Montrose Bowling Center’s Grand Opening It was 1940 and bowling was becoming a popular social activity in America. Bowlers in the Crescenta Valley had to drive all the way to Pasadena for their league games. But now Montrose was getting its own bowling alley and the valley was in a frenzy of excitement. Last […]
Montrose Bowl is Built: 1940 “Vintage bowling” is a hip thing today. Celebrating classic Americana is popular with younger generations and so bowling alleys have seen a resurgence in popularity, adding full bars and live music. While some “vintage” bowling alleys have been newly constructed, like Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood and Downtown LA, […]
Clark Junior High Yearbooks – 1953 and ’54 I was recently loaned a couple of yearbooks from Clark Magnet High School. Flipping through them is a wonderful journey back through time, and I’ll relate some of the highlights here. But first a word about the somewhat confusing history of Anderson W. Clark Junior High. […]
A Trailer Park Proposal in 1960 – La Crescenta Said, ‘No Way!’ A trailer park in what is now the pricey above-Foothill residential area? When that proposal hit the local newspaper in early January 1960, some residents of the valley no doubt envisioned the stereotypical tightly packed lower income housing that has often attached […]
CV Street Name Origins – Part 7 Last week we were talking about the origins of some of the street names in La Cañada. We were moving west to east across the top of the valley. We just crossed Hillard, and now approach Palm, then up the hill to Alta Canyada. Palm Drive – […]
CV Street Name Origins – Part 6 Last week we were naming the streets of La Cañada. We were moving east to west across the top of the valley and were just approaching Angeles Crest Highway. Wiladonda Drive – According to a local historian: “Wiladonda Drive was a combination of four names, Wilbur & […]
CV Street Name Origins – Part 5 Here’s more on the Tujunga street names. But first a submission from Steve Thompson of La Crescenta: “In the late 1960s, the Shel Homes company built a housing development in the southeast section of Tujunga. A cul-de-sac with only four houses was named Pessin Place after the […]
CV Street Name Origins – Part 4 Continuing with street name origins, let’s look westward to Tujunga. But before we do, I have a couple of submissions from readers. Joe Kroening wrote: “I live on Wiley Lane, which was named by Webster Wiley, as this was his first subdivision/development of six homes. All feature […]
CV Street Name Origins – Part 3 Moving down, below Foothill Boulevard, we get into the Montrose area and lower La Crescenta. Montrose Avenue Named for the town of Montrose obviously, but the Montrose name has several origin stories, none of which have been proven. Robert Newcombe catalogues the various theories in his book “Montrose.” […]
CV Street Name Origins – Part 1 Recently I was sent a list of local street name origins by another local historian, Jo Anne Sadler. (For a deep dive into local name origins, get her book “Crescenta Valley Pioneers and Their Legacies.”) I’ll use her list and my own knowledge to reveal how certain […]