feathers! Looking at the city directory of this period, many of the names of residents of the Lake Washington Village area appear to be of German ethnicity. Perhaps this accounts for the popularity of a Polka band, and on television of the time Lawrence Welk, also an ethnic German, had a local popular show featuring Polka music on KTLA which premiered in 1952.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3762.html

Notice the Scottish Bagpipe Marching Band with drummers followed by horsedrawn carriages. The shops on North Lake just north of Washington are lit up with many neon projecting signs. For a point of reference, the "Maple Shop" recognizable by its maple leaf shaped projecting sign, a furniture store selling Early American Style furniture, was located where "Vorhee's Craftsman Furniture" is now located at 1415 North Lake and the large neon "MEAT" sign in the form of a crown was located on top of "Crown Meats", which is now the "Fred Astaire Dance Studio", located at 1368 North Lake and the historic crown sign is still on top but no longer neon lit. The Lake Washington Village Parade and Street Dance was held on a July summer evening, with these photos being taken from just above 1415 North Lake looking south, with an old Pasadena Fire Department fire engine, horse drawn buggy and other vehicles and marchers, with a large crowd looking on.

Here it looks like the parade has broken up or has yet to start, so I don't have the photos in the correct order. Notice the many children of all ages out on a warm summer night. Also in the background, just north of what is now " Showcase Liquor ", back then " Gerlachs Liquor " http://www.pbase.com/claimsman/image/85584642, is a tent set up in the liquor store parking lot with " SALOON " and a false window and door painted on the front which was apparently a temporary watering hole for this festival. Just north of the tent is Jimmie Hill's " MEAT N' TATERS ". Just north of that is the " ADENA " paint store. A temporary " No Parking " sign is on the ornamental double headed light standard.

Here we have a horse and buggy, a small mini bus and antique turn-of-the-century cars coming up the middle of North Lake Avenue from Washington.

An antique Pasadena Fire Department Fire Engine is leading a large truck, looks like a horse transporter, and the crowds are converging around behind, so this may be the end of the parade. Two men in top hats and period dress, one with a walking stick, are strolling down Lake Avenue behind the parade watching crowd. You can be sure that the local politicians were in the parade!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have such an evening parade and street dance in the Lake Washington Village sometime in the near future?! The merchants in the Lake Washington Village also had " Moonlight Madness " sales late at night every season to promote shopping in the local area. And of course there were Halloween decorations in October and street holiday decorations in December. Certainly, the tasteful neon projecting signs add to the street scene. The Crown " Meat " sign is a protected historic sign, and the reinstallation of the decorative neon would be an attractive and interesting reintroduction to brighten up the Lake Washington Village at night. Does anyone remember any of these businesses or spending time in the Lake Washington Village?

Washington Theatre Presents - All Quiet on the Western Front

2010-07-14T10:01:00.001-07:00

Time to escape to the coolness of the Washington Theatre's 900 seat auditorium. I'm looking forward to seeing the Academy Award winning "All Quiet on the Western Front" tonight, Wednesday, April 1, 1931! At least it won't be too hard to come up with the admission price of a quarter.

It's a very varied program this month, including the Laurel & Hardy "Another Fine Mess", which sounds like my life story!

The " Washington Theatre " , Washington at Lake Avenue, Phone STerling 0140, Adults 25c , Children 10c Both Matinee and Evening, Continuous every day, doors open 1:45, Shows 2:15, 4:30, 6:45 and 9:00 p.m., Program subject to change without notice, Changes only made when beyond our control, We now have deaf sets for people who are hard of hearing. No extra charge for this service. All pictures are reproduced with the latest improved Western Electric System in Pasadena.

See you there! (Hopefully, sometime in our lifetime!)

Save the Natural Beauty of Devil's Lake - Hahamongna

2010-07-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Devil's Lake, 1922 - Now known as Hahamongna

At a soon upcoming hearing of Pasadena's City Council, the fate of the Devil's Gate Dam Reservoir, now known by the Tongva name of Hahamongna, will be discussed again with the inadvisable possibility of adding soccer fields to this wild area. Please join with us to keep Hahamongna a wild place for present and future generations to enjoy, without any incursions of civilization. Those of us who enjoy this space, along with the abundant wildlife, will thank you for your support in saving this wild, beautiful, verdant space.

We have been advised by the local water authority, Pasadena Water and Power, that the Devil's Gate Dam has been seismically upgraded and the only reason water is not being held back during the rainy season, as it was from the building of the dam in 1920 up until the Sylmar earthquake of 1971, is that the Los Angeles County Flood Control District has not given their approval. Our local officials should pursue obtaining LACFCD's approval to catch the runoff during our rainy season and replenish our groundwater more effectively.

Here is a link with historic photos of the Devil's Gate Dam and when it was being fully used, from the Arroyo Seco Foundation: http://www.arroyoseco.org/DGDam.htm

For others participating in the Great Save Hahamongna Blog Day, visit these great local blogs:

Altadena Above It All

altadenahiker.blogspot.com

Mister Earl's Musings

The Sky Is Big In Pasadena

West Coast Grrlie Blather

"The Artists' Guild Building" - 1432-1456 N. Foothill Blvd.

2010-06-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

The Artists' Guild Building contained the Winfield Art Pottery School of Clay Working and the El Padre Inn, which was a popular location for dining and dancing from the 1920's through at least 1936 (when the Angeles Crest Highway was opened and the Mount Wilson Toll Road was closed to traffic), as the Spanish mission style building was a destination for locals and tourist alike with its beautiful siting on Eaton Creek and the Eaton Arroyo along with being located on North Foothill (also called Santa Anita Drive), now Altadena Drive, on the only roadway to Mount Wilson, with the Mount Wilson Toll Road entrance being up what is now Altadena Drive above the Eaton Canyon Nature Center and where is still the beginning of the Mount Wilson Toll Road Path which winds up the mountain to Henniger Flats and beyond.

The Pasadena Jewish Temple bought the property in 1942 and converted the Mission-style building into a Jewish Synagogue, although much of the old Artists' Guild Building still remains, the curving front driveway and planted open space in the front has been converted to an asphalt parking lot.

We hope the Pasadena Jewish Temple congregation will continue to preserve this historic building associated with Pasadena and Altadena history for future generations to visit and admire, our own local "Mission of the Padres" and another local architectural gem.

Phelps-Terkel Red House Clothiers South Lake Avenue - 1949

2010-05-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

As we know, many old houses have been used for businesses along Lake Avenue, some of which still exist. Here is Phelps-Terkel Clothiers "Red House" which was in business since 1923 and had this pictured facelift in 1949. Phelps-Terkel on South Lake is long gone, but we do see remnants of the same type of establishments still functioning in the area, up and down Lake Avenue.

Just north of Wolfe Burgers on North Lake we have an old bungalow which is still holding on with two different hair dressers. Just east of Lake on Union we have a fabulous Craftsman style bungalow which has just been restored right next to the Union 76 gas station. And on Boston Court, just east of Lake, we have two different Craftsman style bungalows on both sides of the street, both hair dressers.

Yes, Pasadena has a history of adatively reusing its charming bungalows, and the City is still full of them. Let's hope we can keep many of these little jewels and not lose them to overdevelopment, as they are part of what makes Pasadena such an interesting place to live.

WASHINGTON THEATRE LANDMARK! - INTERIOR TOUR HELD!

2010-04-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

APARTMENTS SECOND FLOOR LANDING

APARTMENTS GROUND FLOOR LOBBY

INTERIOR WITH 900 SEATS

AUDITORIUM DECORATIVE TAPESTRY PANEL WITH ORIGINAL LIGHTING SCONCES

FROM THE STAGE LOOKING TO THE REAR OF THE AUDITORIUM

AUDITORIUM SEAT DETAILS

THEATRE LOBBY WITH CONCESSION STAND

TERAZZO ENTRANCE FOYER WITH TICKET BOOTH

DECORATIVE ORGAN SPEAKER GRILLE WITH EXIT ARCH BELOW

PROSCENIUM MASK ABOVE SCREEN

As of Monday night, April 12, 2010, the Washington Theatre, located in Lake Washington Village, is now an official Pasadena landmark, having been designated such by the Pasadena City Council, and this has been a long time coming. Here are photos of the interior from a long ago tour by the City assessing the remains of the archaeology of the once proud entertainment venue.

Here from Altadena historian Michele Zack, her letter to the Editor of the Pasadena Star News:

How about a "Walk-To" cinema?

In reading of the hopes the Washington Theater complex's renovation and possible landmark status are inspiring, I must question the premise that reviving its use as a theater is all but impossible. My goodness, we did have cars way back in the 1950s and 1960s when I was a regular attendee and the theater was flourishing.

What has changed so very much since then? Well, let's see. . . besides becoming fatter and losing much neighborhood commercial vibrancy, we seem to have developed fear of walking as a transportation mode. I don't know if this condition is related to hardening of the zoning arteries — but I do see a possible cure.

If city planners could become more nimble in responding to community needs, instead relying so much on thousands of pages that tell us what we CANNOT possibly do, they could creatively encourage many beneficial outcomes. Things like increased walkability and sense of place, and the renewal of vibrant commercial nodes outside the center to reduce car tripsThere are literally thousands of people living within a 10-minute stroll of Washington Theater!

People who would welcome the chance to avoid the parking basement horror of the Plaza Pasadena when all they want is to see a movie. And what about the thousands more who could hop a bus up or down Lake Avenue?

As a child, I regularly walked to the Washington Theater from Holliston Avenue to see matinees, and my family had two cars. At night my parents joined me and our pedestrian commute was closer to 20-25 minutes (they were kind of slow.)

We have Bungalow Heaven, Historic Highlands, and all the other people living to the west, north and south who could be encouraged to take in a movie and perhaps patronise a local restaurant or other business.

Actively encouraging the use the Washington Theater as a cultural anchor would lure people out of their armchairs, make our neighborhoods more people-friendly and vibrant — as well as spur economic development and fuel conservation.Pasadena Planners don't have far to look for examples (including some within their own city).

Eagle Rock Boulevard became cool when that city thought out-of-the- box in terms of parking. Other areas within Los Angeles have applied "creative zoning" to reach specific results.

If we want to transform neigborhoods and achieve agreed-upon benefits, we must stop parking from being the perrenial obstacle before which we throw up our arms and admit defeat.

Michele Zack

And here from PSN Editor Larry Wilson's column:

Larry Wilson: We insist on parking beneath the marquee
Posted: 04/08/2010 05:06:20 PM PDT

Blog
Larry Wilson's Public Eye blog
More columns

Few people who recall when north-central Pasadena's Washington Theater was a silent-flick venue featuring vaudeville-style variety are still around.
But lots of us who enjoyed the literally cheap thrills of the renamed Cinema 21 in the 1960s and `70s still are.

By the time I started going there with my crowd from Eliot Junior High School, it was a second-run house offering the best deal in town: 50 cents for a double feature. Teens packed the place, not overly stringent about checking IDs, every Friday night for years for great ones like "The Wild Bunch" just a few months after they played at the expensive spreads down on Colorado Boulevard.

There were nights when there was not an adult in the place. The smoke from countless Marlboro reds filled the auditorium. Fun was had.

Years ago, I mentioned in this space a night when at least one adult was in the house. The feature was Zefferelli's "Romeo and Juliet," starring the comely Olivia Hussey. Because we had to pretend we didn't find Shakespeare's tragic love story affecting, kids were tittering at the loud sobs coming from one girl sitting up front. Apparently, her father had accompanied her. He stood up, turned around to face us, and called out in the dark, "Have you no feelings?"

The business and the neighborhood changed. For a time the theater became the Cinema Veinte y Uno, showing only Spanish-language flicks, before it closed entirely. It last hit our news pages when Rolls Royce-driving former owners from San Diego didn't take much care of the apartments above, drawing the ire of city inspectors.

I agree with Pasadena Heritage - the 1925 building should get landmark protection, which will help with taxes and restoration. I understand the pickle the new owners are in - movie-going habits have changed in a Netflix age. Restoring the theater part of the building would be a big gamble.

But I really hear the words of Altadena and Sierra Madre historian Michele Zack, who grew up just east of the theater and used to walk there, with friends and family, all the time. Like me, she cringed when reading assertions that the place "needs" its own dedicated parking.

"My goodness, we did have cars way back in the 1950s and 1960s when I was a regular attendee, and the theater was flourishing," Zack writes. "What has changed so very much since then? Well, let's see. . . besides becoming fatter and losing much neighborhood commercial vibrancy, we seem to have developed fear of walking as a transportation mode. . . . If city planners could become more nimble in responding to community needs, instead of relying so much on thousands of pages that tell us what we CANNOT possibly do, they could creatively encourage many beneficial outcomes. Things like increased walkability and sense of place, and the renewal of vibrant commercial nodes outside the center to reduce car trips. There are literally thousands of people living within a 10-minute stroll of the Washington Theater!"

Public Editor Larry Wilson's blog is www.insidesocal.com/publiceye.Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_14847307#ixzz0lCF5v48u

So we hope and pray the Washington Theatre will be saved and restored. It's the most important historical, cultural and entertainment venue on Avenue to the Sky and Lake Washington Village. Please focus your best will and intentions on this location and support the owners' and community's efforts to bring back this much loved attraction to Avenue to the Sky!

See you at opening night! Black tie formal dress required! Look for the marquee announcement and the revolving searchlights in front lighting up the Lake Washington Village sky.

What movie should be booked for opening night? Let's hear some suggestions!

Avenue to the Sky Theme Song - Altadena!

2010-03-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Originally, we had considered different options to call attention to Lake Avenue; besides Avenue to the Sky, we considered Avenue to the Stars, but that sounded too Hollywood.

In 1925, the Alatadena Chamber of Commerce published their official song " Altadena ". We would like to adopt this official song of Altadena to also be the official song of Avenue to the Sky and Lake Avenue, particularly considering the stanza:

"Like rock armored knights in gray corslet and bars, stand Mts. Wilson and Lowe with their eyes to the stars, while up from the valley its myriad lights, reflect their fine glory on calm southern nights"

This embodies all we hope for on Lake Avenue "Avenue to the Sky", living in the shadow of Mount Lowe and Mount Wilson, both our Acropolis in the Athens of the West, center of art, culture, science and natural wonders on the Pacific coast.

The small bungalow which housed the Altadena Chamber of Commerce, also a real estate office, was located on the east side of Lake Avenue about where the Ralphs is now located in Altadena. There was much enthusiasm back then on the "Avenue to the Sky", similar to the energy being now generated at the "Gallery at the End of World" on the upper reaches of Lake Avenue. http://www.galleryattheendoftheworld.com/

The Return of Trader Joe's Market (formerly Pronto Market) to the North of the Railroad Tracks, Soon!

2010-03-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

These photos are from the full page ad of June 1966 from Pronto Market, Villa and Allen, in North Pasadena, which ran in the Pasadena Courier. Here from Wikipedia the history of Trader Joe's, which was started at Villa and Allen as Pronto Market: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trader_Joe

Trader Joe's is named after its founder, Joe Coulombe. The chain began in 1958 as a Greater Los Angeles area chain of "Pronto Market" convenience stores. The original Pronto Markets were similar to 7-Eleven stores, so similar Coulombe felt the competition with 7-Eleven would be ruinous.[5] He is said to have developed the idea of the Trader Joe South Seas motif while on vacation in the Caribbean.[6] He had noticed that Americans were traveling more and returning home with tastes for food and wine they had trouble satisfying in supermarkets of the time.[7] The first store named "Trader Joe's" opened its doors in 1967. This store, on Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena, California, remains in operation. In response to competition from 7-Eleven, the chain differentiated its stores' offerings and doubled the floor space in 1967. In the first few decades of operation, some of the stores offered fresh meats provided by butchers who leased space in the stores. Trader Joe's at one time had sandwich shops, freshly cut cheese, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Notice the "Pronto Man" character. The ad style is very recognizable as being the forerunner of "Trader Joe's."

Many of us believe that the City just has not tried hard enough with financial incentives and other persuasion to get the Trader Joe's organization to open a branch on the north end of Lake Avenue, where the demographics suggest there is definitely the well-heeled clientele, although even the less wealthy neighbors would love the freshness, quality and prices of a Trader Joe's. With the historic neighborhoods of expensive homes surrounding Lake Washington Village, such as Historic Highlands, Bungalow Heaven, Washington Square, Garfield Heights, Orange Heights, Normandie Heights, Dundee Heights and El Rio Lake, not to mention all the tony neighborhoods of Altadena on the north stretch of Lake Avenue, we just can't imagine that the Trader Joe's organization wouldn't be willing to cash in and make a bundle, and this would not take away from the business of their Hastings Ranch and South Lake locations which are located quite a ways apart and have their own supporting neighborhoods.

There has been a suggestion of circulating a petition in the surrounding neighborhoods of Lake Washington Village to be submitted to the Trader Joe's organization and to the Councilmembers McAustin and Gordo to show our seriousness of getting Trader Joe's back to its North Pasadena roots and the varied and large clientele which is driving too far or foregoing shopping at the venerable food retailer. Hopefully, we can get our Councilmembers on board and also Pasadena's Development Department to offer the Trader Joe's organization a deal they can't ignore. Once Trader Joe's is in Lake Washington Village, we believe their success can't be denied.

We understand there was a half-hearted attempt to get Trader Joe's to go into the old Alpha Beta store premises at Hill and Washington, but instead we got a Rite-Aid that we really didn't need, with CVS/Savon and now Walgreen's within easy reach of our neighborhoods.

So everybody, the Councilmembers, the City's Development Department and the united neighbors and neighborhoods, let us try again to get the food retailer everybody in the area wants! Let's get the petition started!

The Sad Fate of the Towne Furniture Store Bldg., 854 E. Washington Blvd. and the need for "Edge Repair"

2010-03-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

Towne Furniture Store, 854 E. Washington Blvd. in 1947

The Towne Furniture Store just before its demolition in 1985

The Towne Furniture Store was a handsome building as seen in the drawing of the shop in the Pasadena Independent Newspaper dated January 1, 1947. The 1920's commercial building, very much like the remaining historic commercial buildings in the Lake Washington Village area, had a very pleasing ornamental facade, but over the years it succumbed to the decline of the commercial center and was ingloriously covered over with a slab of stucco.

In the end the building was demolished in 1985 to make way for the Food 4 Less Shopping Center parking lot. Nothing remains today except an empty hole of parking spaces just across from the Oversen Building and the Washington Theatre on the north side of Washington Blvd., both landmark buildings.

When we conceived the North Lake Specific Plan for this area in 1997, we proposed that "Edge Repair" would happen to replace the missing buildings on the south side of Washington Blvd. west of North Lake Avenue and also along the west side of North Lake Avenue south of Washington Blvd. along the outer perimeter of the Food 4 Less Shopping Center parking lot. This "Edge Repair" would be done by building "Main Street Architecture" buildings along these perimeters to give an urban edge back to the streetscape. Looking across from the Oversen Building and the Washington Theatre south now, it is a very depressing view of a wide expanse of a parking lot with no buildings to frame the view and not a pleasant or interesting walk for pedestrians.

Lake Washington Village has suffered much from the declines of the 1970's through the 1990's. How do we change the ambiance from check cashing outlets, payday loan shops, storefront churches, liquor stores, filling stations and auto repair into a village of a hardware store, a theater, art galleries, coffee houses, antique shops, nice restaurants, a bike shop and specialty shops, as was once more the case? Did you know that the Union 76 gas station is built on the site of a former popular soda fountain and ice cream shop and that the other two corners had drug stores and the fourth had a Van de Kamp's Bakery?

It will take each and one of us to voice our wishes to the City of Pasadena and our respective neighborhood associations and to the business people we wish to see flourish in our neighborhood Lake Washington Village. We will make it happen!

Venetian Dining Room and Gardens, 2556 North Lake Avenue, Altadena

2010-02-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

Here we have an advertisement from the Pasadena Courier, June 1966, for the much missed Venetian Dining Room and Gardens. We are still hoping for a cultivated Italian restaurant on the upper reaches of Avenue to the Sky, and, when possible, with gardens, private bar and dancing. Look at those prices including a bottle of wine! Even at the minimum wage of $1.65 back then, this looks affordable.

Washington's Birthday Sale in Lake Washington Village

2010-02-17T11:53:00.001-08:00

In honor of our namesake's birthday on February 22, George Washington, I have posted photos from the Pasadena Courier of September/October 1965 touting the savings in Lake Washington Village such as George saying "SHOP WHERE THE SAVINGS ARE BIG!" and "BY GEORGE! BEHOLD THESE BUYS!" Do you think the Father of Our Country minded being used as a cartoon character to hawk the wares of Lake Washington Village?

We used to have such a variety of goods and services in Lake Washington Village. Hopefully, we can again. A small step was taken last night at the Pasadena Historic Preservation Commission. The Washington Theatre was nominated as a local landmark and we encouraged the owners to apply for grants and tax benefits to finally complete its restoration. All good things take time.

Please let me have your stories about Lake Washington Village. I'm compiling them for a presentation to City Council about revisions to the North Lake Specific Plan coming up. We need the City on board to put together the Arts and Entertainment District proposed for the Lake Washington Village area.

It's been noted that several out of town vacationers with towed boats on trailers have shown up at the intersection of Lake and Washington looking for "Lake Washington." We were sorry to disappoint on one hand, however we are happy to escape the flooding havoc of other nearby locations. We directed the out of towners to "Lake Pasadena" and "Lake Eaton", the first behind Devil's Gate Dam and the other behind the Eaton Dam.

Pasadena's "Athens of the West" Mount Olympus - The Sacred Mount

2010-01-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

Athens of the West Mount Olympus - Our Temple on the Mount

Here from the Mount Wilson Observatory Homepage on Pasadena's founding father and "Solar Priest" George Ellery Hale:

George Ellery Hale was the founding father of the Mt. Wilson Observatory. He is shown here in his office in the "monastery" on the mountain, in a picture that dates from about 1905. Despite having no earned degree beyond his baccalaureate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1890, Hale became one of the leading astronomers of his day. By the time Hale established the Mt. Wilson Observatory in 1904, he had already invented the spectroheliograph, founded the Astrophysical Journal (and invented the word astrophysics), founded the Yerkes Observatory (which then housed the world's largest working telescope), and had been appointed a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He had been awarded the Janssen Medal by the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1894 and the Rumford Medal by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1902. In 1904 he received the Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society and the Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. Hale was also one of the first three Honorary Members of the Optical Society of America, and he was the Ives Medalist in 1935.
Through Hale's leadership and foresight, Mt. Wilson Observatory dominated the world of astronomy in the first half of the 20th century. It was here that astronomers and physicists made astrophysics a modern science. It was here that they confirmed what galaxies were. It was here that they verified the expanding universe cosmology. And it was here that they discovered many of the workings of the sun. From the point of view of major scientific discoveries in astronomy, Mt. Wilson Observatory may well be the most productive astronomical facility ever built.
Hale was as influential locally as he was globally. He played a major role in changing the Throop Polytechnic Institute into the California Institute of Technology. He played a major role in convincing Henry Huntington to leave behind what became the Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens in San Marino. As a member of the Pasadena Planning Commission, he was largely resposible for the present Pasadena Civic Center. And, of course, Hale was the force behind the founding of Palomar Observatory and the building of the 200-inch Hale telescope.
After his retirement as Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, Hale built in Pasadena an office, library, and solar telescope where he could continue work on his greatest observational interest - the Sun. The building known as the Hale Solar Laboratory is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now on private property and not open to the public.
There are no online biographies of Hale that deal with his time at Mt. Wilson. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific has some biographical material related to his winning their 1916 Bruce Medal. The best books in print on Hale are Explorer of the Universe: A Biography of George Ellery Hale, by Helen Wright, and Pauper and Prince: Ritchey, Hale, and Big American Telescopes, by Donald E. Osterbrock. Another excellent reference, now out of print, is The Legacy of George Ellery Hale: Evolution of Astronomy and Scientific Institutions, in Pictures and Documents, edited by Helen Wright, Joan N. Warnow, and Charles Weiner.
Mt. Wilson Observatory Association Homepage

Here begins Avenue to the Sky narrative: Hale held late night torch-lit ceremonies at the Monastery on Mount Wilson where he was the "Solar Priest" and the other astronomers were the supporting monks. What conversations were had at these late night proceedings? No doubt concerning the potential discovery of the Unified Field Theory, as Albert Einstein had excited the entire world scientific community about the possibilites of Energy equals Mass times the Speed of Light squared, meaning there was almost boundless energy to be found in the mass of physical objects.

I recommend all to see the exhibit at the Huntington Library and Gardens expounding on the Great Ones of Science where original correspondence from Albert Einstein to George Ellery Hale, in German as Hale also spoke Einstein's native language, about the testing of Einstein's Theory of Relativity by Hale at Mt. Wilson observatory, the largest and strongest telescope in the world at the time, by seeing if light would be bent by gravity as predicted by Einstein's Theory of Relativity. The experiment was deceptively simple: Einstein asked Hale to observe the space surrounding the Sun during the next solar eclipse and see if the apparent position of the stars in proximity of the Sun's disk would change as they apparently moved towards the Sun's blacked out disk. Hale observed that Einstein's prediction was in fact observable, as the relative position of the observed stars near the Sun's disk did in fact move towards the Sun as their light rays were bent by the overpowering gravity force of the Sun's globe.

More to come on George Ellery Hale, our "Solar Priest" and designer and originator of the Pasadena City Beautiful, the "Athens of the West."

The Sad Fate of the Pasadena Osteopath Dr. Stewart Fitch Medical Clinic Building

2010-01-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

Proposed south elevation on Washington Blvd. showing corner of Los Robles on far left

Washington Blvd. street elevation showing historic neighboring structures

Facing north to the reduced size parking lot

View from Los Robles of the proposed new structure

Street elevations showing the scale, massing and outlines of the neighboring structures

The view from the easterly Queen Anne Victorian and the Washington Bungalow Court

All this, the church's proposed new construction, will be heard at the Design Commission on January 25, 2010, Monday night at 6:00 p.m. at the Permit Center Conference Room

What is there now on the NE corner of Los Robles and Washington, Pasadena, CA

An excerpt from the City's North Los Robles Corridor historic inventory of the early 1980's

Before the New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church purchased the property in 1989

Deteriorated condition of a historic feature in 2009

Deteriorated historic feature in 2010

Casement windows changed out for aluminum sliders, window blocked up, doors boarded over, condition in 2009

French doors covered over with plywood, condition in 2010

The Sad Fate of the Dr. Stewart Fitch, Doctor of Osteopathy, Medical Clinic Building

Monday night, January 25, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. in the Pasadena Planning Department in a hearing before the Design Commission, the sad fate of the historic Dr. Fitch Medical Clinic will be finally decided and it appears that the 1925 building will be destined for the dust heap and replaced by a modernistic cathedral, ill suited for its historic neighborhood.

The New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church has submitted plans to build a new sanctuary of 9,960 square feet, three stories tall with a height of 40 feet, of modernistic architecture to replace their historic Spanish Colonial Revival style building of 4,141 square feet which they now use and plan to demolish, historic Catalina tiles, historic Batchelder tile fireplaces, and all.

The Dr. Fitch doctor's clinic was built in 1925 as a house, designed by noted local architect H.E. Terrell and built by W.A. Taylor & Son, who was also the builder of the Myron Hunt designed Pasadena Rose Bowl.

The Spanish Colonial Revival style doctor's office, built in a "U" configuration was purchased by the church in 1989 and has been in a state of "demolition by neglect", with boarded up windows and doors and decaying historic features, in the last nearly 21 years.

The Spanish styling is evident in the gabled tile roof and the smooth stucco walls. The front facade (south side) is symmetrical and the building rests above the street with the lot surrounded by a low arroyo stone wall and a high brick wall with a whitewash finish. A series of steps leads up through wooden gates to the front door. The door has narrow side lights and two metal poles mark where the canvas awning belongs. There is a concrete stoop across the front and grouped French doors open on to this area. The building has a rear entry which is marked by a central gabled pergola with a tile roof. There are several stucco-clad chimneys and the building has casement windows. Numerous trees and bushes surround this building, including palms, cypresses and pines. The brick wall surrounds the corner of the lot forming a terraced landscaped area. The gates of the brick wall are distinctive, being formed of dark-stained wooden planks, each arched at the top and having small round holes.

Originally constructed as a house, as eary as 1931 it was utilized as a doctor's office. Dr. Stewart Fitch, a noted Pasadena osteopath, who lived at 1175 N. Los Robles, had his office here for numerous years.

This will all be just a memory soon, and what is proposed to replace it does not seem to fit the historic context of the neighborhood, with an immediately adjacent Queen Anne Victoria style bungalow and a National Register listed bungalow court and the Normandie Heights Landmark District.

Please take a look at the architectural renderings provided by the church and determine whether you think this design fits this prominent corner in our neighborhood. If you don't show up at the Design Commission meeting this Monday evening, January 25, 2010, then by default the church and the architect will say you have no problem with their plans for this modernistic sanctuary in our historic neighborhood. If you absolutely cannot attend the meeting, please send an email to the responsible planner by noon on Monday. His name is Kevin Johnson and his email is kevinjohnson@cityofpasadena.net. Let your voice and opinion be heard.

THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN FELINE

2010-01-05T17:21:00.001-08:00

The Royal Egyptian Feline Sharing Morning Coffee

The one who does not like to be photographed spent some time with me over coffee on a recent holiday morning. She is a royal, deigned to be pampered and carefully handled, and her spirit followed me home from a visit to the Cairo Museum of Antiquities and was reincarnated in Pasadena.

She keeps the ghosts and evil spirits away, as they do not like her passing through them. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, discusses the ancient Egyptian cult of the feline and how the felines were used to protect the human's realm from evil.

On a recent sunny holiday morning the Royal and I shared a whispered conversation and a cup of coffee. I have a love of Turkish coffee and the coffee houses of Vienna, Prague and Budapest, although we have been known to visit the Original Pantry in downtown Los Angeles.

I am very lucky to be loved by this feline; she is happy when I'm free to spend time with her. This was a holiday gift for both of us! California - Land of Sunshine on the edge of the Continent!

NEW YEAR GREETINGS FROM THE ECHO MOUNTAIN HOUSE!

2010-01-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

ECHO MOUNTAIN HOUSE OF THE WHITE CITY, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

(Oil on canvas, courtesy of the Armitrading Foundation - Mount Lowe collection)

Built by Professor T.S.C. Lowe in 1894 on Echo Mountain summit, the terminus of the Great Mount Lowe Incline Railway, the Echo Mountain House was a grand resort hotel in the style of Belle Epoque luxury, something never seen again in the Western United States after it burned to the ground in 1900, a sad loss to our beautiful mountain at the top of Lake Avenue.

The searchlight, purchased by Professor Lowe from the 1893 Columbian Exposition, was the strongest of its day, and was said to be able to illuminate a newspaper to be read at night in faraway Catalina Island. This was not the only artifact of the 1893 Columbian Exposition to end up in the area of Pasadena and Altadena. The McNally mansion has a Turkish Smoking Room Tower, puchased by Mr. McNally from the Turkish Pavilion at the fair and shipped and installed in his mansion in Altadena. The script on the ceiling of the smoking room appears in Arabic script and has been undecipherable to readers of Arabic, because it is in Turkish, since the Ottoman Empire used the Arabic script to write Turkish until Ataturk reformed and Europeanized the modern Turkish state after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, this being in the 1920's. Another hidden mystery of our ancient resort city.

Can this monumental historic hotel rise from the ashes? We hope to live long enough to see this beautiful monument to Professor Lowe's achievements be rebuilt, however, this time with fire sprinklers! They have rebuilt the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and they are in the process of rebuilding the demolished Imperial Castle in Berlin (Berliner Stadtschloss), so why should we not have our Belle Epoque resort hotel back? I'm looking forward to sitting on a late summer's eve on the long front porch in a rocking chair, sipping a cool drink, with the valley floor's lights twinkling. We stayed a while back in a surviving similar resort hotel in the Great Smoky Mountains called the Balsam Inn and it was enchanting! http://www.balsammountaininn.com/photogallery/index.htm

Here is to the future and a New Year!

THE MISSION CANDIES BUILDING - LAKE WASHINGTON VILLAGE

2009-12-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

The Missions Candies Company had a chain of candy stores in Southern California in the 20's and 30's

This is how the Mission Candies Building looked in the 1970's before the big decline

By landmarking the historic building and restoration, we hoped to bring back to Lake Washington Village an ambiance similar to State Street in Santa Barbara which Lake Washington Village once had

A recent night view of the Mission Candies Building with Pinocchio's Pizza in the midground

Notice the tables with linen tablecloths and many flowers

Here with this posting I'm in synch with Petrea at Pasadena Daily Photo. I took the nighttime shots of the Mission Candies Building, with Pinocchio's Pizza, a couple of weeks ago as I've been interested in this building since Armen's family wanted to relocate their restaurant to it from the previous building location about half a block to the south.

This historical building was almost altered beyond recognition when the Pinocchio's Pizza family bought the property and proposed to modernize the facade. Luckily, we were able to designate the building as a local Pasadena landmark and convince Armen and his family that it would be far cheaper for them, and much better for the community, to restore the historic building. I've been speaking to Armen all along and recently told him how nice the building and the restaurant looks, especially with the tables with linen tablecloths on the sidewalk, even if no one sits there, it looks elegant. The original idea was to help bring back the lost ambiance of the Lake Washington Village area, and I think Armen and his family have done it! We congratulate them!

The following is a history of the Mission Candies Building:

Landmark Application Report

For the: “Wood’s Building/Mission Candies Building”, 1445/7/9 North Lake Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91104 (March 1, 2005)
Physical Description:

This is a one story large “Mission Revival Style” corner commercial building stuccoed with a tiled shed roof on the street facades. The building has three storefronts along North Lake Avenue, each with distinctive “Spanish Baroque Corbeled Arch” styled window openings along with original period transom windows. The original glazed tile bulkhead remains on most of the façade of the building. Some modifications appear to have been made to the entrances of the three store bays, although the structure retains most of its outstanding historic character.

The building has a very prominent siting, being located on a rising northwest corner of the busy North Lake Avenue corridor, and the structure dominates its location.

Significance:

ACCORDING TO THE CITY'S 1987 HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY, “This structure is significant as one of the most intact and sophisticated of the remaining 1920’s commercial buildings along this portion of Lake Avenue, and is an attractive example of a small Spanish Colonial Revival “Mission Revival” commercial structure.”

This building appears to be the last and best remaining example in Pasadena of this iteration of a Southern California common commercial storefront building of the 1920’s, in its siting and simplicity, built in the Spanish Colonial Mediterranean Revival Style, also known in the 1920’s as the “Mission Revival Style”, a style which was very connected with the tourist booster mythology of Southern California and the old California Missions. Various authors, including Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus, have covered this Southern California architectural phenomenon which swept the area when in 1915 the “Save the Old California Missions” movement was started, along with the “Good Roads” movement, by the Southern California Auto Club as a tourist development action and the Panama-California Exposition, showcasing 17th and 18th century Spanish architectural designs, opened in San Diego’s Balboa Park.

This building also has a strong association with the landmark eligible Washington Theatre. The Washington Theatre was under construction for nearly five years (1919-1924), with the unavailability of tractors to assist in construction delaying the project, and the opening of the theater was further postponed until North Lake Avenue and Washington Boulevard were able to be asphalted in 1925. The builder of the “Wood’s Building/Mission Candies Building”, Henry Wood, a prominent local realtor, had the opportunity to develop his lot, located at the intersection of Rio Grande Street and North Lake Avenue on the northwest corner, to be a complimentary business and entertainment location to coincide with the biggest ever opening in the Lake Washington Village neighborhood, the grand opening of the magnificent Washington Theatre movie palace. The Washington Theatre was marketed in the local papers as a greater Pasadena destination, with the reasoning of why not see first run movies away from the crowds on Colorado Boulevard. The “Wood’s Building/Mission Candies Building” benefited from this Washington Theatre advertising campaign.

The building has been the home of a number of small neighborhood businesses, and also housed the local post office for a number of years, and also served the Washington Theatre pre- and after-show crowd from its opening in 1925 and the Mount Lowe tourist trade from 1925 to 1936. The “Rio Grande Confectionery” and later the successor “Albert Sheetz Mission Candies Fountain and Shop” served tourists traveling up to Mt. Lowe and returning. There were no other locations located on North Lake Avenue leading up to the Mount Lowe Railway which offered freshly made candies.

The siting of this building is unique for the area in that it is situated on a northwest corner with the façade wrapping around from the west to the north. This building has been a very visible local and touristic landmark for more than 80 years at this location.

This building is located near a former Pacific Electric car stop for trolleys heading to Altadena, Rubio Canyon, the Great Incline and the Mt. Lowe Alpine Tavern Hotel. The Mt. Lowe Alpine Tavern was located on the mountain directly above the terminus of North Lake Avenue and was a popular destination for weekend outings and as a local and national tourist destination. The incredible Mount Lowe mountain railway, which at the height of its popularity was Southern California's outstanding tourist magnet, attracted more visitors at the time then Yosemite or Catalina. It offered one of the world's most spectacular rail trips with disaster seeming ready to strike at every turn of the car wheels, yet so expertly engineered that in all the years it operated not one accident occurred. It was the realized dream of Professor T. S. C. Lowe., the first U.S. Union Army balloon aviator during the Civil War, inventor and one of the most prominent Pasadena residents, investors and boosters.

The Alpine Tavern was also a well visited destination watering hole during Prohibition (1919 to 1933), since the Tavern was cut off from the rest of the city when the last train left in the evening until the trains began running in the morning. This made the Alpine Tavern safe for the imbuing of spirits and other nefarious activities during the nighttime hours. Also, businessmen, attending meetings at the Alpine Tavern Hotel and then being stranded on the mountain after the last train had departed, were known to have telephoned their wives informing them they would have to spend the night at the Tavern, giving them a good excuse for an evening of unbridled and uninterrupted entertainment in this veritable mountain fortress! The aforementioned confectionery located in the “Wood’s Building/Mission Candies Building” would have been the only place in North Pasadena on the way up to the mountain to obtain freshly made candies in gift boxes, which would have been appropriate gifts for a romantic rendezvous.

The interurban railway of the Pacific Electric Company brought the ``Big Red Cars'' to North Lake Avenue in 1902, in which crowds of hikers would arrive early on Saturday morning bound for the local canyons to the north. Come Sunday evening the reverse migration would occur. At its peak in the year 1921, when 160,930 passengers were carried, Mt. Lowe cars operated from Pasadena to Altadena via North Fair Oaks, Mariposa, and North Lake including via North Lake from Colorado Boulevard. Another nearby local tourist destination was the home and gardens of noted local botanist and Southern California Missions booster Charles Francis Saunders, located at 580 North Lake Avenue, located just south of Orange Grove Boulevard, which was visited by many traveling on the Pacific Electric cars going up and down to the mountains.
The hiking era came to a close soon after the Angeles Crest Highway was opened in 1936 and the automobile began to dominate people's lives. Roads were driven into the San Gabriel Mountains and few people ventured more than a few hundred yards from their automobiles. The number of visitors today is probably a few percent of the number who came in 1921.

The North Lake Pacific Electric Line was extremely busy until shortly before its abandonment in 1941. The “Wood’s/Mission Candies Building” saw its fortunes decline after the closing of the Mount Lowe tourist attraction in 1936, the opening of Angeles Crest Highway into the mountains also in 1936, the ending of trolley traffic in 1941, the onset of World War II and the general availability of automobiles and cheap gasoline for the common man. The building of a new local post office on Washington Boulevard near to Washington Park dealt another blow to the “Wood’s/Mission Candies Building”.

Maintenance became ever more infrequent afterwards and the building at present is vacant and in need of refurbishment to bring it back to its original splendor. This building is truly indicative of its time and place and has been a beautiful embellishment to Lake Avenue for more than eighty years. With proper restoration, the “Wood’s/Mission Candies Building” will adorn its corner once again with an ambience and style which will draw clientele from its entertainment counterpoint and stylistic bookend, the Washington Theatre.

History:

This building was constructed in 1925 by Henry Wood, a prominent Pasadena realtor, using a local contractor by the name of Willard R. Bell, who is listed as living at 1640 E. Mountain at the time. Mr. Wood, whose real estate office was located at 1458 North Lake Avenue and home was located at 867 Rio Grande Street, was always looking for good investment opportunities, and when the Washington Theatre on Washington Boulevard opened, just around the corner from Mr. Wood’s lot on the northwest corner of Rio Grande Street and North Lake, Mr. Wood saw his good fortune in the lot being located in a rapidly developing business node on the long stretch of Lake Avenue located at Washington Boulevard.

Mr. Wood and his contractor Mr. Bell pulled a construction permit, on March 31, 1925, for a one story commercial property to be built of brick in the “Mission Revival Style”, matching the style of the Washington Theatre, to be located at the property to be addressed “1445 - 7 - 9 N. Lake”, at a cost of “$8,900”, with a purpose of “Stores”, with a total of “3 Rooms”, with a lot “91.89 feet by 70 feet”, with a size of building being “60 feet by 70 feet”., with the front of the building being erected on the “Front” of the lot, with the highest point of the roof being “18 feet”, and the height of the first floor joist above curb level or surface being “13.6 feet”, the character of the ground being “Clay”, the material of the foundation and cellar walls is to be made with is “Concrete” and the material the upper walls will be made with is “Brick”. There are no buildings within 30 feet of the proposed structure as of the building permit issuance date.

“The Rio Grande Confectionery” (A.C. Powell, owner, Always a Large Variety of Ice Creams, Candies, Cigars, Stationery, Toilet Articles and Fountain Service, 1445 N. Lake Avenue, Phone Sterling 4214) was domiciled in the southerly shop bay in 1927, “The Wycoff Verrinder Company” (Musical Instruments, 1447 N. Lake Avenue) was domiciled in the middle shop bay in 1927, and the “United States Post Office, Station C, North Pasadena, California” was domiciled in the northerly shop bay at 1449 North Lake Avenue, also in 1927. Carrying along the "Mission" theme, we find the "Mission Bell Beauty Shop" of L.C. Clow located just to the north at 1454 North Lake Avenue.

In 1937, we find “The Albert Sheetz Mission Candy Company” located at 1445, the I.M. Flamholtz Barber Shop located at 1447, and the Post Office Station C still located at 1449 North Lake. The “Albert Sheetz Mission Candy Company” was particularly well known in Southern California from the 1920’s on, with locations in all the major tourist destination cities such as its home city of Santa Barbara, and Hollywood, Santa Monica and, of course, Pasadena. Albert Sheetz Mission Candy Company locations offered “Fountain Service, Fine Foods, Pastries, Ice Cream, and Mission Candies”.

Historical Context:

Lake Avenue began in the 1860’s as a burro path connecting Benjamin Wilson’s Lake Vineyard Ranch, whereupon Wilson’s Lake was located on the site of present day Lacy Park in San Marino, with the mountains to the north. Known at various times as the Lake Vineyard Road and Prospect Road, Lake Avenue was served by a horse-drawn rail line and eventually by the Pacific Electric railcars before automobiles finally dominated the street.

Though many early visitors and tourists have traveled North Lake for business or pleasure, such as Henry Ford to test his latest automobile models on North Lake’s steep grade, the area’s residents have been among its primary users on weekdays. Residential development extended north up Lake at the beginning of the century, first to Villa Street and then throughout, and beyond the city limits. Commercial development followed the residents and the annexation on North Pasadena in 1904. By the 1920’s, the Lake/Washington intersection was an important retail center serving nearby residents.

Zoning has permitted a gradual transformation of North Lake Avenue. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was a road running through large tracts with citrus trees, fruit trees and vineyards. The large properties were subdivided to accommodate more homes, but residences dominated the entire length of the avenue until the 1920’s when commercial nodes at Villa, Orange Grove and Washington were created. In the early 1920’s, when zoning districts were established citywide, North Lake Avenue was designated residential with commercial development being limited to Maple Street, Villa Street, Orange Grove Boulevard and Washington Boulevard. The residential zoning allowed bungalow courts and four family flats in addition to single-family housing.

In 1930, commercial uses were permitted to extend from Orange Grove Boulevard to Maple Street, at the southern end of North Lake Avenue, and between Claremont Street and Elizabeth Street near the northern limits, to serve the growing number of people with automobiles. By the 1960’s, the residential area between Claremont and Orange Grove was zoned for neighborhood commercial uses, and during the 1980’s more intense commercial uses were permitted in the portion between Mountain and Orange Grove. Many of the residential structures in the neighborhood commercial portion have been retained, although some have been adapted for commercial uses. The zoning has remained substantially the same since the mid-1980’s although many auto related uses such as gas stations and auto repair garages have been replaced with other retail and service uses.

THE VIEW OF ECHO MOUNTAIN & MOUNT LOWE FROM MY LIVING ROOM

2009-12-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

Echo Mountain below Mount Lowe, December 10, 2009

Snow on Mount Lowe, December 10, 2009

The recent snow dusting on our venerable mountain tops brings to mind the lost history of our once international tourist destination: The Mount Lowe Railway to the Clouds via Echo Mountain and the Great Incline!

Tourists from 1893 to 1936 were continually heading to Altadena, Rubio Canyon, the Great Incline and the Mt. Lowe Alpine Tavern Hotel. The Mt. Lowe Alpine Tavern was located nestled in a canyon above Echo Mountain in a crow's flight above the terminus of North Lake Avenue and was a popular destination for weekend outings and as a local and national tourist destination. The incredible Mount Lowe mountain railway, which at the height of its popularity was Southern California's outstanding tourist magnet, attracted more visitors at the time then Yosemite or Catalina. It offered one of the world's most spectacular rail trips with disaster seeming ready to strike at every turn of the car wheels, yet so expertly engineered that in all the years it operated not one accident occurred. It was the realized dream of Professor T. S. C. Lowe., the first U.S. Union Army balloon aviator during the Civil War, inventor and one of the most prominent Pasadena residents, investors and boosters.

The Alpine Tavern was also a well visited destination watering hole during Prohibition (1919 to 1933), since the Tavern was cut off from the rest of the city when the last train left in the evening until the trains began running in the morning. This made the Alpine Tavern safe for the imbuing of spirits and other nefarious activities during the nighttime hours. Also, businessmen, attending meetings at the Alpine Tavern Hotel and then being stranded on the mountain after the last train had departed, were known to have telephoned their wives informing them they would have to spend the night at the Tavern, giving them a good excuse for an evening of unbridled and uninterrupted entertainment in this veritable mountain fortress!

The interurban railway of the Pacific Electric Company brought the ``Big Red Cars'' to North Lake Avenue in 1902, in which crowds of hikers would arrive early on Saturday morning bound for the local canyons to the north. Come Sunday evening the reverse migration would occur. At its peak in the year 1921, when 160,930 passengers were carried, Mt. Lowe cars operated from Pasadena to Altadena via North Fair Oaks, Mariposa, and North Lake including via North Lake from Colorado Boulevard. Another nearby local tourist destination was the home and gardens of noted local botanist and Southern California Missions booster Charles Francis Saunders, located at 580 North Lake Avenue, located just south of Orange Grove Boulevard, which was visited by many traveling on the Pacific Electric cars going up and down to the mountains.

The hiking era came to a close soon after the Angeles Crest Highway was opened in 1936 and the automobile began to dominate people's lives. Roads were driven into the San Gabriel Mountains and few people ventured more than a few hundred yards from their automobiles. The number of visitors today is probably a few percent of the number who came in 1921.

The North Lake Pacific Electric Line was extremely busy until shortly before its abandonment in 1941. Altadena and North Pasadena saw its fortunes decline after the closing of the Mount Lowe tourist attraction in 1936, the opening of Angeles Crest Highway into the mountains also in 1936, the ending of trolley traffic in 1941, the onset of World War II and the general availability of automobiles and cheap gasoline for the common man.

In the above photographs you can see Mount Lowe peak, formerly Oak Mountain, and renamed by the leaders of Pasadena in 1893 in honor of Professor Lowe and his accomplishment of building a seemingly impossible mountain railway. In the Echo Mountain photograph it is possible to see the concrete retaining wall and stairway (the light spot in the middle) from the top of the Great Incline where millions of tourists over the years had their souvenir photo taken as they arrived at Echo Mountain, just as cruise ship passengers still have their souvenir photograph taken today upon disembarkation in distant ports.

Theme of the Day - Waiting.......

2009-12-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

Yes, the animals are always waiting for us. But, these enigmatic characters are always up to something on their own. These are the hardwood floor dusters of Normandie Cottage, at least two of them. The third chose not to be photographed.

I'm sure they are daydreaming - waiting for the next delicious meal.

They never seem to tire of the same breakfast and dinner; they'll eat it with gusto no matter. And always I'm thankful for a hungry cat, because a cat which isn't hungry is not feeling well!

LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF MOUNT LOWE - UP LAKE AVENUE!

2009-11-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

After the last rain the clover is beginning to sprout again and the elves and mushrooms are about. When I turn around and look towards the mountains I see Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe, actually visible from my bedroom and living room windows! This shot epitomizes my interests: historic architecture, Colonial Revival Moderne style, 1950's sports cars, czecho-germanic-anglophile culture, travel, trees and blue sky thinking.

Normandie Cottage is a lot of work to keep running, being 1924 vintage and my having so little time at the moment to give it attention. The 1958 Austin Healey 100-6 is also a lot of work to keep running, as well. As a matter of fact, trying to keep myself running, vintage 1950, is a lot of work.

Some of us still believe and hope we might bring back this part of town to what it was almost a hundred years ago. A small group of enthusiasts actually believe we may see the reconstruction of the Mount Lowe Incline Railway and the reinstallation of trolleys up and down Lake Avenue, taking tourists to a rebuilt Mount Lowe Alpine Tavern hotel at Crystal Springs, all this happening within the next 20 years or so.

First we must have a grand reopening of the restored Washington Theatre and the establishment of a Lake Washington Village Arts District. All good things take time. Let me know if you want to get involved to bring back the economic vitality of the old tourist days. Up Lake Avenue can be a vacation destination for all once again, as it once was.

LAKE AVENUE'S LOST WOODBURY CREEK AND LONE PINE RANCH TODAY.

2009-11-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

As promised, I recently took some photographs of Woodbury Creek and the former Lone Pine Ranch, all near the intersection of North El Molino Avenue and Atchinson Street, just west of North Lake Avenue.

The first photo shows the entrance pillar to Lone Pine Ranch on the northwest corner of El Molino and Atchinson, and this is apparently the location that one person remembers having a corral back in the 1950's still, which had smelly runoff into the creek. The original house appears to still be on the lot nearest to the intersection with the rest of the lot having apparently been subdivided for other homes starting in the 1950's and later. Atchinson wasn't put through to El Molino until sometime around 1907 and and the original ranch home in Craftsman style was built around 1903, so originally the ranch had a large area with Woodbury Creek running northwest to southeast through its parcel, where the corral would have been, most likely behind the house to the west on Atchinson, making a slope into the creek.

The next photos show the storm drain which passes under Atchinson just west of Madison, and then the natural creek is visible, although channelized, as it passes further south. A Craftsman era home is built on the lot directly to the west and the lot slopes down to the creek, allowing this seemingly one story bungalow actually to have a substory with windows below the street level. Sorry the pictures don't show the situation too well, but there is a lot of shrubbery and if you look closely you'll see the substory in a couple of the photos. All of the creek photos are looking south off of Atchinson towards the house located on the southside of Atchinson just west of Madison.

If you're in the area, take a look at this in person. It is truly amazing and can't be covered over by the city since the house has a substory below the street level!

If you have any stories about our lost Woodbury Creek, please comment.

BOB'S BIG BOY RETURNS TO LAKE AVENUE, PASADENA - WAS 77 NORTH LAKE AVENUE, NEW LOCATION 899 EAST DEL MAR AT SOUTH LAKE AVENUE

2009-10-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

THIS IS THE BOB'S BIG BOY ON COLORADO BLVD. IN EAGLE ROCK IN THE 1950'S AND A SIMILAR DESIGN TO THE ONE IN PASADENA LOCATED AT 1616 EAST COLORADO WHERE THE PCC SHATFORD LIBRARY NOW STANDS, THE SW CORNER OF BONNIE AND COLORADO

BOB'S BIG BOY AT 77 NORTH LAKE AVENUE, IN EXISTENCE FROM LATE 196? TO 198?, NOW COCO'S RESTAURANT

THIS IS BOB'S BIG BOY RESTAURANT IN RANCH STYLE WHICH WAS OWNED MY MARRIOT AFTER THE CHAIN WAS SOLD BY THE CREATOR BOB WIAN IN 1967, AND MARRIOT CONVERTED MANY LOCATIONS LATER TO COCO'S, WHICH THIS LOCATION IS TODAY

Bob's Big Boy restaurant is coming back to Pasadena as of November 2009! This is hard to believe after so long an absence, but considering there were four locations in Pasadena and Eagle Rock, not operating necessarily all at the same time, maybe it's not suprising that Bob is coming back.

The same owner of the famous Toluca Lake landmark location just happens to own the Baja Fresh on Del Mar just east of South Lake Avenue. Baja Fresh is now closed and there is a banner hanging outside with the Big Boy saying he's coming back! For those of us old enough to have known Bob's during its heyday, this is a welcome situation, especially for Lake Avenue.

Bob's had a number of locations in Pasadena. The first was located at 1616 East Colorado Blvd., built in 1953 and designed by architect S. David Underwood. This was located on the SW corner of Bonnie and Colorado, however the property has been taken over by Pasadena City College, after being eventually surrounded by the campus, and the restaurant was about where the Shatford Library now stands. This Bob's location had become a Greek restaurant after Bob's had moved into their new abode at 77 North Lake Avenue in the late 1960's, and the 1953 Googie style building was demolished without further adieu prior to the building of the new library in the 1990's, much to the regret of the space age architectural aficionados who also love the Saga Motor Hotel across the street which still stands.

A concurrent location in the 1950's through the 1980's? was located at 3130 East Colorado, across the street from Fedco now Target on the SW corner of Northrup and Colorado. This location was demolished in 1982. Also, in the 1950's probably through the 1970's? the Bob's location at 1803 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock, the historic photo at the top of this entry, was in operation, with a miniature golf course located on the property just west of its parking lot. The things we used to have!

Well, I hope there are a few others of you out there with fond memories of Bob's Big Boy, also in Pasadena, and hope you are excited to maybe even have Car Nights on the weekends behind the new location in the parking lot on South Lake Avenue. We can hope for some more good memories on our own "Avenue to the Sky!" It's great when it's not all past tense, as memories go!

LOURDES OF THE WEST, 1879 NORTH LAKE AVENUE

2009-09-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Photo is dated December 25, 1939. "Lourdes of the West" was built in 1939 as "an exact replica of the beautiful and historic Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, on the grounds of St. Elizabeth's Church in Altadena where it is attracting thousands of war anchored tourists, who are choosing the colorful Southern California vacationland in lieu of Europe this year. Photo shows the grotto at Altadena which encases statues of "Our Lady of Lourdes, the Virgin" and St. Bernadette, the little shepherdess to whom the Virgin appeared on 18 occasions, once commanding her to scratch the ground with her foot, where a healing spring burst forth, from which waters the spring at the foot of the "Lourdes of the West" has been created." It was built partly out of lava and greeted 300,000 visitors in nine months.

This is a magical place and recently renovated including the two garden entrance way gates which have "Lourdes of the West" in illuminated cut out letters in the decorative metal archway overhead. The St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish hosts an old time family festival in October on a Saturday evening where wonderful food and classic fair rides and games are hosted. Not to be missed; look for the banner advertising this coming festival at the southwest corner of New York Drive and North Lake.

At night, the flickering votive candles in the grotto give an eerie but peaceful feeling to the contemplative. One of several hidden gardens on Lake Avenue and a spot for reflection.

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 1757 NORTH LAKE AVENUE LANDMARK

2009-09-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here we have another Pasadena official landmark on North Lake Avenue, the French gothic style inspired Westminster Presbyterian Church designed by famed Pasadena architect Sylvanus Marston in 1925 as he was part of the Marston, Van Pelt and Maybury architectural firm which existed from 1922 to 1927, after Marston spent time in France during World War I, where he received inspiration from the French cathedrals. This is surely the most French European of cathedrals in Pasadena and it has a grand rose window on its south side, a sublime interior and a magnificent tower which can be seen for miles around. One could feel almost like being in Paris' Notre Dame during the Christmas Eve candlelight service in this wonderful treasure of a space.

This building has been used for filming a number of times including 1953 big screen version of the War of the Worlds where the church is seen silhouetted with Martian multi-colored blasts behind it. It was recently used for the 2008 Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie where it stood in for a German Catholic cathedral with its roof bombed and missing courtesy of CGI.

Truly a structure of magnificence on Lake Avenue. The photo is from 1939. With the undergrounding of the utilities on Lake Avenue we have very much enhanced the beauty of the street from that aspect. This gives us hope for the future that we might still be able to make major aestethic improvements to our boulevard. The ornamental streetlights are the same on this stretch from Woodbury to Howard that have been here since the 1920's. Someone thought it wise to remove the remaining ornamental light posts from Howard to the city center and replace them with much inferior light standards during the 1970's. We were lucky to replace the ornamental light standards once more from Howard to the 210 bridge in recent times, albeit they are just single headed rather than double headed.

More to come on the towers of Lake Avenue

LAKE AVENUE COLUMBIA SCHOOL, SE CORNER OF LAKE AND WALNUT

2009-08-26T12:07:00.001-07:00

Views of the Columbia Grammar School, established on the east side of Lake Avenue just south of Walnut Street in 1895. The school was one of two built to relieve the rapidly growing enrollments, but the new eight-room building was not ready for students in September as anticipated; it was Christmas vacation before classes were opened. By 1898 new rooms were added to help meet the need for additional facilities. One of the first kindergartens was established at Columbia School in 1901, and the following year a new kindergarten building was constructed on the school grounds. The school was discontinued at the end of the school year 1930-31 and the property was sold.

The building was demolished and the Farmer's Market complex was built on the site and today Ralphs market is located here. A shame again to lose such a beautiful building on Lake Avenue. Hopefully, the present non descript Ralphs building will be demolished and something worthy of this grand corner will take its place.

Corners should be respected in our city. The recent adoption of citywide design guidelines will make sure this will happen. Thanks, Moule and Polyzoides, and thanks to Stefanos, particularly.

LAKE AVENUE SNOW, JANUARY 11, 1949

2009-08-12T17:31:00.001-07:00

This photo shows the heaviest snow which has fallen in Pasadena in the 20th century, on January 11, 1949, when 6" fell on Lake Avenue and 12" higher up in the foothills. This picture was taken from the Santa Fe railroad track crossing between Maple and Curson, what is now in the middle of the 210 Freeway, looking north to Maple, with the original Lake Avenue Congregational Church sanctuary on the Northwest corner of Maple and Lake, with its steeple hidden in the low lying mist.

The Fox Market, a well known market on the Southwest corner of Maple and Lake is just across from the Lake Avenue Congregational Church. None of these buildings exist anymore due to the construction of the 210 Freeway.

Notice the historic street light fixtures which had a high mast in the middle to support the cross wires for the Pacific Electric Short Line overhead catenary above the track which was in the middle of Lake all the way up to Altadena, but were removed by this time.

The 210 Freeway divided Pasadena even more than the railroad tracks had before it. Now instead of being on the other side of the tracks, the rest of Pasadena is on the other side of the freeway, without the connection of the Pacific Electric trolleys or the lure of the mountains which at one time proved more irresistible to tourists than now. At least our mountains are not as congested with people as they once were and it's possible to wander the trails without seeing many hikers from out of the area and most everyone is local, especially during the week.

Will we ever see such a snow again? Will we ever have such main street architecture on Lake Avenue again? When we were planning the North Lake Avenue Gold Line Station, we had proposed the bridge where it's located to be more like the Rialto Bridge in Venice, with room for shops and businesses. The North Lake 210 Freeway Bridge was widened, but no provision for shops and businesses was built into the structure. Perhaps this will happen in the future. Could you imagine a flower shop, a newstand, a tobacco shop on this bridge? More unlikely things have happened. If we can imagine a great bridge like the Rialto in Venice, we can have one here, also.

UNION BANK PLAZA, CORDOVA TO DEL MAR, SOUTH LAKE AVENUE, 1965

2009-08-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

This is the architectural model of the Union Bank Plaza under construction in 1965 on the westside of South Lake Avenue between Cordova and Del Mar, which was to eventually include an eight-story office tower, hotel medical complex, a pedestrian bridge over Cordova connecting to the next block to the north. Most of this was built as designed; it was known later as the Jacobs Engineering Complex for a very long time, being named after its major tenant, and Union Bank moved away in the 1990's. William L. Pereira and Associates were the architects of Union Bank Plaza and this photo is dated 6.13.65.

The building of this complex took out many single family homes in this block that had survived on South Lake into the 1960's, with a few still surviving even longer, such as the Craftsman home housing the Japanese owned " Lake Florist " just south of what was the Wells Fargo Bank Tower at Green and Lake and just north of what is now Smitty's Restaurant. " Port O' Call " high end gift shop, a Pasadena intstitution, was located in a large Craftsman home farther down on Lake directly across from Continental Burger. Both these homes have been demolished in the meantime to make room for new developments. One home which still remains is where the speakeasy style bar " Magnolia " is located, just south of the Mobil Station at San Pascual and Lake, sharing the space with Heller & Company coin dealer, a business which I have never seen open in the last twenty years. The front of the bungalow is covered over with retail box construction, but you can see the house from the area of the gas station or from inside " Magnolia " where a tree grows in front of the bar.

The one story 1960's modernistic bank building on the northwest corner of Cordova and Lake was demolished in the 1990's and the entire south end of the block is now covered with new development. Many notable 1960's buildings in the South Lake Shopping and Financial District have been threatened with demolition or significant alteration, erasing interesting architecture on this stretch of Lake Avenue.

LAKE AVENUE'S LOST CREEK ... WAS KNOWN AS WOODBURY CREEK IN THE NORTH, WILSON'S OR MILL CREEK IN THE SOUTH

2009-08-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Amazing how so many natural features of our landscape can be rendered invisible over time and pass from memory as generations live and die or move away. Waterways, streams, creeks, springs, lagoons, ponds, lakes were always a part of our natural landscape, even in the arid San Pascual Rancho. As the area became ever more settled, these water features were either depleted or in the way. Also, many water features appeared to be less permanent, since in the summer they may have withered away with seemingly little trace, but in winter and spring reappear with a vengance which sometime resulted in death and destruction of those who built too close or in the way of nature.

Lake Avenue's own water course, known as Woodbury Creek in the north and Wilson's Creek or Mill Creek in the south, has been known since the 1920's as the East Side Storm Drain. Beginning in the alluvial soil of the western edge of the Woodbury Ranch in Altadena and coursing down Santa Rosa, traveling through the Washington Park Arroyo, crossing from west to east of Lake Avenue at Orange Grove Boulevard, forming a lagoon behind Charles Francis Saunders' home and continuing south between Lake and Wilson, finally emerging from El Molino Canyon just north of the El Molino Viejo, flowing through the Old Mill, and finally filling Kewen Lake , also known as Wilson's Lake, the flowing stream of Lake Avenue still flows, now channelized in concrete as the East Side Storm Drain, but suffering the decapitation of its southward flow south of Maple by the intrusion of the Foothill Freeway ditch, a veritable Grand Canyon of the present age.

Hopefully, we can restore this scenic lost waterway for future generations of Pasadenans and its wildlife to enjoy. More unlikely things have happened. Woodbury ... Wilson's ... Mill Creek , the flow from the mountains to the lake. These are dreams of nature restored and appreciation of paradise lost, with hope for its rediscovery and reinstatement.

RECENT PROPOSAL OF THE REVIVAL OF THE PASADENA SHORT LINE - LAKE AVENUE RED CARS OF THE PASADENA-ALTADENA REGIONAL TROLLEY SYSTEM

2009-08-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

All that's old is new again. Here is an introduction to the Pasadena-Altadena Regional Trolley System, a proposal which has been in the works for the last year and has been the recipient of some generous consultancy work, which we hope shows in the thoughtfulness of the proposal. The idea is to link the city by trolley going east from Old Pasadena on Green Street to PCC and then return traveling west on Union Street, than using the old Union Pacific Right of Way now on Caltrans property along the 210 Freeway outer edge and travel up behind Muir High School, travel east on Woodbury which has a median strip, travel north on Fair Oaks which is wide and fairly calm on this section, turn east on Mariposa, which is wide and calm, turning south on Lake Avenue going south to connect with the Union Green Street loop in the City Center.

This will link the greater city with historic trolleys as seen by the large San Francisco loop from the Presidio to Fisherman’s Wharf to the Market District presently in service. In conjunction with the Pasadena Arts Bus System, this would give a world class city, Pasadena, world class public transportation. The City of Pasadena does well with national and international tourism around the New Year’s Holiday; let us embark on a bold step to continue this green revenue stream of tourism the entire year, as was once the case in Pasadena’s proud history.

By making Pasadena a world class all year tourist destination, expanding our number of museums (the proposed JPL/NASA Space and Aeronautics Museum and the proposed Museum of the New World, for example) and other touristic venues and events (Pasadena as a possible venue for an upcoming World Fair and/or Olympic Games), it will allow us to truly make the City of Pasadena the center of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Science, and Natural Wonders of the West, truly the Athens of the West as envisioned by our City Father George Ellery Hale.

Downtown Los Angeles is planning the same idea as seen in the LA Times July 31, 2009. Street trolley gaining steam in downtown Los Angeles
11:40 AM July 31, 2009
Transportation planners are considering three different routes for a proposed street trolley that would run through downtown Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Street Car Inc. has been working with city officials and downtown property owners on the trolley concept, which is designed to connect the sprawling city center. It comes as officials are working on a plan to revive the movie palaces along Broadway, which is where the streetcar would run. Here are the proposed routes:
-- Option 1: The streetcar would run from Bunker Hill to the South Park area, running by Disney Hall and the Music Center, then on Broadway and Hill Street. It would then veer west on Pico Boulevard to Figueroa Street, hitting the Convention Center, Staples Center and L.A. Live.
-- Option 2: This route is somewhat shorter, with a smaller run along Figueroa.
-- Option 3: This route would not go as far south, ending at 11th Street.
Downtown boosters have hailed the trolley system as a way of getting visitors and workers around within the area.
The trolley would be the centerpiece of an effort to turn Broadway into the theater and dining district. Government officials and private developers have earmarked nearly $40 million, hoping to pull the gentrification that has swept much of downtown into the district's main commercial area. They envision many of the movie facades giving way to a live theater district forming on the street, with a trolley car system running down its center.
-- Shelby Grad

Be sure to click on the different routes link in the above to see what LA is planning.

The interurban railway of the Pacific Electric Company brought the "Big Red Cars'' to North Lake Avenue in 1902, in which crowds of hikers would arrive early on Saturday morning bound for the local canyons to the north. Come Sunday evening the reverse migration would occur. At its peak in the year 1921, when 160,930 passengers were carried, Mt. Lowe cars operated from Pasadena to Altadena via North Fair Oaks, Mariposa, and North Lake including via North Lake from Colorado Boulevard. Another nearby local tourist destination was the home and gardens of noted local botanist and Southern California Missions booster Charles Francis Saunders, located at 580 North Lake Avenue, located just south of Orange Grove Boulevard, which was visited by many traveling on the Pacific Electric cars going up and down to the mountains.

The hiking era came to a close soon after the Angeles Crest Highway was opened in 1936 and the automobile began to dominate people's lives. Roads were driven into the San Gabriel Mountains and few people ventured more than a few hundred yards from their automobiles. The number of visitors today is probably a few percent of the number who came in 1921.The North Lake Pacific Electric Line was extremely busy until shortly before its abandonment in 1941. The businesses saw their fortunes decline after the closing of the Mount Lowe tourist attraction in 1936, the opening of Angeles Crest Highway into the mountains also in 1936, the ending of trolley traffic in 1941, the onset of World War II and the general availability of automobiles and cheap gasoline for the common man. We hope the trolley on Lake Avenue can be put back in order to bring the tourist trade life blood we have been missing since 1936.

SOUTH LAKE IN 1965, LOOKING NORTH FROM DEL MAR

2009-07-31T14:36:00.001-07:00

Another view of South Lake Avenue looking northward from the south side of the intersection at Del Mar, on the sidewalk in front of Bullocks. Again, with the 1920's monumental seven-story Italian Renaissance Revival Style Security Pacific bank building on the southeast corner of Colorado and Lake in the distance, but closer than the last view. The Security Pacific bank building was apparently demolished after it was damaged in the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake and the present unremarkable building was erected. It's possible to just make out the projecting vertical neon sign which said Security Pacific Bank on the east facade of this magnificent building. We are missing the beautiful and artful neon signs of Pasadena's past. Here we have a Thunderbird parked at the curb and a Buick whizzing down South Lake, with a Corvair going upstream. Notice the shoe store on the northeast corner of Del Mar and Lake, much more attractive than the way the building looks now.

SOUTH LAKE IN 1965, LOOKING NORTH FROM MIDBLOCK TO DEL MAR

2009-07-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

A view of South Lake Avenue looking northward from the crosswalk in front of Bullocks Department Store, in 1965. Del Mar is the next cross street intersection, with the 1920's monumental seven-story Italian Renaissance Revival Style Security Pacific bank building on the southeast corner of Colorado and Lake in the distance. The Security Pacific bank building was apparently demolished after it was damaged in the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake and the present unremarkable building was erected, which is now (2009) slated for demolition for the New Hotel Constance Project (more on Hotel Constance, SW corner of Mentor and Colorado later). Stores seen are Haggarty's , Blums and Barker Bros. Furniture, with an MG sports car in the foreground and pedestrians crossing in the crosswalk.

NORTHLAKE MARKET, 250 NORTH LAKE AVENUE

2009-07-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here we have the "Northlake Market" located at North Lake and Locust Street, southeast corner, and equipped by the Henslee Corporation as it was new in the 1920's. The building still exists as the Lighthouse Christian Bookstore, but has been unfortunately altered over the years. Perhaps the building can still be restored back to its beautiful Art Deco style look? Less likely things have happened.

Locust Street on the westside of Lake was the driveway for the Theodore Lukens' Estate, which still exists at the terminus of Locust at North El Molino as the most amazing Victorian Gingerbread mansion in Pasadena complete with hitching post and riding mount stone in the front parkway. Theodore Lukens was a Pasadena civic and business leader and outstanding conservationist, founding the research station at Henninger Flats, and Mt. Lukens was named after him. Also, he is known as the "Father of Forestry." More to come on Lukens and the Lukens' Estate, which originally had an address on North Lake Avenue where the Locust driveway begins, but is now listed at 267 North El Molino Avenue.

Pasadena Mental Health Center, 1495 North Lake Avenue

2009-07-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Again, we have another official Pasadena City Landmark on Lake Avenue, the large Craftsman style " Breiner House " designed by famed Pasadena architect Cyril Bennett and built in 1914, located in the Lake Washington Village area on North Lake Avenue. The Breiner House is prominently located on the Northwest corner of Ladera Street and North Lake Avenue and has been occupied by the Pasadena Mental Health Center for a number of years. Cyril Bennett is well known for having designed many major landmark buildings in Pasadena such as the Civic Auditorium and the Pasadena Playhouse, as well as a large number of other notable structures in the area.

ROMA ITALIAN DELI & GROCERY, 918 NORTH LAKE AVENUE AT MOUNTAIN

2009-06-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of historic photos from Roma Italian Grocery from the 1950's when it was located in an old house at the same location where it is located today, albeit in a more modern building.

CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS' HOME, 580 NORTH LAKE AVENUE

2009-05-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

One of the still existing major landmarks on North Lake Avenue is the home of Charles Francis Saunders, named Ah-Tshi-Quah-Nah, at 580 North Lake Avenue, which was, along with its gardens, a major tourist attraction in Pasadena during the great hiking era which existed from the early 1900's through the early 1930's. Charles Saunders (1859-1941) moved to Pasadena in the early part of the 2oth century.

His contributions were as an author, naturalist and collector, who practiced and promoted ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement and also promoted the beauty and allure of the Southwest. He was responsible, along with Charles Lummis, for fostering interest in restoring the deteriorating California missions and reestablishing the El Camino Real.

Charles Francis Saunders was born in Bucks County Village, Pennsylvania in 1859 and moved to California in 1906. While he was a resident of Pasadena he became a noted author and naturalist, writing numerous books on topics of the California missions, California and Southwestern flora and fauna, and Native Americans. His books were widely read, from his first book, “In a Poppy Garden,” published in 1904 through his last, “Western Wild Flowers and Their Stories,” published in the late 1930’s. Many of his books were published in multiple editions and are still in print today. He collected Southwestern Native American pottery, basketry and other items and his wife, Mira Culin Saunders, donated his collection after his death to the Southwest Museum.

His home is a designated local landmark of Pasadena and looks much the same as it looked in Saunders' day, although the gardens have gone to rough and the creek, Wilson's Creek, and lagoon behind the house have been channelized in concrete. Still one can see how residential, bucolic and garden-like North Lake Avenue was, by the remnants of many bungalows between the commercial nodes located at the major cross streets. The home was almost destroyed, after having an interior fire in the 1980's and facing a long period of abandonment. It was restored by the new owner in 2005.

RALPHS SUPERMARKET, 171 TO 181 NORTH LAKE AVENUE

2009-05-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here is additional information from the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from 1931 showing the layout of the Ralphs Supermarket a few doors down from the gas station which was on the SW corner of Lake and Walnut. Look at the footprint of the magnificent entrance tower to parking off of Lake. It is painful to lose such a beautiful building. Notice the Pacific Electric double track in the middle of Lake Avenue. Do you remember when there was a gas station practically on every corner? Times change.

At this time the Columbia Grammar School of the Pasadena Unified School District was on the SE corner of Lake and Walnut, which was sold by PUSD in the ensuing years and the Farmer's Market was constructed and later partially demolished leaving what is now Ralphs Supermarket.

Ralphs certainly lost a wonderful home on Lake Avenue in Pasadena when they moved out of this Spanish Colonial Revival style temple. Most likely this building was damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake leading to its demolition shortly thereafter, the fate of many unreinforced masonry buildings, both after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. Seismic reinforcement would have been a much better option in hindsight.

Ralphs Supermarket on North Lake Avenue was originally located in a wonderful Spanish Colonial Revival style building which was on the Southwest corner of Lake and Walnut and ran from 171 to 181 North Lake Avenue, including a tower and an ornamental driveway entrance gate. The beauty of the architecture in this part of Pasadena from the 1920's to the end of the 1940's is beyond our present day conception.

Alas, the Ralphs Supermarket moved into the non-descript former Farmers Market location across the street on the Southeast corner of Lake and Walnut in the late 1960's when the new Pasadena Mutual Savings Building in a modern style was built on the site of the former Ralphs Supermarket, it being also now demolished for the present IndyMac Bank building. So many demolitions and reconstructions, but nothing will be built to match the beauty of the Spanish Colonial Revival style buildings of this pictured Ralphs Supermarket building on North Lake Avenue or the previous post of the Security Pacific Bank tower building on the Southeast corner of Lake and Colorado. We do not seem to be progressing toward beauty as far as architecture is concerned on Lake Avenue in Pasadena. This is what makes historic preservation all the more important, when we learn what we've lost, we know we need to preserve the beauty which still exists.

Bullocks Pasadena - Elegant Shopping and Living Come to Lake Avenue

2009-04-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

When Bullocks Department Stores expanded to Pasadena in 1947 with their "Store of Tommorow", it changed South Lake Avenue, a previously residential neighborhood with homes lining both sides of the street just north of the wealthiest Pasadena neighborhood "Oak Knoll" and wealthy San Marino, into the locus of elegant shopping in Pasadena. The Pasadena Bullocks was designed in a cruise ship style by renowned architect Welton Becket. Becket's goal was to create unity both "inside" as well as "outside" of the building and to achieve an atmosphere of a "home" or an "exclusive country club".

THE PASADENA OAK KNOLL LINE AND THE NORTH LAKE AVENUE LINE - LAKE AVENUE RED CARS OF THE PACIFIC ELECTRIC

2009-03-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, views from the same spot 1907 and 1947; both buildings, the Lake Avenue Methodist Church and the Security Pacific Bank which replaced it, have been demolished. Hopefully, someday we will have a worthy replacement for such a major intersection on the main street of Pasadena.

Security Pacific Bank building on the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue, Pasadena Anno 1947, with the Pacific Electric Oak Knoll Line tracks

Lake Avenue Methodist Church on the southeast corner of Colorado and Lake Avenue, Pasadena Anno 1907, with the Pacific Electric Oak Knoll Line tracks

The northernmost end of the Lake Avenue lies at the very foot of the Cobb Estate in Altadena and immediately accesses Las Flores Canyon and the Sierra Madre mountains. The first resident of Las Flores Canyon was the Forsyth Ranch. The ranch was sold in 1919 to Mr. Cobb who had an enormous estate which filled the lower reaches of Los Flores Canyon and the large ornamental entrance gates, driveways, botanical plantings, house foundations and reservoir can still be seen. Las Flores Canyon was also known for its small and short-lived gold mine and also as a hideout for the notorious Californio bandit of the early American period, Tiburcio Vasquez. The Cobb Estate was deeded to the United States Forest Service as a free growth Arboretum in 1967.

In the days of the Pacific Electric Red Car service in Pasadena and Altadena (1902-1941), South Lake Avenue was on what was known as the Oak Knoll Line and North Lake Avenue was on the North Lake Avenue Line. Oak Knoll Avenue is the street on the lower end of Lake Avenue which transitions north with a slow curve to the right and then back to the left coming up from San Marino and the former Lake Vineyard Ranch. The Pacific Electric Red Cars came up from a switch on the Huntington Drive line below the famous hotel of the same name. The Oak Knoll Line connecting with the North Lake Avenue Line at Colorado Boulevard was a shorter way from this part of Pasadena to get to Lake and Mariposa in Altadena without having to ride the circuitous route up Fair Oaks Avenue. In 1914 a spur on the short line was built across Mendocino Street from Lake Ave. to Allen St. and the development of Country Club Parks. The line was put there to access the new development and the Altadena Country Club and Golf Course and the airfield located there.

Pacific Electric car stops for trolleys were located all along Lake Avenue heading to Altadena, Rubio Canyon, the Great Incline and the Mt. Lowe Alpine Tavern Hotel. The Mt. Lowe Alpine Tavern was located on the mountain directly above the terminus of North Lake Avenue and was a popular destination for weekend outings and as a local and national tourist destination. The incredible Mount Lowe mountain railway, which at the height of its popularity was Southern California's outstanding tourist magnet, attracted more visitors at the time then Yosemite or Catalina. It offered one of the world's most spectacular rail trips with disaster seeming ready to strike at every turn of the car wheels, yet so expertly engineered that in all the years it operated not one accident occurred. It was the realized dream of Professor T. S. C. Lowe., the first U.S. Union Army balloon aviator during the Civil War, inventor and one of the most prominent Pasadena residents, investors and boosters.

The Alpine Tavern was also a well visited destination watering hole during Prohibition (1919 to 1933), since the Tavern was cut off from the rest of the city when the last train left in the evening until the trains began running in the morning. This made the Alpine Tavern safe for the imbuing of spirits and other nefarious activities during the nighttime hours. Also, businessmen, attending meetings at the Alpine Tavern Hotel and then being stranded on the mountain after the last train had departed, were known to have telephoned their wives informing them they would have to spend the night at the Tavern, giving them a good excuse for an evening of unbridled and uninterrupted entertainment in this veritable mountain fortress! The businesses near the Pacific Electric stops in Pasadena and Altadena on the way up to the mountain were places to obtain appropriate gifts for a romantic rendezvous.

The interurban railway of the Pacific Electric Company brought the "Big Red Cars'' to North Lake Avenue in 1902, in which crowds of hikers would arrive early on Saturday morning bound for the local canyons to the north. Come Sunday evening the reverse migration would occur. At its peak in the year 1921, when 160,930 passengers were carried, Mt. Lowe cars operated from Pasadena to Altadena via North Fair Oaks, Mariposa, and North Lake including via North Lake from Colorado Boulevard. Another nearby local tourist destination was the home and gardens of noted local botanist and Southern California Missions booster Charles Francis Saunders, located at 580 North Lake Avenue, located just south of Orange Grove Boulevard, which was visited by many traveling on the Pacific Electric cars going up and down to the mountains.

The hiking era came to a close soon after the Angeles Crest Highway was opened in 1936 and the automobile began to dominate people's lives. Roads were driven into the San Gabriel Mountains and few people ventured more than a few hundred yards from their automobiles. The number of visitors today is probably a few percent of the number who came in 1921.The North Lake Pacific Electric Line was extremely busy until shortly before its abandonment in 1941. The businesses saw their fortunes decline after the closing of the Mount Lowe tourist attraction in 1936, the opening of Angeles Crest Highway into the mountains also in 1936, the ending of trolley traffic in 1941, the onset of World War II and the general availability of automobiles and cheap gasoline for the common man. We hope the trolley on Lake Avenue can be put back in order to bring the tourist trade life blood we have been missing since 1936.

THE WASHINGTON THEATRE, 845 E. WASHINGTON BLVD., LAKE WASHINGTON VILLAGE

2009-03-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

THE WASHINGTON THEATRE

The Washington Theatre was operated by Fox for years and was later used as a venue for Spanish-language and finally, adult films. The architects were Clarence L. Jay, Henry M. Patterson, and was built in the area popular style of Spanish Colonial Revival in 1924, with a delayed opening in 1925 due to Washington Blvd. not being paved until that time. The theater has a single screen auditorium with 900 seats, apartments on the east end, office space on the second floor front, and retail spaces on the ground level flanking the entrance foyer. An ArtCraft Theatre Organ was installed in the Washington in 1926 with blower serial number 19198. There are only eight ArtCraft organs on record; all were very small, and none are known to have survived. From the July 31, 1937 issue of Boxoffice Magazine: "A thirty-day shutdown has been ordered for the Washington Theatre, Pasadena. Crown City Theatres, operating the house, has planned a $20,000 improvement budget, which will include a new floor, marquee, seats, and other items." $20,000 in 1937 was an enormous sum.

THE GENESIS OF LAKE AVENUE!

2009-03-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

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.
After the war between Mexico and the United States of 1846, when the territory was opened up to settlers, a Scotsman named Hugo Reid received a portion of the vast San Gabriel Mission from the Mexican government, which then dominated California. In 1854, Reid's Indian widow sold part of her estate, 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.

Ralph's Five and Dime, 1289 North Lake Avenue, Lake Washington Village

2009-03-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Ralph's Five and Dime building was around from the 1920's until the City of Pasadena decided it had to go after the Whittier Earthquake knocked down a number of brick buildings in Pasadena. I shopped at this dime store many a year, it had a lot of old stock, items from the 1950's were still there in the 1970's and 1980's, it was absolutely charming. Pasadena tore it down and put up a parking lot. We hope to get some buildings rebuilt facing North Lake on the perimeter of the ugly parking lot, just where this 5 and 10 and other great buildings used to be located. It's called "Edge Repair" in PlanningSpeak, and it has been proposed for Lake Washington Village revitalization. Stay tuned and support your local merchants, at the Five and Dime Lake Washington.

Henries Toys, 1328 North Lake Avenue, Lake Washington Village, 1947 to ?

2009-03-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

We know Henries Toys survived more than 20 years, as they were celebrating their 20th anniversary in 1967 according to their advertisements in the local papers of the day. Does anyone have any memory of buying cherished childhood toys and hobbies at Henries? I'm a vintage toy collector and had many Shuco wind up toys in the 1950's, those great microracers and wind up dancing figures from old Germany. Don't remember buying any at Henries though.

1386 North Lake Avenue, The Butcher Block, Lake Washington Village

2009-03-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1950's through the 1960's Lake Washington Village had a well functioning business
association which put on sales events like Moonlight Madness, with all the merchants open until midnight on a Friday night, or Lake Washington Dollar Days where all the merchants would feature super sale items. Here an advertisement from the local papers for one such event and a photo of how The Butcher Block looked in 1955. The Lake Washington Village was quite an elegant place in the day. We hope it will become such a place again.

Lake Washington Village 1955 Photo Looking South Towards Washington

2009-03-19T12:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a photo from Pasadena Public Works showing the view looking south down North Lake Avenue at Ladera Street in 1955. We can still recognize many buildings, however many of the interesting projecting neon signs are gone, a great loss to the night time scene in the Lake Washington Village, but stay tuned, we may get the Crown Market Crown Sign relit and neon replaced. The Crown Sign is still on top of the Crown Market Building, now the Dance Studio, and the sign is protected by being on the City of Pasadena Historic Sign Inventory, as no new roof signs are now allowed in the district.

North Lake Avenue Reawakens

2009-03-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

North Lake Avenue Reawakens

One hundred years later life is quickening again

By a Former Pasadena City Commissioner

Thursday, January 20, 2005 – NORTH PASADENA – Like Rip van Winkle, North Lake Avenue is awakening from a long slumber to behold a much changed world. Old timers and new residents alike are remarking that change is in the air.

The journey of North Lake Avenue begins in earnest in 1893, when Professor Lowe opened his world famous Mount Lowe Railway, with its Great Incline lifting passengers to dizzying heights on Echo Mountain located at the top of North Lake Avenue, the journey continues upward in 1907 when Henry Ford, who wintered in Pasadena, would test his latest model on the 8% grade – “a good test” he said, when stopping in at North Lake Avenue shops for supplies, the journey continuing ever upward in the Roaring 20’s when North Lake Avenue experienced its most commercial growth and success with the coming of the electric car line up and down Lake Avenue, encouraging the arrival of more residents with money to spend in the greater North Pasadena area, many of them with Model T’s, bringing with the them the hunger for a local movie palace, more shops, more drugstores, more gas stations, more real estate offices, and more eating establishments.

The Great Depression of 1930 began a time of hardship for many of the businesses and families on North Lake Avenue, but people hung tough, raised their families and made it through to the new challenges of World War II, when new construction stopped, most men went off to war, and the women, along with the older men, kept things going on the Avenue. After the war, the men came home to their families, but eventually many had a yearning for those new family suburbs they had heard about over in the San Fernando Valley. The 1950’s started a slow but steady decline for North Lake Avenue and by the late 1950’s the Avenue suffered the same fate as many main streets in America. The people got used to driving farther for everything, as the traffic wasn’t too bad, the cars were comfortable, gas was cheap, and the shops in the middle of town had a better selection and better prices. It was a downward slope on North Lake Avenue from then on.

But eventually the descent started to be checked and the direction changed again to upward, which brings us to the present in the beginnings of the 21st Century and the beginnings of great positive change in the fortunes of North Lake Avenue. In recent times, we have seen a developer buy the historic Washington Theatre, a developer who is in the process of spending previously unthinkable amounts of money to make the Theatre back into the glamorous movie palace it once was, historic style ornamental street lighting is being reinstalled from Elizabeth Street on the north of the Avenue to the light rail station at the south end of the Avenue, and many historic commercial building facades are being sensitively restored. Historic residential neighborhoods like Bungalow Heaven, Washington Square, Garfield Heights, Normandie Heights and Historic Highlands have banded together to form Landmark Districts, which give present and future property owners the guarantee their property will remain desirable, and will probably increase in desirability, insuring an affordable quality of life in a charming and walkable residential and commercial neighborhood. People have begun to believe that something wonderful is in the process of happening, maybe something which only happens once in a lifetime.

The people of North Pasadena, and particularly those living adjacent to North Lake Avenue, need to believe we can have as beautiful and charming an area as ever was here, at any time in the last century. If we work together, we can make it happen. Please do your part by encouraging your neighbors and neighborhood businesses to do what is necessary for all to flourish. Please encourage historic preservation; because it is good business, and will lift all by encouraging the investment we are now beginning to see.

The new owners of the historic Mission Candies Building located at 1445, 1447 & 1449 North Lake Avenue need to be encouraged to restore the building’s existing historic façade. Please encourage the new owners, Deanne and George, the proprietors of Pinocchio’s Pizza located at 1427 North Lake Avenue, (626) 791-7591, to bring back the wonderful Mediterranean Revival architecture to its full glory.

The Mission Candies Building was designated a local landmark by Pasadena City Council in 2005.