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Serving Altadena since 1935

The Altadena Historical Society (AHS) was founded in 1935. We gather, preserve, and share print and digital information about the people, places, and events that have shaped the Altadena community.

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View of four men at the entrance of Ye Alpine Tave

View of four men at the entrance of Ye Alpine Tavern, Mt. Lowe Rwy., Altadena, CA, ca. 1900, Detroit Photographic Co. (Paul Ayers)
#altadenahistoricalsociety #altadena #altadenahistorical #view #fourmen #entrance #alpinetavern #yealpinetavern #mtlowerailway #mountlowe #ca1900 #tavern #detroit #photographic #beard #cool #beardedmen

Crisis at John Muir High School, Summer 1968. Fif

Crisis at John Muir High School, Summer 1968.

Fifty-four years ago, in the summer of one of the most tumultuous years in US history, our local news was also turbulent. Here are three headlines from June 27, July 4, and July 11 that appeared in our local newspaper, The Altadenan. The sudden resignation of Muir's principal, John Venable, late in the spring created a firestorm.
—-- 1st image - The Altadenan newspaper, June 27, 1968.
The surprise resignation of Principal John Venable spurred a response.
—-- 2nd image - The Altadenan newspaper, July 4, 1968
—-- 3rd image - The Altadenan newspaper, July 11, 1968.
—-- 4th image - Some detail from the July 11, 1968 article in The Altadenan.
Plan A, mentioned here, consisted of a new map of school enrollment boundaries.
#altadenahistoricalsociety #altadena #altadenahistorical #altadenan
#crisis #johnmuir #johnmuirhighschool
#summer #tumultuous #ushistory #turbulent #localnews #headlines #resignation #sudden #principal #firestorm #spurred #response #enrollment #boundaries #1968

View north of Strawberry Peak, Angeles National Fo

View north of Strawberry Peak, Angeles National Forest, CA, ca. 1890. My best estimate on the camera location is the Front Range above and to the northwest of what is now the site of JPL.(Paul Ayers)
#altadenahistoricalsociety #altadena #altadenahistorical #strawberry #peak #strawberrypeak #north #view #angelesnationalforest #1890 #best #estimate #camera #location #front #range #frontrange #above #northwest #jpl #mountainrange

The view from Wapello St., about 1950. In our fil

The view from Wapello St., about 1950.

In our file on 'San Gabriel Mountain Views,' there are a few images taken from an old home on Wapello Street in about 1950. The area today is completely subdivided, but even at mid century, you can see that this home was still way out in the countryside. A map is included showing a red dot where the photo was taken. One image looks east, and the second looks northeast toward Echo Mountain.
—-- 1st image - Looking roughly northeast. A small white shape on the ridge at the center of the photo is the abandoned Echo Mountain powerhouse, which was razed in 1961.
—-- 2nd image - Looking east.
—-- 3rd image - The red dot is the location of the photographer in the previous two photos.
#altadenahistoricalsociety
#altadena #altadenahistorical
#theview #wapello #1950s
#sangabrielmountains #sangabriel #oldhome #subdivided #today #midcentury #countryside #map #reddot #east #northeast #echomountain #abandoned #powerhouse #razed #photographer

View of four passengers in an Incline Car, Mt. Low

View of four passengers in an Incline Car, Mt. Lowe Rwy., Altadena, CA, ca. 1890s; this is an excerpt from a standard souvenir photo, taken at the Rubio Pavilion, located at the base of the Incline. (Paul Ayers)
#altadenahistoricalsociety #altadena #altadenahistorical #mtlowe #mtlowerailway #inclinecar #passengers #1890s #excerpt #standard #souvenir #photo #souvenirphoto #rubio #pavilion #base #incline #mountlowe

A forgotten Pacific Electric street car line, earl

A forgotten Pacific Electric street car line, early 1900's.

One of our AHS Board Members, Paul Ayers, recently posted a beautifully drawn map by Ray Younghans. It shows all the main features of the old Pacific Electric rail lines in Pasadena and Altadena early in the 1900's. And on Ray's map, he details the original 'Old Route' to Altadena. The first Pacific Electric line to Altadena came up Fair Oaks, turned right on Montana, then left on Raymond. At the time, the Mountain View Cemetery was much smaller so the line ran straight up to Mariposa. A few traces of the old right-of-way still exist: Raymond Lane, the row of deodar cedars in the Cemetery and the 2500 and 2600 blocks of Raymond Ave. Here are the photos.
—-- 1st image - A map created by Ray Younghans. The insets give details of specific sites.
—-- 2nd image - Here is a close-up of the map. The 'old route' in red was in operation for only a few years, roughly 1903 to 1915, before the tracks were moved to Fair Oaks Ave, where they were used until 1941.
—-- 3rd image - A current map of the old route from Woodbury Rd. to Mariposa St. through what is now the Mountain View Cemetery.
—-- 4th image - Looking north on Raymond Lane from Woodbury. The shadows of the utility lines create a ghostly image of the old rail tracks.
—-- 5th image - In the Mountain View Cemetery, these rows of deodar cedars line the old P.E. right of way, going north toward Calaveras St.
#altadenahistoricalsociety #altadena #altadenahistorical #forgotten
#pacificelectricrailway #streetcar
#beautifully #drawn #map #mainfeature #pasadena #oldroute #1900s #mountainviewcemetery #mariposa #rightofway #stillexist #deodarcedar #cemetery #inset #specific #sites #shadows #ghostly #image #rows #cedar

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