Montrose Is 110 Years Old This Week

On February 22, 1913, land sales were kicked off in the new town of Montrose. A free barbecue attracted 4000 people to see the wonders of Montrose. The developers hoped many would buy home site lots.

In 1910, LA-based development company Holmes and Walton teamed with financier J. Frank Walters to purchase a big chunk of land from Benjamin Briggs’ daughter Irene. They hired teams of Eastern European laborers to clear the development. The men camped on the land while they pulled out all the thick sagebrush, leveled the dry stream-beds, and stacked thousands of boulders into piles for later use by home-builders. The streets were laid out in a unique circular pattern.

In the days before everyone owned a car, a trolley line was essential to sell land in a new development. The developers purchased the tiny trolley line that ran between Eagle Rock and Glendale. They started the process of laying track up the Verdugo Canyon toward Montrose, and renamed it the Glendale & Montrose Railway. (That’s why Verdugo Road and Montrose Avenue are so wide, to accommodate a rail line in the center.)

By February of 1913, the developers were ready to sell, although Montrose itself was not fully developed. The land was completely bare dirt, as were all the roads. Honolulu had sidewalks in the 2200 block, but the street was unpaved. Utilities were still being worked out and the trolley line had not yet reached the town. As well, many of the advertised features, the clubhouse and the Japanese Gardens were not there.

They went ahead anyway. J. Romero, a chef who was working many LA-area barbecues, was employed to feed the anticipated crowd. Tables were set up in an area that had a couple of oak trees, just east of what we consider Montrose today, where Clifton Place is.

Let’s take a look at some of the flowery advertisements for the event and for Montrose:

“Motor to Montrose on Washington’s Birthday. We’ll give you a picture of old-time California days, a delicious barbecue luncheon, cooked out-of-doors, beneath the oaks, by Senor J. Romero, the famous Spanish chef.”

“No fog up here. You’re right between the grand Sierra Madres and the verdure-clad Verdugo Mountains, where the air is sweet and balmy, pungent with the health-giving scents of the mountains.”

“The townsite of Montrose lies upon even ground, gradually sloping to the south, hugged on three sides by the green Verdugo Hills and catching the sun glint from the snowy heads of Mt. Wilson and Mt. Lowe at the north.”

“From this promontory, we gaze down southward upon miles of verdant valley gardens with their multi-colored hues, and out beyond upon the blue Pacific and to the ragged skyline of Catalina Island. You are comfortably above the haze, the smoke and the fog of the lowlands.”

“Up at an elevation of 1400 feet, where there’s neither mud, nor fear of flooded cellars. Up where the hills and mountains are not miles away from you, but right at your back door, inviting you to many a ramble on a Sunday afternoon.”

“‘Uncrowdedness’ has been the ever-present keynote in the arrangement of Montrose.”

“Think of having a home in such surroundings, in a carefully restricted, beautifully developed residence park, with all the conveniences your heart could wish, where order and quiet beauty prevail in streets, parks and vacant lots alike, because the free care given by the owners of Montrose provides for just these advantages.”

“Only 30 to 35 minutes from downtown Los Angeles.  Low prices now at Montrose.”

Beautiful words. While some are hokum, others still ring true. It is still a good location, a place with small-town flavor minutes from Los Angeles. It’s a great place to live and shop.

On Sunday at the Montrose Harvest Market, the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley will celebrate Montrose’s birthday. We’ll have old photos of Montrose on display and local history books for sale. Best of all, we’ll have a bell from a real Glendale & Montrose Railroad trolley car. We invite you to come and ring the bell. It’ll bring you good luck! If there is rain the celebration will be rescheduled.