Pioneer Memories: N.W. Zimmer

We’re continuing with the memories of several early residents that were recorded in 1938. Our local newspaper, The Ledger, contacted as many “old-timers” as they could find and asked them to either be interviewed or to submit their memories in writing. It’s proven to be a vast treasure trove of eyewitness info of what the valley was like for early residents, as well as sharing exciting events that until now we had never heard. In most cases, I am quoting what the newspaper wrote. But I’m including my own comments in brackets [ ] to clarify or add info to the quotes. This week’s memories come from Mr. N.W. Zimmer, who first came to the valley as a tourist at the turn of the century. He later moved here, started a family, and became a real estate agent.

The newspaper wrote up a summation of his interview: “According to N.W. Zimmer the most enjoyable vacation of his life was spent at the old La Crescenta Hotel in 1900. He was later to call the place his home. [The hotel was one of the 19^th century grand resort hotels designed to accommodate wealthy easterners. Built of redwood on the northwest corner of Foothill and Rosemont in 1888, it was three stories, with 36 luxurious rooms. It declined as the years went on, and the economic crash of 1929 allowed Mr. Zimmer to buy the entire massive structure for his home.]

“On this occasion he came out from Pasadena with a team [of horses] and the road [Foothill Boulevard] was so narrow that the vegetation bordering it brushed against the sides of the buggy. La Crescenta seemed so remote but that night when he saw the lights of Los Angeles twinkling below he thought that, after all, the place was not far from the busy haunts of man.

“In those days there were horses and burros for the hotel guests who travelled the valley trails. A favorite outing was to Briggs Terrace where there were luscious grapes. It took a day to go there and back. [There was a lot to see on Briggs Terrace in 1900. Bejamin Briggs had built rock terraces all across the area, with extensive gardens and orchards. Next door, across Pickens Canyon, was the abandoned Gould Castle, a massive stone structure built in the style of a Spanish castle. As well, visitors could watch hard-rock miners in Pickens and Goss Canyons, digging long tunnels through solid granite to reach pockets of water trapped deep below the mountains.]

“On one occasion while he was visiting there, a fire broke out in the vicinity of Sycamore Avenue and spread rapidly to Foothill Boulevard. All the hotel guests were ordered out to fight the fire. [Brush fires were an “all-hands” event, since there was no organized fire department. Any able-bodied person had to fight fires – no excuses. Even travelers were stopped, ordered out of their carriages, handed a shovel and pointed toward the fire line.]

“Mr. Zimmer owned several fine horses and once when he and a male friend were returning home through Verdugo Canyon … a rough crowd of Mexicans chased them without rhyme or reason. They had a team with which they attempted to run the Americans down. These two men with fleet steeds gradually outdistanced their molesters.” [The Verdugo Canyon, where today Cañada Boulevard and Verdugo Road run past beautiful homes, could be a lawless place back then. The area was frequented by bands of itinerant woodcutters, a rough and often desperate crowd. They scratched out a living cutting oak trees and chaparral roots to sell in fuel-hungry Los Angeles. In newspapers of that time, several stories can be found of alcohol-fueled murders and mayhem committed by woodcutters and laborers in both Verdugo Canyon and La Cañada. And when Mr. Zimmer speaks of “Mexicans,” the term should be weighed in the context of the time, an era of racial prejudice.]

The Zimmer family stayed on in the valley. Mr. Zimmer ran a successful real estate business and his descendants still live here in the valley today.