The Big Snow of 1949 Last weekend we had a taste of snow here in the Crescenta Valley. But when we talk about real snow in the history of the valley, the date of January 10,1949 always comes up. That was the famous 3-day snowfall that blanketed not just La Crescenta, but Greater LA […]
Pioneer Memories: Art Aiken – Timber Operations Many residents of the valley are surprised that our bare, rocky San Gabriel Mountains were once forested with big conifers and that lumber camps were part of our landscape. The forests were cut for firewood for Los Angeles, specifically to feed LA’s brick-making factories. Art Aiken was there […]
Our Relic Air Raid Siren Gets a New and Better Home A few years ago, I wrote about a Cold War relic that we have in our valley, the Chrysler Air Raid Siren. Many of you remember our post-WWII Cold War with the Soviet Union that put the Los Angeles area in the […]
The Bullock House in La Cañada The history of the Crescenta Cañada Valley, along with Altadena next door, is filled with narratives of wealthy folks who saw the foothills of the San Gabriels as a place to build a “mountain retreat.” These higher elevations, with their (then) crystal-clear air, were thought of as healthy […]
Band-Tailed Pigeon: Our Only True Native Pigeon My wife and I have found immense joy in the bird feeder we set up a few years ago. It hangs on a rope from the eaves right outside a big picture window in our living room, perfect for observing the ebb and flow of migrating species, along […]
The Later Years of the Montrose Theater Last week I wrote about the beginnings of our hometown favorite, the Montrose Theater, which was located right on Honolulu Avenue in the heart of Montrose. The 600-seat theater was built in 1924 as a cooperative venture by several Montrose businessmen to boost customers at their own […]
The Early Years of the Montrose Theater I’ve written about the Montrose Theater briefly before but it’s such an icon of Montrose that it really deserves a deeper dive. For those new to our community (and by that I mean moved here in the last 40 years), the Montrose Theater was legendary in the […]
1917 Murder: Robbery or Ill-fated Love Triangle? – Part 2 Last week we read about the murder of Albert De Marcus, a 25-year-old driver of a “jitney” (an unlicensed taxi, equivalent to today’s Uber or Lyft). He had picked up a fare after dark in Glendale and was found dead the next morning behind […]
Augie’s Tavern Memories The Crescenta Valley has had its fair share of little neighborhood bars, sometimes jokingly referred to as “dive bars.” Barru, My Place, Intermezzo, Up the Hill, Village Pub, Avignone’s … the list goes on and on. Augie’s Tavern was one of these. It was located at 3352 Foothill Blvd., on the […]
Old Lady Scott “You kids get out of here – this is private property – or I’ll call the police!” For a curious little buckaroo like me, that struck terror in my heart. I mean, all we were doing was playing in the old orchard behind our house, running in-between the orange, lemon and […]