Tujunga’s Abandoned Cemetery Recently I accompanied the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley on a tour of the Verdugo Hills Cemetery in Tujunga. This cemetery was abandoned in the late ’70s, and has been maintained by local volunteers since then. It’s currently under the loving care of volunteer Herrold Egger who opened the normally padlocked […]
The Battle of Mountain Oaks As I’ve related in my past two columns, the small neighborhood of Mountain Oaks has a fascinating history – speakeasy, resort, real estate scam, development battleground, and semi-rural paradise for the handful of lucky homeowners who live in the 45 acres of oak-covered hillsides. But another fascinating and far-reaching […]
Mountain Oaks – Will It Ever be Developed? Last week I described the origins of the pretty little community of Mountain Oaks located below CV Park at the bottom of New York Avenue. Today it’s a piece of paradise for the 12 homeowners who share the 45 acres of oak-shaded wild land. But in 1929 […]
Mountain Oaks – The Lost Resort The neighborhood of Mountain Oaks is a true gem in the Crescenta Valley. Mountain Oaks is located at the very bottom of New York Avenue, below Crescenta Valley Park. It’s a small community – just a handful of homes – tucked into the lush folds of the Verdugo Mountains. […]
The History Behind the Sagebrush District Controversy A constant theme in the story of the Crescenta Valley is that of border wars. Throughout our history we have been cut up and divided many times over. Residents see the Crescenta Valley as having clear borders geographically – defined easily by the Verdugo and San Gabriel Mountains […]
More Info on the Mystery Mine of the Verdugos A couple of years ago, I wrote a column about an abandoned mine in the Verdugo Mountains directly across the freeway from the Verdugo Hills Golf Course. For many years an old concrete structure was visible on the hillside, but has since been completely overgrown. No […]
The New Year’s Flood and the Taste of Maple The New Year’s flood of 1934, 80 years ago this New Year’s Eve, was a defining moment in the history of our valley. It was at midnight, New Year’s Eve, when the year changed from 1933 to 1934 and our community changed overnight from peaceful neighborhoods […]
Updates on Twelve Oaks and Rockhaven I’ve been asked by several readers to give an update on what’s happening at Twelve Oaks now that everyone has been kicked out. As most of you remember, the Twelve Oaks Lodge, an old-folks home that had been part of CV for 80 years, was suddenly closed by its […]
New Local Film – “The Trails of La Cañada” I’ve often written about the mountains surrounding us and the wonderful hiking opportunities near the Crescenta Valley. Surprisingly, the highest concentration of hiking trails is right next door to us, within the small city of La Cañada Flintridge. La Cañada, which many of us view as […]
Finishing the series on the names of the peaks above CV, we turn towards the mountains around Mount Wilson. As you turn off Angeles Crest Highway onto Mount Wilson Road, you cross Red Box Saddle and drive past the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center. The mountain immediately above you is Mount Disappointment. It was named […]