By Charly SHELTON

n the heat of summer 1915, the citizens of the newly-formed town of Montrose came together to honor the man who put their town on the map. Robert Walton was a real estate agent who, along with his partner J. Frank Walters, co-founded Montrose and the nearby town of Oakdale, which sat between the modern Rosemont and La Crescenta avenues, right next to the established town of La Crescenta. Montrose was founded on Feb 22, 1913, and some lots on this newly graded townsite sold, but not all. Walton promised that a railroad trolley would be built for the citizens of the tri-town area, and within a few weeks he had his brother-in-law, a railroad builder back East, come out to the Golden Coast to make his promise manifest. By 1915, Walton was a well-to-do real estate magnate and railroad owner. In mid-July of that year, he was honored by the citizens with a silver cup, thanking him for his achievement of making their town and railroad a reality. This cup was a six-pint, three-handled, sterling silver cup made by Gorham Silver, which was engraved beautifully with the message, “Presented to Robert A. Walton by the Citizens of La Crescenta, Oakdale and Montrose as a token of their appreciation for his service July 15, 1915.” Walton moved out of the area in 1917 but stayed in Southern California until his death in 1961.

Now, 102 years after the cup was originally presented, it has been rediscovered by an antiques dealer in Maine who wants to send it home.

“It’s probably the earliest tangible historical artifact that we have,” said Michael Morgan, president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley. “I mean, there’s paper and there are signs and things, but there’s nothing really significant in a physical artifact.”

After speaking to several antiques dealers, the cup has been determined to be authentic and very rare for its age, as many of these cups were sold off and melted down in the Great Depression, the two World Wars and the silver price spike of the 1980s. Many of these kinds of cups, especially old commemorative trophies for honorees long passed, were more valuable as raw material. The antiques dealer in Maine, who will not be named in this article, specializes in old trophies and recently sold one from a 1890 race from New York City to New Orleans. He agreed that this find is rare and more valuable to the town it came from than to anyone else who may want the value of the silver. And, despite that, he is not charging to make a profit. All he asks is $1,650, the price he paid for it. He even offered to cover shipping. He contacted the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce to see if they were interested, and the CVCoC passed it along to the Historical Society. The board voted unanimously, and the fundraising began.

“What I would like, to begin with, is to put it in one of the shops on Honolulu [Avenue] so people have a chance to see it. It’s our gift to the founder of Montrose, and it’s coming back to its origin. I didn’t know it existed at the time; I wasn’t even looking for this kind of thing, so I’m pleased,” Morgan said. “The Historical Society board voted unanimously to try to acquire it, so they’re pleased, and the members of the Historical Society have been very generous in giving donations to bring this back for people to see. Everyone’s kind of excited to hear of something we didn’t know about, and it’s a reflection on us and our origins. Besides, it’s a really neat-looking cup.”

This reflects not only on the area’s history, Morgan said, but is typical of the Crescenta Valley residents’ hardworking and generous spirit, which has lasted for over 100 years.

“The citizens, the people who lived up here, they weren’t wealthy. If you look at Montrose in 1915, these were people who were hard workers; they were really venturing into an area that had not been developed. That they were willing to spend their hard-earned money to give him this cup and their appreciation, I find heartening,” Morgan said. “It says a lot about the people yesterday and today, and how hard-working we are, and how grateful we are.”

To donate to the Historical Society’s effort to bring the cup home, visit CVHistory.org and click on the What’s Happening This Month tab.

  Charly Shelton, Mike MORGAN