A Description of Crescenta-Cañada Valley in 1883
We get an early description of La Cañada in an 1883 publication “A Southern California Paradise.” It should be noted La Cañada in that era was the entire Crescenta-Cañada Valley from Tujunga to Altadena. The writer was the Rev. R.W.C. Farnsworth, one of the original members of the Indiana Colony who founded Pasadena. Farnsworth was one of the many Southern California boosters of that time period who wrote glowing reports of the wonders of the area in order to promote tourism (and potential land sales) among readers back east. (My comments are in parenthesis.)

Farnsworth wrote that the La Cañada valley was covered in a thick growth of greasewood (creosote bush) and scrub oak, with occasional clusters of oak and sycamore. The plants were evergreen, giving the valley a pleasing look. There was in season a profusion of “Spanish bayonets” (yucca) and wildflowers. The soil was rich alluvial deposit and sandy loam, and water readily available. The land was worth $40 to $75 per acre. Some fruit orchards had already been established. Raisins, the writer surmised, would do well here.

Geographically, he described the valley as an alluvial slope coming off the Sierra Madre Mountains (the San Gabriels). But instead of flattening out at the slope’s base as it does elsewhere along the Sierra Madre foothills, the slope is cut short by a smaller parallel range (the Verdugos and San Rafaels). In the center of this smaller range is a convenient opening (Verdugo Canyon) down which a good road ran all the way to East Los Angeles. He described the Verdugo Canyon as containing an old Spanish farming community. He wrote the canyon was well watered with rich soil, and was bound to become the garden spot of Los Angeles.

The weather in La Cañada was near perfect, being sheltered between two mountain ranges, with less fog and milder breezes. That, along with its nearness to Los Angeles, made it a perfect destination for health-seekers. Farnsworth stated that La Cañada boarding houses were turning away customers, and investments in building accommodations for invalids would pay off here.

Farnsworth wrote extensively of the “Soledad Grade” implying that it was the main attraction in La Cañada in 1883. (The Soledad Grade was a San Gabriel Mountains wagon road that was being built in 1873 to transport silver ingots from the Cerro Gordo Mines. It was only partially built when a new railroad line rendered it redundant, and it was abandoned. Portions of it still exist just above Angeles Crest Highway.) Farnsworth said the Soledad Grade offered great sport for the adventurous traveler. A loop trip back to La Cañada could be made as a steep road had been cut from the Soledad Grade down into the deep Arroyo Seco. From there a good road followed the stream back down to La Cañada.

The writer portrayed the valley as sparsely settled in the extreme. He wrote only about a dozen families resided in the entire Crescenta-Cañada Valley. He mentioned several residents whose names live on in local place names: General Shields (Shields Street, Shields Canyon), Col. Hall (Hall-Beckley Canyon), Dr. Hilliard (Hilliard Avenue), Will Gould (Gould Avenue) and Dr. Lanterman (Lanterman Auditorium). A health resort called Verdugo Heights had been established, one of the first in this area.

He briefly mentioned a relative newcomer, a physician from Crawfordsville, Indiana, B.B. Briggs (Dr. Benjamin Briggs, founder of La Crescenta). Briggs had made large investments in land and water, had a strong interest in horticulture and was contributing to the establishment of a community.

What Farnsworth and his contemporary readers didn’t know in 1883 was that Briggs was much more of an ambitious town builder than implied. By the time of this publication, and unknown to the writer, he had bought the entire western half of La Cañada, renaming it La Crescenta. He had subdivided and laid out a town site, was building a school and church, and was increasing the population by attracting his friends and family. Rev. Farnsworth describes a Crescenta-Cañada Valley right on the cusp of a dynamic change.

  mike lawler