Indian Springs Resort’s Opening Celebration Last week I wrote about the origins of the Indian Springs Resort, a well-loved recreational feature of Montrose before and during the boom growth years of post-WWII. It was located in a small wooded canyon just off Verdugo Road to the east of Montrose. The canyon was filled in the […]
Indian Springs Resort’s Beginnings There was once in our valley a beautiful oak-covered canyon that offered recreation to kids and adults – a resort, open to the public for swimming, socializing and relaxing, called Indian Springs Resort. That canyon was on the eastern edge of Montrose, just off Verdugo Road as it climbs the hill […]
CV Myths A few years ago, when the Montrose Trader Joe’s construction pace halted briefly, someone told me they heard it was because they had discovered an ancient Indian burial ground. That’s how myths get started. Here’s 10 myths I’ve heard over the years, some false, some true. Test yourself and see how knowledgeable (or […]
Car Race Track for Kids Proposed in 1958 We’ve seen a lot of uses of Crescenta Valley Park over the years. The 32-acre oak-covered oasis regularly hosts huge community fairs, Scout camp-outs, cross-country races and birthday parties. The huge community building provides space for community meetings and classes, and two baseball diamonds have hosted generations […]
Waiting For The Rain While Remembering a Flood From Our Past Waiting for the predicted El Niño rains has everyone in the valley on the edge of their seats. The deluge so far has only been a deluge of media outlets predicting disaster in the form of massive precipitation. A few naysayers have already begun […]
John Steinbeck’s Letters from Montrose In previous columns I’ve covered John Steinbeck’s brief residence in Montrose, approximately seven months in the fall/winter of 1932 into the early part of 1933, before he had any success as a writer. Carol Steinbeck, John’s wife, had just been laid off from her job in Monterey working for marine […]
Harrison Ford on Location in Verdugo City! It’s true – Harrison Ford, the famous actor, shot a pivotal scene of one of his biggest movies in Verdugo City, at the corner of Honolulu and La Crescenta avenues. Yes, I’m talking about the handsome leading man who has his star on Hollywood Boulevard. But wait, I […]
When A Hollywood Star Was Our Mayor Dennis Morgan is a movie star mostly forgotten today, but in the biggest years of his career, the 1940s, he was one of the top stars. He was born as Stanley Morner in a small town in Wisconsin, where he married his high school sweetheart. He had the […]
Will Glendale Sell Rockhaven to a Developer? Incredibly, that’s being currently considered. Many of you remember that in 2006, Rockhaven Sanitarium had closed and the owners had put it up for sale as raw land for apartment and condo development. Rockhaven had been built in 1923 as a haven for women with mental illnesses, a […]
The Death of a Young Mother – Part 1 I’ve often written that the founding industry of the Crescenta Valley was the treatment of lung diseases, starting with Dr. Briggs in 1881. Soon after, those afflicted with lung problems, particularly tuberculosis, flocked to our valley for the clean dry air, at that time the only […]