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CITY OF ALHAMBRA
AGENDA
ALHAMBRA CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 25, 2022
MISSION STATEMENT
The City of Alhambra is dedicated to responsive, creative leadership and quality services, ensuring desirable neighborhoods and a supportive business environment, while being sensitive to the diversity of our community.
Watch and listen to the meeting via Zoom Webinar as follows:
Zoom Webinar direct link:
https://cityofalhambra-org.zoom.us/j/81365720800?pwd=b0xFcGdrcUVhQUNSNkp2SThyeVg1UT09 Webinar ID: 813 6572 0800, Passcode: 879128
Or by telephone by dialing (833) 548 -0276 (Toll Free) or (833) 548 -0282 (Toll Free) or (877) 853 -5257 (Toll Free) or (888) 475 -4499 (Toll Free) or +1(669) 900 -9128 or +1(253) 215 -8782 or +1(346) 248 -7799 or +1(301) 715-8592 or +1(312) 626-6799 or +1(646) 558-8656 and entering Webinar ID: 813 6572 0800 and Passcode: 879128. Please Note: All members of the public calling or logging into the meeting will be muted so that the meeting can proceed.
Addressing the Council:
In person: Section 2.04.210 of the Alhambra Municipal Code establishes the procedures for addressing the Council. Any person wishing to address the Council during the meeting should complete a Speaker Request Card and submit it to the City Clerk so the City Council knows you wish to speak . When called upon by the presiding officer, please step to the podium.
Via Zoom or Telephone: “Raise your hand” - Members of the public may speak by using the “Raise Hand” function during the public comments portion, if on Zoom or telephone. Staff will unmute speakers participating via Zoom or telephone and announce your name when it is your time to speak.
Remarks are limited to 5 minutes; however, the presiding officer may either extend or reduce the maximum time to such period of time as the Council may determine.
Standards of Decorum : Any person addressing the Council who refuses to stop speaking after his/her time has expired or any person who behaves in such a manner as to interfere with or impede the progress of the City Council meeting who, after a request by the presiding officer , refuses to cease such behavior may be removed from the City Council chambers upon direction of the presiding officer.
Enforcement of Decorum : The Chief of Police, or his/her designee, shall be Sergeant -at-Arms of the Council meetings. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Council meeting.
Persons Authorized to be Within Rail : No person, except City official or their designees, shall be permitted within the rail in front of the Council Chamber without the express consent of the Council.
Agenda Tracking Numbers: All numbers listed in bold after the title of each Agenda item are City Clerk tracking numbers that are used for filing and research purposes.
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CITY OF ALHAMBRA
AGENDA
Regular Meeting
ALHAMBRA CITY COUNCIL
Council Chambers, 111 South First Street
April 25, 2022
6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
COUNCIL: Lee, Maza, Pérez, Andrade-Stadler, Maloney
FLAG SALUTE: Led by Mayor Maloney
READING OF ORDINANCE TITLES
Government Code Section 36934 requires that all ordinances be read in full prior to City Council taking action on the ordinance. By listing the ordinance title on the Council agenda, Council may determine that the title has been read.
Recommended Action: By motion, determine that the titles to all ordinances which appear on this public agenda have been read, and waive further reading.
CEREMONIALS
1. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE: MARIA CONCHITA BAÑUELOS – F2M22-3
Mayor Maloney and the City Council, on behalf of the citizens of Alhambra, wishes to recognize and commend Maria Conchita Bañuelos who recently completed a full, 8-year term on the HCDA Citizen Advisory Committee for her dedicated service to the City of Alhambra. Mayor Maloney will present a Certificate of Service plaque to Ms. Bañuelos for her outstanding work for the City.
2. PROCLAMATION: ARBOR DAY – F2M22-3
Ratify the action of Mayor Maloney in proclaiming April 29, 2022 as ARBOR DAY in Alhambra. Mayor Maloney will present the Arbor Day proclamation to Director of Parks & Recreation Michael Macias.
PRESENTATIONS
3. FINANCIAL & ECONOMIC ANALYSIS FOR WEST VALLEY BOULEVARD – F2M21-60
In an effort to increase economic development in the City, the City Council identified a goal of completing an economic study as part of the 2021-2022 Strategic Plan. On August 9, 2021, the City Council awarded a contract to the Natelson Dale Group to prepare a financial and economic study with the goal of providing a focused market analysis to quantify potential demand for new uses along the West Valley Boulevard Corridor between
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Marengo Avenue to the east and the City limits to the west. The Natelson Dale Group has analyzed the economic feasibility of future development along the West Valley Boulevard Corridor and will be providing the City Council with a presentation of their findings.
Recommended Action: City Council receive and file this informational report and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
4. THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAM’S HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT – F2M20-51
On March 14, 2022, the City’s co nsultant, Historic Resources Group, provided the City Council with a presentation to facilitate discussion on the Historic Context Statement and the Council provided positive feedback. Since that meeting, Historic Resources Group provided the Planning Commission with a presentation on the Draft Historic Context Statement. Historic Resources Group will provide the City Council with a presentation on public input from the Planning Commission meeting and the final document and briefly discuss the scope and themes contained within the document. The presentation of the Historic Context Statement will provide the City Council with an opportunity to provide input and feedback on the final document.
Recommended Action: City Council provide input on the City of Alhambra’s Historic Context Statement part of the development of the City’s Historic Preservation Program ; receive and order filed this item; and, direct staff to proceed with the next phase of the project.
5. INTRODUCTION AND FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. O2M22 -4803 IMPLEMENTING AB 481 AND APPROVING A POLICY FOR THE USE OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT BY THE ALHAMBRA POLICE DEPARTMENT – F2M22-41, O2M22-4803
Effective January 1, 2022, Assembly Bill 481 requires legislative bodies to adopt ordinances approving military equipment use policies before law enforcement agencies can continue to engage in specified activities related to the use of what the state legislature has now defined as “military equipment” in Government Code §7070. The Alhambra Police Department has several pieces of equipment that qualify as “military equipment” in inventory and engages in critical public safety activities in coordination with other local jurisdictions. The proposed ordinance would approve a Military Equipment Use Policy that meets the relevant requirements of AB 481. As required by Government Code §7071(b), the proposed policy was posted on April 7, 2022 on the Department’s we bsite and will remain there for 30 days prior to the Council’s consideration of the second reading of this ordinance approving the City’s policy. If adopted, the Police Department would be responsible for ensuring that all provisions of Government Code §§7 071 and 7072 are met. The Council would be required by law to review the ordinance and policy at least annually and have the opportunity to renew it or make any necessary changes.
Recommended Action: City Council declare introduced for its first reading the following ordinance entitled:
Ordinance No. O2M22-4803: An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Alhambra implementing AB 481 and approving a policy for the use of military equipment by the
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Alhambra Police Department
which ordinance will return for a second reading and adoption at the next regular Council meeting.
CONSENT AGENDA (Item Nos. 6 - 15)
All items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered by the City Council to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless a citizen or Council member requests otherwise; in which case, the item will be removed for separate consideration.
6. ACCEPTANCE OF A GRANT FROM THE CALIFORNIA WATER AND WASTEWATER
ARREARAGE PAYMENT PROGRAM THROUGH FUNDING FROM THE STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD – F2M22-18, M2M22-48
On February 8, 2022, staff applied to the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program (Program). The Program was developed to assist sewer systems that accrued residential and commercial customer arrearages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City previously received funding in the amount of $194,233.67 for the water portion of the program. The bill payment relief period is f rom March 4, 2020 to June 15, 2021.
The City will receive a payment of $84,406.92, the initial estimate staff requested in the Program pre -application survey. The Program requires water systems to allocate the funds a credit to customers within 60 days of receiving funds and notify the customers in writing the amount credited. Customers do not have to repay any payments received. The awarded Grant funds are only allowed to cover water charges for accounts that were billed during the COVID-19 pandemic relief period. Once approved, staff will credit all eligible delinquent water accounts during the eligible period and notify each account holder of the amount credited to their account per the grant guidance guidelines.
Recommended Action: City Council accept a grant from the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program through funding from the State Water Resources Control Board in the amount of $84,406.92 to pay delinquent sewer bills; direct the Finance Director to increase revenue account 404. 00.42806 and expense account 404.80.8681.68088 by $84,406.92; and, direct staff to undertake the steps necessary to finalize Council’s action. (M2M22-48)
7. AWARD CONTRACT: PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE
WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT PROJECT ON WESTMINSTER AVENUE, ORANGE GROVE AVENUE AND CONCORD AVENUE – F2M22-28, RFP2M22 -3, C2M22 -16, M2M22-49
On February 28, 2022, the City Council approved the distribution of a Request for Proposals RFP2M22-3 for Professional Engineering Design Services for the Water Main Replacement Project on Westminster Avenue, Orange Grove Avenue, and Concord Avenue. This project would replace the existing four -inch and six -inch cast iron water mains with new 8-inch ductile iron water mains. Staff re viewed a total of five proposals.
Elie Farah, Inc. was selected based on their distinguished qualifications, experience, reputation, responsiveness, availability, and cost.
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Recommended Action: City Council a ward a contract, subject to final language approval by the City Manager and City Attorney, by and between the City of Alhambra and Elie Farah, Inc. for Professional Engineering Design Services for the Water Main Replacement Project on Westminster Avenue, Orange Grove Avenue and Concord Avenue in an amount not to exceed $47,896.00 ; and, direct staff to undertake the steps necessary to finalize Council’s action. (M2M22-49)
8. RESOLUTION ADOPTING A COMPLETE STREETS POLICY TO ACHIEVE AN INTERGRATED TRANSPORTATION NETWORK – F2M22-33, R2M22-22
Per Council’s direction, as part of the 2021 -2022 Strategic Plan, the Council requested prioritizing the safety, health, and security of its residents, businesses, employees and visitors through the implementation of a Complete Streets strategy. A complete street is a transportation facility that is planned, designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to provide comfortable and convenient mobility, and improve accessibility and connectivity to essential community destinations for all users, regardless of whether they are travelling as pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation riders, or drivers. Complete streets shift the focus of transportation planning and project development from vehicle movement as the primary goal to the movement of people and good s. By the proposed resolution, Alhambra is committing to transportation projects that include complete streets features that provide safe and accessible options for people walking, biking, and taking transit. The commitment expands the availability of tra nsportation options to help meet the state’s climate, health, and equity goals.
Recommended Action: City Council adopt Resolution No. R2M22 -22 entitled: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Alhambra adopting a Complete Streets Policy to achieve an integrated transportation network with infrastructure and design that allows safe and convenient travel along and across streets for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, persons with disabilities, and motorists.
9. RESOLUTION REAUTHORIZING THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE CITY’S BOARDS
AND COMMISSIONS TO IMPLEMENT TELECONFERENCE ACCESSIBILITY FOR CONDUCTING PUBLIC MEETINGS PURSUANT TO AB 361 – F2M20-33, R2M22-23
During COVID, the City has conducted meetings offering teleconferencing accessibility to members of the public, City Council, members of City boards and commissions, City staff and consultants. The executive orders authorizing such meetings lapsed on September 30, 2021, replaced with legislation in the form of AB 361. AB 361 was signed into law by the Governor on September 16, 2021, which went into effect immediately as urgency legislation (codified under Government Code § 54953), and waived certain provisions of the Brown Act in order to allow local agencies to continue to meet remotely. Specifically, the bill allows remote teleconference flexibility, but only when there is a state of emergency that makes it unsafe to meet in person. The City has already implemented the requirements of AB 361 for conducting public meetings and is in full compliance, thus there will be no change of the currently established procedures. The Council made the necessary findings for the conduct of teleconferenced accessible meetings via Resolution No. R2M21-42 adopted on October 25, 2021. The proposed Resolution again makes the required findings under AB 361, and if adopted, it will allow the City to continue to offer teleconference accessibility for public meetings, to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19,
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as well as during other state -proclaimed emergencies, such as earthquakes or wildfires, where physical attendance may present a risk.
Recommended Action: City Council adopt Resolution No. R2M22-23: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Alhambra reauthorizing the City Council, and the City’s Boards and Commissions to implement teleconference accessibility for conducting public meetings pursuant to AB 361
10. RESCIND CONTRACT AND ISSUE A NEW NOTICE INVITING BIDS FOR THE PURCHASE OF A 7-YARD DUMP TRUCK – F2M21-6A, C2M21-29, N2M22-50, M2M22- 50 On April 12, 2021, the City Council approved the distribution of Notice Inviting Bids for the purchase of a 7 -Yard Dump Truck for the Public Works Division. On May 24, 2021 a contract was awarded to Wondries Fleet Group in the amount of $102, 972.00. In a letter dated March 9, 2022, Wondries Fleet Group stated that they were unable to fulfill the contract. Specifications have been prepared for the purchase of a new dump truck. Staff has reviewed and approved the specifications, which are available for review in addition to the bid notice and bid instructions.
Recommended Action: City Council rescind the contract awarded to Wondries Fleet Group (C2M21-29) for the purchase of a 7 -Yard Dump Truck; authorize staff to circulate a new Notice Inviting Bids (N2M22-50) for the purchase of a 7-Yard Dump Truck, with bids due no later than 10:30 a.m. on May 1 9, 2022; and , direct staff to undertake the steps necessary to finalize Council’s action. (M2M22-50)
11. RESOLUTION APPROVING A REVISED CLASS SPECIFICATION FOR POLICE SERGEANT – F2M22-2, R2M22-24
Municipal Code Section 2.48.070 (B) provides that before a class specification becomes effective or other changes are made to the City’s Classification Plan, it shall first be approved by the City Council. As needed, staff will conduct a review of class specifications to ensure that job requirements remain relevant and current. Staff recommends offering an additional qualifying requisite for the Education and Experience requirements section of the police sergeant class specification. No changes to the salary are proposed. Staff has discussed and review the changes to the police sergeant class specification with the Alhambra Police Off icers’ Association (APOA) and the APOA is in agreement with the proposed changes
Recommended Action: City Council adopt Resolution No. R2M22 -24 entitled: A Resolution of the Alhambra City Council approving a revised class specification for police sergeant
12. PERSONNEL ACTIONS – F2M22-2
Recommended Action: City Council ratify the actions of the City Manager set forth in that certain Personnel Actions document dated April 25, 2022 showing the various appointments, classifications, salary changes, etc., since the last City Council meeting.
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13. TREASURER’S REPORT – F2M22-1
Recommended Action: City Council receive and file as submitted the Treasurer's Report prepared by the Directo r of Finance for t he month of March 2022, listing all of the City's investments as of March 31, 2022.
14. MINUTES
Recommended Action: City Council review and approve as submitted the Minutes of the September 14, 2020 regular meeting of the Alhambra City Council.
15. NOVEMBER 8, 2020 ALHAMBRA GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION: ADOPTION OF
AN ORDINANCE CALLING THE ELECTION AND OF A RESOLUTION REGARDING
CONSOLIDATION WITH THE STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD THAT SAME DATE IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY – F2M22-38, O2M22-4802, R2M22-21
On April 11, 2022 , the City Council introduced for first reading Ordinance No. O2M22- 4802 providing for a General Municipal Election to be held on November 8, 2022 for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters the following named officers:
City of Alhambra
Councilperson of the First District, full term
Councilperson of the Second District, full term
Councilperson of the Fifth District, full term
Pursuant to the Alhambra Charter as recently amended by Measure V in 2020, these offices s hall be nominated from and elected by districts. The Alhambra City Charter provides that General Municipal Elections shall be consolidated with the Statewide General Elections to be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of every even- numbered year; hence, the next General Municipal Election for the City of Alhambra, will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 . The City of Alhambra historically has consolidated its General Municipal Elections with those held on the same date in the County of Los Angeles. Based on economies of scale, such consolidation has resulted in considerable cost savings for the City. Therefore, staff requests that the City Council adopt the ordinance calling the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election as well as a resolution regarding consolidation with the Statewide Gene ral Election to be held that same day in Los Angeles County.
Recommended Action: City Council, by one motion, take the following actions:
1. Declare introduced for its second reading and adopt the following ordinance entitled:
Ordinance No. O2M22-4802: An Ordinance of the Alhambra City Council providing for a General Municipal Election in said city to be held on November 8, 2022 and providing for the consolidation of the General Municipal Election with the Statewide General Election, said election being held for the election of the following city officials, to wit : Councilperson of the First District, full term ; Councilperson of the Second District, full term; and, Councilperson of the Fifth District, full term; and,
2. Adopt Resolution No. R2M22-21 entitled: A Resolution of the Alhambra City Council
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requesting the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles to order the consolidation of an Alhambra General Municipal Election to be held on November 8, 2022 with the Statewide General Election to be held in Los Angeles County the same day, to authorize the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles to canvass the returns of said General Municipal Election and to request that the Registrar of Voters of said County be permitted to render specified services to the City of Alhambra relating to the conduct of said General Municipal Election pursuant to Elections Code Section 10403
PUBLIC COMMENT FOR NON-AGENDIZED ITEMS (TIME LIMITATION - 5 MINUTES)
Citizens wishing to address the Co uncil on any matter which is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council not on the Agenda may do so at this time. Please note that while the City Council values your comments, pursuant to the Brown Act, the City Council cannot take action unless the matter appears as an item on a forthcoming agenda.
COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS (ANNOUNCEMENTS & FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS) F2M22-7
Each Councilmember at his/her discretion may address the Council and public on matters of general information and/or concern, including announcements and future agenda items.
ADJOURNMENT: The next regul ar meeting of the Alhambra City Council is scheduled for Monday, May 9, 2022 at 6:00 p.m.
N O T I C E
Agenda Items: Copies of the staff reports or other written documentation relating to the items listed on this agenda are on file with the City Clerk in Alhambra City Hall, located at 111 South First Street, Alhambra, California, and are available for inspection during regular office hours, Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. If you would like to sign-up to receive the City Council meeting agenda and staff reports packet, please visit the City’s website at www.cityofalhambra.org and you will be able to submit your email address on the homepage to the subscription service. Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.5(b), materials related to agenda items for regular meetings of the Alhambra City Council that are distributed less than 72 hours prior to that meeting, will be made available for public inspection at the Alhambra City Clerk’s Office.
Broadcast of Meeting: A live video stream of each Council meeting is available through the City’s website. The regu lar meetings of the Alhambra City Council are recorded and are broadcast on Charter Channels 3 and 182 at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Mondays following the meeting.
Recordings are also available for viewing by the public on the City of Alhambra’s website, a t the Alhambra Public Library and, upon appointment, in the City Clerk’s Office.
Americans with Disabilities Act: If you require special assistance to participate in any City meeting (including assisted listening devices), please contact the City Clerk's Office at (626) 570 -5090.
Notification of at least 72 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.
Translation Services Requests: If you require translation services in order to participate in a meeting please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (626) 570-5090. All requests for translation services shall be
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made by 4 p.m. the Thursday prior to the City Council meeting. If translation is not requested by 4 p.m. the Thursday prior to the City Council meeting, staff will try to accommodate the request if possible.
LAUREN MYLES, CMC
CITY CLERK
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City of Alhambra
HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT
April 13, 2022
ATTACHMENT 1
2 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
PREPARED FOR
City of Alhambra
Community Development Department
111 South First Street
Alhambra, CA 91801
PREPARED BY
Historic Resources Group
12 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 200
Pasadena, CA 91105
Cover Photo: Main Street, view looking southwest, circa 1906. California State Library.
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HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I: Introduction 5
Purpose 6
Scope and Methodology 7
Part II: Historic Context 16
Overview 17
I. Native American Settlement 22
II. European Exploration (1542-1768) 28
III. Spanish Rule: Colonization and Mission Establishment (1769-1820) 32 IV. Mexican Rule: Secularization and Subsequent Land Grants (1821-1849) 39 V. Early California: American Statehood and Rancho Development (1850-1874) 47 VI. Early Development of Alhambra (1875-1902) 59 VII. City Incorporation and Civic Improvement (1903-1919) 88 VIII. City Expansion and Industrial Growth (1920-1940) 120 IX. Alhambra During World War II (1941-1945) 166 X. Postwar Growth and Prosperity (1946-1967) 179 XI. Postwar Decline and Redevelopment (1968-1980) 207 XII. Alhambra Today (1981-Present) 227
XIII. Architecture and Design 232
Bibliography 286
Appendix A: Development Chronology 300
A
ppendix B: Population Characteristics and Composition Recorded by Decade 310 Appendix C: Annexations Recorded by Development Period 312 Appendix D: Tracts Recorded by Development Period 315 Appendix E: Tracts Recorded by R-1 Neighborhood 329 Appendix F: Guidelines for Evaluation and Registration Programs 338 Appendix G: Community Submissions 346
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HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
Part I
INTRODUCTION
View of early homesteads in Alhambra, circa 1884. USC Digital Library.
5 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
INTRODUCTION
This draft Citywide Historic Context Statement was prepared at the request of the City of Alhambra. In September 2020, the City contracted with Historic Resources Group (HRG) to prepare a citywide Historic Context Statement. This project will provide the City of Alhambra with a comprehensive historic context statement that will serve as a foundation for historic preservation planning efforts in the City going forward.
The Historic Context Statement is a compilation of existing information – including published histories and historical narratives about the city, as well as previous surveys and property evaluations – supplemented with new research and analysis, providing the City with a comprehensive development history of Alhambra’s built environment. The Historic Context Statement identifies important periods of development, historical trends and development patterns, and important persons in the history of Alhambra. The period of study for this project commences with the initial development of Alhambra in the late 19 th
century and ends in 1980, allowing for information about development patterns and properties dating to approximately 40 years in the past.
This document represents an update to the 50% draft of the Historic Context Statement that was published in Spring 2021. The draft includes updates to the narrative overview and the draft themes based on additional research, feedback from the community and City staff, and a windshield study of the built environment in Alhambra. Preliminary eligibility standards have been added for each theme, to illustrate in general the type of information that will be included in the final draft. The eligibility standards are intended to aid in the future evaluation of historic resources; they will be refined and updated to be more specific to Alhambra as research and data collection continues.
The upcoming final draft will include updated information obtained through ongoing research of the city’s history and revisions based on feedback from City staff and the community.
The project follows guidance and standards developed by the National Park Service and the California State Office of Historic Preservation for conducting historic resources studies; specifically, the project is being developed using the National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation (MPD) approach. Guiding documents for this method include:
• The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation Planning • National Register Bulletin No. 15: How to Apply the National Criteria for Evaluation • National Register Bulletin 16A: How to Complete the National Register Nomination Form • National Register Bulletin No. 16B: How to Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form
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HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
• National Register Bulletin No. 24: Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for Preservation Planning
• The California Office of Historic Preservation’s Instructions for Recording Historical Resources
PURPOSE
In order to understand the significance of the historic and architectural resources in the City of Alhambra, it is necessary to examine those resources within a series of contexts. By placing built resources in the appropriate historic, social, and architectural context, the relationship between an area’s physical environment and its broader history can be established.
A historic context statement analyzes the historical development of a community according to guidelines written by the National Park Service and specified in National Register Bulletin 16A. The Bulletin describes a historic context as follows:
Historic context is information about historic trends and properties grouped by an important theme in pre-history or history of a community, state, or the nation during a particular period of time. Because historic cont exts are organized by theme, place, and time, they link historic properties to important historic trends. In this way, they provide a framework for determining the significance of a property.
1 A historic context statement is linked with tangible built resources through the concept of “property types,” which are groupings of individual properties based on shared physical or associative characteristics. A historic context statement should identify the various historical factors that shaped the development of the area, which may include:
• Historical activities or events
• Historic personages
• Building types, architectural styles, and materials
• Patterns of physical development
A historic context statement is not a comprehensive history of an area. Rather, it is intended to highlight trends and patterns critical to the understanding of the built environment. This historic context statement is intended to inform planning and land use decisions for the built environment in the City of Alhambra. The historic context statement provides a framework for the continuing process of identifying historic, architectural, and
1 U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 16A: How to Complete the National Register Nomination Form (Washington, DC: 1997), https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB16A-Complete.pdf (accessed November 2020). 7 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
culturally, or socially significant resources important within the context of the development of Alhambra as well as the larger San Gabriel Valley region. It may also serve as a guide for citizens, planners, and stakeholders in their ongoing efforts to evaluate the relative significance and integrity of individual properties.
Contributors
This historic context was prepared by Historic Resources Group. Christine Lazzaretto, Managing Principal, served as the Principal-in-Charge. Heather Goers, Senior Architectural Historian, was the primary author of the historic context statement. Kari Fowler, Senior Architectural Historian, supervised the windshield study. Molly Iker-Johnson, Architectural Historian, conducted the windshield study, provided research support, and coordinated website and social media content. Research and mapping support was provided by Robby Aranguren, Planning Associate/GIS Specialist. Additional research and content review was undertaken by Alexandra Madsen, Senior Architectural Historian, and Ani Mnatsakanyan, Intern. All are qualified professionals who meet or exceed the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards Professional Qualification Standards.
This historic context statement is indebted to those members of the community that contributed information, research, and suggestions related to historical development patterns in Alhambra as well as specific properties. The project team would also like to extend their sincere gratitude to Chris Olson, Joyce and Oscar Amaro, and the members of the Alhambra Preservation Group and the Alhambra Historical Society Museum for their feedback and advice.
SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
Description of the Study Area
The study area for the project reflects the current boundaries of the City of Alhambra.
Alhambra is located in San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, to the northeast of the City of Los Angeles. The city shares its boundaries with the neighboring cities of South Pasadena and San Marino to the north, the City of San Gabriel to the east, the City of Monterey Park to the south, and the El Sereno and University Hills neighborhoods of Los Angeles to the west.
The geography and topography of the City of Alhambra are defined by its location within the western portion of the San Gabriel Valley, an alluvial plain created by the weathering of the nearby San Gabriel Mountains to the north, as well as drainage associated with the watersheds of the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel Rivers to the east. Topography is generally flat, with some hills in the western portion of the city.
Development within the City of Alhambra is characterized by areas of varying densities and uses. The northern half of the city, to the north of Mission Road, reflects higher-density development of varying types, including medium- to high-density residential development as well as commercial, business, and industrial uses. The southern portion of the city, to the 8 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
south of Mission Road, is generally characterized by residential development and is largely composed of low- and medium-density residential properties.
Regional access to Alhambra is provided via the San Bernardino (I-10) Freeway and the Long Beach (SR/I-710) Freeway. Major thoroughfares within the city include the north- south corridors of Fremont Avenue, Atlantic Boulevard, and Garfield Avenue; and the east- west corridors of Huntington Drive, Alhambra Road, Main Street, Mission Road, Valley Boulevard, and Garvey Avenue.
Previous Studies
The City of Alhambra has been subject to two previous surveys; however, both efforts were limited in scope and do not represent a comprehensive inventory of the city’s historic resources.
In 1980, the Alhambra City Council awarded a contract to Charles Hall Page and Associates to study the downtown redevelopment area.
2 Responding to a decline in the Central
Business District, a program of revitalization through redevelopment and the addition of a major retail shopping center had been planned for the area. In conjunction with this redevelopment activity, the firm identified and mapped structures of potential historic significance in and around the Central Business District. 3 This analysis was based on a
windshield survey performed by the firm; no historical research was undertaken for the sites in question.
4 In 1984, the City of Alhambra received a grant from the California Office of Historic Preservation to conduct a historic resources survey as part of the State Historic Survey Program. In response to recent development trends, there had been a growing consciousness in the city of the need to preserve the city's rich architectural and cultural heritage.5 Between 1910 and 1920, over 7,000 homes were built in Alhambra; by 1984 it was estimated that approximately 4,500 homes remained.6 Many of the structures were now located in multi- family residential zones and were being replaced with higher-density apartment and condominium buildings. Considerable development activity had been seen taking place in historically single-family residential areas within the city, and as a result the City was particularly interested in studying neighborhoods that were developed before 1920, especially those with at least 75% of the original structures intact, as well in the identification of locally
2 “Council Contracts Redevelopment Study,” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1980. 3 “Alhambra Historic and Cultural Resources Survey, 1984-1985, Final Report,” prepared by Johnson Heumann Research Associates, Consultants to the City of Alhambra, for the Office of Historic Preserva tion, State of California, 8.
4 “Alhambra Historic and Cultural Resources Survey, 1984-1985, Final Report,” 8. 5 “Alhambra Historic and Cultural Resources Survey, 1984-1985, Final Report,” 8. 6 “Alhambra Historic and Cultural Resources Survey, 1984-1985, Final Report,” 9. 9 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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significant structures throughout the city.7 To that end, the City of Alhambra engaged Johnson Heumann Research Associates to conduct a historic and cultural resources survey.
The consultants and two members of the City’s evaluation committee undertook a windshield survey of the entire city, and also conducted an intensive-level survey of two single-family neighborhoods using volunteers. These neighborhoods were previously identified for their concentrations of pre-1920s housing stock and comprised the following areas: Area 1, bounded by Bushnell Avenue, Pine Street and Huntington Drive, Atlantic Boulevard, and Alhambra Road; and Area 2, bounded by Ninth Street, Norwood Place, Garfield Avenue, and Ramona Avenue. Along with buildings and structures within these areas, surveyors also identified shared planning features which contributed to the community's sense of time and place, including views and vistas, arroyos and parks, street trees, vintage streetlights, historic neon and commercial or rooftop signage, historic water towers, and other utilitarian structures. Over six hundred buildings in these areas were documented as part of the survey effort.
In addition to the two neighborhoods outlined above, the survey also identified thirty-four (34) individual “at-large” sites within the city limits which possessed historic, architectural, or cultural significance for documentation in the 1984-85 survey. These included twenty residences, four religious institutions, one educational facility, five institutional buildings, and four commercial and/or industrial structures.
8 As part of the survey, a brief narrative overview of historic contexts related to the early development of Alhambra was prepared to inform the evaluations undertaken as part of the survey process. However, as this survey effort was focused primarily on single-family residential development dating from the late 19
th and early 20th centuries, the accompanying
historic context statement is naturally limited in scope both chronologically and thematically and does not represent a comprehensive narrative of the City’s development throughout the 20 th century.
Research Methodology
Sources consulted as part of this investigation included primary and secondary literature regarding the history and development of the City of Alhambra and the San Gabriel Valley region over time. Archival sources consulted included but were not limited to annexation records, city directories, census and voter registration records, contemporary historical accounts and memoirs, historical newspapers and periodicals, land patent records, secondary histories and biographies, and scholarly works including theses and journal articles. Visual records consulted included aerial photographs and historical photographs as well as a wide
7 “Alhambra Historic and Cultural Resources Survey, 1984-1985, Final Report,” 9. 8 “Alhambra Historic and Cultural Resources Survey, 1984-1985, Final Report,” 30-31. 10 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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variety of historical maps including county assessor maps, fire insurance maps, irrigation maps, land ownership and patent maps, rail maps, and tract maps.9 Sanborn Insurance Company fire insurance maps, available online through the Library of Congress and the Los Angeles Public Library, were reviewed for the City of Alhambra for the following years: 1888, 1890, 1897, 1907, 1912, 1925, 1931, and 1950.
Tract maps associated with the City of Alhambra, available online through the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, were reviewed for the years spanning from 1902, when the first tract was recorded, to 2019, the most recent year available. Additional miscellaneous records, which documented the earliest subdivisions of land in the area, and deed maps for original parcels were also reviewed.
It should be noted that this project was undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic, which commenced in 2020 and continued into 2021, substantially impacting research efforts associated with the project. Stay-at-home orders were enforced in California during a majority of the period in which research and writing for the draft took place. As a result, institutional staffing at many research repositories as well as access to archival materials was restricted; as California begins lifting restrictions in 2021, additional archival research will be conducted as needed. HRG was able to access many research resources online, which included the following sites and organizations:
• Alhambra Preservation Group
• Ancestry.com
• Avery Index of Architectural Periodicals
• California Index
• California Office of Historic Preservation Built Environment Directory (BERD) • California Office of Historic Preservation Los Angeles Country Historic Resources Inventory (HRI)
• Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California • HathiTrust
• Historical Alhambra City Directories
• Historical California newspapers, including the Los Angles Evening Express, the Los Angeles Herald, the Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Examiner • JSTOR
• Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Land Records Information • Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor
• Online Archive of California
• Sanborn Insurance Company fire insurance maps
9 A comprehensive listing of the sources consulted for this project is included in the Bibliography. 11 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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• U.S. Census records
• U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management General Land Office records
Historical photographs and maps were also obtained online from the following sites:
• California Historical Society
• California State Library
• California State University, Monterey Bay
• David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
• Huntington Library
• Library of Congress
• Los Angeles Public Library
• Online Archive of California
• Pasadena Museum of History
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Southern California
Research Limitations
Among the standard complement of early San Gabriel Valley histories, there are several sources specific to Alhambra that are of particular note: the Alhambra Scrapbook, a collection of contemporary ephemera related to the establishment and initial development of Alhambra: the History of Alhambra California, which was compiled by William M. Northrup in 1936 and contains accounts from many of the City’s pioneer residents; and the Alhambra – San Gabriel – Monterey Park Community Book, also published by Northrup in 1944 and again in 1949. All three of these sources are held (as hard copies) at the Alhambra Civic Center Library, which was closed except for express in-person visits for most of the duration of the project due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, these sources – as well as those available at the Alhambra Historical Society Museum – have not been consulted. As a substitute, the development of this draft narrative drew heavily from Margaret E. Lee’s 1935 master’s thesis, “The History of Alhambra to 1915,” and Robert P. Studer’s 1962 publication The Historical Volume and Reference Works; both sources note specifically that they have been largely derived from these three original works – Lee from the Alhambra Scrapbook, and Studer from the History of Alhambra California and the Community Book – and in some cases include specific citations and references to the original content and authors.
Areas of Focus
The current study represents the City of Alhambra’s first comprehensive citywide historic context statement. Therefore, a primary objective of this project was to compile existing historical accounts and supplement them with additional information as needed to better understand the history and patterns of development throughout the City of Alhambra. This 12 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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comprehensive study will aid in the identification and evaluation of historic resources and provide guidance for planning and land use decisions in Alhambra.
The early history of Alhambra – particularly with regard to its initial development in the late 19th century – has been well-documented in both contemporary accounts as well as secondary published histories. Previous studies provide valuable information on the history of the city; therefore, in order to appropriately allocate resources for this study, existing narratives were used to lay the groundwork for this project and provide a starting point for additional research. For those early chronological periods for which there is plentiful documentation, reputable secondary accounts were utilized as the prevailing sources for developing narrative content related to those periods, with primary accounts such as newspapers and other records consulted only for the purposes of confirmation and/or clarification.
In addition, three issues for which existing research was particularly lacking were identified as areas of focus for research efforts undertaken as part of this study. These issues are discussed in greater detail below.
New primary-source research and content development focused primarily on the period beginning with World War II and continuing through the second half of the 20 th century.
This era – though given minimal attention in older studies – comprises some of the most dynamic and substantive large-scale development efforts in the history of Alhambra, including the subdivisions of the former sites of the Midwick Country Club and the Alhambra Airport in the immediate postwar period as well as the establishment of the Alhambra Redevelopment Agency in the late 1960s and its subsequent development activities throughout the later 20
th century. Particular emphasis was given to reviewing
annexation records and tract maps to analyze development patterns and areas of growth within the city throughout different periods of time.
Additional primary and secondary-source research was conducted to enhance the discussion of the role of ethnic and cultural groups within the larger history of the development of Alhambra and provide a more complete view of the City’s history. As the historic context statement is intended to document the built environment, a thorough study of each group is beyond the scope of this project. However, the discussions included throughout the chronological narrative in this report is intended to further a more intersectional approach to documenting the city’s history, provide a more thorough understanding of the local population, and inform future research efforts. The concept of intersectionality acknowledges the diverse voices and experiences present within a specific community, and attempts to address the disparity between the lived experiences of different segments of the population. By their very nature, thematic studies such as this historic context statement – which is focused solely on the built environment – do not adequately address cross-group connections and/or intersectional identities and experiences. Historians Donna Graves and Gail Dubrow, in discussing the documentation of potential historic resources in Southern 13 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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California, have written that associating resources or buildings with one group of people over another “…runs the risk of denying the layering of history and the shared streets of the present.”10 Indeed, as Graves and Dubrow go on to explain, “applying a single lens of gender, race or ethnicity, sexuality or any category of social analysis to the practice of historic preservation risks misrepresenting the layered histories of place and forecloses possibilities for political mobilization across identity lines in the interest of fostering greater social cohesion.”
11 As a result, resources identified in this document may possess a more complex and nuanced history that may be impractical to fully realize as part of this study. This is particularly true in a city like Alhambra, where the sites of early agricultural and industrial operations – which were often supported by ethnic or migrant labor – were later transformed into postwar suburban housing. These patterns of ethnic and cultural migration in Alhambra have been minimally documented in previous historical accounts and studies, and understanding these trends requires a more comprehensive research effort that extends beyond the scope of this document. However, a broad overview of available information has been included in this document in order to acknowledge the role of ethnic and cultural groups in the history and development of the City and provide prompts for further research.
In addition, new secondary-source research was also undertaken to inform the development of a more nuanced narrative for the historical periods associated with the area’s Native American inhabitants. In recent years, scholarship regarding the Native American experience in Southern California has evolved to reflect a more balanced view of exploration and colonization efforts not often found in earlier historical accounts. Most of the documentation related to European exploration and Spanish settlement and colonization originates from recollections provided by the Europeans who came to California beginning in the 16
th century, and thus reflects a largely European perspective of the events and activities associated with the colonization of Native American lands. However, recent scholarship has endeavored to include the voices and perspectives of Native Americans as well as Europeans, primarily through the examination of previous ethnographic research efforts. A broad discussion of these activities and associated chronological periods is included in the following narrative in order to inform later discussions regarding the subsequent establishment and physical growth of the City of Alhambra. However, as there are no built resources within the City of Alhambra dating from these earliest periods of habitation, a comprehensive review of research associated with these periods falls outside the scope of this report, but could be undertaken as part of a future study. Current best practice suggests engaging both archaeologists as well as members of the Native American community to supplement the limited history included here.
10 Gail Dubrow and Donna Graves, “Taking Intersectionality Seriously: Learning from LGBTQ Heritage Initiatives for Historic Preservation,” The Public Historian, Vol. 41, No. 2 (May 2019), 310. 11 Dubrow and Graves, 313.
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Finally, community feedback was sought as part of a series of community outreach presentations. Alhambra residents and stakeholders suggested known properties as well as historical associations not advanced by traditional scholarship. Some suggestions, such as locations associated with motion picture and television in Alhambra, have been included here for informational and documentation purposes only, and do not represent an evaluation of significance or eligibility for designation.
A Note Regarding Language
As scholarship related to the Native American experience in Southern California has advanced, so has the understanding of how such experiences should be addressed with respect to discussions of related historic resources and/or tribal cultural resources. As awareness of the unique significance of these resources evolves in concert with scholarship, a need has arisen to identify appropriate language that may be used to address the history of Native Americans as a marginalized and disenfranchised community in Southern California.
The City of Los Angeles has developed guidance to aid consultants in preparing technical reports and historic and cultural resource studies that may, by nature of their content, possess informational and/or educational value to the general public regarding Native American history and activities. The guidance notes that authors of such reports should “recognize Native American tribes as stewards of land within and beyond the boundaries of Los Angeles, and commit to an honest and true representation of the events that occurred and make no attempt to diminish or editorialize the very real events and impacts that have transpired.”
12 Although prepared for studies in Los Angeles, this guidance is applicable to discussion of Native American history throughout Southern California and beyond.
As part of this guidance, specific language is also proposed for the terms most commonly used when describing the history and contributions of Native Americans.13 Table 1: Guidance for Language Related to Tribal Cultural Resources14 Defer from using the following terms Use the following terms Encountered/Contacted Colonized
Recruited Enslaved
Organized Displaced
Employed Servitude/Forced labor
Participated Disenfranchised
Cult Religion
12 Los Angeles City Planning, “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource,” https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/ab9e5647-1d96-4db7-aab1- 2905984fbd1e/TechnicalReports_Studies-TribalCulturalResources.pdf (accessed November 2021), 1. 13 “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource,” 2. 14 The information in Table 1 has been reproduced from “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource,” 2. 15 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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In order to accurately represent the “events, policies, and activities”15 that have impacted the Native American community in Southern California, acknowledge the lasting impacts of these policies and programs within the Native American community, and highlight the important contributions of Native Americans to the history and development of the City of Alhambra, the San Gabriel Valley, and Southern California as a whole, this historic context statement will utilize the language noted above in discussions related to Native American history and activities.
15 “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource,” 2. 16 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Part II
HISTORIC CONTEXT
Panoramic view of Alhambra, circa 1900. Los Angeles Public Library. 17 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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OVERVIEW
As noted in the Introduction, the period of study for this historic context statement dates from the development of Alhambra’s earliest extant resources in the late 19th century through 1980, representing a period approximately 40 years in the past. According to County of Los Angeles tax assessor data, there are approximately 19,600 parcels in the City of Alhambra; of those, approximately 15,100 parcels were developed – in other words, improved with buildings or structures – by 1980. This data provides a baseline for understanding overall development patterns in the city and identifying the comparative rarity of properties from each period. The following Table 1 and the map in Figure 1 illustrate the development by decade according to the tax assessor data.16 Table 2: Number of Parcels Developed by Decade
DECADE # OF
PARCELS
1880-1889 5
1890-1899 5
1900-1909 245
1910-1919 616
1920-1929 3761
1930-1939 2592
1940-1949 3484
1950-1959 1878
1960-1969 1260
1970-1979 878
1980-1989 2301
1990-1999 619
2000-2009 751
2010-2029 615
No Date 604
TOTAL 19,614
16 Although tax assessor data provides a valuable framework for examining development patterns, it should be noted that tax assessor data is not 100% accurate and may include missing or incomplete information. For example, sometimes the original construction date is replaced with an “effective date” if significant alterations or improvements are undertaken on a property. In addition, the tax assessor does not include data for parcels that are not subject to property taxes, including schools and other municipal properties. 18 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Figure 1: Location of Parcels Developed by Decade
19 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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ORGANIZATION OF THE CONTEXT
This historic context statement addresses the development history of the land within the present-day city limits of Alhambra. The historic context statement provides a narrative historical overview of the broad patterns of events and trends that have shaped land use patterns and the development of the built environment in the City of Alhambra over time and addresses each significant phase of the city’s development as it relates to the existing built environment from the late 19th century through 1980.
The historic context statement is a narrative development history organized by chronological periods. Discussion of the earliest periods – Native American Settlement, European Exploration, Spanish Rule, Mexican Rule, and Early California – are included here for reference purposes only, to provide historical background and context for the later development of the built environment. Later periods, beginning with the Early Development of Alhambra section, lay the groundwork for the growth and development of Alhambra beginning in the late 19
th century and continuing throughout the 20th century. Each chronological period represents a different development context. Relevant associated themes and sub-themes based on extant built resources have also been identified within each chronological period. An outline of contexts and themes included in this historic context statement is included below.
The themes within each chronological period describe the historical development patterns, important events and/or activities, and important individuals and groups that influenced Alhambra’s history and development during that period in order to provide guidance for evaluating the potential historic significance of properties associated with that theme. Each theme is then divided into a series of sub-themes, organized primarily by property or development type within each chronological period: civic and institutional development, commercial development, industrial development, and/or residential development. Sub- themes have only been developed for those property types for which there are extant and intact examples in the City of Alhambra today. Where appropriate, there are also sub-themes for properties associated with important people in Alhambra’s history, and for properties that are notable for their architectural merit.
Each theme is followed by a set of preliminary eligibility standards that provides guidance for the future evaluation of each property type associated with that theme as a potential historic resource. The eligibility standards include an overview of eligibility criteria and integrity considerations for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and/or the California Register of Historical Resources, followed by eligibility standards specific to each property type. Eligibility thresholds and integrity considerations follow guidance established by the National Park Service and have been developed specifically in relation to the existing conditions observed in Alhambra’s built environment during the windshield study.
The last chronological period in the narrative brings the history of Alhambra to the present day. An additional context related to architectural design follows the narrative history; this 20 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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discussion addresses the various architectural styles currently represented in Alhambra’s built environment, including their origins, influences, and character-defining features.
It should be noted that properties mentioned in the narrative are intended to illustrate development patterns and/or provide examples of specific property types; however, inclusion in the narrative does not necessarily indicate eligibility for designation. Properties that have been demolished are noted as such, when known.
Eligibility Standards
The historic context statement is intended to provide guidance for the future evaluation of properties that may be eligible for historic designation. Eligibility standards for evaluating potential historic resources are included at the end of each theme. The eligibility standards conform to the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources. Each set of eligibility standards includes a discussion of the relevant criteria, integrity considerations, and registration requirements for determining whether a property may be eligible for designation under that theme. A general discussion regarding historic significance and integrity as they apply to the evaluation process as well as Federal and state criteria for listing are included for reference in Appendix D.
Outline of Contexts and Themes
Chronological development periods and associated contexts and themes included in the historic context statement are outlined below.
I. Native American Settlement
II. European Exploration (1542-1768)
III. Spanish Rule: Colonization and Mission Establishment (1769-1820) IV. Mexican Rule: Secularization and Subsequent Land Grants (1821-1849) V. Early California: American Statehood and Rancho Development (1850- 1874)
VI. Early Development of Alhambra (1875-1902)
VII. City Incorporation and Civic Improvement (1903-1919) VIII. City Expansion and Industrial Growth (1920-1940)
IX. Alhambra During World War II (1941-1945)
X. Postwar Growth and Prosperity (1946-1967)
XI. Postwar Decline and Redevelopment (1968-1980)
XII. Alhambra Today (1981-Present)
XIII. Architecture and Design (1875-1980)
21 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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The Gabrieliño Indians at the Time of the Portolà Expedition, by cartographer Allen W. Welts, 1962.
Southwest Museum .
22 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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I. NATIVE AMERICAN SETTLEMENT
The City of Alhambra is located within the San Gabriel Valley, which is included in the ancestral home of the Native American groups known today as the Tongva, Kizh/Kite, and/or Gabrielino. The term “Gabrielino” or “Gabrieliño” was assigned by the Spanish settlers who colonized the area and developed the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel to indicate Native Americans associated with the Mission.17 In addition to the Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh, members of the Cahuilla and Serrano tribes were also enslaved at the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and historically were encompassed under this nomenclature. Anthropologists Lowell John Bean and Charles R. Smith note that the term “Gabrielino” first appeared in a report published by Oscar Loew in 1876 and has been “intermittently applied” to the Indigenous population of the Los Angeles area ever since. 18 Today, some descendants of the tribe choose to refer to themselves as either Tongva or Kizh/Kitc because they are terms of native, rather than Spanish, origin. 19 This historic context statement acknowledges and respects that each Native American tribe has the right for self-identification and for that choice to be honored. Because the area that now comprises the City of Alhambra is included in the ancestral home of several Native American tribes that identify by different names, this historic context statement adopts the term “Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh” when referring to Alhambra’s original Native American inhabitants.
The Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh occupied a vast territory which represented “the most richly endowed coastal section in Southern California.”
20 Their land comprised most of present-
day Los Angeles County and half of Orange County, extending eastward from the Pacific Ocean to include the watersheds of the Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers, several smaller intermittent streams in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains, all of the Los Angeles basin, and the coastal area extending from Aliso Creek in the south to Topanga Creek in the north, as well as the islands of San Clemente, San Nicolas, and Santa Catalina. 21 Surrounding Indigenous communities included the Chumash and the Tataviam/Alliklik to
17 As noted in the Introduction, terms such as “colonization” and similar language will be utilized in this historic context statement in discussions related to the history of the Native American community and their experiences in Southern California. For further information please refer to Los Angeles City Planning, “Guidance for the Preparation of Technical Reports and Studies relating to the Tribal Cultural Resource,” https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/ab9e5647-1d96-4db7-aab1-2905984fbd1e/TechnicalReports_Studies- TribalCulturalResources.pdf (accessed November 2021).
18 Lowell John Bean and Charles R. Smith, “Gabrieliño,” in California, ed. Robert F. Heizer, vol. 8, Handbook of North American Indians, ed. Robert F. Sturtevant (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978): 538-549, Bean and Smith, 548.
19 William McCawley, The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles. (Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press, 1996), 9-10.
20 Bean and Smith, 538.
21 Bean and Smith, 538.
23 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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the north, the Serrano and Cahuilla to the east, and the Luiseño/Juaneño to the south.22 Interactions between the group and surrounding tribes were frequent and generally peaceful, occurring largely through the channels of intermarriage, matrilocal residence, and/or trade.23 Trade currency consisted of shell beads and objects made from steatite, a type of soapstone found on Catalina Island.24
With the possible exception of the Chumash, the Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh were the “wealthiest, most populous, and most powerful ethnic nationality in aboriginal Southern California, their influence spreading as far north as the San Joaquin Valley Yokuts, as far east as the Colorado River, and south into Baja California.” 25 Their territory was so expansive, in
fact, that it occupied several ecological zones; consequently the tribe’s settlement and subsistence patterns varied slightly within each zone based on micro-environmental conditions, but on the whole thrived on hunting, gathering, and fishing activities. Like that of most Native Americans in California, acorns were the staple food, supplemented by the roots, leaves, seeds, and fruits of a variety of flora (e.g., islay, cactus, yucca, sages, and agave) as well as both large and small mammals.
26 Their subsistence practices were mostly focused
on local estuarine, coastal, and near-coastal resources.27 Studies indicate that habitation sites were hierarchically organized around estuaries, and varied in size based on resource availability. While some estuaries supported large settlements, other estuaries supported linked but separated smaller habitation sites. Recent research implies that groups living near smaller estuaries practiced a strategy of mobility, employing foraging when resources were scarce.
28 While it is difficult to estimate the
Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh population over time, evidence suggests that at the time of
22 Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar, California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity (Plymouth, UK:
AltaMira Press, 2007).
23 John R. Johnson, “Social Responses to Climate Change Among the Chumash Indians of South-Central California,” in The Way the Wind Blows: Climate, History, and Human Action, ed. R. J. McIntosh, J. A. Tainter, and S. K. McIntosh (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000). 24 Lynn H. Gamble, “Structural Transformation and Innovation in Emergent Political Economies of Southern California,” in Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology as Historical Process, ed. Kenneth E. Sassaman and Donald H. Holly Junior, (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2011), 242; Bean and Smith, 542. 25 Bean and Smith, 538.
26 Brian Fagan, Before California: An Archaeologist Looks at Our Earliest Inhabitants (New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003), 145-146; Bean and Smith, 539; McCawley 119-123. 27 David Maxwell, “Vertebrate Faunal Remains,” in At the Base of the Bluff: Archeological Inventory and Evaluation Along Lower Centinela Creek, Marina del Rey, California. Playa Vista Monograph Series Test Excavation Report 4, ed. J. H. Atschul, A. Q. Stoll, D. R. Grenda, and R. Ciolek-Torello (Tucson, AZ: Statistical Research, 2003). 28 Donn R. Grenda and Jeffrey H. Altschul, “A Moveable Feast: Isolation and Mobility Among Southern California Hunter-Gatherers,” 128-129, in Islanders and Mainlanders: Prehistoric Context for the Southern California Blight, J. H. Atschul and D. R. Grenda, ed. (Tucson, AZ: SRI Press, 2002). 24 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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European contact in the 1500s there may have been more than fifty to one hundred mainland villages reflecting a range in population sizes.29 Villages were politically autonomous
and largely organized through shared
kinship ties; each village was headed
by a chief, who was usually
descended from the prevailing lineage
of the village. (Multiple villages were
occasionally allied under the same
chief if they were in close proximity.)
The chief spoke multiple languages,
negotiated social relations, and
collected taxes. In addition to the
chief, spiritual leaders also held
power and authority over the tribal
community.
30 It appears that the
Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh also shared
some rituals with the Chumash to the
north, based on the distribution of
similar stone effigies in the
prehistoric period.
31 NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY Based on available archaeological studies of the area, the precise locations of Native American villages have been difficult for scholars to ascertain. There are several issues that contribute to this uncertainty: Native American villages were composed of both established larger settlements and smaller groups that practiced foraging and were mobile.32 Settlements are also difficult to identify in part because their locations were influenced by natural features, such as waterways, that changed over the decades. Additionally, by the time ethnographers, anthropologists, and historians attempted to document villages, they had
29 Bean and Smith, 540; Heather Valdez Singleton, “Surviving Urbanization: The Gabrieleno, 1850 -1928,” Wicazo Sa Review 19, no. 2, Colonization/Decolonization, I (Autumn 2004): 49-59, 50. 30 Bean and Smith, 544.
31 Lynn Hunter Gamble and Glenn S. Russell, “A View from the Mainland: Late Holocene Cultural Developments Among the Ventureno Chumash and the Tongva,” in Catalysts to Complexity: Late Holocene Societies of the California Coast, ed. J. M. Erlandson and T. L. Jones, (Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 2002).
32 Grenda and Altschul, 128-129.
Gabrieliño Indians, 1883. South Pasadena Public Library. 25 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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since been long abandoned by their inhabitants, who were displaced during colonial rule.
Alternative spellings and names of various villages also complicate identifying past settlement sites.33
Despite these challenges, available information has been used by researchers throughout the 20th century to plot the location of some recorded village sites and placenames.34 Several distinct village locations have been identified in the San Gabriel Valley. The names Shevaanga, Sonaanga, Weniinga, Sheshiikwanonga, Akuuronga, Aluupkenga, Ashuukshanga, and Ahwiinga have all been identified as communities along the watershed feeding the Rio Hondo River from the San Gabriel Mountains.35 Ethnographic sources imply that the village of Shevaanga was located at the present site of the Mission San Gabriel.36 The ethnographically documented Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh community closest to the present-day City of Alhambra was called Otsungna, which may have been located within the area that now comprises the campus of California State University, Los Angeles in the nearby Los Angeles neighborhood of El Sereno.37 According to the Native American informant José Zalvidea, Otsungna was located approximately three miles from San Gabriel on the road to Los Angeles. The name is believed to reference the word for wild roses, ‘ochuur (also spelled otsur), which were cited by another Native American informant, Felicitas Serrano Montaño, as growing in abundance; they were also the source of the Spanish name for the location, “Rosa de Castilla.” Also documented were Montaño’s other observations that “there is a big matanza (slaughterhouse) there now at the site of ‘otsuvit, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Gabriel. A railroad and wagon road pass by.”38 Alhambra is also situated between two notable Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh settlements: the village of Yaanga,39 located approximately five miles to the southwest near the site of the former Pueblo de Los Angeles, and one of two important locations near the San Gabriel Mission, Sibangna
40 or Toviscangna,41 which are located approximately three miles to the northwest. Yaanga is generally believed to have been located near the present-day site of Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, although the precise location of the village has been much disputed. The San Gabriel Mission is known to have been established near a
33 McCawley, 32.
34 McCawley, 32.
35 McCawley, 42.
36 McCawley, 41.
37 Alternate spellings and references include Ochuunga and Otsunga. See “Villages,” Tongva People, http://www.tongvapeople.org/?page_id=696 (accessed December 2020). 38 McCawley, 57; Johnston, 144.
39 Alternate spellings and references include Yang-na, Yangna, and Yabit. See “Villages.” 40 Alternative spellings and references include Shevaanga. See McCawley, 41-42. 41 Alternate spellings and references include Toviseanga, Tobiscanga, and Tuvasak. See “Villages.” 26 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh village; although it is not known to researchers what this village was called, both Sibangna and Toviscangna are possibilities.
Travel between El Pueblo de Los Angeles and San Gabriel Mission took on increased significance during the Spanish and Mexican periods, after the establishment of El Pueblo as a civil settlement in 1781. The system of roads running between major Spanish settlements, including those between the San Gabriel Mission and the pueblo, were memorialized in the early 20th century as El Camino Real, or “Royal Road” – though the “road” was never a single route. Many of these early thoroughfares were likely established along the routes previously used by Native Americans for foraging, communication, travel, and trade.
Though foot trails can be ephemeral and completely change course from year to year,42 such trails are known to have existed between significant Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh settlements, and temporary camps or other types of Native American features (such as burial sites) would have been common along these paths, especially where they intersect water sources or are located near other natural resources and culturally significant landmarks, including favorable viewsheds. The earliest survey maps created after California’s annexation into the United States offer some indication of the trail system operating prior to this time. Unfortunately, maps of Native American trails were never drawn after Spanish contact and the routes described in ethnographic sources refer to more general routes. As a result, textual sources alone cannot definitively establish that a given trail or road was established by Native Americans.
Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh settlements represented the prevailing improvements upon the Southern California landscape until well into the 18
th century. Although European explorers
began arriving in the area as early as 1542, their initial activities were largely confined to maritime explorations and their resultant impact on the land was minimal. It would be the arrival of Spanish settlers who came to colonize the region beginning in 1769 that would eventually transform the land and set the course for physical development upon it.
There are no extant built resources in the City of Alhambra dating from the period of Native American settlement. The study of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this project.
42 “Archaeological and Tribal Cultural Resources for The Villages at The Alhambra Project, Alhambra, Los Angeles County, California,” prepared for The Ratkovich Company by SWCA Environmental Consultants, April 2019, 12.
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Detail, Map of the United States, showing routes of principal explorers and early roads and highways, 1937. The Claremont Colleges Digital Library.
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II. EUROPEAN EXPLORATION (1542-1768)
Although the territory known today as California was already inhabited by Native Americans, by the 1500s Spain was motivated to take possession of the Pacific Coast amid concerns that if they failed to do so, the land might otherwise be claimed by competing foreign powers. To that end, in 1542 King Carlos dispatched Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo to explore the West Coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire. Cabrillo set sail in June 1542 and arrived in what is now San Diego Bay in September that year. In doing so, Cabrillo became the first European to set foot on California soil, claiming the territory for the Spanish Empire by right of discovery.
Cabrillo sailed northward along the coast, eventually making contact with coastal Native American tribes at Catalina Island. Cabrillo later visited the Chumash village of šišolop, located in present-day Ventura, and provided the earliest written record of land use patterns established by the Native Americans in the area. Cabrillo continued his voyage north, laying claim to the Pacific Coast as far as the 42
nd parallel before returning to Catalina Island for the winter. Cabrillo died unexpectedly in December 1542 as a result of complications from an injury he sustained during an altercation between his party and the Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh. His deputy later returned the ship to Spain. The official report of Cabrillo’s expedition was subsequently lost, and for many years his discoveries passed unnoticed.
In 1579, a competing claim of the Pacific Coast was made for England by Sir Francis Drake, which prompted two more expeditions to be dispatched by Spain: the first was headed by Sebastián Rodríguez Cermeño, who set sail in in 1596 carrying Cabrillo’s writings and revisited some of the same coastline. Another expedition was made by Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602; this time, contact was made once more with the Chumash, but the party did not journey further inland. Instead, Vizcaíno continued to venture along the coast as far north as Monterey, mapping the coastline as he went and assigning place names to prominent geographical and ecological features such as San Pedro Bay, Santa Catalina Island, San Clemente Island, and Monterey Bay.
43 However, despite his efforts, no significant Spanish settlement was to follow, because none of the three Spanish explorers had been able to identify an ideal harbor from which Spain could facilitate its maritime trade with Japan and Mexico. As a result, the Spanish Empire made no further effort to explore the Pacific Coast for another 160 years.
By the 1760s, political and economic conditions – as well as leadership – had changed in Spain, which now faced a greater threat to its territory in America from Russia and England, both of whom had already claimed adjacent lands in present-day Alaska and Canada,
43 Zoeth Skinner Eldredge, The March of Portolà and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco (San Francisco: The California Promotion Committee, 1909), 21-22.
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respectively.44 At the same time, Jesuit missionaries had begun to establish a series of missions along the Baja California Peninsula and were actively working to forcefully evangelize Native Americans – another threat to Spain’s control of California. As part of a coordinated effort to suppress the Jesuit influence, in February 1767 King Carlos III of Spain issued a proclamation ordering all Jesuits to be expelled from Spanish territories.
Gaspar de Portolá was named “Governor of the Californias” and dispatched to the Pacific Coast to dispossess the Jesuits and turn the California missions over to the Spanish Franciscans.45 At the same time King Carlos, aware as well of the growing threat of Russian advancement, also ordered the viceroy of New Spain to “take effective measures to guard that part of his dominions from danger of invasion and insult.”46
The Portolá expedition reached the San Gabriel Valley, which they called San Miguel, on July 30 and 31, 1769.47 Portolá’s visit marked the beginning of Spain’s efforts to colonize the area, rather than merely explore it. These efforts also marked the beginning of a coordinated campaign by the Spanish to impose European religious beliefs and social and cultural ideals
44 Eldredge, 23.
45 Eldredge, 23.
46 Eldredge, 23.
47 Eldredge, 32.
Composite detail showing Tonga settlements and European exploration routes in the San Gabriel Valley Mission Region, The Kirkman-Harriman Pictorial and Historical Map of Los Angeles County:
1860 AD., 1937. Huntington Library.
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upon the existing Indigenous population, leading to the widespread abuse of Native Americans through enslavement, forced religious conversion, and introduction of infectious diseases.
Two hundred years later, in reflecting upon the upcoming bicentennial of the settlement of Alta California in 1968, Carl Schaefer Dentzel would write, “It seems inconceivable that in little more a hundred years the original inhabitants of the area now comprising the city and the county of Los Angeles have had their age-old culture destroyed. The native Indians who welcomed the Spanish in 1769 were many in number, possessing a way of life suitable for themselves under the conditions they had been used to living. But they were forced to move from a primeval, naturalistic society, in which Nature was their greatest overlord, into the ill- contrived, dominating rule of an alien conqueror.”
48 Despite the hardships and brutalities endured under Spanish rule, the Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh continued to reside in the San Gabriel Valley. However, their relationship with the land and the trajectory of its development would be drastically altered by the arrival of Spanish colonists.
There are no extant built resources in the City of Alhambra dating from the period of European exploration.
The study of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this project.
48 Carl Shaefer Dentzel, foreword to Hugo Reid and Robert F. Heizer, The Indians of Los Angeles County: Hugo Reid’s Letters of 1852, Southwest Museum papers, no. 21 (Los Angeles: Southwest Museum, 1968). 31 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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El Camino Real; outline map of California showing missions and principal settlements prior to secularization of the missions in 1834, drawn by Mabel Emerton Prentiss, circa 1903.
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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III. SPANISH RULE: COLONIZATION AND MISSION
ESTABLISHMENT (1769-1820)
In 1769, the Spanish government dispatched an expedition led by Captain Gaspar de Portolá, the newly appointed governor of Baja California, to affirm Spain’s claim of sovereignty through actual settlement – because, as archaeologist Robert Heizer has observed, “that claim, although supported by repeated performances of the Act of Sovereignty, rested on pretty slim evidence.”
49 “What was needed,” writes Heizer, “was some concrete act of settlement to establish the Spanish claim of ownership to the lands north of Mexico.”50 To that end, Gaspar de Portolá was charged with establishing a presidio – otherwise known as a garrison – against Russian expansion in Alta California. Additionally, a system of Catholic missions was to be founded for the forcible conversion of the native people along the western coast. Portolá sailed into San Diego Bay on April 29, 1769, and soon set out on an overland expedition with Father Junípero Serra. Over the next several decades, various Franciscan missions, military presidios and pueblos would be established throughout Alta California, from San Diego to Sonoma.
Now charged with establishing Spanish control of both the religious colonization and the military fortification of Alta California, Gaspar de Portolá’s first order of duty upon arriving in San Diego was to establish the Presidio of San Diego, a fortified military outpost, as the first Spanish settlement in Alta California on May 14, 1769. 51 Portolá then set out over land,
leaving Father Junipero Serra to dedicate the Mission San Diego de Alcalá at Presidio Hill, the first of the twenty-one missions that would be established in Alta California by the Spanish and the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823.52 Portolá’s exploration continued northward, following the route which would later become known as El Camino Real.
Two missions would be founded in the Los Angeles area: the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, which was established in 1771; and the Mission San Fernando Rey de España, which was established in 1797. A civil settlement, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula, was also established in what is now downtown Los Angeles in 1781.
49 Robert Heizer, “Impact of Colonialization on the Native California Societies,” The Journal of San Diego History San Diego Historical Society Quarterly 24, no. 1 (Winter 1978), https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1978/january/impact/ (accessed November 2021). 50 Heizer, “Impact of Colonialization on the Native California Societies.” 51 Theodore E. Treutlein, “The Portolá Expedition of 1769-1770,” California Historical Society Quarterly 47, no. 4 (University of California Press, 1968): 291-313, 291.
52 Treutlein, 291.
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SPANISH COLONIZATION EFFORTS AND IMPACTS ON NATIVE AMERICAN
COMMUNITIES
The Spanish colonization of Alta California was, without doubt, one of the most transformational events in California history. The history, character, and identity of the state has been imbued with the evocative ideas and imagery associated with pastoral mission life.
Even California’s built environment reflects the distinctive aesthetic of the missions with the evolution of Mission Revival-style architecture, now one of the most popular architectural styles in the region. Today, however, we know that the story of the Spanish colonization of California is far more complex, and that the proliferation of whitewashed arches and clay tile roofs does not account for the entirety of the impact upon the region or its people.
For many years, the documentation, interpretation, and portrayal of the Mission Era, as the period of Spanish colonization in California is often called, relied heavily upon firsthand accounts of the period authored by the explorers and Franciscan padres themselves, by other Spanish who accompanied them, or by contemporaries – who were usually also of European descent – who settled in the areas surrounding the missions around the same time. Perhaps not surprisingly, these accounts almost universally sought to portray the actions of the Spanish in a positive light. These characterizations – which frequently depicted the Spanish as heroic and benevolent saviors of a heathen Indigenous people – contributed greatly to the widespread misunderstanding of the Native American experience under Spanish rule. At the heart of the issue is the fact that these accounts present a distinctively singular European view: that of the settler, and not the settled; that of the conqueror, and not the conquered.
What we understand and acknowledge now is that these accounts ignored the very real and tragic impacts of Spanish colonization efforts on existing Native American communities, who represented the earliest inhabitants of Southern California. The Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh had already resided in the region for hundreds of years, fostering the development of a number of economically successful and politically peaceful settlements that had grown to represent one of the most powerful and influential tribes of the western coast.
The efforts employed by the Spanish to colonize the region included the acculturation and widespread abuse of Native American populations across Southern California. Under Spanish rule, Native Americans endured enslavement, religious conversion, violence, and cultural genocide.
53 Converted Native Americans were also expected to speak Spanish and relinquish their native languages. Many historians now recognize the missions as sites of these human rights violations.
54 53 Yve Barthelemy Chavez, “Indigenous Artists, Ingenuity, and Resistance at the California Missions After 1769,” PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 2017, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/355609rf (accessed November 2021), 3.
54 Suggested additional reading includes Testimonios: Early California Through the Eyes of Women, 1815 -1848 by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz; Converting California: Indians and Franciscans in the Missions by James A.
Sandos; Indian Labor and the Economic Expansion of Southern California, 1771-1877 by George Harwood Phillips;
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According to a 2009 National Park Service study:55
The first Spa nish Franciscans to enter…California had intended to turn the local hunter -gatherer people into farmers, ranchers, craftsmen, and faithful practicing Catholic Christians. From the Franciscan point of view, mission lands and other secular properties were being held in trust until such time as the Indians became “people of reason” and full citizens of the Spanish Empire.
The promise that mission lands would be returned to the Indians was codified by decree of the Spanish Cortes in 1813. That promise was also implied in a number of laws passed by the Mexican government in the 1820s and 1830s. [However, ensuing laws, statutes, and practical events] … left the Indians of the California missions landless by 1846.
56 The establishment of the nearby Mission San Gabriel is critical in understanding the physical and economic development of the San Gabriel Valley region in the 18 th century, and the later
founding and growth of the City of Alhambra. While a full re-telling of the story from the perspective of the area’s Native American inhabitants is outside the scope of this project, the impact that these events had on the Indigenous people who had lived in the area for centuries is acknowledged.
DEVELOPMENT OF MISSION SAN GABRIEL
Founded on September 8, 1771, the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel became the fourth in the chain of missions established along the California coast by Spanish Catholic Franciscans between 1769 and 1823. Mission San Gabriel was widely regarded as one of the largest and most productive missions, and its role as a center for trade and agriculture ultimately led to its reputation as the “Pride of the Missions.”
57 In August 1771, a group of Spanish soldiers escorting two Franciscan padres as part of Gaspar de Portolá’s second expedition set out from San Diego to select a site for a new mission, following a trail made during Portolá’s previous exploration. After considering and then rejecting at least one other location, the group eventually settled upon a site along the
and City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771-1965 by Kelly Lytle Hernandez.
55 Randall Milliken, Lawrence H. Shoup, and Beverly R. Ortiz, “Chapter 8: Secularization and the Rancho Era, 1834-1846,” in Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today , prepared for National Park Service Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, CA, June 2009, https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/historyculture/upload/Chapter-8.pdf (accessed December 2020).
This study was prepared by the National Park Service to provide an analysis of the Ohlone/Costanoan tribal groups that inhabited [federal] parklands in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties prior to Spanish colonization. However, it includes a detailed discussion of the mission system, secularization, and the rancho system of the 1830s and 1840s that is relevant to the context of Mission San Gabriel. 56 Milliken et al., 155.
57 “History of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel,” California Missions Foundation, https://californiamissionsfoundation.org/mission-san-gabriel/ (accessed December 2021). 35 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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banks of the Rio Hondo near the Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh village of Isantkanga,58 at the site of the present-day intersection of North San Gabriel Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue in Montebello. Here, “a stockade of poles was built enclosing a square within which a church was erected, covered with boughs.”59 On September 8, 1771, the mission was formally founded and dedicated as the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.
In 1776, five years after its initial founding, the Mission San Gabriel was relocated to its current site in the present-day City of San Gabriel.
60 The move was undertaken after a series
of rains that overflowed the Rio Hondo and periodically flooded the Mission. The new site of the Mission San Gabriel was a significant one, situated at the intersection of three major trade routes and near the site of the Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh village of Sibanga.61 A chapel was the first building to be constructed as part of the new mission. Architecturally, Mission San Gabriel is distinct among the California missions; its designer, Father Antonio Cruzado, derived his design from a prominent cathedral in Córdoba, Spain.62 The mission’s construction, however, was the result of forced labor of the Native American population – who were now referred to by the Spanish colonists as “Gabrieliños.” This included the physical development of the Mission San Gabriel, as well as the agricultural and ranching activities that led to its productive success. Over its active life, San Gabriel was far more productive than any other mission in California, harvesting over 353,000 bushels of wheat, barley, corn, beans, peas, lentils, and garbanzo beans.63 The Mission San Gabriel became known in particular for its viticultural production; the mission introduced large-scale viticulture to the region, possessed the largest vineyard in Spanish California, and was the botanical source of many of the vines planted at other missions along the chain.64 It was also credited with the largest grain crop raised at any mission, with the 1821 harvest amounting to 29,400 bushels.
65 58 Alternate spellings and references for Isantkanga include Isankanga, Isankangna, Isanthcogna, Isantcanga, Isanthcagna, Isanchanga, et al. See “Villages.”
59 J. M. Guinn, A History of California and an Extended History of Los Angeles and Environs, vol. 1 (L os Angeles:
Historic Record Company, 1915), 58.
60 The buildings at the site of the first Mission San Gabriel – which became known as “Misión Vieja” following the Mission’s relocation – were all made of wood, and no trace of them remains today. See Guinn, 58. 61 Alternate spellings and references for Sibanga include Siba, Sibat, Sibapet, Sibap, Sibagna, Sibanga, Sibagua, et al.
See “Villages.”
62 “History of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.”
63 “San Gabriel Arcángel Key Facts,” California Missions, https://missionscalifornia.com/san-gabriel-arcangel- mission/key-facts (accessed December 2021).
64 “San Gabriel Arcángel Key Facts.”
65 Guinn, 58.
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By the late 1770s, when the Mission San Gabriel was re-established at its second location, seven other missions had also been founded. Maintaining the mission system became increasingly cost-prohibitive during this period as Spain’s years-long wars with the English and French continued to drain resources. Additionally, Jesuit missions in Baja stopped providing supplies to California’s missions, necessitating the shipment of needed materials from Mexico City.66 As a result, any new or existing missions could not adequately yield the provisions needed by a floundering Spanish government under the current structure.
Therefore, while geographically and strategically important, implementing the plans for establishing additional missions was put on hold.
King Carlos III’s decision to hold off construction was also significantly influenced by Native American resistance to Spanish colonial rule across the newly-claimed Alta California, which covered Native American territory in the modern-day states of California, Nevada, and Utah, as well as parts of Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. It became increasingly clear that a mission system reliant on simply granting land to new European settlers was becoming unmanageable. Military Commander and Governor Felipe de Neve
66 Alastair Worden and Randy Leffingwell, California Missions & Presidios (St. Paul, MN: Voyageur Press, 2005),
55. Indian House at the Mission San Gabriel, c. 1844. USC Digital Library. 37 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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and Viceroy Martin de Mayorga therefore mandated that new missions could not be built solely with Native American labor and would need to be self-supporting.67 Mission San Gabriel, however, remained “far more productive” than any of the other missions; so much so that it supported the populations of several other missions.68 After the secularization of Mission San Gabriel, scattered reports indicate that the forcibly displaced Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh pursued several options available to them. Some moved from the mission to the burgeoning El Pueblo de Los Angeles looking for work., while others intermarried with other tribes, leaving their traditional homeland. 69 However, a core
group of several families stayed in the township of San Gabriel, close to the mission, and formed the cultural and geographic center of the Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh community.70 There are no extant built resources in the City of Alhambra dating from the period of Spanish rule. The study of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this project.
67 Worden and Leffingwell, 55.
68 “San Gabriel Arcángel Key Facts.”
69 Singleton, 50-51.
70 Singleton, 50-51.
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A map of the United States of Mexico as organized and defined by the several acts of the Congress of that Republic, 1826. California State University, Monterey Bay. 39 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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IV. MEXICAN RULE: SECULARIZATION AND SUBSEQUENT LAND
GRANTS (1821-1849)
In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and Alta California became a territory of Mexico. The territorial capital remained in Monterey, California, with a governor serving as the territory’s executive official.
Mexico, however, paid little attention to Alta California, which was sparsely developed and yielded little to no tax revenue to the Mexican government – which was distracted by its own internal instability and constant threats to power. Within several years, however, Mexican officials became concerned about Spain’s residual influence in Alta California through the continued operation of the mission system. Spain continued to pose a potential threat to Mexico’s power in the territory as the former refused to recognize the latter’s independence.
In an effort to curb any potential hostilities, the Governor of Alta California issued a “Proclamation of Emancipation” in 1826, which freed all Native Americans within the military districts of San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Monterey from mission rule and granted them eligibility to become Mexican citizens. Subsequent legislation enacted in Mexico in 1827 mandated the expulsion of Spaniards under the age of sixty from all Mexican territories. However, some Spanish-born Franciscan padres managed to escape deportation for a time, and the continuing concern over Spain’s influence coupled with these initial efforts paved the way for more significant legislation that would dismantle the Spanish mission system completely.
MEXICAN SECULARIZATION ACT OF 1833
The secularization law directing the closure of the California missions was passed by the Congress of Mexico on August 17, 1833, with more specific regulations to guide implementation passed on August 9, 1834. According to the 2009 National Park Service study:
The [1833] law implied that each Indian mission community would become a town with its own government, much as the Indian pueblos of New Mexico were self-governing entities. Its 15 sections provided detailed directions for the establishment of parish churches, for the support of parish priests, and for the assignment of selected mission buildings “as an ayuntamiento house, primary schools, public establishments, and work -shops.” But it was silent regarding rules for the distribution of other mission property.
Regulations guiding implementation of secularization were passed by the California departmental legislature and signed by Governor Figueroa on August 9, 1834. It was a surprisingly balanced document that, had it been 40 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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followed, would have guided the development of ejidos —communal land- holding pueblos—for the Catholic Indians around each mission.71 The regulations were intended to return the land to the Indigenous inhabitants, assigning one half of the mission lands and property to Native Americans in grants of thirty-three acres of arable land, along with common land sufficient to pasture their stock. In addition, one half of the mission herds were to be divided proportionately among the Native American families. The remaining lands were then available for dispersal by the Mexican government.
Had the final secularization law and its accompanying enabling regulations been followed to the letter, the Indians of central California would have received large allotments of lands around each mission in accordance with the ejido (lands in common) landholding system. Instead, Hispanic families received the land in large private blocks, following the haciendo system. The ejido and haciendo landholding systems had developed along two separate paths in Mexico over the centuries of Spanish occupation. Much of Mexico’s farm and ranch lands were concentrated in the hands of a few upper -class families as large estates under the hacienda system; under it the landless classes, Indians, mestizo, and mulattos, depended upon the land- owning patrons for tools, supplies, and homes on estate lands. In other parts of Mexico, individual families worked lands assigned by community governments, the lands being held under collective ownership in the ejido system. The communal ejido system developed in many areas where Indians had an agricultural life way, such as among 19 Indian pueblos in New Mexico that are now within the United States.
The distribution of mission lands did not unfold in the way that the 1834 [regulations] foresaw. After the death of Governor Figueroa in September of 1835, a series of commissioners worked with a series of governors and provincial legislatures up through 1846 to distribute most mission lands to wellplaced [sic] Mexican citizens. Some Indian people did receive land titles in a few parts of California, but they were the exception and they seldom retained title for more than a few years.
72 Instead, the secularization and reallotment of mission lands and other property accelerated the spread of the rancho system that had begun with the land grants dispensed under Spanish rule.
71 Milliken et al., 154.
72 Milliken et al., 155.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEXICAN RANCHO SYSTEM
By the time Alta California was given over to Mexico, about thirty land grants throughout the territory had already been presented to Spanish soldiers and government officials by the King of Spain. However, no titles were actually transferred as part of this effort; Spanish governors were authorized to give concession to the individuals, which allowed them to run stock in certain areas without a formal deed.
73 The “rancho system” as it is known today was
instead unique to California under Mexican rule in the 1830s and 1840s.
The majority of land grants were awarded under the rancho system were given to prominent Californio families74 who accumulated great wealth during this period, largely through cattle ranching. The new hierarchy replaced the missionaries with the head of a Californio family.
Native Americans, whose labor was originally exploited by the missionaries and soldiers stationed at the missions, became the labor source for the growing ranchos. The result was that instead of receiving significant land ownership as intended in the 1834 regulations, most Native Americans either labored on ranchos, went to live among other Native Americans in non-coastal areas, or had to fend for themselves with no assets.
Land in Alta California was considered especially valuable at this time, in part due to the successful agricultural enterprises and aqueduct systems established along the coast during the Mission Era. This was made evident when a U.S. minister in Mexico, Waddy Thompson, Jr., suggested that Mexico cede Alta California to the United States to settle existing debts. 75 However, it was the 1844 presidential election of James K. Polk, who campaigned on a promise of territorial expansion through peaceful means – or otherwise – and the annexation of Texas a year later that provoked Mexico to retaliate using armed forces, prompting the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846. After failed attempts to broker a sale of land between both countries, battles between troops loyal to Mexico and opposing Californio rebels prompted the ouster of governors in territories such as the province of Alta California. This series of battles throughout the Alta California region came to be known as the California Campaign, which took place over the course of a year between 1846 and 1847.
In January 1847, the Mexican forces capitulated to the United States Army, ending the Conquest of California. The Treaty of Cahuenga was signed on January 13, 1847, marking the surrender of the Californios and the end of armed resistance in Alta California.
Following the capture and occupation of Mexico City by U.S. forces in 1847, the war-weary Mexican government – also distracted by internal divisions and infighting – agreed to the
73 “Orange County’s First Ranchos – Manuel Nieto and Juan Puablo Grijalva,” OC Historyland, https://www.ochistoryland.com/firstrancheros (accessed March 2021). 74 Californio refers to people of Hispanic descent who were born in what would become the state of California, generally between 1683 and 1848, when California became a U.S. territory. The Californios were powerful landholders, receiving large land grants from Spain and Mexico in the 1830s and 1840s. 75 George L. Rives, The United States and Mexico, 1821–1848: A History of the Relations Between the Two Countries from the Independence of Mexico to the Close of the War with the United States, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913), 45.
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negotiation of a peace treaty. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848, marking the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. Under the terms of the treaty, Alta California was ceded to the United States government. Equally important in terms of the treaty’s impact on the development of the territory were the terms it contained regarding existing ranchos and land grants, which confirmed that Spanish and Mexican landowners would retain possession of their land.
As Alta California continued under American governance, a discovery was made that would transform the landscape of the American West forever. Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California that same year, sparking a “gold rush” in 1849. The ensuing quest for gold saw hundreds of thousands of people descend upon Alta California between 1849 and 1855 to seek their fortune, including many immigrants from foreign countries. The discovery also gave rise to the mining industry in California, which brought scores of new settlers to the region. The land seized from the Native American population was now populated with enterprising settlers, necessitating the development of townsites under a new American government.
RANCHO HUERTA DE CUATI
The principal portion of the land comprising the present-day City of Alhambra was first developed under the Spanish mission system as part of Mission San Gabriel in 1771 and was later subdivided following the secularization of the missions in the 1830s. By the time the missions were secularized in 1833, the Mission San Gabriel controlled nearly all of the land in the present-day counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino. 76 In
1846, what remained of the mission estate was granted by Governor Pio Pico to Hugo Reid and William Workman on the condition that they pay all remaining claims to the mission creditors and support the mission's padres without obstructing community access to the church.
77 However, the title granted to Reid and Workman was deemed invalid by the U.S.
Land Commission in 1855, and the property was subsequently returned to the Church in 1859.
78 Although much of the land comprising the initial extent of Alhambra belonged to the United States government by the time it was subdivided to develop the Alhambra Tract, a small portion of the land represented part of the holdings of a rancho that would come to have a significant impact on development in the area. This land represented part of a Spanish land concession awarded to Jose Manuel Perez Nieto in 1784 by Spanish Governor Pedro
76 Harold D. Carew, History of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley California […], vol. 1 ([Chicago:] The S. J.
Clarke Publishing Company, 1930), 197.
77 “San Gabriel Arcángel Key Facts;” Charles C. Baker, “Mexican Land Grants in California,” The Historical Society of Southern California 9, no. 3 (University of California Press, 1914): 236-243, 240. 78 “San Gabriel Arcángel Key Facts.”
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Fages.79 Nieto’s concession – which was known as the Rancho Los Nietos – was immense, amounting to approximately 300,000 acres that comprised all of the land extending westward from the Mission San Gabriel between the Santa Ana River and the Los Angeles River.
Nieto’s vast holdings would later be challenged and eventually partitioned into six separate ranchos in 1834, but the part representing present-day Alhambra was divested separately at an earlier date, after Nieto had begun cultivating the portion of his land situated near the Mission San Gabriel following his retirement in 1795. Nieto’s efforts interfered with the stock – and more importantly, the irrigated farmlands – of the Mission San Gabriel, which asked Governor Fages’ successor, Diego de Borica, to limit Nieto’s holdings. Governor Borica ordered Nieto to give up any land needed by the mission. This included the upper end of his rancho, but still left Nieto with about 150,000 acres which reached to the coast. 80 The upper portion of the rancho was returned to the Mission San Gabriel and subdivided following the secularization of the mission in the 1830s.
One of these parcels represented a Mexican land grant that was claimed by Victoria Bartolomea Comicrabit (c.1802-1868), a Gabrielino/Tongva/Kizh woman descended from a prestigious line of tribal chiefs. (Born Bartolomea Comicrabit, she was given the name Victoria by her husband, Hugo Reid, following their marriage in 1837, and it is this name by which she is commonly known today.) Comicrabit was taken to the Mission San Gabriel at the age of six; while there, she caught the attention of Doña Eulalia Perez de Guillen Marine, wife of a Spanish army lieutenant and housemother of the Mission. Doña Eulalia brought Comicrabit home to live with her and her husband in San Pascual, where she educated her in the manners and traditions of a “fine Spanish lady.”
81 Following the secularization of the
missions, Doña Eulalia used her husband’s connections and influence to arrange for Comicrabit to claim a 128.26-acre parcel of land known as Rancho Huerta de Cuati. 82 While the secularization of the missions did, in theory, allow for Indigenous people to make claims to the former mission land, such claims were not often honored, and it would have been exceptionally rare for a woman to make such a claim. However, Comicrabit occupied a unique space in the mission world during that time; as an Indigenous woman, she would normally have been marginalized in the eyes of society; yet, due to her prominent ancestry as well as the influential association she enjoyed with affluent Spanish society, she possessed
79 ‘Orange County’s First Rancheros – Manuel Nieto and Juan Pablo Grijalva,” OC Historyland, https://www.ochistoryland.com/firstrancheros (accessed December 2021). 80 ‘Orange County’s First Rancheros – Manuel Nieto and Juan Pablo Grijalva.” 81 Janet Aird, “Dona Victoria Reid, Indian Princess,” The Searcher 48, no. 4 (Autumn 2011): 164-165, http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/geneii/media/2010/GENEii2010- %20Janet%20Aird%20Dona%20Victoria%20Reid.pdf (accessed March 2021). 82 Although many historical accounts also credit Victoria Comicrabit Reid with laying claim to the adjacent Rancho Santa Anita as well, conflicting records from the period indicate that Hugo Reid may have purchased Rancho Santa Anita from Henry Dalton himself. See Gloria Ricci Lothrop, “Rancheras and the Land: Women and Property Rights in Hispanic California,” Southern California Quarterly 76, no. 1, The W. P. Whitsett Distinguishing California Lectures (Spring 1994): 59-84, 80. 44 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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real – yet complicated – social capital. Of particular note is that Comicrabit retained title to the property under her own name when the grant was awarded by Mexican Governor Juan Alvarado in October 1838; although she had married Scottish merchant Hugo Reid the previous year, Reid could not claim the land himself as he was not yet a Mexican citizen.
Plat of the Place called Cuati, surveyed by Henry Hancock, November 1857. Huntington Library. 45 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Hugo Reid and Victoria Comicrabit Reid made their home at the nearby Rancho Santa Anita, which they had also acquired, but continued to cultivate the Rancho Huerta de Cuati for fourteen years.83 Hugo Reid prospered as a rancher until the changes which soon followed the American acquisition of California worked against his interests.84 He eventually went bankrupt and was forced to sell off Rancho Santa Anita in 1846; however, Victoria Comicrabit Reid managed to retain the Rancho Huerta de Cuati despite the couple’s reduced financial circumstances. In his final years, Hugo Reid rose to prominence as an early chronicler of his wife’s Indigenous culture, and he became known for a series of letters documenting the history of “The Indians of Los Angeles County” that were published shortly before his death in 1852.
There are no extant built resources in the City of Alhambra dating from the period of Mexican rule. The study of archaeological resources is outside the scope of this project.
83 "Huerta de Cuati, Diseño 455, GLO No. 421, Los Angeles County, and associated historical documents," (2018), Los Angeles County, 77, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_usa_4_a_lac/77 (accessed January 2021). The name is also spelled on some records as the Rancho Huerta de Quati. 84 Reid and Heizer.
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The Old Spanish and Mexican Ranchos of Los Angeles County, by Leavitt Dudley, 1965.
David Rumsey Map Collection.
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V. EARLY CALIFORNIA: AMERICAN STATEHOOD AND RANCHO
DEVELOPMENT (1850-1874)
The Gold Rush of 1849 brought thousands of new settlers to California, as did the introduction of paddle steamer routes carrying passengers and cargo from Central American countries to the Pacific Coast in the late 1840s. People were arriving in such numbers that California could hardly cope; with few settlements dotting the vast swaths of undeveloped rancho land and almost no existing infrastructure – or even irrigation – the territory was wholly unprepared for the sudden influx of approximately 80,000 people that arrived in 1849 alone. Agricultural and ranching operations were accelerated to meet the food needs of the new settlers, but the problem of housing remained, as did the lack of community services such as banks, merchants, or even medical care – not to mention the lawlessness that reigned in an unsupervised territory now flush with money and gold. As a result, the pressure to open up the West began to mount.
THE CALIFORNIA LAND ACT
With the passage of the California Statehood Act on September 9, 1850, the former territory of Alta California became the thirty-first state in the Union. In theory, California’s elevation to statehood should not have motivated any substantial physical changes to the landscape of the new state; the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had made provisions for Spanish and Mexican landowners to retain their ranchos. However, the United States government was facing growing political pressure to open up lands in the west for settlement by Americans, and in 1851, the United States Congress passed the California Land Act – officially known as “An Act to ascertain and settle private Land Claims in the State of California.” The statute established a three-member board known as the Public Land Commission, which was charged with determining the validity – or lack thereof – of land grants previously assigned by both the Mexican and Spanish authorities under earlier periods of rule.
The terms of the California Land Act directly contradicted those previously set forth in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which had been signed only three years earlier. In signing the Treaty, the United States government had committed to honoring earlier land grants dispensed by the Spanish and Mexican governments, and certain articles of the statute specifically provided for the continued protection of existing property rights enjoyed by Mexican citizens residing in the territories at the time.
Under the California Land Act, however, all holders of Spanish and/or Mexican land grants were required to present their titles for verification by the Public Land Commission.
Landowners were given two years to present sufficient evidence to support their claim to their land; if they could not do so, the property would automatically pass into the public domain and could then be dispensed by the United States government. And, perhaps not surprisingly, the requirements for proof of ownership generally surpassed those earlier records which had been used to document it. As Rachel Surls notes, “Boundaries of these 48 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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tracts of land were established with simple drawings that showed general boundaries of the property. Surveys were conducted, but were often approximate, using trees, streams, or boulders as boundary markers.”85 Documentation, too, was limited, and compounded by conflicting claims and disputed boundaries. However, explains Surls, “this worked out okay in the Spanish and Mexican era because there was simply so much land and so few people.
Exact boundaries were not so important.”
86 Spanish and Mexican landowners also faced other difficulties defending their claims. The claim hearings were all held in San Francisco, which required a lengthy, costly, and physically difficult journey. Further, the hearings were held in English – a challenge for the largely Spanish-speaking grantees – and often necessitated hiring translators as well as legal representation, an additional expense that was difficult to meet when the appeals process frequently took years or even decades to resolve. Some landowners spent their entire fortune defending their claim, only to be compelled to offer up the land to their lawyers as payment for services rendered.
While the outcome of the California Land Act was both personally and economically devastating for many of the families that owned ranchos in Southern California, enforcement of the law also motivated other, more far-reaching impacts on the development of the region. Rachel Surls explains that the statute “led in large part to the breakup of rancho lands that dominated the Los Angeles area landscape. Newfound availability of this land drew settlers who wanted to obtain smaller acreages for farming and helped to fuel a massive Los Angeles land boom in the 1880s. The law also sparked the transformation of Los Angeles from a rancho economy to the beginning of a more complex economy as land became available for other purposes.”
87 EARLY IMMIGRATION EFFORTS AND EXCLUSIONARY POLICIES
Although there was indeed pressure to open the American West for settlement, that didn’t mean that public sentiment favored opening up the region to just anybody. The Gold Rush had prompted the first significant influx of domestic as well as foreign immigrants to the state, including many Chinese and Latin American prospectors. Although relations between different ethnic groups in mining communities remained peaceful for a time, as more and more people flooded into California and the competition for gold became increasingly intense, those relations soured. Many white Americans shared the jingoist sentiments that had become widespread after the recently-concluded Mexican-American War, and now believed that “foreigners” – namely, Latino miners but also French, Chinese, and other non- citizens – were taking gold that they thought was rightfully theirs, “leaving little for ‘true
85 Rachel Surls in Jeremy Rosenberg, “How Rancho Owners Lost Their Land And Why That Matters Today,” KCET, https://www.kcet.org/history-society/how-rancho-owners-lost-their-land-and-why-that-matters-today (accessed January 2021).
86 “How Rancho Owners Lost Their Land And Why That Matters Today.” 87 “How Rancho Owners Lost Their Land And Why That Matters Today.” 49 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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citizens’ like themselves.”88 As Gary Kamiya explains, anti-Latino sentiment had already begun to run high in the mines, in part because many Mexican and Chilean miners arrived with more mining expertise than their white counterparts as a result of previous mining work in their home countries.89 Resentment soon spread toward other ethnic groups as well, like the Chinese, who were willing to accept lower wages than whites. Soon, organized programs of harassment and exclusionary tactics commenced, and eventually grew to include acts of violence, including lynching and “organized killing expeditions.”90 The Gold Rush ultimately gave rise to the first organized wave of white nationalism in the state of California and prompted the introduction of the United States’ government’s earliest exclusionary policies. These policies and their impacts on the landscape and population of California are discussed below.
Foreign Miners’ Tax
In 1852, Chinese formed one-tenth of the state’s population and nearly one-third of the mining population.91 Chinese miners were often willing to take jobs – which were not without hazards – for less money than their white counterparts, and often earned a living working claims abandoned by other miners.92 This spurred resentment amongst white miners, who felt the Chinese were completing unfairly for jobs – a complaint which soon overflowed into other fields of work as well. Soon, there was a call to limit foreign competition in mining. In response, Congress adopted the Foreign Miners’ Tax Act of 1850, which imposed a tax on foreign miners of $20 per month – the equivalent of over six hundred dollars a month in 2021 dollars. According to the law, the tax applied to all miners in the state of California who were not United States citizens and who had not become citizens as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, effectively limiting the tax imposed to Chinese and Latino miners. Latino miners staged a series of violent revolts which ultimately saw Latino miners expelled; ten thousand Mexican miners returned home immediately, and by 1860, four-fifths of the state’s Latino population had been driven out of the California mines.
93 The Chinese miners, however, remained – at least for a time.
88 Gary Kamiya, “The Dark Side of the Gold Rush,” SF Opera, https://sfopera.com/seasons/1718season/201718-season/goldenwest/dark-side-of-the-gold-rush/ (accessed November 2021).
89 Kamiya, “The Dark Side of the Gold Rush.”
90 Kamiya, “The Dark Side of the Gold Rush.”
91 Jean Pfaelzer, “Foreign Miners Tax,” in Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working Class History , vol. 1: A-F, ed.
Eric Arnesen (New York: Routledge, 2007): 468-469, 468. 92 “Asian Americans: Gold Rush Era to 1890s,” curated and written by the University of California, 2005, Calisphere, https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/52/asian-americans-gold-rush-era-to-1890s/ (accessed November 2021).
93 Pfaelzer, 468.
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Although the Act was repealed in 1851 after only a year, a second Foreign Miners’ Tax Act was adopted in 1852, which imposed a fee of three dollars per month – a tax that was quickly raised to four dollars per month in 1853, and then to six dollars in 1855. From the perspective of white settlers, the tax was a win-win situation – either the excessive fees would drive foreign miners out of the state, and if not, the state of California could at least profit off of their desire to remain. And they certainly profited: Between 1852 and 1870, years in which one billion dollars of untaxed gold was mined in California, Chinese miners paid a staggering $58 million to the state, ranging from one fourth to one half of California’s revenue.
94 By the time the tax was finally nullified in 1870, ninety-eight percent of the nearly five billion dollars collected as a result of the Tax Act came from Chinese miners.95 While the tax ultimately did reduce the Chinese population for several years, the trend was temporary and numbers ultimately rebounded and even increased as additional work opportunities became available.
Act for the Government and Protection of Indians
The Chinese were not alone in their exclusion from society. As the ranchos were broken up following the implementation of the California Land Act, the new owners of smaller tracts – which were now populated in far greater numbers than earlier ranches – were often less tolerant of Native Americans, and these smaller ranchos were farmed and grazed more
94 Pfaelzer, 469.
95 Pfaelzer, 469.
Foreign Miner’s License, Tuolumne County, California, 1867. California State Library. 51 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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intensively, a move which greatly diminished the Indigenous food supply.96 Skilled jobs once held by Native Americans were also now often filled by whites.
More significantly, only one week after signing the Foreign Miners’ Tax into law in April 1850 – and four months before California was officially admitted to the Union – California Governor Peter Hardeman Burnett also approved the adoption of The Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. The Act – which was nicknamed the Indian Indenture Act – facilitated the removal of Native Americans in California from their traditional lands, separating children and adults from their families, languages, and cultures. 97 The law provided for the indenturing of Native Americans to white ranchers, and also punished “vagrant” Native Americans by “hiring” them out to the highest bidder at a public auction if the individual could not provide sufficient bond or bail. 98 More specifically, the Act allowed for the following:99 • The Justice of the Peace would have jurisdiction over all complaints between Native Americans and whites; "but in no case shall a white man be convicted of any offense upon the testimony of an Indian or Indians."
• Landowners could permit Native Americans who were peaceably residing on their land to continue to do so, but they could also apply to the Justice of the Peace for the removal of Native Americans from lands in the white person’s possession. • Any person could go before a Justice of the Peace to obtain Native American children for indenture. (This section would eventually be used to justify and provide for Native American slavery.)
• If any Native American was convicted of a crime, any white person could come before the court and contract for the individual's services, and in return, would pay that individual’s fine.
• It would be illegal to sell or administer alcohol to Native Americans. • Finally, any Native American found strolling, loitering where alcohol was sold, begging, or leading a profligate course of life would be liable for arrest. The justice, mayor, or recorder would make out a warrant. Within twenty-four hours, the services of the Native American in question could be sold to the highest bidder. The term of service would not exceed four months.
96 “A History of American Indians in California: 1849-1879,” in California Department of Parks and Recreation, Office of Historic Preservation, Five Views: An Ethnic History Site Survey for California , December 1988, https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/5views/5views.htm (accessed November 2021). 97 Kimberly Johnston-Dodds, “Early California Laws and Policies Related to California Indians,” prepared at the request of Senator John L. Burton, President Pro Tempore, by the California Research Bureau, Sacramento, CA, September 2002, https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/IB.pdf (accessed November 2021), 1. 98 Johnston-Dodds, 1.
99 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from “A History of American Indians in California: 1849-1879,” and supplemented with additional information from Johnston-Dodds, 5 -8. 52 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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While the Act did make provisions for Native Americans to reside on private land, it also created a legal framework that encouraged the widespread kidnapping, abuse, enslavement, and even elimination of Native Americans. Subsequent amendments only served to worsen the conditions resulting from the Act. In 1851 and 1852, the California State Legislature authorized payments for the “suppression of Indian hostilities,” prompting white settlers to conduct their own elimination campaigns.
In 1860, the law of 1850 was amended to state that Native American children and “vagrants” could be put under the custody of Whites for the purpose of employment and training.
Under the law, it was possible to retain the service of Native Americans until 40 years of age for men and 35 years of age for women. This continued the practice of slavery and made it legal for Native Americans to be retained for a longer period of time and be taken at a younger age.
The other practice that provided much of the labor force, especially in southern California, was to have city officials pick up Native Americans as vagrants. These officials would then turn them over to the ranchers and other people who needed laborers. This was all done under the provisions of the 1850 law. After four months or some other term of service, the employer would return them to the city, usually to a place where alcohol was served. Shortly after their return, the Native Americans would be picked up once again as vagrants, and returned to the labor force.
These types of activities occurred until 1866, when, to comply with the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, the State Legislature repealed the law. However, the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians set the tone for relations between whites and Native Americans in the years to come.
100
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
Although California’s admission to the Union linked the state with the rest of the country legally and politically, it remained a geographically – and thus economically – isolated region.
One of the earliest attempts to ameliorate the situation was the California Overland Mail Act, which was passed by Congress in 1857. The law authorized overland mail delivery service to California and promised government aid to any company that could reliably transport mail from St. Louis to San Francisco twice a week and guarantee its arrival within twenty-five days. As a result, a stagecoach line carrying both passengers as well as overland mail to and from California was established in 1858. Timely communication remained limited, however, until 1861, when the first transcontinental telegraph line was completed.
Its construction eliminated gaps in transmission in Nevada and created a link between St.
Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, allowing telegrams to be transmitted between the East and West Coasts for the first time.
100 “A History of American Indians in California: 1849-1879.” 53 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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The transcontinental divide was effectively bridged – at least geographically – in 1869 with the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Its construction linked the lines of the Union Pacific Railroad in the east and the Central Pacific Railroad in the west and made overland transport possible between the East and West Coasts. Construction of the railroad signaled the first of many changes to the Southern California landscape that would take place in the coming decades; the tracks ran through a number of tribal territories, bringing into conflict cultures that held very different views.
101 Artist Herman Schuyler captured the
struggle of this period in his painting The First Train, which depicts a group of Native Americans watching a train pass across the prairie in the distance, just beyond their settlement in the foreground.
The construction of the railroad also brought new populations to California – not only as passengers, but as workers, too. Chinese immigrants – who had first migrated to the state during the Gold Rush in search of work – were now in demand for construction work.
Railroad companies had previously hired Chinese workers for the construction of other
101 “The Transcontinental Railroad,” curated and written by the University of California, 2005, Calisphere, https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/18/the-transcontinental-railroad/ (accessed November 2021).
The First Train, Herman Schuyler, c. 1880. Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley .
Traveler’s Map of the Central Pacific Railroad of California, 1869. Claremont Colleges Digital Library. 54 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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regional railroads throughout the state in the late 1850s, and they were now in demand for the dangerous, backbreaking work of building the transcontinental line after calls for workers garnered little response from white men.102
In January 1864, the Central Pacific hired a crew of 21 Chinese workers and hired more during that year. In January 1865, convinced that Chinese workers were capable, the railroad hired fifty Chinese workers and then fifty more. But the demand for labor increased, and white workers were reluctant to do such backbreaking, hazardous work. As Leland Stanford reported to Congress in 1865, “A large majority of the white laboring class on the Pacific Coast find most profitable and congenial employment in mining and agricultural pursuits, than in railroad work. The greater portion of the laborers employed by us are Chinese, who constitute a large element of the population of California.
Without them it would be impossible to complete the western portion of this great national enterprise, within the time required by the Acts of Congress.” Soon the Chinese labor pool from California was exhausted, and the Central Pacific arranged with labor contractors to recruit large numbers of Chinese workers directly from China. By July 1865, the Chinese workforce on the CPRR was nearly 4,000. In February 1867, approximately 8,000 Chinese were working on the construction of tunnels and 3000 were laying track, representing ninety percent of the workforce. Historians estimate that at any one time as many as 10,000 to 15,000 Chinese were working on constructing the railroad. Most Chinese probably did not work for the entire duration of construction and others would take their place, particularly because the work was so difficult and dangerous. Consequently, the total number of Chinese was even greater.
103
The Chinese worked until the CPRR was linked to the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) on May 10, 1869, and many continued to work on the CPRR and UPRR, as well as other railroads from California to New York.104 Although some Chinese returned to their home country following the completion of the railroad, others remained in California and sought work in the cities and towns now growing up along the line they had labored to build, where common fields of employment included agriculture, mining, logging, or construction work.
105
The completion of the railroad and the subsequent release of Chinese workers to seek other employment occurred at an opportune moment in the history of development of the San
102 “Key Questions,” Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project, https://web.stanford.edu/group/chineserailroad/cgi-bin/website/faqs/ (accessed November 2021). 103 “Key Questions.”
104 “Key Questions.”
105 “Key Questions.”
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Gabriel Valley, where they soon played a critical role in providing labor for the region’s earliest attempts at agricultural and commercial development.
BENJAMIN DAVIS WILSON AND THE LAKE VINEYARD
Many of Southern California’s rancho owners were impacted by the far-reaching consequences of the California Land Act. Among them were Hugo and Victoria Comicrabit Reid, who found Victoria’s claim to the Rancho Huerta de Cuati called into question.
Victoria Comicrabit Reid filed a claim for the land with the Public Land Commission on November 5, 1852.106 Seven years and several appeals later, her patent for the land was issued on June 30, 1859.107
Her victory arrived, however, about six years and ten months too late. Victoria Comicrabit Reid’s husband, Hugo Reid, had died in December 1852, less than two months after her claim to the Rancho Huerta de Cuati was first filed. Having already been bankrupted in the last years of his life, Reid’s death left his wife in reduced financial circumstances, and to make matters worse, the guardian Reid had hired to protect her assets after his death made off with what little money remained.108 Victoria Comicrabit Reid struggled to maintain the Rancho Huerta de Cuati for a year before selling the property to Benjamin Davis Wilson on February 6, 1854. 109
Lake Vineyard
Upon his purchase of the Rancho Huerta de Cuati, Benjamin Wilson named the ranch “Lake Vineyard” after the shallow natural lake that occupied a portion of the property. After contemplating a move back East, his new property induced him to stay in California, declaring Lake Vineyard “the prettiest and healthiest place in California.”110 He planted fruit of all kinds, especially large groves of oranges; he also brought in water, planted ornamental trees, laid out avenues, and “so adorned the property that it quickly became the unrivalled showplace of the region: no visit to Los Angeles was complete without a visit to Wilson and his Lake Vineyard.”
111
106 "Huerta de Cuati, Diseño 455, GLO No. 421, Los Angeles County, and associated historical documents." 107 "Huerta de Cuati, Diseño 455, GLO No. 421, Los Angeles County, and associated historical documents." 108 Susanna Bryant Dakin, A Scotch Paisano in Old Los Angeles: Hugo Reid’s Life in California, 1832-1852 Derived from His Correspondence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1939), 199. 109 Finding Aid, Benjamin Davis Wilson Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6m3nf6s2/entire_text/ (accessed March 2021). Although some historians have disputed the year of Reid’s death vis à vis Wilson’s purchase of the Rancho Huerta de Cuati, the account of Reid’s funeral provided in the previously-cited article (“A Mooted Historical Point,” Los Angeles Evening Express, April 19, 1875) compared with deed records held in Wilson’s own archives confirm that Reid died in 1852 and Wilson subsequently purchased the property in 1854. 110 Much of the discussion of the development of Lake Vineyard and the establishment of the San Gabriel Winery has been derived from Thomas Pinney, A History of Wine in America: From the Beginnings to Prohibition (Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1989), 296.
111 Pinney, 296.
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In addition to Lake Vineyard’s beauty, the
property intrigued Wilson for other
reasons. He had begun to take an interest
in viticulture, and Lake Vineyard offered an
ample supply of mature grapevines. There
were vines already present on the property
when Wilson took possession of the land;
his granddaughter would later recall the
original Mission vines there as having
trunks six feet high before they succumbed
to the Anaheim disease in the 1880s and
1890s; they may have been planted as early
as 1815, for the Lake Vineyard in 1876 was
thought to contain vines as much as sixty
years old.
112
Wilson expanded beyond the inheritance
of Mission vines, however, and made
continuing experiments with new and
superior varieties in the hope of
discovering what the region would yield
best; he is even credited with developing
the first sparkling wine in California.
113 He
continued his experimentation throughout
the 1860s and eventually saw the
reputation of his wines extend outside California. He secured an agent in 1862, who helped facilitate the distribution of his wines as far away as Japan, although it was the East Coast market that was the most financially bountiful. Eventually, being a winemaker proved in the heady days of the late 19
th century began to wear on Benjamin Wilson. The challenges of the industry during that period were numerous; chief among them was the spoilage of product in transit, price-gouging wars among competitors, and a growing American preference for hard liquor. Losing interest in the business, Wilson was only too happy to take on a more active business partner in the form of his son-in-law, James De Barth Shorb.
Although Wilson had been the first in the region to make a success of viticulture outside of the Mission San Gabriel, Shorb was the innovator who transformed the business and the region which contained it. With a San Francisco partner, he leased all of the Lake Vineyard and its cellars under the name of B. D. Wilson and Co., his father-in-law lending only his
112 Pinney, 296.
113 Pinney, 296.
View from Lake Vineyard, circa 1880. Wilson’s
winery can be seen in the distance.
Huntington Library.
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name to the firm.114 At first, Shorb took over personal direction of the firm's San Francisco agency, where, he informed his father-in-law, in one year he would "sell more wine than the whole of them put together."115 The expansion of the enterprise soon brought Shorb back to the Lake Vineyard, where new vineyards were being planted and large additions made to the cellars.116
In addition to expanding the vineyards, Shorb also expanded his labor force: in 1869, he became the first to employ Chinese laborers in Southern California.117 According to Thomas Pinney, at the time the labor population in the region consisted primarily of “Mission Indians or Sonorans from Mexico.”
118 Following the completion of the Transcontinental
Railroad in 1869, however, many of the Chinese railroad workers responsible for its construction had remained in California, and some eventually found work at Shorb’s winery.
Although its beginnings had been modest, in the coming years the Lake Vineyard winery would evolve into a major commercial concern under Shorb’s leadership. Its operation set the course for the earliest industrial development efforts in the region and established Alhambra’s identity as a center for industrial activity.
There are no extant built resources in the City of Alhambra dating from the Early California period.
114 Pinney, 299.
115 Pinney, 299.
116 Pinney, 299.
117 Pinney, 299.
118 Pinney, 299.
Agricultural laborers at the J. De Barth Shorb Vineyards, San Marino, undated photograph.
California Historical Society .
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Detail of irrigation map showing water lines in Alhambra and the surrounding area, 1888. From California State Engineering Department, Detail Irrigation Map, Los Angeles Sheet, Irrigation Data, 1888. David Rumsey Map Collection.
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VI. EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF ALHAMBRA (1875-1902)
The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 put California on the map – both literally and figuratively. Indeed, short of colonization, there are few historical influences that have resulted in a greater impact to the landscape of California than the construction of the railroad and all the associated development that followed. The railroad brought an end to the Golden State’s relative isolation and encouraged the spread of more civilized development, which could now be accomplished with ease thanks to improved transport. Settlements now sprang up around railroad junctions and depots, with many growing into larger towns and eventually full-fledged cities. The railroad also brought increased economic activity to the state, extending trade beyond the region to both national and international markets. Indeed, California’s particular charms were now playing to a much wider audience, and Southern California’s mild climate and ideal growing conditions – coupled with the rock-bottom ticket prices resulting from fare wars between the now-competing railroad companies that serviced California – brought an influx of curious prospectors, tourists, and settlers to the area, sparking Southern California’s first land boom in the 1880s.
The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad also “gave an impetus to railroad building in California” as a whole, writes James Miller Guinn.
119 In 1870, the California State
Legislature enacted a law authorizing any county in the state to bond itself to the amount of five percent of the assessed value of all properties in the county in order to aid in building a railroad.120 Now, regional rail lines were springing up across the state. Their location would contribute greatly to shaping patterns of development throughout California in the decades to come.
POPULATION, IMMIGRATION, AND EXCLUSIONARY POLICIES IN THE LATE 19TH
CENTURY
The introduction of railroad lines both to and throughout the State of California brought scores of immigrants to the Pacific Coast. Many Chinese railroad workers who had played a critical role in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad remained in Southern California following the railroad’s completion, and found work in communities that had been established along the rail lines. However, many Chinese immigrants encountered antipathy due to their willingness to accept lower wages for more physically demanding jobs.
Many white laborers and politicians vocally complained about Chinese immigration and sometimes resorted to violence against Asians. Workers argued that an oversupply of Chinese laborers lowered wages and took jobs away from white workers. California labor leader Denis Kearney famously argued in the 1870s and 1880s that Chinese laborers were tools of wealthy
119 J. M. Guinn, “Pioneer Railroads of Southern California,” Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California 8, no. 3 (1911): 188-192, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41168875 (accessed November 2021), 189. 120 Guinn, “Pioneer Railroads of Southern California,” 189. 60 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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capitalists who conspired to destroy working class laborers. He frequently ended his speeches by saying “and whatever happens, the Chinese must go.” Meanwhile, politicians opposed civil rights for Asian immigrants and engaged in fearmongering by claiming that Chinese people spread germs for which they were immune but white people were not.121
Prior to 1875, states managed immigration, but that practice ended when the United States Supreme Court held it to be a federal matter.122 Following that decision, federal lawmakers passed the Page Act.
The Page Act of 1875 was the product of many political factors, including concerns over involuntary servitude, declining wages in t he labor market, prostitution, and popular racist stereotypes about people of Asian descent. The act established three different goals. First, it authorized the use of federal agents at immigration ports to search and question “any subject of China, Japan, or any Oriental country” to determine if that person had come “without their free and voluntary consent, for the purpose of holding them to a term of service." If agents suspected that the person had come involuntarily to engage in “lewd and immoral purposes” while in the U.S., they could be expelled.
Second, it effectively banned the immigration of Chinese women by portraying most of them as arriving in the U.S. solely to work as prostitutes. Finally, the act banned people who had been convicted of felonies in their home country from immigrating to the United States.
123
Seven years later, Congress went further and banned the entrance of Chinese laborers with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which was enacted in response to labor agitation against Chinese immigrants in California and growing racism in the United States overall.124 The Chinese Exclusion Act barred practically all Chinese immigrants from entering the United States for ten years, excepting only diplomats and their servants.125 It was the first federal law ever passed banning a group of immigrants based solely on race or nationality. The law also prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming American citizens, making Chinese residents in the United States permanent aliens. The Chinese Exclusion Act
121 National Park Service, “Ulysses S. Grant, Chinese Immigration, and the Page Act of 1875,” Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/ulysses-s-grant-chinese-immigration-and-the-page- act-of-1875.htm (accessed November 2021).
122 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from David M. Reimers, “Johnson-Reed (Immigration Restriction) Act (1924),” in Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working Class History , vol. 1: A-F, ed.
Eric Arnesen (New York: Routledge, 2007): 721-723, and supplemented with block quotes from additional sources.
123 National Park Service, “Ulysses S. Grant, Chinese Immigration, and the Page Act of 1875.” 124 “Johnson-Reed (Immigration Restriction) Act (1924),” 721-723. 125 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from Andrew Gyory, “Chinese Exclusion Acts, ” in Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working Class History, vol. 1: A-F, ed. Eric Arnesen (New York: Routledge, 2007): 240-241.
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was subsequently renewed in 1892 and 1902, and made permanent in 1904. The law, which remained in effect for over sixty years before it was repealed, set a precedent for all future anti-immigration laws in the United States.126
The Scott Act, which was subsequently enacted in 1888, expanded upon the Chinese Exclusion Act by barring reentry to the United States after leaving, making it virtually impossible for Chinese merchants who had settled in America to ever reunite with their families.
Although the bulk of the exclusionary policies enacted during this period were focused on barring Chinese immigrants, Native Americans also found themselves barred from their own land under a uniquely circular policy. The Dawes Act, which was passed in 1887, allowed the United States government to break up Native American tribal lands and return them to Native Americans under the guise of distributing the land as individual plots. It was hoped that such a distribution might encourage Native Americans to develop the land through agriculture or farming, and hopefully assimilating Western culture in the process. However, Native American tribes already controlled the land they were receiving – now at a fraction of its original acreage, and in a condition often unsuitable for farming.
Reformers saw the Dawes Act as the best solution for the “Indian Problem.” By “killing the Indian to save the man,” it was supposed to transform Indians into yeoman farmers and help the achieve a level of civilization (as defined by federal lawmakers) necessary for incorporation into American society. Some took advantage of this mandate and became successful farmers and ranchers.
But for the most part, the Dawes Act dealt a decisive blow to their subsistence cultures, rendering many American Indians landless and homeless. 127
Although Native Americans controlled about 150 million acres of land before the Dawes Act, they lost the majority of it due to these allotment divisions and selling of surplus.128 LATE 19TH CENTURY GROWTH IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY, 1875-1902 For more than a century, development of the San Gabriel Valley had generated from the San Gabriel Mission, “the only significant structure amidst an almost entirely rural scene.”129 After the founding of El Pueblo de Los Angeles on September 4, 1781, increased traffic – such as it was – to and from Mission San Gabriel passed through the land which was to
126 Gyory, “Chinese Exclusion Acts.”
127 “Native Americans,” in Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working Class History, vol. 1: A-F, ed. Eric Arnesen (New York: Routledge, 2007): 988-991.
128 National Park Service, “The Dawes Act,” https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/dawes-act.htm (accessed November 2021).
129 Robert P. Studer, ed., The Historical Volume and Reference Works, vol. 1: Los Angeles County (Los Angeles:
Historical Publishers, 1962), 49.
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become the Alhambra Tract.130 There was, however, no widespread development activity until the 1870s. This was due in part to questions of land ownership around the mission, which “carried over into the period after California became part of the United States, and for a time this confusion prevented settlers from making their homes in the area,” writes Margaret Lee.131 “Litigation as to the validity of the mission grant…prevented the land from being thrown open to settlement for a number of years.”132 For most of that time, however, even if one had been able to develop land in the San Gabriel Valley, reaching it would have proved somewhat laborious. Prior to the introduction of the Butterfield stagecoach line in 1858, settlers had few options for transportation to and from Los Angeles. “Prior to the advent of the San Gabriel Valley Railroad, communication with Los Angeles was by stage, if one did not use his own equine,” wrote J. W. Wood.133 The establishment of a stagecoach route increased access to the area, but it was the arrival of the railroad that made the region truly accessible for more comprehensive development efforts.
The Southern Pacific Railroad was completed through the San Gabriel Valley in 1873, 134
paving the way for expanded agricultural activities as well as residential and commercial construction.
Development of the Alhambra Tract and the Alhambra Addition Although he continued to maintain the Lake Vineyard, by the 1870s Benjamin Davis Wilson’s development interests had been diverted away from the San Gabriel Valley; he now spent much of his time in the South Bay, where he focused his efforts on developing the community Wilmington, as well as Wilmington’s Wilson College, which was to be named for (and funded by) Wilson.
Such endeavors had become a great deal more expensive in the twenty years since Wilson had begun developing real estate. Back then, taxes had been low and upkeep inexpensive, but following the arrival of the transcontinental railroad and its cars full of settlers, the population of Los Angeles County had grown – as had the cost of their government. Over the years, property taxes grew to ten cents and acre, then twenty-five cents an acre, and later even fifty cents an acre - a number which added up to no small amount for a man with as much land as Wilson. In fact, relieving his growing tax burden through the sale of more real estate became the principal motivation for his development of the Alhambra Tract. 135 In
130 Lee, 4-5. While Lee notes there were many paths through this area, the chief one was probably that which is now Main Street in present-day Alhambra.
131 Lee, 6.
132 Lee, 6.
133 J. W. Wood, Pasadena, California, Historical and Personal, A Complete History of the Organization of the Indiana Colony […], (printed by the author, 1917), 140.
134 Margaret Lee, “The History of Alhambra to 1915” (master’s thesis, University of Southern California, 1935 ),
38. 135 Studer, 49.
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order to complete his anticipated development, Wilson and his son-in-law James De Barth Shorb established the Lake Vineyard Land and Water Association in 1875.136
One of the first activities of the Lake Vineyard Land and Water Association was the development of the Alhambra Tract. Adjacent to Wilson’s Lake Vineyard was a 275-acre plot of “dry, uncultivated land.”137 This land, which was situated between the Mill Creek Wash to the east and the San Pasqual Wash to the west, belonged to the State of California and was believed to be of little value as no means of irrigation existed. However, Benjamin Wilson was undeterred, as he possessed an advantage available to few others – the services of his son-in-law, James De Barth Shorb. Shorb had previously been the first to introduce iron-piped water for irrigation purposes in California in 1864, when he was working in Camulos as superintendent of an oil operation, and now believed the same thing could be done “profitably on a large scale.”
138
Wilson purchased the land that would become the Alhambra Tract in 1871. Today, the tract’s original extent is bounded roughly by present-day Alhambra Road to the north, North Vega Street to the east, El Molino Street to the southeast, South Granada Avenue to the east, Mission Road to the south, and South Almansor Street and North Story Place to the
136 “Local Items,” Los Angeles Evening Express, May 7, 1875. 137 Studer, 52.
138 Reid, 337.
Composite map showing the property of the Lake Vineyard Land and Water Association, 1876. Land holdings are arranged from north to south as the map is read left to right; Alhambra is noted to the far right. Huntington Library.
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west. However, due to other business interests that required his attention, Wilson did not set about developing the land until 1874. 139 At that time, the two men commissioned a survey that divided the land into five- and ten-acre parcels and dubbed the area the Alhambra Tract.
James De Barth Shorb’s family had lately been reading Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra, and Shorb’s daughter suggested the name for her father’s new real estate development. Streets were consequently assigned names with Moorish origins.
The Alhambra Tract lots were opened for sale in April 1875, and for many years, represented the only area in Los Angeles County known to have an iron water pipe system.140 Alhambra’s irrigation system was no doubt a deciding factor in elevating the tract over its competitors. One of the earliest families to settle in Alhambra, the Halsteads, was noted to have “studied Pasadena as a place to buy acreage…But the fine water system offered by the Alhambra Tract was a strong inducement and the fact that the Southern Pacific Railroad ran through San Gabriel with mail every day was the final incentive.”141 Indeed, the addition of the water rights alone meant that “land in the tract sold easily for around $100 an acre while acreage on Mission Street in Los Angeles was selling for only $60.”
142 By 1877, all of the five- and ten-acre lots had been sold.143 The first recorded purchase of land in the Alhambra Tract was made by A.G. Mappa;144 the second recorded purchase of land in the tract was made by O.P. Ergenbright in late April 1875.145 The Alhambra Addition Tract was subsequently developed in short order by Wilson and Shorb on land situated immediately to the west of the Alhambra Tract. The Alhambra Addition was much larger than the original Alhambra Tract; its extent was bounded roughly by Alhambra Road and East McLean Street to the north, North Story Place to the east, Mission Road to the south, and South Marengo Avenue and North Raymond Avenue to the west. Recorded in December 1875, the land was opened up for purchase once the “Alhambra Tract was entirely settled.”
146
139 Hiram A. Reid, History of Pasadena […] (Pasadena, CA: Pasadena History Company, 1895), correction slip. 140 Studer, 52.
141 Studer, 66.
142 Lee, 8.
143 Studer, 53.
144 “Real Estate Matters,” Los Angeles Evening Express, May 10, 1875. 145 “Real Estate Transactions,” Los Angeles Herald, May 19, 1875. Transactions, though not reported until mid- May, are noted to have been recorded in the 48 hours ending April 30, 1875. 146 Studer, 53.
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Alhambra Tract, MR003-266, recorded 1876. Los Angeles County Department of Public Works .
66 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Alhambra Addition Tract, MR003-298/299, recorded 1876. From The History of Alhambra to 1915. 67 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Early Agricultural Activity in Alhambra
Lots in the Alhambra Tract were divided into five-
and ten-acre parcels so that landowners might have
enough acreage to cultivate a small orchard on their
property if they so desired. Benjamin Wilson had
guaranteed to each buyer of a lot in Alhambra that all
the water they needed would be delivered to their
property for ten cents per 100 feet.147 Aided by
Shorb’s irrigation, agriculture – particularly citrus
farming – became the primary economic driver in the
early years of Alhambra.
Fruit was the livelihood of most early settlers of Alhambra, with the orange being by far the favorite commodity, with an occasional grove being devoted to lemons. The first orchards were seedlings, but the newer ones gradually were transformed into Washington Navels and Valencias. For the most part, the early rancher attended to every part of his task from the raising of the fruit to the marketing and shipping of it. He found his own buyers, signed his own contracts, picked and packed his own fruit, and delivered it to the railroad. He even put together the boxes he shipped it in, and each grower tried to pick his time when the market was at its peak. This often resulted in an oversupply on the market, a disaster in those days before refrigeration. 148
To rectify some of the challenges faced by independent growers, the Alhambra Orange Growers Association was formed in 1896. The interests of many prominent pioneer businessmen were reflected in the group’s leadership, which included Francis Q. Story, Jackson A. Graves, George B. Adams, and R.F. Bishop.
The growers found it to their advantage to pool their crops, and Alhambra built her own packing house along the Monrovia rail line on North Granada Avenue. The packing house supervised the picking of the crops and the hauling to the packing house, the shipping and marketing. Returns were
147 Studer, 55. The irrigation system was financed by each consumer paying a dollar a month for domestic use and another dollar a day for irrigation. These water rights were later surrendered when the San Gabriel Water Company was organized.
148 Studer, 56.
Orange crate label, Alhambra Orange
Growers Association, circa 1890.
Huntington Library.
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divided on a pro rata basis…In the busiest seasons, thousands of carloads were shipped.149
Working cooperatively helped Alhambra citrus growers compete on the open market; by 1900, Alhambra was shipping around 500 carloads of citrus, while Pasadena growers were shipping only fifty or sixty carloads.150 While the citrus ranchers waited for their young trees to mature, they often made a living planting other crops between the rows of citrus, including corn, beans, potatoes, cabbages, peanuts, strawberries, and blackberries.
Alhambra and the Land Boom
By 1880, Alhambra had taken on the appearance of a pastoral agricultural settlement. As pioneer settler Rufus Fiske Bishop later recalled, by 1881 “south of the Southern Pacific tracks was neither house nor tree and no cross roads connecting Mission Road with San Bernardino Road.”
151 Yet the modest community was flourishing.
In four short years after Wilso n and Shorb founded the Alhambra Tract, the 250 dry, brown acres had become and expanse of orchards and flowers. The fertile soil sprang into life with the first drops of water. Every street was lined with pepper trees and the orchards were outlined by hedges of cypress and
149 Studer, 57.
150 Lee, 23-24.
151 Studer, 68.
House and orchards in Alhambra, circa 1884. UCLA Library Special Collections. 69 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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pomegranate. Fruit clung to the branches of the young peach, pear and apple trees. Roses bloomed everywhere…varieties seldom heard of today.152 That was all to change within a few short years with the arrival of the Southern California land boom of the 1880s, which was prompted by the promotional efforts of competing railroads. In 1885, the Santa Fe Railroad completed a second transcontinental rail line that terminated in Los Angeles, breaking the Southern Pacific Railroad’s monopoly on the region.
A fare war between the now-warring transcontinental railroad companies saw the price of railroad tickets drop to new lows, bringing thousands of tourists – and new residents – to Southern California. The demand for land during this period prompted the first subdivisions recorded in Alhambra; the first such
tract was recorded in 1883, when G.
B. Adams first divided six lots in the
Alhambra Addition tract into twelve
smaller parcels (MR005-121).
153
Another notable subdivision was
Pomeroy & Stimson’s Subdivision of
the Town of Alhambra (MR013-051)
in 1886, which appears to have been
the one of the earliest recorded tracts
to include commercial lots –
including, most significantly, a site set
aside for a hotel on Main Street – as
well as over one hundred residential
lots of approximately 50x150 feet
each. This move signaled the
beginning of Alhambra’s evolution
away from its agricultural roots
towards a plan of greater density – an
economic boon to the town when
“fifty-foot lots sold for $200 or $300,
several times more than acreage
formerly would bring.”
154
152 Studer, 55.
153 For a complete list of tracts recorded by development period, refer to Appendix D. 154 Studer, 78.
Plan of Pomeroy & Stimson’s Subdivision of the Town of
Alhambra, MR 013-051, recorded 1887.
Los Angeles Country Department of Public Works.
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After the Boom
Thanks to the Southern California land boom, real estate development activity in Alhambra burned brightly for a brief period in the mid-1880s, only to flame out entirely within just a few short years:
Alhambra after the boom had a hundred new residents and a thousand vacant lots because most of the property that changed hands during the boom period went to speculators and few lots actually were occupied. Non -residents neglected their properties and what had been luxuriant orange groves became filled with dead trees and tangled undergrowth.155
While Alhambra had built up a thriving business center during the boom – which now included three grocery and feed stores, a harness maker, a cobbler, two blacksmith shops, three churches, two commercial blocks, a dry goods store, and a drugstore that even had a telephone
156 – the commercial district, too displayed the ill effects of the boom.
The ornate Alhambra Hotel was only partially filled with guests who commuted to Los Angeles; tourist trade had dwindled away. The hotel dining room was closed.
The street car still ran from Boabdil and Garfield to meet the Southern Pacific trains and carry the mail but there were few passengers riding the cars…With little money for repairs, the cars degenerated, their wheels wore down flat and bumped along uncomfortably.
157
Finally, after what Robert P. Studer describes as “nearly a decade of shock,”158 the community rallied. In 1901, leaders of the Wednesday Afternoon Club organized the Alhambra Improvement Association, which aimed to raise funds for public improvements.159 The Association took up the task of removing the dead citrus groves, clearing neglected lots, and planting new street trees.160
155 Studer, 84.
156 Studer, 83.
157 Studer, 83-84.
158 Studer, 84.
159 “Alhambra Improvement Association,” Los Angeles Times, November 3, 1901; Lee. 84. 160 Studer, 84.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN ALHAMBRA, 1875-1902 Extant resources dating to the late-19th century in Alhambra are largely located east of Atlantic Boulevard; extant resources dating from the first decade of the 20th century are largely located north of Mission Road and east of Fremont Avenue. Single-family properties in the City of Alhambra constructed before 1902 are extremely rare. Residences from this period represent modest one- and two-story vernacular farmhouses as well as examples of prominent architectural styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Queen Anne, Shingle Style, and American Foursquare. Commercial activity from the period was located along Main Street near present-day Garfield Avenue.
Infrastructural Improvements
Communications
As Alhambrans settled in the area, new methods of communication were established during this period to help residents maintain existing connections both near and far. Once the Southern Pacific Railroad had completed its course through the San Gabriel Valley, the company established Western Union telegraph offices in railroad depots constructed along the line.
161 When the Alhambra depot was constructed at the southeast corner of Mission Road and Garfield Avenue in 1887, a telegraph office also opened there, and remained until Western Union relocated to a new office at 207 West Main Street (not extant) in 1913. 162
In a surprising twist, telephones technically arrived in Alhambra even before the telegraph, although Alexander Graham Bell had patented the telephone only recently in 1876. In 1883, the San Gabriel Wine Company obtained a “special franchise” from the Los Angeles telephone exchange to install a private line at the winery, and the wires were extended to present-day Main Street and Palm Avenue in May of that year. 163 However, it was not until
1887 that telephone service was made available to the public, when Dr. F. B. Elwood, the proprietor of Alhambra’s drugstore, subscribed for telephone service and also became an agent for the Sunset Telephone & Telegraph Company. Alhambra was issued its own telephone exchange in 1893, although by 1897 Dr. Elwood was servicing only three telephones in the city.
164
Power
Electricity arrived in Alhambra in 1889, when the San Gabriel Light and Power Company strung wires along the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks from the San Gabriel Canyon west to Los Angeles; consequently, the Southern Pacific Railroad buildings were the first to be
161 Risher, 34.
162 Risher, 34.
163 Studer, 126.
164 Risher, 35.
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illuminated.165 When the electrical rail line was subsequently introduced, the county franchise stipulated that the railway company should maintain lights at each road and street crossing, which allowed Main Street to be lit for the first time.166 Water and Irrigation
Although access to water was an essential component for life in every early settlement, as Alhambra’s economy was almost entirely dependent on agriculture during this period, irrigation water was considered the “most important necessity.”167 Before the development of the Alhambra Tract, water delivery systems in the San Gabriel Valley had consisted of either open ditches called zanjas or wooden troughs. Wilson and Shorb developed a plan to irrigate the land, thereby making it more attractive to settlers, by supplying water to the property through an iron pipe originating at Wilson’s Lake Vineyard ranch. Using this method, Wilson and Shorb could deliver water all the way to each colony settler’s own front door.
Wilson and Shorb set about constructing the pipeline that would deliver water to the lots.
The Lake Vineyard Land and Water Association had acquired a water supply from Kewen Canyon with its purchase of the land comprising the Alhambra Tract. 168 Now, the Los
Angeles-based firm of Miles & Holbrook constructed the riveted sheet-iron piping which was laid down Garfield Avenue. Upon its completion, the pipeline was said to be the first aqueduct in Southern California which conveyed water under pressure for domestic and irrigation purposes in a tract of land opened for settlement. 169
The Alhambra Addition also offered irrigation, piped from a reservoir at Garfield Avenue and Alhambra Road and delivered through an iron water main laid down Garfield Avenue.
Another reservoir was later built at Wilson Avenue (present-day Atlantic Boulevard) and Alhambra Road, and a similar pipe was laid down Wilson Avenue. 170
“For the period, the water system of the Alhambra Tract was far ahead of those where the water ran in an open ditch or was contained in a distant barrel,” writes Margaret Lee. 171 As
the number of settlers increased, however, it became necessary to develop a domestic water system. In July 1883, the Lake Vineyard Land and Water Association conveyed part of its land and water rights in Kewen Canyon to a syndicate, which transferred them to the Alhambra Addition Water Company on its formation that same year.172 Jackson A. Graves
165 Lee, 103.
166 Lee, 103.
167 Studer, 53.
168 Northrup, 74.
169 Lee, 8.
170 Studer, 53.
171 Lee, 97.
172 Northrup, 74.
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had two wells constructed on his property in 1898, but so much water was obtained that work was stopped because there were no storage facilities.173 Graves later established his own water company with fellow settler Jacob Bean; the J. A. Graves Water Company supplied water to the area north of Alhambra Road between Monterey Street to the east and Curtis Avenue to the west, drawing water from a source west of Kewen Canyon in the vicinity of Glenarm Street and Oakland Avenue in Pasadena. 174 The Marengo Water
Company was also established during this period and supplied water to the area north of Alhambra Road between Curtis Avenue to the east and the city limits to the west. 175
During the later years of the 19th century, the rate of rainfall decreased, and the water supply in Alhambra began to drop. In 1898, a steam engine replaced the original gasoline pump, increasing the pumping power at the plant. It was not enough, however, and in 1900 – by which time rainfall had dropped from over sixteen inches to under six inches per year – a new pipeline was laid to secure additional water.176 That same year, water meters were introduced where domestic water was used.177
Waste Management
According to Margaret Lee, a sewer system for Alhambra was first engineered by G. B.
Adams in the early 1890s; the system drained an area three hundred feet on each side of Garfield Avenue and ran down to a point about one and a half miles from the town, where the drainage was absorbed into the soil.
178
Waste management quickly became a larger conversation, however, due to the proximity of what was then known as the Pasadena Sewer Farm. In 1887, the City of Pasadena had purchased 320 acres of land southwest of the City (now the site of the City of Alhambra’s Almansor Park) to establish a “sewer farm” and utilize “broad irrigation” to treat sewage.179 In 1892, after five years of construction, the City of Pasadena’s sewage collection system was connected to the sewer farm and an additional 200 acres of land were added to the farm expand the farm operation. Initially 60 acres of the sewer farm were planted in English Walnuts (later expanded to 114 acres of walnuts) and 50 acres were planted in orange trees.
173 Lee, 97. This work, as well as most of the pipe-laying for the Alhambra Additional Water Company, was done by James Gastineau.
174 Studer, 160.
175 Studer, 160.
176 Lee, 98.
177 Lee, 98.
178 Lee, 100.
179 The following discussion has been largely excerpted and adapted from Nicholas Pinhey, “Forgotten Facilities: The City of Pasadena Tri-City Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1,” CWEA, https://www.cwea.org/news/forgotten-facilities-the-city-of-pasadena-tri-city-sewage-treatment-plant-part-1/ (accessed March 2021), and supplemented with specific details from Lee, 100 -101; Northrup, 108-109; and Studer, 101-102.
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The balance of the Pasadena sewer farm acreage was used to grow alfalfa, barley, wheat, hay, and pumpkins, with alfalfa being the main crop.
During the first years of its operation, the City of Pasadena sewer farm was relatively isolated and had few operational problems – overall, the sewer farm was characterized as successful in the journal articles and sewage treatment textbooks of the early 1900s. However, the development of neighboring orange groves and residences, particularly in Alhambra to the west and northwest and San Gabriel to the east, soon began to encroach on the Pasadena sewer farm. By the turn of the century, encroaching development became problematic for the sewer farm, as it was difficult to avoid creating odors while farming alfalfa in the area, which brought complaints from neighboring communities.
180 These difficulties would not be
resolved, however, until after the City of Alhambra was incorporated.
Late 19th Century Civic and Institutional Development
As the fledgling town of Alhambra grew, several institutions and social services were established to meet the needs of the growing community.
After several years of association with the San Gabriel School District, Alhambra residents petitioned for a division of the school district and opened their own school near the intersection of Chapel Avenue and Main Street. A few years later, a $10,000 bond measure for a new school building was and a site at the corner of Garfield Avenue and Alhambra Road was purchased. A four-room, two-story frame schoolhouse known as Garfield School was constructed and was opened to twenty-seven elementary and high school pupils in September 1887.
181
180 Pinhey, “Forgotten Facilities: The City of Pasadena Tri-City Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1.” 181 Alhambra Preservation Group, “Back to School, Back in Time,” The Prose of Preservation, July 22, 2017, https://proseofpreservation.org/2017/07/22/back-to-school-and-back-in-history/ (accessed January 2021).
Garfield School, circa 1887. City of Alhambra Scrapbook. 75 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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A second school, Ramona
Convent, was opened
during this period and
remains the longest
continuously operating
educational facility in
Alhambra.182
Construction of the school
was funded by James De
Barth Shorb, whose
daughter Edith became
homesick while away at her
Northern California
boarding school and
wanted to remain closer to
home. The school, which was built on land donated by Shorb, opened on January 30, 1890.
A public high school, the Alhambra High School, was also established in 1898.
Several churches were also established
during this period to meet the spiritual
needs of the community, including the
First Methodist Church (1878), the
First Presbyterian Church (1887), and
the First Baptist Church (1887).
Alhambra’s first social and fraternal
organizations were also founded,
including the Alhambra Woman’s
Club – also known as the Wednesday
Afternoon Club, in 1893, and Masonic
Lodge No. 322 in 1894.
There are no known extant built resources related to civic and/or institutional development from this period in the City of Alhambra.
182 Although the Ramona Convent School remains in operation, its physical facilities have been rebuilt and the site does not retain any extant examples of development from this early period.
Ramona Convent, undated photo. Los Angeles Public Library.
St. James Chapel of the First Methodist Church, the first church to be constructed in Alhambra, circa 1878. City of Alhambra Scrapbook.
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Late 19th Century Commercial Development
Before 1885, there was no community center in Alhambra; it was simply a collection of homesteads. At the time it was necessary for residents to make arduous wagon journeys to either Los Angeles or Pasadena to obtain supplies of any kind. However, pioneer settler H.
W. Stanton – who served as the first schoolmaster, postmaster, storekeeper, and telephone agent – volunteered to build a store that would include a post office and also transport the mail so long as he was appointed postmaster. Stanton’s petition to the postal service was successful and he opened Alhambra’s first commercial storefront and post office at the southwest corner of present-day Main and Garfield. Alhambra’s first restaurant, Tilley’s Restaurant, and its first blacksmith, Charles Winter, both opened that same year. The most notable commercial operation of this period, however, was undoubtedly the Alhambra Hotel, which opened in early 1887, just in time for the land boom. By 1897, Alhambra’s Main Street included two liveries; two commercial blocks, one with storage, a barber, and a grocer; the Alhambra Hotel; a dry goods store; two additional grocers; a bank; a harness maker; a post office; and a restaurant and boarding house.
Alhambra Hotel, circa 1898. USC Digital Library.
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By the turn of the century, Alhambra was swiftly becoming a center for commerce in the San Gabriel Valley. Commercial activity was greatly aided by the development of further rail transportation through the region; the Santa Fe Railroad was running on Pacific Electric’s tracks by 1885. At that time, there was a flag station at the intersection of present-day Date Street and Mission Road.183 In 1887 the Southern Pacific Railroad also constructed a full- service depot at the southeast corner of Garfield Avenue and Marengo Road, which was serviced by a horse-drawn trolley line that commenced at the depot and ran north to the Raymond Depot of the Santa Fe Railroad in Pasadena, stopping at the Alhambra Hotel and other Main Street businesses along the way. The trolley line was later abandoned in 1893.
The most significant addition, however, was the opening of the San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit Railroad, an interurban route that connected Los Angeles to Monrovia via Alhambra.
The San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit Railroad Company was incorporated in 1887 – with James De Barth Shorb among its directors – with the aim of constructing a rail line to promote real estate development in Monrovia.
184 The line was completed in 1888 and
operated as an independent rail line until 1893, when the rail company was bankrupted by the land boom and line was subsequently acquired by Southern Pacific.185 After the Southern Pacific purchased the San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit line, a branch was built from the Raymond Hotel, up Broadway, to a depot on the southeast corner of Broadway and Colorado Street. Later the “Monrovia Branch” was connected with the main line of the Southern Pacific about half a mile east of Shorb, and the old San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit line through Boyle Heights was abandoned.
186
There are no known extant built resources related to commercial development from this period in the City of Alhambra.
Late 19th Century Industrial Development
Development of the San Gabriel Winery
Early industrial efforts centered around the formation of the San Gabriel Winery, which was considered to be the first industrial operation in the San Gabriel Valley. The San Gabriel Winery grew out of the early Lake Vineyard operations of B. D. Wilson and was incorporated by his son-in-law James De Barth Shorb in 1882. 187 For a time the San Gabriel
Winery was thought to be the largest winery in the world; occupying the area bounded by Alhambra Road to the north, Raymond Avenue to the east, Mission Road to the south, and Fremont Avenue to the west. However, blight descended upon the vineyards in the 1890s, a
183 Bruce D. Risher, Alhambra, edited by Sharon Gibbs & Duley Jenkins (Alhambra, CA: The City of Alhambra, 2004), 24.
184 “The San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit Railroad,” Electric Railway Historical Association, http://www.erha.org/sangabrielvalleyrapidtransit.html (accessed March 2021). 185 “The San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit Railroad.”
186 “The San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit Railroad.”
187 “San Gabriel Wine Company,” Los Angeles Herald, February 2, 1882. 78 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
disaster that nearly ruined Shorb financially, and he dedicated the last years of his life to seeking both a cause and a cure for the disease that had wiped out his harvest.
Shorb’s employment of Chinese labor at the winery sparked a move toward employing more Chinese workers, with Robert P. Studer recounting how “in early Alhambra, the principal labor available was Chinese. Mexicans were accustomed to horses and drove the teams, but the hard, hand manual labor was done by Chinese.”188 At the winery, “old-timers recall watching the Chinese men wade barefoot in the juice, stirring the liquid with a large ladle.”189 However, the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was passed in 1882, prohibited the further immigration of all Chinese laborers, a move which significantly impacted the labor force. “After enactment of state legislation excluding the Chinese, the effect immediately was felt in Alhambra,” writes Studer, “and Chinese labor became more and more scarce.” 190
There are no known extant built resources related to industrial development from this period in the City of Alhambra.
188 Studer, 73.
189 Studer, 58.
190 Studer, 73.
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Theme: Late 19th Century Residential Development, 1875-1902 Although Alhambra would later become known for the character of its residential architecture, the earliest homes in the area – like that of George B. Adams – were more reflective of the community’s modest beginnings as an agricultural settlement, rather than the quality of design that would distinguish its later development. Alhambra’s earliest residences were modest one- and two-story vernacular farmhouses; Rufus Fiske Bishop later recounted that he could recall “no more than three plastered houses” in the town by 1881. 191
Farnsworth described the Adams residence – which was likely Alhambra’s earliest residence and may have been constructed by the previous owner of Adams’ property, O.P.
Ergenbright – as “a rude little redwood cottage” and described the scene that greeted the family when they arrived in Alhambra:
No vision of vine -shaded porch and splashing fountain greeted the weary travelers as they climbed the steep bank of the arroyo, which runs between the Alhambra and the Mission, one warm September afternoon. A dusty brown plain lay before them, oppressive in the continuous glare, save where an occasional live -oak cast a friendly shade. A forlorn little house appeared, evidently the destination of these wanderers, for no other building was visible, exclusive of the distant roofs of the old residents. It was painted a melancholy blue, except at the rear, which was decorated with washed -out pink; the Mexican ponies, turned loose to forage for themselves, had gnawed the steps and window -frames; the windows had proved seductive targets for passing children, attested by the battered panes and floors strewn with stones; one of
191 Studer, 68.
Residence of George B. Adams, believed to be the first house constructed in Alhambra, circa 1878. USC Digital Library.
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the doors had been carried off by someone who thought he could put it to a better use; the entire house and its immediate surroundings seemed to “despair droopingly”…A tiny Monterey cypress and a slender whip of a willow had been planted the previous summer, and a part of the land, ploughed by the former owner, was covered with a luxuriant crop of weeds. The one redeeming feature was a noble live-oak…
192
Following the advent of the land boom and increased economic growth in the citrus industry in the 1880s, new homes constructed at the close of the 19 th century began to exhibit greater
architectural detail. Many extant examples that remain today represent examples of variations of the Victorian and Period Revival styles.
Los Angeles County Assessor data indicates that the following properties in Alhambra were likely constructed during this period:
193
• 11 Halsted Circle (1878) – Samuel M. Halstead Residence • 502 North Story Place (1883) - Francis Quarles Story Residence (subsequently altered)
• 420 North Story Place (1884)
• 132 South Hidalgo Avenue (1885)
• 117 North Stoneman Avenue (1886)
• 300 North Granada Avenue (1888) – James De Barth Shorb Residence • 212 South 6th Street (1890)
• 125 North Marguerita Avenue (1890)
• 611 South Marguerita Avenue (1895)
• 1604 South Marguerita Avenue (1896)
• 204 East Beacon Street (1897)
• 123 South Marguerita Avenue (1900)
• 810 North Stoneman Avenue (1900)
• 228 South Marengo Avenue (1901)
• 208 East Beacon Street (1902)
192 Farnsworth, 36. Later accounts credit these recollections to Adams’s daughter, Alice, but Farnsworth does not specify the origin of the
193 For more detailed information on some of Alhambra’s earliest Victorian homes, please refer to A lhambra Preservation Group, “Focus On: Alhambra’s Victorian Homes,” The Prose of Preservation, February 15, 2019, https://proseofpreservation.org/2019/02/15/focus-on-alhambras-victorian-homes/ (accessed January 2021). 81 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP
• 229 North Hidalgo Avenue (1902)
• 321 South Hidalgo Avenue (1902)
• 208 South Marengo Avenue (1902)
• 415 North Vega Street (1902)
Although single-family residences prevailed as the most common dwelling type in Alhambra, multi-family residences gained favor following the turn of the 20th century. Although there are several properties in Alhambra today that date from this early period and are now classified by the Assessor as multi-family residences, visual examination indicates that most were likely single-family residences that were subject to later conversion through the addition of accessory dwelling units.
Some properties that were originally improved in the late 19th century but were subsequently redeveloped may contain remnant landscape or hardscape features. One such example is the site of the former Jackson Graves residence (1888; no longer extant) at 320 East Huntington Drive; the original residence erected by Graves was subsequently demolished, but the property’s original perimeter fence fronting Huntington Drive remains extant.
Jackson A. Graves Residence, Alhambra, undated photo. Los Angeles Public Library. 82 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Eligibility Standards
Property Type • Single-Family Residence
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1875-1902
Geographic Location Extant resources dating to the 19th century are largely located east of Atlantic Boulevard; extant resources dating from the first decade of the 20th century are largely located north of Mission Road and east of Fremont Avenue.
Significance Individual residential properties that are eligible under this criterion may be significant for one of the reasons listed below. Note that in order to be individually eligible for designation for representing a pattern of development, the property must be the first of its type, a rare remnant example of a very early period of development, or a catalyst for development in the city or neighborhood. Merely dating from a specific period is typically not enough to qualify for designation.
Individual properties that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For exemplifying an important trend or pattern of
development (in general, properties significant for this reason will primarily be eligible as contributors to historic districts); or • As a rare or remnant example of Early Residential
Development. This includes rare, remaining examples of some of the city’s earliest residential neighborhoods, including the Alhambra Tract and the Alhambra Addition.
Single-family residences that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents an important pattern or trend in residential development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra residential development; or
83 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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• Represents a very early period of settlement/residential development in a neighborhood or community; and
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern194 • May be located within the Alhambra Tract or the Alhambra Addition Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Some historic materials or details may be altered or removed if the property retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation. o For very early examples, which are increasingly rare, there may be a greater degree of alterations or few extant features
194 U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, by the staff of the National Register of Historic Places, finalized by Patrick W.
Andrus, edited by Rebecca H. Shrimpton (Washington, DC: 1990; revised for Internet, 2002), https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB-15_web508.pdf (accessed April 2018). 84 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Property Type • Historic District
• Tract Feature/Amenity (including street trees or other significant landscape features, streetlights)
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1875-1902
Geographic Location Extant resources dating to the 19th century are largely located east of Atlantic Boulevard; extant resources dating from the first decade of the 20th century are largely located north of Mission Road and east of Fremont Avenue.
Significance A collection of residences that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Residential districts composed exclusively of resources from this period are rare; eligible districts may span several periods of development and may also be significant for architectural merit under Criterion C/3.
195 District boundaries may represent
original tract boundaries, or they may comprise several adjacent tracts, or a portion of a tract or neighborhood. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan, physical development, and architectural quality; and distinct from the surrounding area. Tract features, including streetlights, landscaping, parkland, and other amenities may contribute to the significance of the district.
Historic districts that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• For exemplifying an important trend or pattern of
development; or
• As a representative concentration of residential development from Alhambra’s early history; may include cohesive enclaves from the original Alhambra Tract and the Alhambra Addition.
Single-family residential districts that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
195 Eligibility criteria are listed in the standard format National Register/California Register. 85 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Registration Requirements:
• Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
• Reflects planning and design principles from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of a residential subdivision, including the original layout, street plan, and other planning features; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 196
• May be located within the Alhambra Tract or the Alhambra Addition Integrity Considerations:
• The majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole.
o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to the significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as replacement roof materials, replacement garage doors, and replacement of windows within original openings may be acceptable. However, major alterations to individual residences, such as substantial additions that are visible from the public right-of-way or alter the original roofline, and loss of significant fabric (e.g., replacement of windows, doors, and wall cladding in a single residence) would not be acceptable and the building would be considered a non- contributor to the district.
o Original tract features may also be contributing features to a historic district under this theme.
196 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 86 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Criteria National Register: B California Register: 2 Period of Significance 1875-1902
Significance Individual properties may be significant for an association with a significant person. Properties eligible under this criterion are typically those associated with a person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he or she achieved significance. According to National Park Service guidance, a property is not eligible if its only justification is that it was owned or used by a person who is a member of an identifiable profession, class, or social or ethnic group. It must be shown that the person gained importance within a profession or group.
For properties associated with groups, it is necessary to identify specific individuals and to explain their specific accomplishments. The individual(s) associated with the property must have made some specific important contribution to history.
Properties eligible under this criterion may be associated with:
• Pioneers or people who played a significant role in the early development of the area; or
• People who made significant contributions to a demonstrably important profession; or
• Members of a particular social, cultural, or ethnic group who made a demonstrably significant contribution to local, state, or national history.
Registration Requirements:
• Has a proven association with the productive period of a person or group important to local, state, or national history; and
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style from the period of significance (i.e., the period when it was associated with the important person); and
• Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association. o General rule: property must be recognizable to contemporaries of the person with which it is associated.
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Composite detail of Plates 25 and 30 showing the area comprising present-day Alhambra, Rueger’s Atlas showing country property of Los Angeles County, California , 1903. Ancestry.com. 88 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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VII. CITY INCORPORATION AND CIVIC IMPROVEMENT (1903-
1919)
POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Although the population of Alhambra had been counted as part of the United States Census as early as 1890, the 1910 Census was the first to record the City of Alhambra as an independent incorporated place. By that time, the seven-year-old city had over five thousand residents.
Table 3: Population in Alhambra by Decade, 1903-1919
197
Year White
Native and
Foreign-Born
Native
American
Black Chinese Filipino Japanese Other
Races
Overall
Pop.
1910 4,970 ––– 18 (20) (13) 33 5,021
The 1910 Census also represented the first time that detailed population breakdowns by race and ethnicity were provided for the City of Alhambra. Examining these statistics and their chronological changes – which are discussed in the following corresponding sections – within the context of broader immigration trends and policies provides insight into the changing population of Alhambra over time.
EARLY 20TH CENTURY GROWTH IN ALHAMBRA, 1903-1919
By the dawn of the 20th century, the community of Alhambra had begun to emerge from the post-land boom economic slump of the 1890s. On July 11, 1903, Alhambra was incorporated as a city of the sixth class. Much of the Board of Trustees’ early business was taken up by managing the grading and improvement of Main, Second, Stoneman, and Garfield Streets.
198 The first major bond election was held in 1907, when $68,500 was approved for the construction of a new permanent city hall, a public library, a new bridge on Main Street, fire protection, and a better drainage system. 199 A second bond election, held in
1912, provided for further fire protection and library funding along with bridges, storm drains, and other improvements.
200
Development of Dolgeville
As the fledgling City of Alhambra began to flourish, a new community was developing immediately to the west that would come to play an important role in the development of Alhambra. In 1903, Henry Huntington acquired the Shorb San Marino Ranch along with a number of smaller parcels of land, thereby securing the bulk of the western San Gabriel
197 Numbers in parentheses represent breakdowns of some races included in the “Other Races” category. A complete breakdown of population over time is included in Appendix B. 198 Lee, 29.
199 Lee, 31.
200 Lee, 32.
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Valley for residential development.201 Part of this acquisition included the site of the San Gabriel Winery, which had closed at the turn of the century. That same year Huntington was contacted by Alfred Doge, a New York felt manufacturer who envisioned developing a felt mill on the Shorb property. Huntington agreed to form a partnership with Dolge to develop a manufacturing town centered around a felt concern on the site of the former winery. The town – named after both Dolge and his eponymous operations – would be known as Dolgeville.
The Alfred Dolge Manufacturing Company (ADMC) was incorporated in 1903, as was the Dolgeville Land Company, which would oversee the development of the townsite. In 1904, Huntington directed the San Gabriel Wine Company to transfer its winery buildings and twenty acres of surrounding land to the ADMC.
202 He then took further steps to ensure the
town’s success.
To diversify the community's economic base, Huntington attracted additional businesses to the factory town. The Talle rday Manufacturing Company opened in April 1904. Tallerday built steel tanks and pipes for a variety of uses with customers throughout the Pacific Coast and employed a few dozen men.
In 1907 the Electric Heating and Manufacturing Company, a maker of home appliances, relocated from central Los Angeles. The factory employed over
201 Robert Phelps, “’The Manufacturing Suburb of Los Angeles’: Henry Huntington, Alfred Dolge, and the Building of Dolgeville, California, 1903-1910,” Southern California Quarterly 80, no. 2 (Summer 1998): 145-172, 147.
202 Phelps, 152.
Alfred Dolge Felt Company Publication, showing the factory at the former San Gabriel Winery Property, fronted by the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Pacific Electric Railroad, 1909. Huntington Library.
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fifty men and women, and a number of workers followed their place of employment and relocated to Dolgeville.203
Huntington also took charge of laying out the townsite, as its development played a fundamental role in the potential success of the enterprise.
Huntington's engineers settled on the gridiron for the layout of the town. Most subdividers utilized the grid because it simplified surveying and boundary settlements while maximizing the number of standardized lots available for sale. The felt factory was placed at the center of the development, with the residential lands surrounding the industrial sites. No consideration was given to the fact that placement of the manufacturing district at the center of the development would allow prevailing winds to push factory odors into homes on the east side of town. Tracks of the Pacific Electric's Pasadena Short line passed the front of ADMC to bring in commuters from other parts of Los Angeles County, and a spur of the Southern Pacific ran through the town to service the factory sites.204
Huntington relied on transportation links, reduced land prices, subsidies to contractors, and employee recruitment programs to encourage mill workers to relocate to the town.205 Workers from Dolgeville’s New York operation were also recruited to relocate to Alhambra and help populate both the townsite and the factory. Over the next several years, Dolgeville developed its own complement of services and commercial operations, including a bank, fire station, drug store, bakery, barber, and billiard hall.
Within a few short years, however, both the Alfred Dolge Manufacturing Company and the Dolgeville Land Company were experiencing financial difficulties. While the felt concern would survive, Dolgeville did not. In spite of the impressive lot sales, the "Manufacturing Suburb of Los Angeles" failed to generate a viable community of working-class homeowners, because while up to 400 workers were employed in Dolgeville, few workers actually purchased land in town.206 Lot sales began to decline after 1904, and the recession of 1908 dealt a fatal blow to the town. Between July 1904 and May 1909, only 150 lots were sold, less than half the number of lots sold in the beginning of 1904 alone.; by 1910 only 191 households, slightly less than 1,000 people, had relocated to Dolgeville.207 The “Manufacturing Suburb of Los Angeles” was widely regarded as a failure.208
203 Phelps, 153.
204 Phelps, 158.
205 Phelps, 159.
206 Phelps, 164.
207 Phelps, 164.
208 Phelps, 164.
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In 1908, the neighboring City of Alhambra approved a bond measure funding a number of municipal improvements – improvements that Dolgeville could not afford to make on its own. C. W. Burdick, who owned a number of lots in Dolgeville, worked with a group of small property owners to apply for a special election to annex Dolgeville to Alhambra. 209 The
measure was approved and the land comprising Dolgeville was annexed to the City of Alhambra that same year.
209 Phelps, 170.
The Dolgeville Land Company’s plan for Dolgeville.
Huntington Library.
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Alfred Dolge continued to oversee the felt mill – which subsequently operated as the Standard Felt Company – until 1910, when Henry Huntington forced his retirement.210 The manufacturing plant continued to operate and later expanded to 24-hour-a-day operation during World War I, manufacturing interlining and olive drab felts. 211
Annexations
Following the City of Alhambra’s initial incorporation in 1903, two subsequent annexations brought additional land within the City boundaries. The first included the townsite of Dolgeville, which had been founded on the site of the former San Gabriel Winery, as well as the adjacent townsites of Ramona and Shorb. The second comprised Granada Park, an area to the southwest of Raymond Avenue and Hellman Avenue. These annexations represented the last substantial additions to the City’s extent until the 1940s.
Table 4: Annexations, 1903-1919212
Effective Date Annexation Name
1/22/1908 Election of 01-22-08
10/23/1917 Granada Park
210 Phelps, 171.
211 Risher, 31.
212 For a complete list of annexations and links to accompanying annexation records, refer to Appendix C.
Standard Felt Company building in Dolgeville, undated photo. From Alhambra (Images of America). 93 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN ALHAMBRA, 1903-1919 Extant resources dating to this period are largely located east of Fremont Avenue. Single- family properties in the City of Alhambra constructed between 1903 and 1919 are diminishing in number. Residences from this period represent modest one- and two-story vernacular residences as well as examples of prominent architectural styles of the late 19 th
and early 20th centuries, including Queen Anne, Craftsman, and American Foursquare.
Commercial activity from the period continued to be located along Main Street near present- day Garfield Avenue.
Infrastructural Improvements
Communications
In 1905, the Sunset Telephone Company, “building for the growth it expected,” announced plans to install improve its facilities, as well as install telephone cables for the first time and to introduce a common battery system, which would eliminate the practice of calling the operator by twirling a crank on the side of the phone.
213 In 1907, the company’s properties
were leased to the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company in 1907, which also opened a
213 William M. Northrup, ed., Alhambra (San Gabriel – Monterey Park) Community Book (Alhambra, CA: Arthur H.
Cawston, 1944), 71. At the same time, a second telephone company, the Alhambra Telephone Company, was established in 1905 by P. T. Spencer; the company was subsequently absorbed by the San Gabriel Home Telephone Company in 1909. Both companies operated concurrently until the San Gabriel Home Telephone Company was acquired by Pacific Telephone in 1913.
Panoramic view of Alhambra, circa 1900. Los Angeles Public Library. 94 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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central office in downtown Alhambra. Although the company relocated at least twice, opening other downtown offices in 1911 and again in 1924, none of the company’s former locations remain extant.214
Gas and Power
In 1903, the City’s Board of Trustees awarded a franchise for lighting the streets of Alhambra to the Pacific Light & Power Company (which had been established by railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington), but the franchise was revoked when the company failed to raise the necessary bond.215 According to Margaret Lee, in 1907 the problem apparently arose again, but was seemingly circumvented with the assignment of a three-year contract.
The lights in Alhambra were first turned on at the corner of Garfield and Main Streets on September 24, 1907.
216 The first substation to serve the City of Alhambra was located at Alhambra Road and Fremont Avenue (not extant).217 In November 1912, a franchise was granted to the Southern California Edison Company to provide power to the parts of the City not already supplied by Pacific Light & Power.
218 Pacific Light & Power was
subsequently acquired by Southern California Edison in 1917.
The Los Angeles Gas & Electric Company extended their mains to South Pasadena in 1904, and the following year the company approached Alhambra residents to gauge interest in installing gas mains for domestic use.
219 The first connections were installed on North Goff
Avenue at the home of Hugh McCollough, and a number of residents on Garfield Avenue followed suit shortly thereafter. The first gas main in the City of Alhambra was laid along Garfield Avenue, and within a few years extensions of the line ensured that the entire city was supplied with gas.
220 Some of the most noteworthy developments in gas distribution in Alhambra were the introduction of "mixed gas” in 1913, and the disappearance of “water gas” the following year.221 (Mixed gas was subsequently replaced by natural gas in 1927.)222 Water and Irrigation
Until the turn of the 20th century, existing reservoirs in the City were “uncovered and open to the air.”223 In 1904, the reservoirs were lined wish asphalt and covered to protect the
214 Northrup, 71.
215 Lee, 103.
216 Lee, 103. Although other historical accounts, including those of Studer and Northrup, frequently agree that electrical service was initially supplied to the community in 1903, at the time of the first contract, Lee is clear in both the reason for the delay in supplying service as well as the subsequent date on which lights were finally lit. 217 Northrup, 94.
218 Lee, 104.
219 Lee, 102.
220 Lee, 102.
221 Studer, 134-135.
222 Studer, 135.
223 Lee, 98.
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water supply from contamination and dehydration. Two more wells were also developed in El Molino Canyon in 1904 and 1906 respectively to increase water supply.
The Alhambra Water Company was acquired by the San Gabriel Valley Water Company in 1907, which continued to serve the City until a municipal could be established.
Beginning in 1910, the City’s board of trustees began to investigate the development of a public water system for Alhambra.224 The City subsequently purchased the wells in Kewen Canyon and the pipelines within the city limits from the San Gabriel Valley Water Company in 1916, and these resources formed the basis of the municipal water department, which was established on November 16, 1916, as one of the first and most important city departments to be organized.
225 At the time of its creation, the municipal water department in Alhambra had 2,102 installations in the City.226
Waste Management
By the early 1900s, the City of Pasadena had begun to receive odor complaints about the sewer farm.227 According to Margaret Lee, “Garbage from Pasadena was carted through the town of Alhambra,” which also “annoyed the housewives.”228 In response, the City of Pasadena made a number of improvements to the sewer farm in the 1910s to pretreat sewage prior to irrigation and accommodate growth in Pasadena. The improvements at the Pasadena sewer farm, while judged to be satisfactory by some observers, did not totally eliminate the odor complaints about the sewer farm operations. Additionally, the disposal of sludge to San Pasqual Wash created problems and the State Board of Health received its first complaint about this practice and its negative impact on a neighboring dairy farm in 1913.
Complaints about the sewer farm operations increased and in 1914 the City of Pasadena Commissioners, anticipating legal action against the City, decided it was time to take action.
Thankfully, legislation providing the legal form for construction of an outfall sewer by more than one city had passed the California State legislature in the spring of 1913. 229 The Cities of
Pasadena, Alhambra and South Pasadena decided the best long-term course of action for solving the future sewage treatment needs their growing cities, as well as addressing the ongoing encroachment of growth and development near the Pasadena sewer farm, would be the development of a regional treatment and disposal facility at a new location that could be shared by all three cities. Discussions between the three cities resulted in a contract, executed in 1914, between the Cities of Pasadena, Alhambra, and South Pasadena to find a joint
224 Lee, 100.
225 Studer, 159.
226 Studer, 159.
227 The following discussion has been largely excerpted and adapted from Pinhey, “Forgotten Facilities: The City of Pasadena Tri-City Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1,” and supplemented with specific details from Lee, 100-101; Northrup, 108-109; and Studer, 101-102.
228 Lee, 100.
229 Lee, 101.
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solution for the long-term treatment and disposal of sewage. A board of engineers, consisting of the city engineers for the three cities, was appointed the following month for the purpose of developing a recommended plan for the regional treatment and disposal of sewage.
The board of engineers recommended the purchases of a new site known as the Reppetto Ranch, which was located south of the existing Pasadena sewer farm and north of Whittier Boulevard (approximately 1.5 miles south of the City of Alhambra’s city limit in 1916). The Tri-City partners applied for a permit from the State Board of Health for the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant in May 1916, and prepared to annex an unincorporated strip of land to the City of Alhambra to bring construction of the new sewer farm into Tri- City territory. However, residents in the vicinity immediately caught wind of the plans and promptly organized to oppose the construction of a new plant. Their efforts resulted in the incorporation of Monterey Park in November 1916 in order to prevent the annexation of the land, and the newly-formed City of Monterey Park then promptly passed an ordinance prohibiting sewage treatment facilities within the City limits. This ordinance effectively defeated the proposal to build the new plant, as the majority of the land for the proposed Tri-City sewer farm now fell within the limits of the new City of Monterey Park. 230
230 Pinhey, “Forgotten Facilities: The City of Pasadena Tri-City Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1.” 97 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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Theme: Civic and Institutional Development, 1903-1919
Once incorporated, the City of Alhambra was able to introduce bond measures, which allowed for the substantial expansion of municipal services in the early years following the City’s founding. Two bonds were also passed in 1907 and 1912 respectively which allowed for the construction of several new municipal buildings, including two new fire stations as well as the purchase of new fire equipment. The bond measures also provided funding for the construction of the City’s first city hall, completed in 1914; the first permanent library, which was designed by Frederick Louis Roehrig and completed in 1915 (not extant); 231 and a
new brick jailhouse was also constructed on North Second Street for the police department in 1908 using bond measure funding.
With the introduction of electrical power in Alhambra, two new substations were constructed to serve the needs of the community and remain extant today. The Ramona Substation was constructed by Pacific Light & Power in 1912 at the northeast corner of South 7
th Street and West Hellman Avenue; it was subsequently rebuilt by Southern California Edison.232 The Alhambra substation at the southeast corner of Poplar Boulevard
231 Frederick Louis Roehrig (1857-1948) was a prominent Southern California architect who was especially known for his work in Pasadena at the turn of the 20th century. Some of his most notable commissions included the designs for the Hotel Green and Castle Green in Pasadena, as well as a number of expansive homes along “Millionaire’s Row” on South Orange Grove Avenue in the same city. 232 Northrup, 95.
Alhambra Public Library (not extant), circa 1920. California State Library. 98 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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and Primrose Avenue was first constructed in 1917, but was subsequently enlarged rebuilt as an area switching center for Alhambra, Pasadena, and Monrovia.233 Many of Alhambra’s first school buildings were also constructed in the early 1900s, though most of these facilities would later be improved with additional units. Both the Marengo School and Alhambra High School were constructed in 1905, followed by Ramona School in 1910, Granada School in 1911, Fremont School in 1914, and Ynez School in 1915. The existing wood-frame Garfield School was also replaced by a brick building in 1909.
There were several attempts to develop a permanent hospital in Alhambra during this time, although none of the facilities remained open for very long. The first hospital in Alhambra opened in a converted bungalow at the corner of present-day Main and Second Streets; the facility was operated by two Chicago Medical School graduates, Milbank Johnson and O.O.
Wetherbee. Unfortunately for the residents of Alhambra, Doctors Johnson and Wetherbee soon became associated with a hospital in Los Angeles, and the Alhambra clinic ceased operations. Dr. Francis Corey opened a second hospital on the grounds of his residence at 129 South Second Street in 1909. In 1914 the Alhambra Medical Association was established, and the group took over Corey’s equipment and relocated the hospital to the
233 Northrup, 95. The original 1917 building does not appear to be extant.
Garfield School, existing school building (foreground) and new building under construction (background left), circa 1909. Alhambra Historical Society Museum . 99 City of Alhambra Historic Context Statement
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former home of Claude T. Adams at the southeast corner of Chapel Avenue and Main Street, but the hospital was subsequently moved to a remodeled house on South Third Street before ceasing operations.
New churches were also constructed during this period to meet the spiritual needs of the growing population, including the Immanuel Baptist Church, (1908), Marengo Avenue Methodist Church (1908), First Christian Church (1911), Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (1913), All Souls Catholic Church (1913), Church of the Nazarene (1916), Second Baptist Church (1919).
A number of social and fraternal organizations were also established during this period, including the International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Lodge No. 217 (1906), San Gabriel Valley Chapter 100 Royal Arch Masons (1907), Alhambra Commandery 48 Knights Templar (1910), Alhambra Council 25 Royal and Select Masters (1912), Round Table Club (1912), Alhambra District Board of Realtors (1913), BPOE Lodge No. 1328 (1915), Alhambra Chapter American Red Cross (1917), and the American Legion John Howard Strain Post No. 139 (1919).
Development of the Midwick Country Club
The most prominent institution to be developed during this period was undoubtedly the Midwick Country Club (not extant). Although Midwick’s location technically fell outside the boundaries of Alhambra, its adjacent location nevertheless played an influential role in promoting the City’s character and identity in the years to come.
The Midwick Country Club originated as the New Valley Country Club, which was established by Edison Electric Company president John S. Cravens in 1911. 234 Its name was
subsequently changed to Midwick Country Club in 1912; with “midwick” meaning “midway” in British English, the name was thought to be an apt reflection of the club’s location equidistant between Los Angele and Pasadena, where most of its members resided.
235
Midwick (which was pronounced Mid-dick) was located on an expansive tract that was generally bounded by present-day Midwickhill Drive to the north, North Atlantic Boulevard to the east, West Garvey Avenue to the south, and Whitney Drive and Fremont Avenue to the west. From its inception, Midwick was intended to serve as a prestige club with championship facilities that could host competitive events. Club president Henry M.
Robinson declared that the social activities of the club “would be incidental to polo, tennis, and golf and that this new organization meant to hit the line hard for championship results.”
236 Initial improvements included two polo fields along with stables for polo ponies,
234 “The New Valley Country Club,” Los Angeles Times, April 29, 1912. 235 “It was the granddaddy of all Los Angeles’ country clubs…,” Los Angeles Times, July 19, 1993. 236 “Midwick Country Club Opens House Informally,” Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1913. 100
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four concrete tennis courts – one of which could be converted into a grandstand for the adjacent polo fields – a swimming pool, and an eighteen-hole golf course designed by Norman Macbeth, who was one of the Southern California Golf Association’s premiere golfers.
237 The course’s original greens were of sand, “as were most of them in arid Southern California in those days,” laid over stone foundations.238
An elaborate clubhouse designed by architect J. Martyn Haencke239 was the jewel in Midwick’s crown, situated atop a knoll at the end of a long, curving drive. Today, Midwick’s dramatic driveway is the only extant remnant of the country club’s development on the site; it is represented by that portion of present-day Siwanoy Drive that extends westward from
237 “SCGA History, Part 1: 1899-1919,” Southern California Golf Association, https://www.scga.org/about/scga-history/part-1 (accessed March 2021). Robert Studer asserts that the course was originally laid out by William Watson; see Studer, 107. 238 Studer, 107.
239 “Midwick Country Club Opens House Informally,” Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1913.
View looking west down the driveway (now Siwanoy Drive) toward the Midwick Country Club clubhouse, circa 1924. Midwick Tract De velopment Project website. 101
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Hagen Drive to 1600 Siwanoy Drive, where a residence now occupies the site of the former clubhouse.
Following its opening in 1913, Midwick quickly became the recreational home of such celebrities as Will Rogers, David Niven, Hal Roach, Spencer Tracy, Bing Crosby, and Walt Disney.
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Civic Buildings
• Post Offices, Fire and Police Stations
• Schools
• Libraries
• Religious Buildings
• Hospitals and Medical Facilities
• Social Clubs and Cultural Institutions
• Infrastructure Improvements and other Civic Amenities, including electrical substations,
reservoirs, roadways, and bridges
• Public Art
• Historic District
Midwick Country Club clubhouse, 1928. Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library. 102
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Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1903-1919
Geographic Location Extant resources from this period are largely located east of Fremont Avenue.
Significance Civic and institutional properties are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Institutional development during this period reflects the earliest growth of the City, from the establishment of infrastructure and the construction of the first civic buildings to serve the growing city, through the development of important social, religious, and cultural institutions.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• As an important example of civic or institutional
development representing the establishment and growth of Alhambra in the late 19
th or early 20th century. Institutional
development during this period marked the expansion of the newly-established City.
Civic and institutional properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents important civic or institutional development from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
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Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern240 • May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type o For early examples, a greater degree of alteration may be acceptable • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Signage may have changed
240 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 104
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Theme: Commercial Development, 1903-1919
Commercial development in Alhambra in the
early 1900s was defined by the spirit of
boosterism. A number of commercial booster
organizations were established to help
promote the economic operations of
Alhambra, including the Alhambra San-
Gabriel Farmers Club, and the Alhambra
Board of Trade. The Alhambra-San Gabriel
Farmers Club was organized in 1903 to
promote the horticultural, agricultural,
business, and social interests of the local
area.
241 The Alhambra Board of Trade was
established the following year to promote the
business and social advantages of locating in
Alhambra.”
242 In 1913, the Board of Trade
was renamed the Chamber of Commerce. The
Chamber of Commerce continued many of
the activities of the Board of Trade, which
included the publication of such promotional
pamphlets as “Alhambra, City of Homes,”
and “California’s Suburban Home Place.”
Businesses operating in this period were primarily concentrated along Main Street, which continued to expand in influence as a commercial corridor. Early operations included the Fuetz Grocery Store, the Alhambra Hardware Company, the City Market Butcher Shop, Crow and Drake’s General Merchandise, Pethybridge Meat Market, the Alhambra Feed and Fuel Company, the Pence & Smith Grocery Store, and the Blue Ribbon Bakery. Alhambra’s first theater – the Alhambra Theatre (later known as the Superba Theatre) – also opened in 1912 and showed both motion pictures and vaudeville acts. A second theater, which was also called the Alhambra Theatre (later known as the Coronet Theatre and then the Capri Theatre), was designed by Harley S. Bradley and opened in 1917.
Rail service was also expanded during this period with the opening of the Alhambra Line, which was completed by the Los Angeles & Pasadena Electric Railway Company (a Pacific Electric predecessor) in 1902. This line ran on a 30-minute schedule from Los Angeles’ General Hospital to the San Gabriel Mission; the line was later extended to the Masonic Home. In 1904 the Dolgeville branch was built by the Los Angeles Inter-Urban (a Pacific Electric affiliate); it tapped the SP main line at Shorb and was intended to supply the large
241 Risher, 45.
242 Risher, 45.
California’s Suburban Home Place , published by
the Board of Trade in 1915. Buckingham Books.
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felt factory and model manufacturing town then being vigorously promoted by Huntington and Dolge.243 This branch served to bridge Southern Pacific passengers from Pasadena to Shorb from 1912 until 1924 when bus service took over.244 Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Mixed Use Commercial Building
• Commercial Office
• Retail Store
• Bank
• Restaurant
• Theater
• Hotel/Motel
• Recreational Facility
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1903-1919
Geographic Location Commercial activity from the period was located along Main Street near present-day Garfield Avenue.
Significance Commercial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Commercial development patterns reflect the growth of the city over time, from early agriculture to storefronts along Main Street.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As a rare or remnant example of early commercial
development. This includes early neighborhood commercial development in the late 19
th and early 20th centuries and rare,
remaining examples of commercial development from the
period along Main Street.
243 “Alhambra-San Gabriel Line,” Electric Railway Historical Association, http://www.erha.org/pelines/penasg.htm (accessed March 2021). 244 “Alhambra-San Gabriel Line.”
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A collection of commercial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development, and must be distinct from the surrounding areas.
Historic districts may also include multiple property types; for example a historic district may include both commercial and institutional properties that date from the period of significance and reflect the character and reason for the district.
Commercial properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in commercial development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra’s commercial development; and o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and o Retain the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors from the period of significance; and
o Displays original planning features of the commercial enclave or corridor; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 245
• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context
245 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 107
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Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type o For early or rare commercial buildings, a greater degree of alteration may be acceptable • Replacement of storefronts is a common and acceptable alteration • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Storefront signage may have changed
• For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole. o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association to contribute to the significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as the replacement of original storefronts, are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Industrial Development, 1903-1919
In 1912, the City’s Board of Trustees repealed the ordinance which had created an industrial district for Alhambra.246 At the time, Margaret Lee writes, “There were not many factories here, and most town opinion seemed against it, hence the ordinance was repealed.”247 As a result, industrial development in Alhambra proper was limited in the early decades of the 20th century. Most of the industrial activity in the area was located in Dolgeville, where a manufacturing hub had grown up around the former site of the San Gabriel Winery, which was now occupied by the Dolge Felt Company.
Eligibility Standards
Property Types
• Infrastructure Improvements, including Water-related
resources, Transportation and Shipping-related Facilities; Railroad Facilities or Features
• Manufacturing Facilities; including Daylight or Controlled- Conditions Factories and Warehouses
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1903-1919
Significance Industrial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Industrial development patterns reflect the growth of the city during its early history, from early transportation-related and light industrial uses, including the Dolge Felt Company. Note that in order to be individually eligible for designation for representing a pattern of development, the property must be the first of its type, a rare remnant example of a very early period of development, or a catalyst for development in the city. Merely dating from a specific period is typically not enough to qualify for designation.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• As a rare or remnant example of early industrial development.
This includes resources related to the development of the railroad and other infrastructure improvements; or rare
246 Lee, 34.
247 Lee, 34.
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remaining properties related to early light industrial uses or the Dolge Felt Company.
A collection of industrial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may represent multiple related industrial properties, or they may span several periods of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in industrial development from this period or facet of Alhambra’s industrial history; or
o Is associated with a significant industrial corporation with a headquarters in Alhambra; and
o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 248
• May be located within the boundaries of the former Dolge Felt Company property • May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context
248 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 110
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Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Some historic materials or details may have been altered or removed o For early industrial buildings, a greater degree of alteration may be acceptable due to the rarity of resources from the late 19th and early 20th centuries • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole. o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Residential Development, 1903-1919
As Alhambra’s economy was still largely focused on agricultural development, construction efforts during this period were largely characterized by residential development. These efforts were also motivated by an influx of new residents to Alhambra, whose population increased by over 80 percent between 1910 and 1920.
Ninety-one tracts were recorded between
1903 and 1919, and although the trend of
small tracts of land subdivided by
individual property owners largely
continued, a growing number of tracts
were subdivided by organized real estate
development companies. One of the
largest tracts recorded during this period
was Ramona Park (MB011-114a), which
was recorded in 1906 with approximately
450 residential lots.
249
Ramona Park was developed by brothers John B. and Daniel T. Althouse – known professionally as the Althouse Brothers – in partnership with the firm of Arnold & Dodge, which was comprised of Otto Arnold and Jonathan S. Dodge. Historical documentation suggests that the men originally intended to develop Ramona Park as a separate townsite,
249 For a complete list of tracts recorded by development period, refer to Appendix D.
Ramona Park, MB 001-114a, recorded 1906. Los
Angeles County Department of Public Works.
Los Angeles Times advertisement, April 13,
1907.
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distinct from that of Alhambra,250 but the land was subsequently annexed in 1908 and their plans did not come to fruition.
Another notable tract to be developed during this period was the Lindaraxa Tract (MB 018- 080a), which was recorded in 1911. The Lindaraxa Tract was developed by the Alhambra Construction Company as Lindaraxa Park, which was also known as Court Lindaraxa.251 The neighborhood’s name capitalized on Alhambra’s established Moorish inspirations; the Lindaraxa name also originated from Washington Irving’s book Tales of the Alhambra.
Other groupings of residences dating from this period can be found in the present-day La Marguerita-Souders Tracts neighborhood, the Alhambra Tract neighborhood, and the Alhambra Vista Tract neighborhood. All originated from subdivisions recorded during this period.
Two individual residences constructed during this period may be of particular note for their association with the Judson family, owners and operators of Judson Studios, a family-run
250 “Ramona Park,” Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1907.
251 “Focus On: Lindaraxa Park, Alhambra’s Moorish Beauty,” The Prose of Preservation. April 16, 2018, https://proseofpreservation.org/2018/04/16/focus-on-lindaraxa-park-alhambras-moorish-beauty/ (accessed January 2021).
Map of Lindaraxa, MB 018-080a, recorded
1911.
Lindaraxa Park advertisement, 1912. Alhambra
Preservation Group.
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fine arts studio located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Known for their stained glass, Judson Studios has been in continuous operation since 1897. Two members of the Judson family, brothers Walter Horace Judson and Paul Judson, purchased homes in Alhambra. Walter Judson purchased the residence at 919 North Marguerita Avenue, which was erected in 1911. He appears to have resided at the home from around 1915 to around 1920. Paul Judson purchased the residence at 805 North Electric Avenue, which was erected in 1912. He appears to have resided there from around 1915 to around 1958. For a time he may have cohabitated with his brother, Donald Judson.
Multi-family residences began to appear in increasing numbers beginning in the 1910s.
Lower-density dwellings consisting of two, three, or four units were popular as they could be developed on a standard residential parcel, affording homeowners the opportunity to generate additional income without investing in a larger lot. Today, properties improved with two units represent the most common type of multi-family residential development dating from this period in Alhambra by a substantial margin. This can be attributed to two primary factors: the popularity of duplex development as an investment opportunity, and the convenience of the accessory dwelling unit. Accessory residential units became a popular addition to existing single-family residences as homeowners sought to capitalize on the demand for housing sparked by increased tourism and settlement opportunities in California.
For established homeowners who hadn’t planned ahead and constructed their own duplex, the addition of an accessory dwelling unit to an existing single-family home offered a similar opportunity for additional income.
Although the two-unit trend prevailed, higher-density development did exist during this period as well, sometimes with four or even five units or more; early extant examples of this trend include 315 South Marguerita (1905), 1510 South Campbell Avenue (1906), 128 South Olive Avenue (1907), and 337 North Garfield Avenue (1909). Very few examples of multi- family dwellings were constructed within the boundaries of the original Alhambra Tract. The development of purpose-built multi-family residences is almost exclusively situated in areas to the west and south of the original tract.
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Eligibility Standards
Property Type • Single-Family Residence
• Multi-Family Residence
o Apartment House
o Duplex/triplex/fourplex
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1903-1919
Geographic Location Located throughout Alhambra, primarily east of S. Fremont Avenue.
Significance Individual residential properties that are eligible under this criterion may be significant for one of the reasons listed below. Note that in order to be individually eligible for designation for representing a pattern of development, the property must be the first of its type, a rare remnant example of a very early period of development, or a catalyst for development in the city or neighborhood. Merely dating from a specific period is typically not enough to qualify for designation.
Individual properties that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• For exemplifying an important trend or pattern of
development (in general, properties significant for this reason will primarily be eligible as contributors to historic districts); or • As a rare or remnant example of Early Residential
Development. This includes rare examples of early multi-family residential development; and rare, remaining examples of some of the city’s earliest residential neighborhoods, including Ramona Park and the Lindaraxa Tract.
Residences that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
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• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents an important pattern or trend in residential development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra residential development; or
• Represents a very early period of settlement/residential development in a neighborhood or community; and
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 252
• May be significant for a specific association with an industry in Alhambra • May be located within the Ramona Park or Lindaraxa Tract developments Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Some historic materials or details may be altered or removed if the property retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation. o For very early examples, which are increasingly rare, there may be a greater degree of alterations or few extant features
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Property Type • Historic District
• Tract Feature/Amenity (including street trees or other significant landscape features, streetlights)
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1903-1919
Significance A collection of residences that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may also be significant for architectural merit under Criterion C/3.253 District boundaries may represent original tract boundaries, or they may comprise several adjacent tracts, or a portion of a tract or neighborhood. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan, physical development, and architectural quality; and distinct from the surrounding area. Tract features, including streetlights, landscaping, parkland, and other amenities may contribute to the significance of the district.
Historic districts that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For exemplifying an important trend or pattern of
development (in general, properties significant for this reason will primarily be eligible as contributors to historic districts); or • As a representative concentration of residential development from this early period in Alhambra’s history; may include cohesive enclaves from Ramona Park and the Lindaraxa Tract.
Single-family residential districts that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
• Reflects planning and design principles from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of a residential subdivision, including the original layout, street plan, and other planning features; and
253 Eligibility criteria are listed in the standard format National Register/California Register. 117
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• Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern254 • May be located within Ramona Park or the Lindaraxa Tract Integrity Considerations:
• The majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole.
o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association to contribute to the significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as replacement roof materials, replacement garage doors, and replacement of windows within original openings may be acceptable. However, major alterations to individual residences, such as substantial additions that are visible from the public right-of-way or alter the original roofline, and loss of significant fabric (e.g., replacement of windows, doors, and wall cladding in a single residence) would not be acceptable and the building would be considered a non- contributor to the district.
o Original tract features may also be contributing features to a historic district under this theme.
Criteria National Register: B California Register: 2 Period of Significance 1903-1919
Significance Individual properties may be significant for an association with a significant person. Properties eligible under this criterion are typically those associated with a person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he or she achieved significance. According to National Park Service guidance, a property is not eligible if its only justification is that it was owned or used by a person who is a member of an identifiable profession, class, or social or ethnic group. It must be shown that the person gained importance within a profession or group.
For properties associated with groups, it is necessary to identify
254 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 118
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specific individuals and to explain their specific accomplishments. The individual(s) associated with the property must have made some specific important contribution to history.
Properties eligible under this criterion may be associated with:
• People who played a significant role in the development of the area; or
• People who made significant contributions to a demonstrably important profession; or
• Members of a particular social, cultural, or ethnic group who made a demonstrably significant contribution to local, state, or national history.
Registration Requirements:
• Has a proven association with the productive period of a person important to local, state, or national history; and
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style from the period of significance (i.e., the period when it was associated with the important person); and
• Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association. o General rule: property must be recognizable to contemporaries of the person with which it is associated.
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Map of the City of Alhambra and Additions, Los Angeles Co., California, 1922. Huntington Library. 120
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VIII. CITY EXPANSION AND INDUSTRIAL GROWTH (1920-1940)
The two decades marking the intervening period between World War I and World War II represent some of the most dynamic years in United States history, and some of the most influential years in determining the patterns of growth and development throughout Southern California. The economic effects of national events such as the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression naturally made their way to the region, but everyday life during this period was also shaped by events and trends unique to Southern California. As newcomers flocked to Los Angeles and the city’s population exploded, the area began to exhibit the first signs of sprawl. At the same time, automobiles emerged as the prevailing form of transportation, a shift which influenced the development – and redevelopment – of many existing rail lines throughout the region as well as the design and construction of new residential neighborhoods and commercial centers that focused on catering to the car customer. New entertainment-related mediums such as radio and motion pictures began to flourish, motivating tourism as well as the development of further light industry for support services.
Events also impacted the built environment during this period; the 1933 Long Beach earthquake caused widespread damage and resulted in over one hundred fatalities, prompting a reexamination of construction methods and the implementation of new and more stringent safety standards for design.
POPULATION, IMMIGRATION, AND EXCLUSIONARY POLICIES OF THE 1920S AND 1930S
The United States passed some of its most significant – and damaging – immigration legislation in the 1920s, and the adoption of new laws regarding immigration during this period would have devastating impacts on minority communities in the United States for decades to come.
The U.S. Immigration Act of 1924, which launched what has come to be known as the National Origins System, was the apex of a restrictionist movement three decades in the making.
255 Also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, after its congressional sponsors, the National Origins Act replaced a hastily-passed emergency immigration bill in 1921 that served as a stopgap measure to an anticipated massive immigration from Europe following World War I. This emergency bill limited the number of immigrants to 3% of the foreign- born population of a given nationality resident in the United States based on the 1910 census. Viewed as insufficient in stemming the immigrant tide and as discriminatory toward the U.S. native-born population, the 1924 National Origins Act addressed these perceived
255 The following discussion of the National Origins Act has been excerpted and adapted from Karen Manges Douglas, “National Origins Act,”
https://www.shsu.edu/~kmd007/documents/WinFSHD2Userskmd007ArticlesDouglas- NationalOriginsSystem-1.pdf (accessed November 2021).
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deficiencies. Using the 1890 census, the bill restricted the number of entrants to 2% of the U.S. native-born White population as determined by their national origins—a nebulous concept that required a series of adjustments.
Opposition to immigration from southern and eastern Europe had been heightened by economic recession, labor unrest, anti-Catholic sentiment, and the events surrounding World War I. Fears that southern and eastern Europeans were unassimilable were intensified by persistent ties to the “old world” among even the earliest immigrant groups during World War I. To address this issue, the goal of the National Origins Act was to control both the quantity and quality of U.S. immigrants in an effort to prevent further erosion of the ethnic composition of U.S. society. The law accomplished this goal using three mechanisms:
capping the overall number of immigrants allowed into the United States in a given month and year; favoring immigrants from certain countries; and screening out otherwise qualified immigrants as unsuitable to the United States during the visa screening process. The sorting mechanism heavily favored northern and western European countries. The temporary formula of 2% of the foreign-born of each nationality in the 1890 census gave 85% of the quotas to northern and western European nations. The national origins system fully implemented in 1929 continued the trend of both overall restriction and nation bias. Indeed, the act virtually halted all immigration from southern and eastern Europe. Thus, European immigration dropped from more than 800,000 in 1921 to less than 150,000 by the end of the decade. In addition to controlling the volume of immigration from Europe, the National Origins Act also allowed a mechanism for selection of immigrants as well. In its creation of consular offices abroad, the act provided a frontline screening mechanism for selecting out those deemed unsuitable for the United States.
The National Origins Act racialized the world and its inhabitants. While the act differentiated Europeans according to nationality and then ranked them along a hierarchy of desirability, the very act of their inclusion for immigration conferred upon them a designation of assimilability and the right to U.S. citizenship. 256
In Alhambra, the effects of the country’s exclusionary policies were keenly felt by the city’s residents. While the overall population of Alhambra increased by over two hundred percent between 1920 and 1930, the population of certain ethnic and racial groups declined dramatically in the aftermath of exclusionary policies that targeted Native Americans and Asian immigrants. However, a 1939 survey of the community noted that twelve African American families had taken up residence within the four blocks east of North Garfield Avenue and north of Mission Road, and had resided in that location for many years. 257
256 Douglas, “National Origins Act.”
257 “Los Angeles, CA,” Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=10/34.005/-118.529&city=los-angeles-ca (accessed March 2022).
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Early Redlining Practices
One of the most impactful exclusionary policies to emerge during this era, however, was the practice of redlining. In 1939, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), under the Federal Housing Administration, established to increase homeownership for working-class Americans under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, created a grading system to assess the “desirability” of residential communities.258 The assessments were for the purpose of informing mortgage lenders and realtors in making loans and guiding buyers. Most non- rural communities were assigned one of the following grades:
A. “Newer, Most Desired” (color-code Green); sometimes noted as “First Grade”
B. “Older, Still Desirable” (color-code Blue); sometimes noted as “Second Grade”
C. “In Decline” (color-code Yellow); sometimes noted as “Third Grade” D. “Hazardous” (color-code Red); sometimes noted as “Fourth Grade” In 1935, HOLC was tasked with creating maps for 239 U.S. cities showing assigned grades for their various communities using the color codes. HOLC's map for Los Angeles County was issued in 1939.
A key factor that influenced HOLC grades was race. A racially homogenous population was considered desirable, but only so long as that race was white and non-immigrant.
Communities with African American, Asian, Native American and Latino residents typically received, at best, a C grade and, more commonly, a D grade. The presence of Jews also could reduce a community's grade. Even white immigrant populations, such as Slavs, Greeks and Italians, would negatively impact a community's grade if those populations made little effort to distance from neighbors who were people of color.
The assigning of the “red” D grade to communities with minority populations gave rise to the term “redlining.” Redlining came to be the practice of denying mortgages in communities due to racial or ethnic composition, regardless of the qualifications or creditworthiness of individual residents.
259
Author Richard Rothstein has noted that the “Federal Housing Administration's justification was that if African-Americans bought homes in these suburbs, or even if they bought homes
258 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from “Redlining in Los Angeles County,” LA Almanac, http://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi727.php (accessed March 2022). 259 “Redlining in Los Angeles County.”
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near these suburbs, the property values of the homes they were insuring, the white homes they were insuring, would decline. And therefore their loans would be at risk.”260 There was no basis for this claim on the part of the Federal Housing Administration. In fact, when African- Americans tried to buy homes in all - white neighborhoods or in mostly white neighborhoods, property values rose because African-Americans were more willing to pay more for properties than whites were, simply because their housing supply was so restricted and they had so many fewer choices. So the rationale that the Federal Housing Administration used was never based on any kind of study. It was never based on any reality.
261
As part of the appraisal process, each community as divided into areas. Each area was recorded on an Area Description form, which called for noting key statistics that would allow for the accurate grading of a property. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of these characteristics were related to race, and the forms almost uniformly reflected overtly racist language and discriminatory characterizations.
Arguably the HOLC agents…adopted a consistently white, elite standpoint or perspective. HOLC assumed and insisted that the residency of African Americans and immigrants, as well as working-class whites, compromised the values of homes and the security of mortgages. In this they followed the guidelines set forth by Frederick Babcock, the central figure in early twentieth- century real estate appraisal standards, in his Underwriting Manual : " The infiltration of inharmonious racial groups ... tend to lower the levels of land values and to lessen the desirability of residential areas."262 The “shift” or “infiltration” observed in an area was a key element to be recorded on the Area Description Form, as it noted, in essence, the change in minority populations in an area. However, shifts and infiltrations were often characterized by some of the most blatantly racist language to be found in the document; such trends were frequently described in almost uniformly negative tones as the work of "subversive," "undesirable," "inharmonious," or "lower grade" populations.
263 However, it was these shifts and
infiltrations that were most critical, in HOLC’s assessment, in determining the security risk a lender might assume by taking on a mortgage.
260 “A ‘Forgotten History’ of How the U.S. Government Segregated America,” NPR, https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated- america (accessed March 2022).
261 “A ‘Forgotten History’ of How the U.S. Government Segregated America.” 262 “Introduction,” Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America. 263 “Introduction,” Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America. 124
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The discriminatory practices advanced by HOLC and the FHA ultimately shaped the landscape of communities across the country for generations by restricting access to one of the primary drivers of generational wealth: home ownership.
These grades were a tool for redlining: making it difficult or impossible for people in certain areas to access mortgage financing and thus become homeowners. Redlining directed both public and private capital to native-born white families and away from African American and immigrant families. As homeownership was arguably the most significant means of intergenerational wealth building in the United States in the twentieth century, these redlining practices from eight decades ago had long -term effects in creating wealth inequalities that we still see today.264
Redlining practices specific to Alhambra are discussed under the Residential Development theme for this period.
Table 5: Population in Alhambra by Decade, 1920-1940265 Year White
Native and
Foreign-Born
Native
American
Black Chinese Filipino Japanese Other
Races
Overall
Pop.
1920 8,965 ––– 44 (21) (65) 87 9,096
1930 28,793 (17) 96 (7) (79) 583 29,472
1940 38,737 (7) 79 (10) (63) 119 38,935
Table 6: Rate of Population Growth in Alhambra by Decade, 1920-1940 Year White
Native and
Foreign-Born
Native
American
Black Chinese Filipino Japanese Other
Races
Overall
Pop.
1920 80.38% ––– 144.44% 5.00% ––– 400.00% 163.64% 81.16% 1930 221.17% ––– 118.18% -66.67% ––– 21.54% 570.11% 224.01% 1940 34.53% -58.82% -17.71% 42.88% ––– -20.25% -79.59% 32.11%
GROWTH BETWEEN THE WARS IN ALHAMBRA, 1920-1940
With ideal agricultural conditions, abundant natural resources, and burgeoning industrial activity, Southern California offered a land of opportunity at the dawn of the 1920s, and the region witnessed a population boom throughout the decade as an exponential number of new residents flocked to the region. The City of Alhambra was no exception to this trend –
264 “Introduction,” Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=11/34.145/-118.239&city=los-angeles- ca&area=C97&text=intro (accessed March 2022).
265 Numbers in parentheses represent breakdowns of some races included in the “Other Races” category. A complete breakdown of population over time is included in Appendix B. 125
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the City’s population more than doubled over the course of the decade and comprised nearly 30,000 people by 1930. The resultant demand for housing prompted a real estate boom in the 1930s; a substantial portion of the City’s housing stock was constructed during this period, and commercial and institutional operations were also expanded to meet the needs of the growing community.
At the same time, the population boom brought support for Alhambra’s new industrial development efforts. Up until the 1920s, the city’s earliest industrial activities had been largely limited to the San Gabriel Winery or, subsequently, the Standard Felt Factory. As Robert Studer observes, “For many years, Alhambra industry lagged, partly because of the nearby manufacturing section of Los Angeles along the banks of the Los Angeles River, and partly because of a lack of initiative on the part of Alhambra’s citizens.” 266 A community-led
effort to reinvigorate industrial activity in Alhambra in the 1920s ultimately helped define the character and identity of the city as a center for industrial development. As a result, the City of Alhambra entered the Great Depression as a vastly more robust community than it had been ten years earlier.
The City’s focus on developing industrial activities during the previous decade sustained the community throughout the economic decline of the Great Depression, and by 1940 production exceeded $8,000,000 and employed nearly 4,000 people. 267 Indeed, Alhambra
continued to grow even despite the economic slump; the assessed valuation of the city jumped from about $13 million in 1923 to over $27 million in 1939-1940. 268
Artists’ Alley
In the 1920s and 1930s, Champion Place was home to “some of the most prominent names in American art”: Norman Rockwell, Frank Tenney Johnson, Jack Wilkinson Smith, Eli Harvey, Tex Wheeler, Victor Clyde Forsythe, Sam Hyde Harris and Marjorie Reed.269 They had been dubbed "the Eight,” after Robert Henri's "The Eight,” but Alhambra's eight came from a diverse array of backgrounds and art styles, hence the more common nickname of the street and its most famous residents, “Artists' Alley.”270
266 Studer, 122.
267 Studer, 123.
268 Studer, 123.
269 Michael Clawson, “The Masters at Champion Place,” Western Art Collector, February 1, 2018, https://pressreader.com/article/281556586293844 (accessed January 2021). The lives of the Eight in Alhambra are well-documented in Clawson, as well as the following sources: Elaine Adams, “Pioneers of Artists’ Alley,” adapted from the essay, “Three Creators of Artists’ Alley,” by David T. Leary, Ph.D. California Art Club Newsletter, Summer 2007, https://www.americanlegacyfinearts.com/wp- content/uploads/2010/06/Pioneers-of-Artists-Alley-by-Elaine-Adams3.pdf (accessed January 2021); and David T. Leary, “Three Creators of Artists’ Alley,” American Art Review, March 1996. 270 Clawson, “The Masters at Champion Place.”
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The first artist to arrive in Alhambra – and, as Michael Clawson notes, the only artist worthy of the title of founder of the colony, although it was never bestowed to him”271 – was Victor Clyde Forsythe. He was quickly followed by Frank Tenney Johnson, “master and heir to the cowboy throne after the passing of Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington.”272 Jack Wilkinson Smith was the third to arrive, by 1926. These three artists formed the core of the group and were influential in encouraging the arrival of other artists. 273 Over time, their lives
in Alhambra revolved primarily around several properties on Champion Place. These properties include:
16 North Champion Place: Per city directories, the home appears to originally have been constructed by Clyde Champion between 1920 and 1922.
It was subsequently acquired by Jack Wilkinson Smith (who, per Leary, was the third artist to arrive) around 1926. Wilkinson resided there until his death in 1949. Following his passing, the property was acquired by fellow artist Sam Hyde Harris, who used the artist's studio for several years before eventually making the property his primary residence around 1954. Harris and his wife resided there until at least 1964.
22 North Champion Place: By 1922 this property w as the home of W. R.
Fee, and in 1926 was briefly inhabited by artist William Johnson (it is unclear if there is a relation to Frank Tenney Johnson). City directories indicate that artist Frank Tenney Johnson (who, per Leary, was the second artist to arrive) was likely using the property as an artist's studio by 1928 but it was owned by A. H. Elliott. Johnson later acquired the property by 1930 and it became his primary residence until his untimely death in 1939. His widow , Vinnie, who was instrumental in organizing salons that brought many of the artists together, continued to maintain the property after Johnson's death, allowing her husband's former cohorts such as Norman Rockwell, Victor Clyde Forsythe, and Hughlette "Tex" Wheeler to use the artist's studio. Vinnie Johnson resided at this address until around 1954.
125 Champion Place: Seth Champion died in 1910, and according to tract maps it appears likely that Alfred Barstow purchased a portion of the Champion ranch. Alfred Barstow made this property his primary residence sometime between 1915 and 1920. Barstow's daughter, Mary, married Norman Rockwell in 1930. Following their marriage the Rockwells would frequently spend summers (and, for Rockwell, sometimes winters) here at Mary's parents' home, with Rock well using the nearby studios of Eli Harvey (per Leary) or Frank Tenney Johnson (per newspaper articles), the latter of which he shared
271 Clawson, “The Masters at Champion Place.”
272 Clawson, “The Masters at Champion Place.”
273 Leary, “Three Creators of Artists’ Alley.”
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with Victor Clyde Forsythe. The Barstows are no longer listed at the property after 1941, but Leary states that the Rockwells' bicoastal lifestyle continued until 1953, at which point they moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 130 North Champion Place: Per Leary and city directories, Eli Harvey acquired this property around 1929, and appears to have been the only artist of the Artists' Alley colony to have constructed a house and become the initial owner of their residence. Harvey is listed here in city directories beginning in 1930 and remained until his death in 1957. Leary notes that Harvey, who had been born in 1860, was already elderly by the time he settled in Alhambra and the amount of new sculpture he produced during this period is "debatable." However, Harvey continued to retain an important association with his fellow artists and his studio was one of those used by Norman Rockwell (per Leary).
Brief biographies of each of the artists comprising The Eight are included below in alphabetical order.
Victor Clyde Forsythe
Victor Clyde Forsythe (1885-1962) was an American artist best known for his illustrations and desert paintings. Although born and raised in Southern California, Forsythe trained in New York and established a career -long presence in both parts of the country. The first part of his career brought him national recognition for his comic strips, most notably for his drawings of “Joe Jink,” and caught the eye of publisher William Randolph Hearst who printed much of his work. During WWI, he painted many war posters including the iconic “And They Thought We Couldn't Fight” poster. By the late 1930s, Forsythe and his wife, Cotta, settled in Southern California and the artist devoted himself to landscape painting fulltime. Forsythe was a life-long friend of Norman Roc kwell. The two artists shared studio spaces together in New Rochelle, New York and in Alhambra, particularly in the Frank Tenney Johnson’s studio on Champion Place. Along with Johnson, Forsythe also helped start the first art gallery in Los Angeles at the Biltmore Hotel after recognizing a demand for their art. The Biltmore Salon, as it was known, opened in 1923 and allowed the artists and their friends to sell their works of art directly to the public. By the end of his career, Forsythe was considered one of the fathers of “Desert Painting,” and helped influence the desert painting movement along with fellow artists Maynard Dixon and Jimmy Swinnerton. In 1962, Forsythe died at the age of 76 in Pasadena, California.
Sam Hyde Harris
Sam Hyde Harris (1889- 1977) was a successful fine artist and commercial painter who taught art for many years in the Los Angeles area, particularly at 128
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the Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts). Born into a working-class family in Middlesex, England, Harris emigrated to the United States and settled with his family in Los Angeles in 1904. By 1917, he married Phoebe Mulholland, niece of water baron William Mulholland. Many of Harris’ commercial art designs included posters and print advertisements for prominent clients such as Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroads and the Pacific Electric or “Red Cars.” His fine art was influenced by the works of John Constable and Joseph Turner, with an emphasis on light and atmospheric effects in landscapes. In 1945, Sam Harris met and married his second wife, Marion D.
Harris, and the couple settled in Alhambra where they purchased artist Jack Wilkinson Smith’s former studio. Harris continued to produce commercial and fine art from the residence and studio at 16 Champion Place until his death in 1977.
Eli Harvey
Eli Harvey (1860-1957) was an American sculptor and painter best known for his depictions of wild animals. Harvey was born into a Quaker community in Ogden, Ohio and studied art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he trained under painter Thomas Satterwhite Noble and sculptor Louis Rebisso.
In 1889, Harvey moved to Paris to continue training under French sculptors and began exhibiting his own sculptures of animals in Paris salons. He returned to the United States in 1900 and produced notable works such as the architectural sculpture for the lion house at the New York Zoological Park and two lions for the Eaton family mausoleum in Toronto, Canada. Harvey's most popular work was a life-sized elk produced for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks used at their buildings and in cemeteries around the country. In 1929, he built a large home on Champion Place in Alhambra, where he continued to work as a member of the local artists’ colony until his death in 1957.
Frank Tenney Johnson
Frank Tenney Johnson (1874 -1939) was a prominent painter of the Old American West who popularized the style of painting cowboys known as the “Johnson Moonlight Technique.” Born in Iowa, Johnson studied at the Milwaukee School of Art and later at the Art Students League of New York.
He began his career as an illustrator with Field & Stream magazine until leaving New York to travel through the American Midwest and Southwest on sketching expeditions with fellow cowboy artists, such as Charles Ru ssell. In 1920, Johnson moved to 22 Champion Place in Alhambra, where he later shared his studio with fellow painter Clyde Forsythe. Johnson’s studio and 129
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residence would become the nucleus for Alhambra’s local artist colony known as “Artists’ Alley,” even well after his passing in 1939.
Marjorie Reed
Marjorie Reed (1915-1996) was born in Springfield, Illinois and became known for her paintings of American Western scenes. Much of her work centered on depictions of the Butterfield Overland Stage coaches and other scenes of cowboys, horses and figures associated with the Overland Mail Route. As one of the few female landscape and Western painters, her art was often credited under the male pseudonym, Harvey Day or Fred Day. Reed was the daughter of a commercial artist and raised in Los Angeles, where she trained under her father. At fourteen, she worked for Walt Disney until later studying at the Chouinard Art School and the Art Center School in Los Angeles, as well as with Jack Wilkinson Smith of Alhambra for tw o years. Reed traveled extensively across the country and around the world for much of her life. She passed away in 1996.
Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell (1894- 1978) was a prolific American artist whose works included cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, artwork for over 40 books, as well as portraits for a number of American Presidents and foreign figures. Rockwell's best-known works included the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, The Problem We All Live With, Saying Grace, and the Four Freedoms series.
Rockwell trained at the National Academy of Design and later at the Art Students league of New York. In 1929, Rockwell joined life -long friend and artist Clyde Forsythe in Alhambra, where he met and married a local schoolteacher, Mary Barstow. Throughout his career, Rockwell and his family traveled back and forth from California to New York, where he shared a studio with Forsythe in New Rochelle, New York as well as in Alhambra in the late Frank Tenney Johnson studio space. By the 1940s —and despite continued travels to New York and California —the artist and his family lived in Arlington, Vermont until finally settling in Stockbridge, Massachusetts where Rockwell retired in eventually passed away in 1978.
Jack Wilkinson Smith
Jack Wilkinson Smith (1873-1949) was an American watercolor and oil painter best known for his paintings of Sierra landscapes, seascapes and missions.
Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith trained Chicago Art Institute before studying under Cincinnati artist Frank Duveneck and beginning his career as an illustrator for The Cincinnati Enquirer. During the Spanish-American War, his sketches of the front -line gained him substantial recognition. In 1906, Smith 130
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settled in Alhambra and established a studio- home in the eucalyptus grove called "Artists Alley." He died on January 8, 1949, in Monterey Park, California, at age 75.
‘Tex’ Wheeler
Hughlette ‘Tex” Wheeler (1901- 1954) was an American sculpture who specialized in images of the American West, including depictions of cowboys riding the range and miners with pack horses. Born and raised in Florida, Wheeler won a scholarship to study sculptor in Paris while working as a ranch hand. In France, he produced a number of Western-themed sculptures which were cast at a foundry in Paris. Upon returning to the United States, he opened a studio in Cleveland, Ohio until later moving west to Arizona and eventually settling in Los Angeles. His most famous monumental sculptures are the portrait of the racehorse, Seabiscuit, completed while staying with fellow artists in Alhambra, as well as a sculpture of Jockey George Woolf. Both pieces are installed at the Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Harvey was also commissioned to sculpt an equestrian statue of Will Rogers for the Will Rogers State Park. Wheeler returned to his native Florida shortly before passing in 1954.
Other artists who socialized with The Eight included Mead Schaeffer, Dean Cornwell, Norman Hall, Florence Young, Laura Mitchell, Vera Norris, Donald Yacoe, and Steven Toth Jr.
274 Further research is required to determine the extent of their associations with Alhambra’s built environment.
274 “Alhambra Once Had Top Artists’ Colony,” unidentified newspaper clipping, February 27, 1961.
Jack Wilkinson Smith in front of a large landscape canvas at his studio, Alhambra, 1935. UCLA Digital Library.
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Annexations
In 1926, the City expanded its boundaries through the Midwick Addition, which added nine parcels from the Ramona Acres development at the southwest intersection of Hellman and Olive Avenues.
Table 7: Annexations, 1920-1940
275
Effective Date Annexation Name
5/27/1926 Midwick Addition
275 For a complete list of annexations and links to accompanying annexation records, refer to Appendix C. 132
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN ALHAMBRA, 1920-1940 Extant resources dating to this period are located throughout the City. Single-family properties in the City of Alhambra constructed between 1920 and 1940 are among the most prevalent in the City. Residences from this period represent modest one- and two-story vernacular residences as well as modest and high style examples of prominent architectural styles of the period, including Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, English Revival, and Tudor Revival. Commercial activity from the period continued to expand along Main Street and began to populate Valley Boulevard; institutional development was located throughout the City to cater to the growing population near their homes.
Infrastructural Improvements
Communications
In 1930, the Southern California Telephone Company acquired the properties belonging to Pacific Telephone and became the operating telephone concern in the exchange. 276 In 1934,
extended service was introduced, which allowed customers to call a wider area without toll charges. Facilities were expanded in 1937 and included the installation of additional equipment which allowed all of the telephones on the exchange to be converted to dial service by 1938, thus eliminating the need for extended service subscribers to call the operator to connect to numbers in the extended area.277 Freeways
As the population of Southern California continued to increase throughout the first decades of the 20th century, so did the number of automobiles that populated the region’s roadways.
By the 1930s, cars were forced to compete with other modes of transportation for shared space on the surface streets, which slowed traffic and created congestion in communities throughout the region. Nathan Masters explains that Los Angeles transportation planners “tried to break the impasse by introducing a radical new concept: roads that existed only for automobiles. With grade-separated intersections, limited access to adjacent properties, and no interference from pedestrians, trolleys, horses, or bicyclists, freeways promised to speed automotive traffic through the city for the decades to come.” 278 In this spirit, the idea of the
freeway was born.
In 1933, the California State Legislature amended the State Highway Classification Act of 1927, adding 6,700 miles of county roads to the State Highway System.279 Highway construction funds were allocated equally between primary and secondary highways, and the
276 Northrup, 71-72.
277 Studer, 127.
278 Nathan Masters, “L.A.’s First Freeways,” KCET Lost LA, August 15, 2012, https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/l-a-s-first-freeways (accessed April 2022). 279 “Chronology of California Highways, Phase III: A Significant System is Created (1933 -1946),” California Highways, https://www.cahighways.org/chrphas3.html (accessed April 2022). 133
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legislative barrier that prevented state highway funds from being used in urban areas was removed.280 The planning of the Southern California freeway system originated in 1937, when the Automobile Club of Southern California proposed a plan that featured a series of north-south and east-west routes that followed the lines of major arterial streets, as well as radial routes linking downtown to outlying areas.
281 These routes – which the Auto Club
called “motorways” before the term “freeway” prevailed – were unique in that they featured divided highways (via a center divider) without grade crossings at intersections. “Unlike similar schemes at the time for other cities,” explains Daniel Prosser, “this plan recognized that auto travel around Los Angeles was random and not focused solely on entering and leaving the central business district.”282
The 1937 Auto Club report became the basis for the official freeway plan for Los Angeles, which was eventually adopted in 1941.283 The plan paved the way for the initial development of two freeways that would come to shape the landscape of Alhambra: Interstate 10 (San Bernardino Freeway) and Interstate 710 (Long Beach Freeway).
Interstate 10 (San Bernardino Freeway)
Interstate 10 originated in 1926; at this time, California was commencing development of US 99, and in nearby Monterey Park, Garvey Avenue was designated as part of the link to US 99. However, westerly of Atlantic Boulevard, the roadway ended.284 Fortunately, in 1933, the City of Los Angeles announced its first major effort to implement the ideas first advanced by the Auto Club. A new stretch of Ramona Boulevard would be constructed to connect communities in the San Gabriel Valley with downtown Los Angeles. The roadway, which was dubbed the "Air Line" because motorists could “fly” without intersectional conflict at 50 miles per hour, was seen as a major achievement in traffic design.285 Originating in downtown Los Angeles at the intersection of Aliso Street and Mission Road, the Air Line filled the six-mile gap between downtown Los Angeles and the Garvey Avenue freeway interchange; as proposed, Ramona Boulevard extended north past the city limits, across the grounds of the Midwick Country Club, and terminated at the intersection of
280 “Chronology of California Highways, Phase III: A Significant System is Created (1933 -1946).” 281 SurveyLA Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement:
Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910- 1970,” prepared for the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning Office of Historic Resources by Daniel Prosser, August 2016, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/3007ea6e-c4dd-42ec-bede- b109293f2873/CommercialDevelopmentandtheAutomobile_1910-1970.pdf (accessed November 2021), 15. 282 “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910-1970,” 15. 283 “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910-1970,” 15. 284 “Interstate 10.”
285 “Interstate 10.” And Masters, “L.A.’s First Freeways.” 134
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Garvey Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard.286 "A great engineering dream is coming true here," proclaimed the Los Angeles Times after plans for the proto-freeway were announced. "The Ramona Boulevard project...a mighty route to go far easterly straight from the heart of Los Angeles...a new bond between the metropolis and its eastern environs and a thoroughfare development of tremendous importance for the city east of the river."287 Construction commenced in 1935, and the proposed site proved to be ideal for the development of a new freeway.
Ramona Boulevard was along terrain that was suitable for grade separations, with the Pacific Electric Railroad tracks to the north and a hillside to the south.
In order to accommodate the new highway, six bridges that already spanned the tracks were extended or reconstructed and two new grade separations were constructed near Monterey Pass Road. Near the west end of the project, the Macy Street (now Cesar E. Chavez Avenue) bridge, which had been built in 1910, provided another grade separation over the tracks and could accommodate a roadway without reconstruction. Thus, there were nine bridges in all with no at -grade crossings and virtually no local property access.
288
The Air Line opened in April 1935, but enthusiasm soon waned due to the roadway’s poor safety record, which included 77 injuries in the first 40 months of operation.289 A center divider was eventually opened in 1938, which alleviated much of the public’s safety concerns.
In March 1940, an extension was proposed for Ramona Boulevard “proto-freeway,” which would link Los Angeles to Alhambra, San Gabriel, and El Monte and tie in with the existing Ramona Boulevard.
290
Interstate 710 (Long Beach Freeway)
Interstate 710 has its origins in the battle over the San Pedro harbor in the 1890s, which saw Los Angeles city officials “solidify the port in San Pedro by ingeniously annexing a sixteen- mile ‘shoestring district’ that made the harbor a legal part of the city.”291 Although the City of Los Angeles spent millions on harbor improvements during this period and even proposed the construction of a truck highway to facilitate development at the port, ultimately little was done to develop any kind of infrastructure that would connect to it. It
286 R. C. Myers, “Ramona Boulevard a 6-Mile ‘Airline’ Urban Route Without Grade Crossings,” California Highways and Public Works (February 1935): 6-7, 20, 24, http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/Californiahighways/chpw_1935_feb.pdf (accessed April 2022). 287 Masters, “L.A.’s First Freeways.”
288 “Interstate 10.”
289 Masters, “L.A.’s First Freeways.”
290 “Seek Freeway Linking Valley, Los Angeles,” Pasadena Post, March 11, 1940. 291 Gilbert Estrada, Ph.D., “The 710 Long Beach Freeway: A History of America’s Most Important Freeway,” KCET Departures, February 12, 2014, https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/the-710-long-beach-freeway- a-history-of-americas-most-important-freeway (accessed April 2022). 135
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was left to the City of Long Beach to finance, plan, and construct the proposed highway to the port, which was to be called the Los Angeles River Freeway because it hugged the natural waterways.292 In 1933, the route leading from the port, which extended as far as Monterey Park, was added to the California State Highway System as State Route 15 (SR-15), and became Legislative Route Number 167 (LRN-167) in 1935.293 Construction work continued throughout the 1930s and 1940s; at that time, before the route was adopted as a freeway routing, the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles knew the route was coming, and began preserving right of way along the Los Angeles River for the future route. This saved significant money for future right-of-way acquisition.294 Gas and Power
Southern California Edison, which supplied electrical power to the City, expanded their facilities during this period as demand from the community increased. A new electrical plant known as the “General Store” was constructed in 1924, as well as a new district construction warehouse (not extant) in 1925, a new district headquarters building in 1937, and a new substation in 1940.
The Los Angeles Gas & Electric Company, which supplied domestic gas to residents of Alhambra, was absorbed by the company now known as the Southern California Gas Company in 1937.
Water and Irrigation
As the development of Alhambra evolved away from agriculture and towards an increasingly industrialized economy, it became far less essential to maintain water for irrigation purposes.
Domestic water supply, however, remained a priority, although as William Northrup noted, by the 1940s, “Subsequent development by incorporated areas has resulted in an abundance of pure water sufficient for many times the present requirements.” 295
The Marengo Water Company, which supplied water to the area north of Alhambra Road between Curtis Avenue to the east and the city limits to the west, were purchased by the City of South Pasadena in 1922.
296 The City of Alhambra later assumed control of the Marengo Water Company’s pipelines that were located within the City limits in 1925, although Alhambra continued to purchase water from South Pasadena until 1933. 297 In 1923, the
292 “The 710 Long Beach Freeway: A History of America’s Most Important Freeway.” 293 “Interstate 710,” California Highways, https://www.cahighways.org/ROUTE710.html (accessed April 2022).
294 “Interstate 710.”
295 Northrup, 29.
296 Studer, 160.
297 Studer, 160.
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pipelines of the J. A. Graves Water Company were also acquired by the City of Alhambra; however, the City continued to purchase water from the company until 1930.298 Waste Management
Increased flows and loadings to the Pasadena sewer farm due to growth led to numerous complaints that were filed with the State Board of Health beginning around 1917 and continuing through 1924.299 Additionally, the City of San Marino connected to the Pasadena system during this period, thus contributing more loading to the Pasadena sewer farm.
Complaints were filed regarding problems with sludge discharges from the sewer farm, odors, raw sewage run-off into surface waters and raw sewage ponding both on and off of the farm site. A 1920 State Board of Health investigation showed there were more homes in the vicinity the Pasadena sewer farm than any other sewer farm in California, which, no doubt, increased the volume of complaints during this period. The Tri-City partners were faced with a situation that required immediate attention, but when it came to finding a second solution to the sewage problem, the three cities were left with very few alternatives due to the elimination of the Reppetto Ranch as the preferred treatment and disposal site.
The key to the successful continued use of the existing site would be finding a treatment and disposal process that would not create nuisance conditions for the sewer farm’s neighbors and be economical to operate.
Based on previous pilot tests undertaken in 1917, a new treatment process – conventional activated sludge – was selected for the new Tri-City sewage treatment plant, along with a proposal to discharge treated disinfected effluent to the Rio Hondo and also use it for irrigating the existing sewer farm site. With this determination made, the City of Pasadena moved ahead quickly with the plant design and financing. The formal application to construct the Tri-City sewage treatment plant on the Pasadena sewer farm property was submitted the State Board of Health on October 3, 1922. The permit was granted by the Board on November 4, 1922, and construction of the new plant was started by the City of Pasadena on November 16, 1922. The new Tri-City Sewer Farm was completed and placed into operation on January 4, 1924, marking the beginning of modern regional municipal wastewater treatment and disposal for the area.
300
In 1927, the City of Alhambra accepted an offer of $125,000 for its one-sixth interest in the Tri-City Sewer Farm. However, residents had already learned that South Pasadena had refused to accept a similar offer for that city’s same interest and, believing the offer to be too low, initiated a referendum to halt the sale. Legal action ensued, and eventually the sale – and its accompanying $100,000 profit – was halted. The same buyers returned, however, with a
298 Studer, 160.
299 The following discussion has been largely excerpted and adapted from Pinhey, “Forgotten Facilities: The City of Pasadena Tri-City Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1,” and supplemented with specific details from Lee, 100-101; Northrup, 108-109; and Studer, 101-102.
300 Pinhey, “Forgotten Facilities: The City of Pasadena Tri-City Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1.” 137
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better offer: $175,000 for the same one-sixth interest. This time, the City of Alhambra accepted, and the $125,000 profit over the original $25,000 purchase price allowed the City to construct two new fire stations, purchase new fire equipment, establish Story Park and Granada Park, and acquire land at Garfield Avenue and Bay State Street for the construction of a new post office.
301
Plan for the activated sludge process at the new Tri-City Sewer Farm. From “Forgotten Facilities: The City of Pasadena Tri-City Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1.”
301 Northrup, 109.
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Theme: Civic and Institutional Development, 1920-1940
As Alhambra’s population flourished throughout the 1920s and 1930s, so did the development of municipal services and private institutions formed to meet the needs of the growing community.
In 1920, Alhambra finally became home to a dedicated hospital when a group of doctors formed a medical corporation and constructed the Alhambra Hospital at the southeast corner of Garfield Avenue and Bay State Street. The City also established its first municipal parks during this period; Alhambra Park was opened in 1920 and the Alhambra Plunge was opened the following year.
Municipal services were expanded during this period with the approval of a bond measure, which passed in 1923 and provided for the construction of new fire department headquarters on Stoneman Avenue and a new fire station at Poplar Boulevard and Main Street to replace the station on Palm Avenue. (This station was later rebuilt on the same site following the Long Beach earthquake.) A third fire station was erected in 1929 to replace the existing station at the northeast corner of Sixth Street and Valley Boulevard, and fourth fire station was completed at the corner of Elm Street and Norwood Place.
A new city jail, constructed in 1925, also replaced the former jail with a new building housing both the police department and the police court on North Second Street.
With any growing pains associated with the development of a new city now firmly in the past, much of the community’s efforts during this period focused on the development of resources and organizations that enhanced social and cultural life in Alhambra. Story Park, the city’s second municipal park, was established in two phases during this period; the northern portion was donated to the City by F. Q. Story and opened in 1928, and the southern portion - the former home of the Alhambra Athletic Club – was purchased by the City, along with the Athletic Club’s facilities, in 1931. Granada Park was established in 1934 with the aid of county and federal funding.
The number of churches in Alhambra also increased during this period to meet the more diverse spiritual needs of the growing community. Churches constructed during this period include the Church of Christ, (1921), Unity Church (1923), Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1923), Emmaus First Lutheran Church (1923), St. Therese Catholic Church (1926), First Methodist Church (1926), and First Presbyterian Church (1927). All Souls Roman Catholic Church also constructed a new school building in 1936, and then a new church building in 1938. The Carmel of St. Teresa Monastery, designed by architect John C. Austin in 1923, is a notable example of religious institutional development designed by a prominent architect during this period.
As Alhambra evolved away from its early identity as an agricultural settlement and the City began to adopt a more industrialized economy, leisure time increased and social and cultural life became paramount. Clubs and organizations flourished during this period as Alhambra’s 139
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population grew and the interests of the city’s residents broadened. Women’s clubs became increasingly popular during this period, focused on both the promotion of higher social and cultural ideals within the community as well as an effort to organize around efforts that were important to women at the time, such as education and child welfare, or even political issue such as Prohibition or voting rights.
Organizations established during this period include the Alhambra American Legion Auxiliary (1920), Alhambra Community Sing (1922), Business and Professional Women’s Club (1922), Kiwanis Club (1922), Knights of Columbus (1923), Camp Fire Girls (1924), Rotary Club (1924), Exchange Club (1925), Alhambra Lions Club (1927), South Alhambra Woman’s Club (also known as the Tuesday Club, 1928), Granada Park Woman’s Club (1929), Soroptomist Club (1933), Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA, 1938), Girl Scouts Alhambra Council (1939), the Alhambra Day Nursery (1939), and the Optimist Club (1940).
Story Park, the city’s second municipal park, was established in two phases during this period; the northern portion was donated to the City by F. Q. Story and opened in 1928, and the southern portion - the former home of the Alhambra Athletic Club – was purchased by the City, along with the Athletic Club’s facilities, in 1931. Granada Park was established in 1934 with the aid of county and federal funding.
The number of churches in Alhambra also increased during this period to meet the more diverse spiritual needs of the growing community. Churches constructed during this period include the Church of Christ, (1921), Unity Church (1923), Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1923), Emmaus First Lutheran Church (1923), St. Therese Catholic Church (1926), First Methodist Church (1926), and First Presbyterian Church (1927). All Souls Roman Catholic Church also constructed a new school building in 1936, and then a new church building in 1938. The Carmel of St. Teresa Monastery, designed by architect John C. Austin in 1923, is a notable example of religious institutional development designed by a prominent architect during this period.
Clubs and organizations also flourished during this period as Alhambra’s population grew and the interests of the city’s residents broadened. Organizations established during this period include the Alhambra American Legion Auxiliary (1920), Alhambra Community Sing (1922), Business and Professional Women’s Club (1922), Kiwanis Club (1922), Knights of Columbus (1923), Camp Fire Girls (1924), Rotary Club (1924), Exchange Club (1925), Alhambra Lions Club (1927), South Alhambra Woman’s Club (also known as the Tuesday Club, 1928), Granada Park Woman’s Club (1929), Soroptomist Club (1933), Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA, 1938), Girl Scouts Alhambra Council (1939), the Alhambra Day Nursery (1939), and the Optimist Club (1940).
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School Construction and the Field Act
School construction comprised a great deal of the institutional development throughout the 1920s and 1930s and was largely motivated by two factors: the educational needs of the rapidly-expanding Alhambra community in the 1920s; and the requirements of the Field Act in the 1930s
The Alhambra High School was expanded with a commercial unit in 1921, an administration unit and auditorium in 1923, and a household arts unit in 1924. Central School opened in 1922 and was subsequently expanded in 1924. Park School opened in 1923 and was then expanded in 1937. Additions were also constructed at Garfield School, Granada School, and Ramona School in 1924; and at Garfield School, Park School, and Ynez School in 1927. By 1928, eighteen school plants were utilized to house the educational program for the Alhambra City High School District.
302
Marguerita School opened in 1930, and Emery Park School, which was designed by architect Richard Farrell, opened in 1931. Built in the center of a 400-acre tract of land owned by New York tobacco tycoon Charles Goodwin Emery, Emery Park Elementary School was constructed to accommodate the school-aged children of families who had purchased homes in Emery Park during the 1920s, a boom time for real estate in Alhambra.303 The Field Act, which was enacted in 1933 following the Long Beach earthquake, was one of the first pieces of legislation to mandate earthquake-resistant construction in the United States. After the Long Beach Earthquake effectively destroyed over 230 school buildings in Southern California, lawmakers adopted the Field Act to establish safety standards for the construction of new public school buildings. The law also required school officials to inspect any existing school buildings that predated the Long Beach earthquake and renovate the buildings (if necessary) to ensure they met the new safety standards. A number of Alhambra’s public schools underwent extensive renovations beginning in the 1930s as a result of Field Act requirements. This work – which often included rebuilding either a portion of or all of each existing facility – continued within the district well into the 1960s.
Public Works Administration (PWA) and Works Project Administration (WPA) Projects Institutional development slowed as the Great Depression took hold; however, some construction continued in Alhambra, funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Although both programs operated under the umbrella of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, they differed in scope and funding. The
302 Osman R. Hull and Willard S. Ford, Survey of the Alhambra Public Schools: Housing, Finance, Business Management , University of Southern California Studies, second series, number 5 (Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1928), 35.
303 Alhambra Preservation Group, “Emery Park Elementary School Garners 2015 APG Award ,” The Prose of Preservation. January 5, 2016, https://proseofpreservation.org/2016/01/05/emery-park-elementary-school- garners-2015-apg-award/ (accessed January 2021).
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PWA was established in 1933 as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act; the agency focused on large-scale infrastructure development projects such as dams, bridges, tunnels, and schools.
The WPA was established in 1935 as
part of Roosevelt’s Second New Deal;
while the agency also focused much of
its efforts on the construction of
public infrastructure, WPA projects
were often smaller in scope and
focused at least in part on creating
jobs for unemployed Americans.
Alhambra benefitted from the
implementation of a number of PWA
and WPA projects during the 1930s,
along with several additional efforts
funded by other agencies.
WPA projects included the
rehabilitation of the science building
at Alhambra High School in 1935;
improvements to the playground at
Emery Park School in 1935;
construction of the West Valley
Boulevard Pedestrian Tunnel in 1935
(extant but closed); and improved
school grounds at the Fremont School
in 1939.
PWA projects included construction
of the Alhambra High School gymnasium (designed by architect John Walker Smart) in 1935, and the construction of Mark Keppel High School, which was opened in 1940. Mark Keppel High School also included three exterior murals by noted Southern California artist Millard Sheets.
Additional New Deal construction completed during this period included the development of the Alhambra Reservoir, funded by the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA); and the construction of the Alhambra Post Office, which was funded by the Treasury Department and featured several murals funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.
Millard Sheets at work on a
mural at Mark Keppel High
School, circa 1939. Alhambra
Preserva tion Group.
Interior, Mark Keppel
High School, circa 1940.
Alhambra Preservation
Group.
Mark Keppel High School, circa 1940. Alhambra
Preservation Group .
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Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Civic Buildings
• Post Offices, Fire and Police Stations
• Schools
• Libraries
• Religious Buildings
• Hospitals and Medical Facilities
• Social Clubs and Cultural Institutions
• Parks
• Infrastructure Improvements and other Civic Amenities, including electrical substations, reservoirs, roadways, and bridges • Public Art
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1920-1940
Significance Civic and institutional properties are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Institutional development during this period reflects the city’s continued expansion following World War I, and through the Great Depression.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• As an example of civic or institutional development
representing the continued civic and institutional growth during the 1920s and the Great Depression; or
• For an association with New Deal-era federal funding
programs.
Civic and institutional properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
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• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents important civic or institutional development from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern304 • May be associated with the Public Works Administration or the Works Project Administration
• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Signage may have changed
304 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 144
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Theme: Commercial Development, 1920-1940
Commercial activity exploded in Alhambra as the City’s population boomed. Retail trade, which covered about twenty-one blocks of the City by 1935, totaled nearly $9 million; the city 's three banks reported total resources of $423,316,752 for that year, with about $12 million in savings deposits.305
The automobile became a key factor in the evolution of commercial activity during the 1920s; the shift rendered several operations obsolete in a town that, consumed with ranching and agricultural activities, had once been driven by the horse and wagon. As Robert Studer recalled, “Once the ranchers in Alhambra had kept two harness-makers busy, but with the eventual end of ranching in town, and the beginning popularity of the automobile, the harness menders left Alhambra for greener pastures elsewhere…By 1920 the horse had become extinct in Alhambra.”306 Another shift in development patterns was noted with the closure of the Alhambra Orange Growers Association; the subdivision of groves for home sites gradually cut down on the production of oranges until, in 1932, there was not enough fruit to keep the association going, and it was discontinued.307 As some commercial sectors declined, others expanded. The beginnings of Alhambra’s present-day Auto Row originated during this period as automobile dealerships began to open along Main Street, and gas stations and automobile-service operations such as the Y Service Station, the Fremont Service Station, and D’Arcy Coach Works, Kehlet’s Garage, and Central Garage proliferated.
As the motion picture industry matured into the Golden Age of Cinema in the 1920s, entertainment also became big business, and live theatre and motion picture houses became popular additions during this period. By the end of the 1930s, there were five movie theaters in the city: the Alhambra Theatre (now known as the Superba Theatre); the second Alhambra Theatre (later known as the Coronet Theatre and then the Capri Theatre); the Temple Theater (later known as the El Rey Theatre), which was designed by Walker & Eisen and opened in 1921; the Alhambra Theatre, which was designed by George Weir and opened in 1924; and Bard’s Garfield Egyptian Theater, which was designed by Lewis Arthur Smith and opened in 1924 as part of the Valley Grand Building.
Other businesses operating during this period included the Alhambra Bakery, Phelan & Bezata Dry Goods, LeRoy Radio Electronics, Owl Drug, John French’s Inc., and Crawford’s Market. Crawford’s Market – the predecessor to the later Crawford’s Corner developed by the same family – opened two locations of the eponymous grocery store at the corner of
305 Studer, 163.
306 Studer, 72.
307 Studer, 57.
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Valley Boulevard and New Avenue in 1929, and subsequently at the corner of Valley Boulevard and Ninth.
As the population expanded, public utilities also increased their facilities to accommodate the increased operations that came with serving more customers The Los Angeles Gas & Electric Company opened its new Alhambra offices in 1929, in an impressive newly-built Italian Renaissance Revival-style building at 17 South 1st Street.308 Today, the building is known as the Granada Building. Southern California Edison also opened a new district headquarters building at 16 North 2nd Street in 1937.
Development of the Alhambra Airport
The Alhambra Airport represented one of the principal development efforts of the period.
Constructed in 1929 and dedicated in 1930, the Alhambra Airport was built to serve as the western terminal of Western Air Express, which later became known as Western Air Lines.
Airport facilities included a four-story passenger terminal as well as a massive hexagonal hangar – called the “Hex-Hangar,” it was said to be the largest in the world at the time – that permitted mechanics to work on six Fokker airliners with 100-foot wingspreads at the same time.
“In its heyday, Alhambra Airport was the scene of bustling activity,” recalled Robert Studer. “It was a favorite haunt of sports aviators as well as commercial airliners.” 309 The site also
served as the filming location of a number of motion pictures, including 13 Hours By Air (1936), Danger Flight (1939), Flying Blind (1941), They Met in Bombay (1941), and Flight Lieutenant (1942).
The airport’s success was relatively short-lived; beginning in 1937 the City began to receive a number of public complaints regarding the noise generated by the airfield, as well as the potential hazards associated with its operation. As the clouds of war gathered over Europe, however, the airport was reinvigorated when Lockheed Aircraft Corporation took over the facility for service as an official shipping station for the company’s military airplane orders placed overseas.
Location Filming in Alhambra
Alhambra bears the distinction of playing host to one of the earliest instances of location filming in Southern California – one that predates even the development of permanent motion picture production facilities in the region.
310 Although some non-fiction actuality
308 Alhambra Preservation Group, “Focus On: Alhambra’s 1920s Buildings,” The Prose of Preservation, May 17, 2020, https://proseofpreservation.org/2020/05/17/focus-on-alhambras-1920s-buildings/ (accessed January 2021).
309 Studer, 105.
310 For a more detailed discussion of location filming in Southern California, readers may wish to consult the following: SurveyLA Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context
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films were being made in downtown Los Angeles as early as the 1890s, the generally accepted advent of location filming in Southern California is the production of The Count of Monte Cristo, which was filmed in 1907 (likely in La Jolla) and released in 1908. Prior to that, however, the Biograph Film Company sent a cameraman to Los Angeles in June 1906 to film scenes for A Daring Hold-Up in Southern California, a recreation of an actual real-life robbery of passengers on a trolley car. The film, which was released in September 1906, featured scenes that had been staged in Alhambra that summer. 311 A second film, The Woman
Michael Married, was staged in the area in 1919. The polo fields of the Midwick Country Club also played host to three motion pictures as the 1920s drew to a close: Pleasure Crazed (1929), Their Own Desire (1929), and The Social Lion (1930). The most notable film staged at the country club, however, is likely The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), which starred Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.
Although Alhambra had certainly gotten an early start in the film business, it wasn’t until the opening of the Alhambra Airport that the City’s future as a filming location really took flight.
The 1930s saw the staging of such films as Flying High (1931), 13 Hours by Air (1936), Fugitive in the Sky (1936), and Danger Flight (1939). The industry’s demand for the airport as a filming location would continue well into the 1940s, as the advent of World War II motivated the production of more films that highlighted military themes and featured aviation as part of the plot.
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Mixed Use Commercial Building
• Commercial Office
• Retail Store
• Bank
• Restaurant
• Theater
• Hotel/Motel
• Airport-related building or feature
Statement: Context: Entertainment Industry, 1908-1980, Theme: Filming Locations Associated with the Motion Picture and Television Broadcasting Industries, 1908-1980,” prepared for the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning Office of Historic Resources by Historic Resources Group, September 2019, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/986211ba-6d75-4251-b239- c825dd704c6f/7.5_Entertainment_FilmingLocationsMotionPictureandTelevisionBroadcastingIndustries_1908 - 1980.pdf (accessed November 2021). For a list of films staged in Alhambra, see “Filming Location Matching ‘Alhambra, California’ (Sorted by Release Date Ascending),” Internet Movie Database [IMDb], https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=Alhambra,%20California&sort=release_date,asc (accessed November 2021). Locations associated with motion picture and television in Alhambra have been included here for informational and documentation purposes only, and do not represent an evaluation of significance or eligibility for designation.
311 See Andrew A. Erish, Col. William N. Selig, the Man Who Invented Hollywood (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2012), 220; and “The Movies Move In: The Beginnings of a Major California Industry,” California History Nugget IV, no. 1: 7-14, 12.
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• Recreational Facility
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1920-1940
Geographic Location Commercial activity from the period was located along Main Street.
Significance Commercial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Commercial development patterns reflect the growth of the city over time, from early agriculture to storefronts along Main Street.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an excellent example of commercial development in the 1920s and 1930s, when the automobile revolutionized
transportation, and thereby business, in Alhambra; or
• For an association with the Alhambra Airport.
A collection of commercial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development, and must be distinct from the surrounding areas.
Historic districts may also include multiple property types; for example a historic district may include both commercial and institutional properties that date from the period of significance and reflect the character and reason for the district.
Commercial properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
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o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in commercial development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra’s commercial development; and o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and o Retain the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors from the period of significance; and
o Displays original planning features of the commercial enclave or corridor; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 312
• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type • Replacement of storefronts is a common and acceptable alteration • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Storefront signage may have changed
• For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole. o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district.
312 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 149
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o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as the replacement of original storefronts, are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Industrial Development, 1920-1940
Industrial development played a critical role in Alhambra’s economic development in the years between the wars. As Robert Studer wrote, “Nothing in Alhambra’s long history has been of any greater importance to the city than its industrial development.” 313
Industrial development lagged for some time in Alhambra, “due, in part at least, to a lack of initiative on the part of the community,” wrote Studer. “The self-image of Alhambra as a bedroom of Los Angeles was a hard one to shake.”314 In 1923, however, a group of local businessmen organized Alhambra Industrial Syndicate to facilitate the purchase of 100 acres of land in the southwestern section of Alhambra and began the direct solicitation of industrial firms to establish operations in the area. This area was ideal for manufacturing purposes, with the Southern Pacific mainline to the south on Mission Road and the Pacific Electric freight lines to the north on Main Street; power, water, gas, and electricity were available, and several paved streets lined with telephone poles provided access to trucks to Los Angeles.
315
The Alhambra Chamber of Commerce also launched a selling campaign resulting in many sites being sold to important industrial firms. Within a few years, Alhambra's industrial area was producing an estimated $6 million worth of products and employing more than 2,000 workers, with a payroll totaling around $2 million.
316 Industrial operations included firms in
the manufacturing, engineering, electrical power and supply production, welding and machine work, steel pipe and tank production, and foundries, and others.317 Among the firms to locate in the area were C.F. Braun & Co., A. L. Boyden Company, Southern California Edison Company, Southwest Welding and Machine Company, Haddon Automatic Sprinkler Company, Reliance Gas Regulator Company, American Liquid Meter Company, and the Winroth Pump Company.318 Perhaps the most notable of these concerns was that of C.F. Braun, who relocated his eponymous petrochemical engineering company from San Francisco to Alhambra in 1921.319 Braun constructed an impressive complex that included 22 buildings and spanned 36 acres at the northeast corner of South Fremont Avenue and Mission Road.
By 1938, industrial activity was sufficient to warrant the addition of a freight rail line, which originated from the Glendora, Sierra Madre, and Alhambra lines and served the Alhambra
313 Studer, 103.
314 Studer, 103.
315 Michael Anthony Orozco, Alhambra, with images from the Alhambra Historical Society, Images of America (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012), 61.
316 Studer, 122.
317 Studer, 123.
318 Studer, 122-123.
319 Alhambra Preservation Group, “Focus On: Alhambra’s 1920s Buildings,” The Prose of Preservation, May 17, 2020, https://proseofpreservation.org/2020/05/17/focus-on-alhambras-1920s-buildings/ (accessed January 2021).
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and Shorb branch.320 By 1940, with nearly 4,000 employees, the industrial firms in Alhambra were annually producing over $8 million, ranking the area 14th in value of products in California.321
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Infrastructure Improvements, including Water-related resources, Transportation and Shipping-related Facilities; Railroad Facilities or Features
• Manufacturing Facilities; including Daylight or Controlled- Conditions Factories and Warehouses
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1920-1940
Geographic Location Located throughout Alhambra, largely in proximity to rail lines along Mission Road and Main Street
Significance Industrial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Industrial development patterns reflect the growth of the city between World Wars I and II, including the selling campaign launched by the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce that drew a number of important industrial firms. Note that in order to be individually eligible for designation for representing a pattern of development, the property must be the first of its type, a rare remnant example of a very early period of development, or a catalyst for development in the city. Merely dating from a specific period is typically not enough to qualify for designation.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• As a good example of prewar industrial growth, including continued growth in light industrial and manufacturing uses to serve the growing population in the area; or
320 “Alhambra-San Gabriel Line.”
321 Studer, 123.
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• For an important association with significant infrastructure improvements, including advancements in railroad
transportation.
A collection of industrial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may represent multiple related industrial properties, or they may span several periods of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in industrial development from this period or facet of Alhambra’s industrial history; or
o Is associated with a significant industrial corporation with a headquarters in Alhambra; and
o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 322
• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association
322 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 153
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• Some historic materials or details may have been altered or removed • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole. o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Residential Development, 1920-1940
Building permit valuations reached $7,231,330 in 1923, a high that was not equaled until immediately after World War II.323 A record number of tracts – 118 in total – were recorded between 1920 and 1940; over one hundred of those tracts were recorded in the 1920s.
Subdivision activity peaked in 1923, when forty tracts were recorded.324
323 “Electronic Scrapbook of Alhambra History,” City of Alhambra, archived from the original on October 20, 2013 at
https://web.archive.org/web/20131030084147/http://www.cityofalhambra.org:80/community/scrapbook.ht ml (accessed December 2020).
324 For a complete list of tracts recorded by development period, refer to Appendix D.
Location of residential building permits filed between 1923 and 1927, showing areas of growth in the City during the mid-1920s. From Osman and Hull’s Survey of the Alhambra Public Schools , 1928.
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Notable tracts recorded during this period included Emery Park, the Mayfair Tract, and the Orange Blossom Manor Tract. Emery Park, which was located west of Fremont Avenue and south of Main Street, comprised 500 acres of land that had once been part of Dolgeville and was later annexed to the City of Alhambra in 1908. The Mayfair Tract represented one of Alhambra’s last major undeveloped parcels, comprising 63 acres bounded by San Marino Avenue on the north, Garfield Avenue on the east, Valley Boulevard on the south, and Sixth Street on the west. The Orange Blossom Manor Tract was subdivided from land once owned by Francis Q. Story, a pioneering Alhambra citrus farmer, who began dividing his acreage during the 1920s.
325
Concentrations of residences dating from this period can be found in the present-day neighborhoods of Alhambra Park, East Ramona, East Ramona Park, East Shorb, Emery Park, Emery Park Hills, Ethel Park, Lindaraxa Park, Martha Baldwin, Mayfair Park, Midwick Park/Alhambra Hills, Olive Avenue, and West Ramona.
One of the most notable residences constructed during the 1920s was the Pyrenees Castle, which was commissioned by Sylvestre Dupuy. Dupuy, who had been raised in France, settled in the San Gabriel Valley with his family in 1910, where he dabbled in agriculture and ranching, as well as real estate development and oil. Enjoying the financial fruits of his labor, Dupuy commissioned architect John Walker Smart to design an expansive estate reminiscent
325 Alhambra Preservation Group, “Focus On: Alhambra’s 1920s Neighborhoods,” The Prose of Preservation, September 27, 2020, https://proseofpreservation.org/2020/09/27/focus-on-alhambras-1920s- neighborhoods/ (accessed January 2021).
Mayfair Tract, Alhambra, 1929. Huntington Digital Library. 156
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of the chateaux Dupuy recalled from his childhood. The result was the Pyrenees Castle, which was completed in 1926. The estate gardens were elaborate that the landscaping was not yet complete when Dupuy died eleven years later in 1937.
Multi-family residential construction increased exponentially in the 1920s as new residents flocked to Southern California. This trend is apparent today throughout Alhambra’s residential landscape; more extant examples remain of two-unit construction dating from the 1920s and 1930s than multi-family development from any other time period. However, the development of multi-family properties was still a largely individual enterprise, distinguished primarily by piecemeal construction in largely single-family neighborhoods. Duplexes and fourplexes were popular beginning in the 1910s and throughout the 1920s as they maintained the appearance of a single-family residence while accommodating two or four families. 326 These types of dwellings could be integrated into neighborhoods consisting of
326 “Garden Apartments of Los Angeles Historic Context Statement,” prepared for the Los Angeles Conservancy by Architectural Resources Group, October 2012, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/44a35225-2c50-4d41-80b1- 605cec58373e/GardenApartmentsofLosAngeles_ContextStatement.pdf (accessed March 2022).
Sylvester Dupuy Residence. Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Ang eles Public Library . 157
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predominantly single-family residences without disrupting the overall scale and architectural vocabulary of the area.327
Although two units remained the prevailing scale constructed in Alhambra, greater numbers of every type were constructed, and higher-density designs were becoming increasingly popular. The bungalow court, which had emerged in Pasadena in around 1908 and quickly spread throughout Southern California, was the first multi-family property type to integrate common garden or courtyard space into the site plan.328 The bungalow court was a particularly popular choice because it reflected a more domestic setting than was offered by the typical apartment house, but at a more affordable rent than most single-family homes.329 While the bungalow court reflected the earliest attempt at a compromise between privacy and density, the pressing demand for more housing made it necessary to develop a higher- density residential alternative.330 Courtyard apartments were the natural successor to the bungalow court, and allowed for increased density by introducing multi-story massing, which could more than double the number of units that could be accommodated on the same lot.
By the late 1930s, courtyard apartments began to give way to garden apartments, which applied the same planning principles to larger “superblocks” that were composed of multiple parcels.
327 “Garden Apartments of Los Angeles Historic Context Statement.” 328 “Garden Apartments of Los Angeles Historic Context Statement.” 329 SurveyLA Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement:
Context: Residential Development and Suburbanization, 1880-1980, Theme: Multi-Family Residential Development, 1910-1980,” prepared for the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning Office of Historic Resources by Historic Resources Group, December 2018, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/1a7b1647-4516-45da-9cff-db2db3b9b440/Multi- FamilyResidentialDevelopment_1910-1980.pdf (accessed March 2022). 330 SurveyLA Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement:
Context: Residential Development and Suburbanization, 1880-1980, Theme: Multi-Family Residential Development, 1910-1980.”
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Redlining Practices in Alhambra
In order to assess mortgage security risks for individual properties within the City of Alhambra, the City was mapped in 1939 as part of the County of Los Angeles.331 (A copy of the map is included in the following Figure 2. At the time, each area of the City was assigned one of four colors:
A. “Newer, Most Desired” (color-code Green); sometimes noted as “First Grade”
HOLC described A areas as “‘hot spots’…where good mortgage lenders with available funds are willing to make their maximum loans… – perhaps up to 75-80% of appraisal.”
A. “Older, Still Desirable” (color-code Blue); sometimes noted as “Second Grade”
HOLC described B areas as “still good” but not as “hot” as A areas. “They are neighborhoods where good mortgage lenders will have a tendency to hold commitments 10-15% under the limits,” or around 65% of appraisal.
B. “In Decline” (color-code Yellow); sometimes noted as “Third Grade” HOLC described C areas as “characterized by obsolescence [and] infiltration of lower grade population.” Good mortgage lenders are more conservative in Third grade or C areas and hold commitments under the lending ratio for the A and B areas.
C. “Hazardous” (color-code Red); sometimes noted as “Fourth Grade” HOLC described D areas as “characterized by detrimental influences in a pronounced degree, under desirable population or an infiltration of it.” The recommended lenders “refuse to make loans in these areas [or] only on a conservative basis.
The majority of the land inside the City boundaries was divided into eight areas, which were recorded on Area Description Forms A46, B77, B78, B89, C39, C97, C98, and D39.
331 “Los Angeles, CA,” Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America.” Refer to descriptions for Areas A46, B77, B78, B89, C39, C97, C98, and D39. Note that the area description for Area C98 is not available online.
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Figure 2: Redline Map of Alhambra
Detail, Los Angeles and Vicinity Residential Security Map, 1939. A line marking the approximate city boundary in blue has been added for clarity. Mapping Ineq uality: Redlining in New Deal America. 160
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Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Single-Family Residence
• Multi-Family Residence
o Apartment House
o Duplex/Fourplex
o Bungalow Court
o One-story Court
o Courtyard Apartment
o Garden Apartment
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1920-1940
Significance Individual residential properties that are eligible under this criterion may be significant for one of the reasons listed below. Note that in order to be individually eligible for designation for representing a pattern of development, the property must be the first of its type, a rare remnant example of a very early period of development, or a catalyst for development in the city or neighborhood. Merely dating from a specific period is typically not enough to qualify for designation.
Individual properties that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For exemplifying an important trend or pattern of
development (in general, properties significant for this reason will primarily be eligible as contributors to historic districts).
Residences that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents an important pattern or trend in residential development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra residential development; or
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and 161
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• Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern332 • May be significant for a specific association with an industry in Alhambra Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Some historic materials or details may be altered or removed if the property retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation • Landscape and hardscape features may also be contributing features to eligible multi-family residential properties.
332 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 162
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Property Type • Historic District
• Tract Feature/Amenity (including street trees or other significant landscape features, streetlights)
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1920-1940
Significance A collection of residences that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may also be significant for architectural merit under Criterion C/3.333 District boundaries may represent original tract boundaries, or they may comprise several adjacent tracts, or a portion of a tract or neighborhood. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan, physical development, and architectural quality; and distinct from the surrounding area. Tract features, including streetlights, landscaping, parkland, and other amenities may contribute to the significance of the district.
Historic districts that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As a representative concentration or enclave of residential development from this period in Alhambra’s history.
Residential districts that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
• Reflects planning and design principles from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of a residential subdivision, including the original layout, street plan, and other planning features; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
333 Eligibility criteria are listed in the standard format National Register/California Register. 163
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Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern334 Integrity Considerations:
• The majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole.
o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as replacement roof materials, replacement garage doors, and replacement of windows within original openings may be acceptable. However, major alterations to individual residences, such as substantial additions that are visible from the public right-of-way or alter the original roofline, and loss of significant fabric (e.g., replacement of windows, doors, and wall cladding in a single residence) would not be acceptable and the building would be considered a non- contributor to the district.
o Original tract features may also be contributing features to a historic district under this theme.
Criteria National Register: B California Register: 2 Period of Significance 1920-1940
Significance Individual properties may be significant for an association with a significant person. Properties eligible under this criterion are typically those associated with a person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he or she achieved significance. According to National Park Service guidance, a property is not eligible if its only justification is that it was owned or used by a person who is a member of an identifiable profession, class, or social or ethnic group. It must be shown that the person gained importance within a profession or group.
For properties associated with groups, it is necessary to identify specific individuals and to explain their specific accomplishments. The
334 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 164
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individual(s) associated with the property must have made some specific important contribution to history.
Properties eligible under this criterion may be associated with:
• People who played a significant role in the early 20th century development of the area; or
• People who made significant contributions to a demonstrably important profession; or
• Members of a particular social, cultural, or ethnic group who made a demonstrably significant contribution to local, state, or national history.
Registration Requirements:
• Has a proven association with the productive period of a person important to local, state, or national history; and
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style from the period of significance (i.e., the period when it was associated with the important person); and
• Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association. o General rule: property must be recognizable to contemporaries of the person with which it is associated.
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Land use map showing part of Alhambra, 1936/1937. Sheet 12 of Book 14, County Surveyor Coordinates 141/241. Huntington Library.
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IX. ALHAMBRA DURING WORLD WAR II (1941-1945)
Japan’s attack on the American naval fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, marked the United States’ entrance into World War II. Alhambra’s population increased during this period, as “people from all over the United States moved to Southern California to find employment in the arms industry.” 335
Unlike World War I, which – having been conducted on foreign shores – had had little impact on daily life in America, this time the war prompted a marked change in both the daily life and development of Alhambra. The City of Alhambra was now considered to be a combat zone, and for the first time a U.S. Army unit was stationed in the city. The Headquarters Battery 78th Regimen Anti-Aircraft Artillery was housed in a large building located at the corner of Sixth and Main Streets, and a restaurant across the street, the Little Dutch Garden, was converted into a mess hall.
336 A Victory House was also constructed
next to the old City Hall at Second and Main Streets for the sale of war bonds and savings stamps.337 And, with wartime gasoline rationing in full effect, the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce launched the Hi Neighbor parade as an attempt to encourage residents to conserve gasoline and keep commerce local.
338 The luncheon, which was open to both
residents and local merchants, became a tradition that continued for over thirty years.
POPULATION, IMMIGRATION, AND EXCLUSIONARY POLICIES DURING WORLD WAR II
Two principal policies influenced population and immigration during this brief period:
Executive Order 9066 and the Magnuson Act. The most significant by far was Executive Order 9066, which called for the removal of Japanese from the West Coast.
Executive Order 9066
Envy over economic success combined with distrust over cultural separateness and long- standing anti-Asian racism turned into disaster when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.339 Lobbyists from western states, many representing competing economic interests or nativist groups, pressured Congress and the President to remove persons of Japanese descent from the west coast, both Issei, or foreign-born first-generation Japanese; as well as Nisei¸ or American-born second-generation Japanese who had become American citizens. During Congressional committee hearings, Department of Justice representatives raised constitutional and ethical objections to the proposal, so the U.S. Army
335 Orozco, 8.
336 Studer, 113.
337 Risher, 79.
338 Risher, 84-85.
339 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from “Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942),” https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=74 (accessed November 2021).
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carried out the task instead. The West Coast was divided into military zones, and on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing exclusion. Congress then implemented the order on March 21, 1942, by passing Public Law 503.
After encouraging voluntary evacuation of the areas, the Western Defense Command began involuntary removal and detention of West Coast residents of Japanese ancestry. In the next six months, approximately 122,000 men, women, and children were moved to assembly centers. They were then evacuated to and confined in isolated, fenced, and guarded relocation centers, known as internment camps. The 10 relocation sites were in remote areas in six western states and Arkansas: Heart Mountain in Wyoming, Tule Lake and Manzanar in California, Topaz in Utah, Poston and Gila River in Arizona, Granada in Colorado, Minidoka in Idaho, and Jerome and Rowher in Arkansas.
Nearly 70,000 of the evacuees were American citizens. The government made no charges against them, nor could they appeal their incarceration. All lost personal liberties; most lost homes and property as well. Although several Japanese Americans challenged the government’s actions in court cases, the Supreme Court upheld their legality. Nisei were nevertheless encouraged to serve in the armed forces, and some were also drafted.
Altogether, more than 30,000 Japanese Americans served with distinction during World War II in segregated units.
Magnuson Act
In 1943, Congress passed the Magnuson Act, a measure to repeal the discriminatory exclusion laws against Chinese immigrants and to establish an immigration quota for China of around 105 visas per year.340 As such, the Chinese were both the first to be excluded in the beginning of the era of immigration restriction and the first Asians to gain entry to the United States in the era of liberalization. The repeal of this act was a decision almost wholly grounded in the exigencies of World War II, as Japanese propaganda made repeated reference to Chinese exclusion from the United States in order to weaken the ties between the United States and its ally, the Republic of China. The fact that in addition to general measures preventing Asian immigration, the Chinese were subject to their own, unique prohibition had long been a source of contention in Sino-American relations. There was little opposition to the repeal, because the United States already had in place a number of measures to ensure that, even without the Chinese Exclusion Laws explicitly forbidding Chinese immigration, Chinese still could not enter. The Immigration Act of 1924 had stated that aliens ineligible for U.S. citizenship were not permitted to enter the United States, and this included the Chinese.
340 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, “Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1943,” https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937- 1945/chinese-exclusion-act-repeal (accessed November 2021). 168
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In light of the overall immigration to the United States, at first glance the new quota seemed insignificant. Yet, those concerned about an onslaught of Chinese (or Asian) immigration and its potential impact on American society and racial composition believed that even this small quota represented an opening wedge through which potentially thousands of Chinese could enter the United States. Because migration within the Western Hemisphere was not regulated by the quota system, it seemed possible that Chinese residents in Central and South America would re-migrate to the United States. Moreover, if the Chinese of Hong Kong were to apply under the vast, largely unused British quota, thousands could enter each year on top of the number of available Chinese visas.
Fears about the economic, social, and racial effect of a “floodtide” of Chinese immigrants led to a compromise bill – fears that mirrored the xenophobic arguments that had led to Chinese Exclusion in the first place, some sixty years previously. Under this bill, there would be a quota on Chinese immigration, but, unlike European quotas based on country of citizenship, the Chinese quota would be based on ethnicity. Chinese immigrating to the United States from anywhere in the world would be counted against the Chinese quota, even if they had never been to China or had never held Chinese nationality. Creating this special, ethnic quota for the Chinese was a way for the United States to combat Japanese propaganda by proclaiming that Chinese were welcome, but at the same time, to ensure that only a limited number of Chinese actually entered the country.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt threw the weight of his office behind the compromise measure, connecting the importance of the measure to American wartime goals. In a letter to Congress, Roosevelt wrote that passing the bill was vital to correcting the “historic mistake” of Chinese exclusion, and he emphasized that the legislation was “important in the cause of winning the war and of establishing a secure peace.”
341
Continued Redlining Practices
By 1940, eighty (80) percent of properties in Los Angeles included racial restrictive covenants in their deeds.
342 These restrictive covenants, coupled with HOLC redlining, reinforced de-facto racial segregation and undermine efforts by minority homeowners to obtain funding for improving their homes and, by extension, their neighborhoods.
In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Shelley v. Kraemer, ruled that racial restrictive covenants were unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment and, therefore, legally unenforceable. It took much longer, however, to outlaw redlining, which would not become illegal for another twenty years.343
341 U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, “Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1943.” 342 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from “Redlining in Los Angeles County .” 343 “Redlining in Los Angeles County.”
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WARTIME GROWTH IN ALHAMBRA, 1941-1945
Transportation and Modernization
Beginning in 1940, the Pacific Electric Railway inaugurated a Modernization Program that proposed a number of changes to existing rail lines. As part of this program, Pacific Electric asked the Public Utilities Commission for permission to abandon the Alhambra Line “Red Cars” and replace passenger service with buses. The final run was made on November 30, 1941.
Alhambra was first of the major interurbans to “go bus,” only one week before Pearl Harbor, although a number of interurban lines would eventually be replaced in a similar fashion.
344 Existing trackage was retained for freight service between Sierra Vista and West Alhambra throughout the war, but later abandoned in 1951.345 Annexations
Beginning in the 1940s, the City of Alhambra began to annex additional land to expand its boundaries for the first time in fifteen years. These annexations comprised land in the eastern and southern portions of present-day Alhambra and primarily represented areas that would be subdivided for further residential development in the years following World War II, largely on the former sites of the Midwick Country Club and the Alhambra Airport.
During World War II, the Alhambra Airport became an official shipping point for Lockheed’s military airplanes, including large numbers of P-38 Lightning fighters. 346 In 1945,
the airport was purchased by the Harlow Aircraft Company, which used the site to manufacture small aircraft until the business failed a year later; the property was subsequently sold for residential development. The land comprising the airport was annexed in 1944 as part of the T. W. A. Airport annexation.
The Midwick Country Club had been experiencing financial difficulties for some time before World War II. As Former SCGA Amateur and California Amateur champion Charles Seaver remembers recalled, “The reason it died wasn't really the Depression. Instead, it was that the club stopped reaching out for new members and eventually the membership just started dying off until it was too late."
347 After defaulting on its bonds, the club was sold at public auction in 1941 to Alhambra “Banana King” Dominic Jebbia, for $178,000.348 Lease negotiations with the City of Alhambra to operate the property as a public park fell through, and for a time it continued operate as a private club known as the Southern California Golf
344 “Rail Service Abolished on Northern District,” Timepoints 3, no. 4 (October 1951). 345 “Alhambra-San Gabriel Line.”
346 “Alhambra Airport/Western Air College Airport, Alhambra, CA,” Abandoned & Little -Known Airfields, revised June 17, 2020, http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_LA_E.htm#alhambra (accessed January 2021).
347 “SCGA History, Part 2: 1920-1939,” Southern California Golf Association, https://www.scga.org/about/scga-history/part-2#ch1 (accessed March 2021). 348 Studer, 108.
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Club. Then, in 1944, a fire swept the property, destroying the iconic clubhouse. The property continued to operate as a public course for several years until it was subdivided for residential development. The land comprising the Midwick Country Club was acquired through multiple annexations, one of the earliest being the Midwick Addition No. 2 in 1941.
Smaller annexations, such as the Pasadena Annex No. 1, the Ramona Boulevard annexation, and the Hellman Avenue annexation, consisted of much smaller portions of land, but served equally important purposes. The Pasadena Annex No. 1 represented land offered to the City of Alhambra by the City of Pasadena in an effort to prevent the City of San Gabriel – which had been negotiating with residents to the south to form an annexation district – from annexing the entire Crown City Ranch property and assuming control of the Tri-City Sewer Farm.
349
Table 8: Annexations, 1941-1945350
Effective Date Annexation Name
11/28/1941 Midwick Addition No. 2
11/30/1944 Pasadena Annex No. 1
12/18/1944 Mark Keppel
12/21/1944 T. W. A. Airport
4/23/1945 Ramona Boulevard
4/23/1945 Hellman Avenue
349 “Land Offered to Alhambra,” Pasadena Star-News, August 24, 1944. 350 For a complete list of annexations and links to accompanying annexation records, refer to Appendix C. 171
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN ALHAMBRA, 1941-1945 Extant resources dating to this period are located throughout the City. Single-family properties in the City of Alhambra constructed between 1941 and 1945 are relatively rare, and were largely constructed in the three tracts subdivided during the period. These tracts were spread across the City, but only numbered 77 parcels in total. Residences from this period represent modest one-story vernacular residences as well as examples of prominent architectural styles of the period, including Minimal Traditional and Ranch. Commercial activity from the period continued to expand along Main Street and began to populate Mission Road and Valley Boulevard as well.
Infrastructural Improvements
Few improvements were made to Alhambra’s infrastructure during World War II; this was due in large part to the fact that necessary materials that would have been used for construction were diverted for the manufacture of military equipment. Existing infrastructure was taxed, however, by the strain of both a growing population as well as an outsized demand for services that arose as a result of Alhambra’s role as a center for manufacturing. The following account of Alhambra’s telephone exchange during World War II, as explained by William Northrup, paints a picture of how infrastructure in Alhambra was impacted during this period.
America's massing of its resources for war drained off supplies of materials used in the construction of telephone plants, with the result that the telephone company, seeking to release for war uses materials it ordinarily used, turned to substitutes, and shortly halted plant extensions, except for essential purposes associated with public health, safety and welfare.
The burden remained heavy and became heavier, as war plants expanded, war workers made their homes in the area, civilian defense groups mobilized and service men, many of them away from home for the first rime, turned to the telephone to communicate with their families. In addition, with the growth of the city, the volume of the calls necessary to the maintenance of civilian economy swelled.
Thus, as the war went on, the spare margins of [the] telephone plant were exhausted and it was necessary for the telephone company to call upon its customers co make their calls brief, reduce the number of calls, place their calls during the off-peak hours and otherwise assist in making the telephone plant serve until, with the cessation of hostilities, materials again became available for enlargement of the telephone system.
351
351 Northrup, 72-73.
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Theme: Civic and Institutional Development, 1941-1945
Many of the clubs and social organizations formed during this period were dedicated to the wartime effort, or to the support of soldiers and families affected by the war, including the Alhambra U.S.O. (dedicated 1942), the American Women’s Voluntary Service, the Navy Mother’s Club (1942), and the Blue Star Mothers (1943).
The Red Cross prevailed as the most influential and important organization of the period, due in large part to the support services they provided for the war effort, which included first aid classes held “were in almost continuous session.” 352 With so many additional
demands for services, a new Red Cross chapter house was constructed on Bushnell Avenue in April 1942 - the Red Cross’s one-third interest in the police department’s two-way radio communication system was surrendered in payment for the land.353 A garage was built to house a new donated ambulance, and in 1944 an addition was added by moving a building from Camp Santa Anita.
354
A U.S.O. club was also opened in 1942 on the ground floor of the Andres Building at Main Street and Atlantic Boulevard. Building owner Frank Andres donated the space rent-free, and a canteen was opened with free service for men in uniform.
Eligibility Standards are located at the end of the section, following the Residential Development theme.
352 Studer, 112.
353 Studer, 202.
354 Studer, 203.
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Theme: Commercial Development, 1941-1945
As Alhambra was already an established center of industry, economic activity exploded in the City as nearby factories were converted for war use and new residents relocated to the area to work in the defense industry. By 1941, retail trade had jumped to $15 million and the city’s industrial output was estimated at $25,380,000; the retail area had expanded to cover almost 35 blocks of retail stores and shops, and the city’s jobbing territory served more than 150,000 persons.355 However, despite the increased economic activity, commercial construction during this period was limited as building materials were diverted to the defense industry to assist with the war effort.
As retail boomed, a number of new shops and restaurants opened in Alhambra during the war years. Included among them are some of the city’s most beloved establishments, including Fosselman’s Ice Cream, which opened an ice cream parlor at 1824 West Main Street in 1941. Bun ‘n Burger also opened that same year at 1000 East Main Street in a building designed by architect Walter Zick, and remains in operation today. The eighteenth and final location of the Chili Bowl restaurant chain also opened in Alhambra in 1941 at 501 West Valley Boulevard; the building is now home to the Kim Chuy Restaurant. However, the building continues to retain its distinctive chili bowl-shaped form.
Retail operations included the beloved Pedrini’s Music Store, which opened on Main Street around 1941 and remained in operation for nearly sixty years until the building was subdivided in 2001.
Location Filming in Alhambra
War, along with its many horrors, had been the subject of films since the dawn of the industry. However, the 1940s represented the first time that Hollywood’s depictions of war – complete with sound and all the effects it allowed – would play alongside an actual war in real time, rather than merely depicting a historical battle. This unique circumstance presented filmmakers with an opportunity to harness the power and reach of the medium to communicate patriotic, pro-American messages to the general public.
By this time, motion pictures were firmly established as the prevailing form of popular entertainment in America. However, the function of films during this period extended far beyond merely serving as vehicles for entertainment. Their distribution played a critical role in communicating certain ideas and values to a widespread audience. This quality was one that filmmakers hoped to harness during the years of World War II, when motion pictures had the power to promote the country’s wartime policy interests. To that end, films released during this period emphasized themes of patriotism, personal sacrifice, and a larger national identity.
355 Studer, 123.
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As a result, filming activity in Alhambra peaked during this comparatively short period as filmmakers sought to capitalize on the City’s picture-perfect airport, which proved to be the perfect setting for a growing number of films featuring aviation, military, and combat themes. Films staged in Alhambra during this period include Flying Wild (1941); They Met in Bombay (1941), with Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell, and Peter Lorre; International Squadron (1941), with Ronald Reagan; Flying Blind (1941); They Died With Their Boots On (1941), with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland; and Flight Lieutenant (1942).
Although the Alhambra Airport was the star of the show for filming activities during this period, the Midwick Country Club also made a cameo in National Velvet (1944), which starred a then-twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor.
Eligibility Standards are located at the end of the section, following the Residential Development theme.
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Theme: Industrial Development, 1941-1945
Industrial growth in the City exploded during World War II as “great airplane factories and shipyards increased their turnout of war material and hundreds of small plants sprang up to manufacture the various articles of battle.”356 Many facilities were converted for wartime production. According to Robert Studer, “The city’s industrial…growth was going at full speed by 1942 with war contracts and defense spending.”357 The Standard Felt Corporation was one such factory operating at maximum capacity producing felts for aircraft, tanks, and rockets.
358
Eligibility Standards are located at the end of the section, following the Residential Development theme.
356 Studer, 112.
357 Studer, 123.
358 Risher, 31.
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Theme: Residential Development, 1941-1945
Residential construction flourished as Alhambra entered the 1940s, but after the bombing of Pearl Harbor development essentially ground to a halt. The disparity between the number of extant parcels constructed in 1941 and 1942 reflects the cessation of nearly all non-essential construction during World War II so that critical building materials could be diverted to the war effort. However, three modest residential subdivisions were recorded during this period, placing a total of 77 additional residential parcels on the market, and assessor tax records suggest that individual residential lots were improved during this period, though no large- scale development efforts took place.
359
Tract No. 12774 consisted of 45 lots flanking Story Place between Cynthia Street to the north and Alhambra Road to the south, while Tract No. 12074 consisted of ten lots on the west side of Eighth Street, just south of Front Street. Tract No. 11536 represented the subdivision of a portion of the original extent of the estate associated with the “Pyrenees Castle” residence built by Sylvestre Dupuy in 1926. Dupuy subsequently died in 1937; his family continued to reside at the estate for another ten years, subdividing the northern portion of the property that fronted Valley Boulevard into twenty-two residential lots. The main residence was sold the following year to real estate developer and race car enthusiast E.
T. Bondurant.
Although the single-family residence remained the prevailing type of housing constructed during this period, albeit in a more limited capacity, some multi-family properties were developed during the war. Alhambra residents continued to embrace duplexes and accessory residential units, with “two-unit” properties representing the primary scale developed during this period.
Eligibility Standards
Property Types
Properties eligible under this context may be examples of Civic/Institutional (including Infrastructure Improvements and Civic Amenities), Commercial, Industrial, or Residential development.
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1941-1945
Significance There was not much widespread development in the City of Alhambra during World War II.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
359 For a complete list of tracts recorded by development period, refer to Appendix D. 177
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• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an example of development specifically related to World War II.
Properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents important development from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 360
• May be associated with the war effort
• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Materials, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Signage may have changed
360 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 178
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Photo comparison showing the subdivision of Midwick Country Club, one of the largest development projects that defined the postwar era. Midwick Tract Development Project website. 179
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X. POSTWAR GROWTH AND PROSPERITY (1946-1967)
Along with many communities throughout California, the City of Alhambra experienced tremendous growth in the years following World War II as returning GIs sought homes for their young families and defense workers who had relocated to the area for the duration of the war opted to stay. The resultant physical development and demand for housing and services transformed the landscape of Alhambra with higher-density development in every sector.
In 1964, the City of Alhambra engaged the noted planner and architect Victor Gruen to develop a master plan of the City’s projected growth over a twenty-year period. 361 By that
time the City was already considering options for redevelopment; at the time it was noted that the plan could “pave the way for Alhambra to further consider the necessity of an urban renewal project,” noting that “compiling a projected plan of the city is mandatory before urban renewal could be instituted.”
362 In 1965, the City adopted its first General Plan.
POPULATION, IMMIGRATION, AND CIVIL RIGHTS POLICIES OF THE EARLY POSTWAR ERA
For many years after the war, various individuals and groups sought compensation for Japanese who had been incarcerated during World War II. 363 The speed of the evacuation
had forced many homeowners and businessmen to sell out quickly; total property loss is estimated at $1.3 billion, and net income loss at $2.7 billion (calculated in 1983 dollars based on the Commission investigation below). The Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act of 1948, with amendments in 1951 and 1965, provided token payments for some property losses.
The repeal of Chinese exclusion during World War II paved the way for measures in 1946 to admit Filipino and Asian-Indian immigrants.
364 The exclusion of both of these groups had
long damaged U.S. relations with the Philippines and India. Eventually, Asian exclusion ended with the 1952 Immigration Act, although that Act followed the pattern of the Chinese quota and assigned racial, not national, quotas to all Asian immigrants. This system did not
361 “Planning Survey, Pay Raises to Be Discussed,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1964. 362 “Planning Survey, Pay Raises to Be Discussed,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1964. 363 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from “Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942),” https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=74 (accessed November 2021). More serious efforts to make amends took place in the early 1980s, when the congressionally established Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians held investigations and made recommendations. As a result, several bills were introduced in Congress from 1984 until 1988, when Public Law 100-383, which acknowledged the injustice of the internment, apologized for it, and provided for restitution, was passed.
364 The following discussion has been excerpted and adapted from U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, “Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1943,” https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937- 1945/chinese-exclusion-act-repeal (accessed November 2021). 180
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end until Congress did away with the National Origins quota system altogether in the Immigration Act of 1965.
The decades following the massive suburbanization after World War II led to demographic shifts in Southern California communities. During this era the demographics of Alhambra and the larger San Gabriel Valley began to evolve away from a predominantly Anglo population to a diverse community. In the 1950s, Italian Americans settled in Alhambra’s pre-war bungalows. In the following decade, the Latino population in Alhambra increased in number.
365
The Civil Rights Movement emerged in the mid-1950s, arising out of African Americans’ desire to abolish institutional racism, racial segregation, and disenfranchisement in the United States. The movement was characterized by the principles of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, although protestors employing nonviolent methods nevertheless frequently encountered violent opposition. Although the Civil Rights Movement found its ideological roots amidst the Reconstruction Era in the years following the Civil War, it founds its real footing in the 1960s through a series of landmark legislative victories. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 represented the first civil rights legislation to be adopted by Congress since the Civil War and called for the establishment of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Subsequent Civil Rights Acts passed in 1960 and 1964 strengthened voter protections; outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin; and prohibited racial segregation in schools. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 enforced the voting rights granted by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and prohibited discriminatory voting practices.
Other legislation aimed to eliminate discriminatory practices in other arenas. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act ended discriminatory quotas favoring Europeans over Chinese and other non-European immigrants, which allowed a diverse population of Chinese to immigrate to the United States, with many settling in the San Gabriel Valley. 366 In
the decades following, Alhambra, along with many other San Gabriel Valley communities, developed into an ethnoburb. Geographer Wei Li describes ethnoburbs as “suburban ethnic clusters of residential and business districts within large metropolitan areas. They are multiracial/multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual, and often multinational communities in
365 Denise Lawrence- Zúñiga, “Bungalows and Mansions: White Suburbs, Immigrant Aspirations, and Aesthetic Governmentality,” Anthropological Quarterly 87, no. 3 (Summer 2014): 819-854, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43653031 (accessed November 2021), 821. 366 Amy Luu, “The Chinese American Experience in the San Gabriel Valley,” Chinese American Museum, Summer 1999, archived from the original on January 12, 2008 at https://web.archive.org/web/20080112153600/http://www.camla.org/history/sangabri.htm (accessed January 2021).
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which one ethnic group has significant concentration but does not necessarily comprise the majority.”367
Table 9: Population in Alhambra by Decade, 1946-1967368 Year White
Native and
Foreign-Born
Native
American
Black Chinese Filipino Japanese Other
Races
Overall
Pop.
1950 51,129 (10) 116 (27) (48) 114 51,359
1960 54,483 31 89 56 26 107 15 54,807
Table 10: Rate of Population Growth in Alhambra by Decade, 1946-1967 Year White
Native and
Foreign-Born
Native
American
Black Chinese Filipino Japanese Other
Races
Overall
Pop.
1950 31.99% 42.88% 46.84% 170.00% ––– -23.81% -4.20% 31.91% 1960 6.56% 210.00% -23.28% 107.41% ––– 122.92% -86.84% 6.71%
POST-WORLD WAR II GROWTH IN ALHAMBRA, 1946-1967
Annexations
In the years following the war, the City of Alhambra continued a program of annexation to acquire and subdivide land for further residential development in the eastern and southern regions of the present-day City. Of the sixteen annexations recorded during this period, eight comprised land formerly part of the Midwick Country Club. The remaining eight annexations included land located largely in the area bounded by Mission Road to the north, South New Avenue to the east, Valley Boulevard to the south, and South Almansor Street to the west.
367 Denise Lawrence-Zuniga, “Bungalows and Mansions,” 830. 368 Numbers in parentheses represent breakdowns of some races included in the “Other Races” category. A complete breakdown of population over time is included in Appendix B. 182
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Table 11: Annexations, 1946-1967369
Effective Date Annexation Name
5/12/1947 Midwick Country Club No. 1
5/12/1947 Pasadena Annex No. 2
5/26/1947 Midwick Country Club No. 2
12/20/1947 Pasadena Annex No. 3
1/15/1948 Hellman Midwick
1/15/1948 Pasadena Annex No. 4
8/10/1948 Pasadena Annex No. 5
8/30/1948 Midwick Country Club No. 3
5/13/1949 Granada Park Annex
9/10/1949 Midwick Country Club No. 4
11/18/1950 Midwick Country Club No. 5
2/7/ 1951 Pasadena Annex No. 6
10/13/1953 San Gabriel Annex No. 1
5/31/1955 L.A. Co. Annex No. 1 (1955)
10/18/1957 L. A. Co. Annex No. 2
1/27/1964 Alhambra Hills C. R. 01-27-64
369 For a complete list of annexations and links to accompanying annexation records, refer to Appendix C. 183
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN ALHAMBRA, 1946-1967 Extant resources dating to this period are located throughout the city. Single-family properties in the City of Alhambra constructed between 1946 and 1967 are among the most prevalent in the City. Residences from this period represent modest one-story vernacular residences as well as modest and high style examples of prominent architectural styles of the period, including Minimal Traditional, Ranch, and Mid-Century Modern. Commercial activity from the period continued to expand along Main Street, Mission Road, and Valley Boulevard, as the streets transformed into busy commercial thoroughfares. Institutional development was located throughout the City to cater to the growing population near their homes.
Infrastructural Improvements
Communications
The outbreak of World War II had placed increased burdens upon telephone facilities in the 1940s, but after 1941 improvements to existing facilities were postponed until the conclusion of the war.
370 Although none of the facilities developed during this period remain extant today, the work that was undertaken by the Southern California Telephone Company to expand and improve its existing facilities in the postwar period highlights the exponential population growth occurring in the City: in the five-year period between 1946 and 1951, the Alhambra telephone exchange nearly doubled in the number of subscribers, adding 22,839 to total 48,419 telephones in service by January 1951.
371 More than 5,000 telephones had
been added in 1947 alone, and by September 1951, the local exchange had added its 50,000th telephone, marking the greatest period of expansion in the company’s history.372 This exponential growth continued well into the early 1950s; in 1953, a new telephone district was formed, which comprised Alhambra as well as exchanges in the neighboring communities of Arcadia and El Monte.
373 In 1956, Pacific Telephone announced it had installed its six millionth instrument.374
Freeways
The years following the conclusion of World War II saw the implementation of the original Auto Club freeway plan, which had been adopted in 1941 by both the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission as well as the City Planning Department.375 In 1947, the freeway plan was updated to a master plan, just as auto registration in Los Angeles rose from
370 Studer, 127.
371 Studer, 128.
372 Studer, 128.
373 Studer, 128.
374 Studer, 128.
375 “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910-1970,” 15. 184
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1.2 million in 1946 to 2.6 million by 1956.376 The plan and the funding it required were justified to the public as the best way to accommodate this increasing number of cars, and state funding had been secured during the 1940s. 377 In 1956, the passing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which was also known as the Interstate Highway and Defense Highways Act, also made federal funds available for highway construction. As a result, freeway construction across Southern California proliferated in the postwar era thanks to the influx of federal funding.
Interstate 10 (San Bernardino Freeway)
In the 1940s, Aliso Street, the westerly extension of Ramona Boulevard, had been widened and reconstructed, and this project, had included a grade separation at Mission Road.378 In coordination with this project, the State widened Ramona Boulevard easterly to the East City Limit and constructed a four-foot wide median. Upon the completion of these projects, Ramona Boulevard was renamed Ramona Parkway.379
In 1951, bids were requested for the construction of a portion of the Ramona Freeway in Alhambra, which was to be built between Hellman Avenue and 8th Street.380 The work included construction of three bridges, paving of less than a mile of roadway, and lighting.381 In order to complete construction, the State of California purchased properties in Alhambra, which were demolished to make way for the construction of the freeway. Although residents were compensated for the sale of their properties, some Alhambrans felt the amount paid by the State was insufficient; Alhambra resident Mrs. Jessie D. Shrewsbury, for instance, was rewarded $45,500 for her property, which she contended was worth $116,000.382 In 1952, the Ramona Freeway’s easterly extension from Alhambra to Rosemead Boulevard was announced.383 In 1953, further plans were announced to widen and pave the north and south approaches of Atlantic Boulevard at the Ramona Freeway, work which was expected to be ready by the time Ramona Boulevard opened to traffic at Rosemead Boulevard.384 By 1955 most of the San Bernardino Freeway was completed.385
376 “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910-1970,” 16. 377 “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910-1970,” 16. 378 “Interstate 10.”
379 “Interstate 10.”
380 “Bids Asked for More Southland Structures,” Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1951. 381 “Award Ramona Freeway Contracts,” Pasadena Independent, July 1, 1951. 382 “$45,500 For Site in Freeway Path,” Valley Times, September 28, 1951. 383 “California’s Division of Highways is Working, Ever Striving to Build Better and Safer Routes for Vacation - Bound Motorists,” Long Beach Press-Telegram, May 25, 1952. 384 “Contract Let for Alhambra Freeway Job,” Pomona Progress Bulletin, September 10, 1953. 385 “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910-1970,” 17. 185
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Although a number of existing homes in Alhambra were purchased and subsequently demolished by the State of California to make way for the construction of the Ramona Freeway, the freeway’s presence proved to be an attractive feature for real estate developers selling newly-built homes in the area. Alhambra Hills, for instance, consisted of new three- bedroom, two-bathroom homes located south of Hellman Avenue at Westmont Drive.
Thanks to the new freeway, Alhambra Hills – which opened in 1953, as the freeway was nearing completion – was an ideal neighborhood for residents who worked in downtown Los Angeles. The neighborhood was a quick five-minute drive from downtown Los Angeles via the new freeway, but still featured schools, shopping centers, churches, and recreational facilities for families seeking to live away from the city center. 386
In 1952, the California Highway Commission adopted Interstate 10 as a freeway. In 1954, the portion of the Ramona Freeway extending from US 101 in Los Angeles to Interstate 215 in San Bernardino was renamed the San Bernardino Freeway. Interstate 10 became part of the Freeway & Expressway System in 1959 and is also part of the Interstate Highway System.
387
Interstate 710 (Long Beach Freeway)
The first segment of the Los Angeles River Freeway, between Pacific Coast Highway and 223
rd Street in Long Beach, opened in 1952.388 In 1954, the California State Highway Commission voted to rename the portion of the Los Angeles River Freeway that extended from State Route 1 to the Santa Ana Freeway as the Long Beach Freeway.389 Beginning in the 1950s until 1978, the California Division of Highways – and, later, Caltrans – began purchasing more than 500 private houses and lots in Los Angeles, Alhambra, South Pasadena, and Pasadena with a plan to demolish them and build a surface freeway that would bring the Long Beach Freeway through Alhambra to connect with Interstate 210 in Pasadena. 390 Plans to extend the freeway had emerged as early as the mid-1940s, before the initial extent was even completed, with an anticipated extension that would be known as the Concord Freeway.391 However, public opposition to the project, which would have cut through the Cities of Alhambra and South Pasadena, halted efforts until the early 1950s.392 In 1953, the California State Highway Commission adopted the location for the extension of Long Beach Freeway, which would extend north from the Santa Ana Freeway along the
386 “Local Realtor Takes Post,” Southwest Wave, March 11, 1954. 387 “Interstate 10.”
388 “Interstate 710.”
389 “Interstate 710.”
390 The following discussion of Interstate 710 has been excerpted and adapted from “Interstate 710 .” 391 “Engineer Explains L.A. River Freeway,” Independent (Long Beach), November 17, 1946. 392 See “Engineer Explains L.A. River Freeway,” Independent (Long Beach), November 17, 1946; “City Objects to Freeway Plan,” Metropolitan Pasadena Star News, September 23, 1947; “Better City Traffic Flow Needs Told Cal Officials,” Pasadena Independent, July 27, 1949; and “Alhambra Asks Freeway Change,” Los Angeles Times , January 5, 1951.
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western boundary of the City of Alhambra to Huntington Drive in South Pasadena. The proposed terminus was meant to be at an intersection with the Santa Ana Freeway, which allowed Alhambra and other San Gabriel Valley residents to have two freeway routes to access both Long Beach and Orange County beaches.393 That same year, the California Highway Department purchased a strip of land located at the southwest corner of the City of Alhambra, which had previously been owned by the College of Medical Evangelists, for the eventual construction of the extension.
394 In 1965, a portion of this addition that
extended as far north as Valley Boulevard, to the west of Alhambra, opened in February.
Trouble had already begun to arise, however, as early as 1960, when the Department of Highways formally notified the cities of Pasadena, South Pasadena, and Alhambra that location studies had been initiated on the section of the Long Beach Freeway that would extend from Huntington Drive to the Foothill Freeway. In 1964, following public outreach meetings in Pasadena, the California Highway Commission adopted what was known as the “Meridian Route” plan for the new freeway extension. The City of Los Angeles signed the Freeway Agreement in April 1965, and Alhambra followed suit in May 1966. In February 1967, the City of Pasadena approved a different alignment, known as "Meridian Avenue Line,” and this alignment was the basis for the Freeway Agreement executed by Pasadena in March 1967. However, the Federal Highway Administration approved the state-adopted route in June 1967. South Pasadena requested a reconsideration, which was denied. Second and third requests for reconsideration in 1966 and 1967 were also denied. 395
Gas
In the 1940s, the Texas-based El Paso Natural Gas Company, which had begun an aggressive expansion campaign in other southwestern states prior to World War II, reached an agreement with that company to provide gas to Southern California. With the close of the war, steel as a material was no longer diverted for wartime use, and natural gas pipelines could once again be constructed. Natural gas deliveries from Texas to Southern California commenced in November 1947, and additional contracts quickly followed as El Paso sought to meet California’s demand for energy.396
In 1956, the Alhambra portion of the Southern California Gas Company's 30-inch natural gas pipeline through the Los Angeles basin was completed.397 It represented the initial portion of the Alhambra to Newhall pipeline, which was the initial phase of a giant 285-mile project that later extended as far as Topock on the Arizona border.398 The line ran from the
393 “Routing of Concord Freeway Wins Favor,” Los Angeles Times, July 19, 1953. 394 “Strip Tagged for Freeway,” Los Angeles Times, April 26, 1953. 395 “Interstate 710.”
396 “El Paso Natural Gas Company,” Texas State Historical Association, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/el-paso-natural-gas-company (accessed April 2022). 397 Studer, 135.
398 Studer, 135.
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company terminal at Mission Road and Marengo Avenue, extended north on Marengo to Raymond Avenue, and curved onto Main Street before cutting across Huntington Drive into Los Angeles.399
399 Studer, 135.
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Theme: Civic and Institutional Development, 1946-1967
A number of new institutions were added during this period and existing institutional facilities were expanded to meet the needs of the growing community.
Two additional elementary schools, Martha Baldwin School and William Northrup School, opened in 1950. The San Gabriel High School later became the newest addition to the Alhambra School District when it opened in September 1955. Constructed at a cost of $3,400,000, the school was erected at the easternmost edge of the City of Alhambra; a small portion of the property falls within the boundary of the City of San Gabriel.
Municipal services were expanded as well; a new police headquarters was constructed at the southeast corner of Woodward Avenue and Third Street in 1955. The fire department also received two new facilities: in 1950 the fire station at Poplar Boulevard was demolished and a new building constructed to replace it.
400 Then in, 1966, the North Stoneman Avenue fire
station headquarters – which had been in operation since 1908 – was relocated to a site at the northwest corner of First Street and Woodward Avenue, and a new, larger building was erected.401 The most notable project, however, was the construction of a new city hall, which was designed by architect William Allen and constructed in 1960.402
400 Risher, 76.
401 Risher, 76.
402 “City Accepts New Home,” Pasadena Independent, December 15, 1960.
Alhambra City Hall, circa 1960. CardCow.com.
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The 1950s also saw an expansion of medical facilities in Alhambra. The existing Alhambra Hospital was incorporated as a non-profit and renamed the Alhambra Community Hospital.
In 1958, a $30,000 modernization program supplemented a $200,000 expansion program, which raised the hospital's capacity from 45 to 64 beds.403 Social and cultural institutions experienced great growth during this period, not only as a result of the population boom, but also as a consequence of the growing middle class. The prosperous postwar economy afforded many Americans more leisure time as well as more money with which to enjoy it, fueling the development of recreational facilities such as public parks and golf courses. Several park facilities were developed beginning in the late 1940s; Almansor Park, which opened in 1947, consisted of land acquired from the Crown City Ranch that had formerly served as Memorial Park. In 1951, an additional 104 acres of land were purchased from the Crown City Ranch to expand Almansor Park, and the Almansor Park Recreation Building was completed. The Emery Park Youth Center also opened in 1947, and the Alhambra Municipal Golf Course was completed in 1955.
Religious services expanded with the construction of the St. Thomas More Catholic Church on South Fremont Avenue in 1948, and the completion of the St. Therese Roman Catholic Church, designed by architect J. Earl Trudeau, at the southeast corner of El Molino Avenue and Alhambra Road in 1950.
Social and cultural organizations also flourished during this period, thanks to the increase in leisure time and the resultant emphasis on social activities; among the clubs organized were the Alhambra Mental Health Association (1949), Alhambra Woman’s Club Juniors (1949), the Civitan Club (1949), the Golden Age Club (1949), the Granada Masonic Lodge (1949), the Sertoma Club (1953), and the Junior Chamber Clown Club (1958).
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Civic Buildings, including City Hall
• Post Offices, Fire and Police Stations
• Schools
• Libraries
• Religious Buildings
• Hospitals and Medical Facilities
• Social Clubs and Cultural Institutions
• Parks
• Infrastructure Improvements and other Civic Amenities, including electrical substations, gas facilities, roadways, and bridges
403 Studer, 173.
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• Public Art
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1946-1967
Significance Civic and institutional properties are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Institutional development during this period reflects the rapid expansion of the City’s population following World War II, and the increase in civic and institutional development to meet the needs of the growing community.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an example of civic or institutional development
representing the continued civic and institutional growth following World War II.
Civic and institutional properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents important civic or institutional development from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 404
404 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 191
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• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Materials, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Signage may have changed
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Theme: Commercial Development, 1946-1967
Alhambra’s commercial enterprises underwent a rapid transformation as a result of the postwar population boom. Retail trade jumped from $15 million in 1941 to $65 million in 1949,
405 and a number of new businesses were constructed to meet the needs of the growing community. The commercial center of the Main Street shopping area gradually shifted to the east end of town when retail establishments like Liebergs’ Department Store, Butler Brothers’ Department Store, J. C. Penney, Ashburn Furniture Store, Bragg’s Women’s Shop, Woolworth’s opened storefronts there.
406 As a result, the retail center of Main Street moved closer to Chapel, and its historic hub at Garfield Avenue and Main Street began to decline.407 Valley Boulevard, once named Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, also came into its own in the 1950s as a new business artery, including a multi-million dollar shopping center at the city's eastern boundary.408 In 1952, the Southern California Gas Company constructed a new operations base at 1120 East Valley Boulevard, which was intended to supplement its original headquarters building 1st Street.409 This trend continued into the 1960s as commercial activity on the Boulevard flourished, and Home Savings opened one of its distinctive branches designed by artist Millard Sheets at 401 East Valley Boulevard (now Chase Bank) in 1966.
410
A number of new restaurants opened during the 1950s and 1960s, including The Hat, which opened at 1 West Valley Boulevard in 1951; Twohey’s, which opened around 1953 at the corner of Huntington Drive and Atlantic Boulevard; and Tops Jr., which opened around 1962 at 2407 West Main Street. At least three other eateries were designed by noted commercial architects Armét & Davis during this period: Morris Steak House (now Henry’s Cuisine), which was opened at 301 East Valley Boulevard in 1964; 411 Preble’s Restaurant,
which opened at 201 West Main Street in 1965; and Bob’s Big Boy (now Noodle World), which opened at 600 West Valley Boulevard in 1966.
Perhaps the most notable commercial development during this period, however, was Crawford’s Corner, a commercial center developed by Wayland and Leemoria Crawford.
The Crawfords had already established several grocery stores in Alhambra, but by the 1960s decided that “their growing Alhambra enterprise required a fresh image.”412 The couple
405 “Electronic Scrapbook of Alhambra History.”
406 Risher, 49.
407 Risher, 49.
408 “History of Alhambra (1771-Present),” City of Alhambra, https://www.cityofalhambra.org/resources/history-of-alhambra (accessed January 2021). 409 Studer, 135.
410 Display advertisement, Los Angeles Times, September 18, 1966. 411 “Restaurant Set for Alhambra,” Los Angeles Times, September 6, 1964. 412 Alhambra Preservation Group, “Focus On: Crawford’s Corner,” The Prose of Preservation. July 31, 2018, https://proseofpreservation.org/2018/07/31/focus-on-crawfords-corner/ (accessed January 2021). 193
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commissioned architect Ragnar C. Qvale to develop a 30,000-square-foot shopping complex designed in an elaborate Western theme with a bell tower, gazebo, and rustic signage.413
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Mixed Use Commercial Building
• Commercial Office
• Retail Store
• Bank
• Restaurant
• Theater
• Hotel/Motel
• Recreational Facility
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1946-1967
413 “’Throw-Back’ Store Style (Is) Spelling Out Progress,” Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1964.
Crawford’s Corner, circa 1964. Alhambra Preservation Group. 194
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Geographic Location Commercial activity from the period was predominately located along Main Street, Mission Road, and Valley Boulevard. The commercial center of the Main Street shopping area shifted from Garfield Avenue to Chapel during this period; Valley Boulevard began to emerge as a vibrant business corridor.
Significance Commercial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Commercial development patterns reflect the rapid growth of the city following World War II, and the widespread expansion of commercial development to cater to the growing population.
Typically, properties eligible for representing a pattern of development would be contributors to a district. If there is no district, individual properties should reflect an early example of commercial expansion during a particular period or represent a known catalyst for development. Merely dating from a particular period is not enough to be eligible under this criterion.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an excellent example of post-World War II commercial development, representing a specific association with postwar growth in the city, including retail development associated with Goleta’s expanding role as a residential community and the establishment of significant aerospace and manufacturing businesses in the city.
A collection of commercial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development, and must be distinct from the surrounding areas.
Historic districts may also include multiple property types; for example a historic district may include both commercial and institutional properties that date from the period of significance and reflect the character and reason for the district.
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Commercial properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in commercial development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra’s commercial development; and o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and o Retain the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors from the period of significance; and
o Displays original planning features of the commercial enclave or corridor; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 414
• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Materials, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type • Replacement of storefronts is a common and acceptable alteration • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
414 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 196
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• Storefront signage may have changed
• For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole. o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as the replacement of original storefronts, are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Industrial Development, 1946-1967
Industrial operations, which had flourished during World War II, continued to operate in Alhambra throughout the immediate postwar years. The Standard Felt Company remained in operation, employing over 200 people to produce mechanical felts for strips, gaskets, and washers, and medical felts such as splint works, braces, and pads; the company’s business totaled $3,000,000 per year.
415 By the 1960s, however, industrial operations began to decline, and industrial properties became a target of the City’s redevelopment efforts.
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Infrastructure Improvements, including Water-related resources, Transportation and Shipping-related Facilities • Manufacturing Facilities; including Controlled-Conditions Factories and Warehouses
• Quonset Hut
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1946-1967
Significance Industrial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Industrial development patterns following World War II reflect the City’s transformation from an industrial town to a largely commercial center, as industrial operations began to decline by the 1960s.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• As a good example of post-World War II industrial growth, including continued growth in light industrial and
manufacturing uses; or
• For an important association with significant infrastructure improvements.
A collection of industrial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may represent multiple related industrial properties, or they may span several periods
415 Risher, 31.
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of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in industrial development from this period or facet of Alhambra’s industrial history; or
o Is associated with a significant industrial corporation with a headquarters in Alhambra; and
o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 416
• May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Some historic materials or details may have been altered or removed • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole.
416 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 199
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o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Residential Development, 1946-1967
In the late 1940s throughout the 1950s, residential development reflected the spirit of prosperity and optimism of the immediate postwar years. Alhambra’s greatest year for construction was 1948, when building in that year was valued at $12,309,205.417 Vast tracts of single-family homes were constructed on previously undeveloped or underdeveloped land – the last time such parcels would be available. This trend is exemplified in the development of the Airport Tract and Midwick neighborhoods, which were constructed on the sides of the Alhambra Airport and the Midwick Country Club respectively and whose development numbered in the hundreds of homes, a scale never before seen in the City of Alhambra.
Other concentrations of homes were also developed in the Bean Tract and Alhambra Hills Tract neighborhoods during this period.
By the late 1950s, the demand for housing prompted by the postwar population boom triggered unprecedented development pressures, and many older single-family residences became targets for demolition and redevelopment of greater densities. Just as single-family construction reflected widespread trends in expansive suburban tract development, multi- family residential development began to take on a new role in the housing market in response to the need for shelter. For the first time in Alhambra, multi-family residences exhibited more organized patterns of development, evolving away from piecemeal development by individual owner toward a more professional and commercialized effort that incorporated concentrations of larger-scale, higher-density construction occupying multiple parcels. Extant examples of multi-family residential development dating from this period are numerous, signaling how the need for housing was eventually met with higher-density housing. Indeed, by 1970, more than half of the City’s population was living in multi-family housing.
418
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Single-Family Residence
• Multi-Family Residence
o Duplex
o One-story Court
o Courtyard Apartment
o Garden Apartment
o Dingbat
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1946-1967
417 Studer, 123.
418 Risher, 90.
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Significance Individual residential properties that are eligible under this criterion may be significant for one of the reasons listed below. Note that in order to be individually eligible for designation for representing a pattern of development, the property must be the first of its type, a rare remnant example of a very early period of development, or a catalyst for development in the city or neighborhood. Merely dating from a specific period is typically not enough to qualify for designation.
Individual properties that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an excellent example of post-World War II residential development, representing a specific association with postwar growth in the city. This includes residential development associated with an important residential development or developer.
Residences that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents an important pattern or trend in residential development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra residential development; or
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 419
419 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 202
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Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Some historic materials or details may be altered or removed if the property retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation • Landscape and hardscape features may also be contributing features to eligible multi-family residential properties.
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Property Type • Historic District
• Tract Feature/Amenity (including street trees or other significant landscape features, streetlights)
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1946-1967
Significance A collection of residences that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may also be significant for architectural merit under Criterion C/3.420 District boundaries may represent original tract boundaries, or they may comprise several adjacent tracts, or a portion of a tract or neighborhood. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan, physical development, and architectural quality; and distinct from the surrounding area. Tract features, including streetlights, landscaping, parkland, and other amenities may contribute to the significance of the district.
Historic districts that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As a representative concentration or enclave of residential development from this period in Alhambra’s history.
Residential districts that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
• Reflects planning and design principles from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of a residential subdivision, including the original layout, street plan, and other planning features; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
420 Eligibility criteria are listed in the standard format National Register/California Register. 204
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Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern421 Integrity Considerations:
• The majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole.
o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as replacement roof materials, replacement garage doors, and replacement of windows within original openings may be acceptable. However, major alterations to individual residences, such as substantial additions that are visible from the public right-of-way or alter the original roofline, and loss of significant fabric (e.g., replacement of windows, doors, and wall cladding in a single residence) would not be acceptable and the building would be considered a non- contributor to the district.
o Original tract features may also be contributing features to a historic district under this theme.
Criteria National Register: B California Register: 2 Period of Significance 1946-1967
Significance Individual properties may be significant for an association with a significant person. Properties eligible under this criterion are typically those associated with a person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he or she achieved significance. According to National Park Service guidance, a property is not eligible if its only justification is that it was owned or used by a person who is a member of an identifiable profession, class, or social or ethnic group. It must be shown that the person gained importance within a profession or group.
Properties eligible under this criterion may be associated with:
• People who played a significant role in the post-World War II development of the area; or
421 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 205
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• People who made significant contributions to a demonstrably important profession; or
• Members of a particular social, cultural, or ethnic group who made a demonstrably significant contribution to local, state, or national history.
Registration Requirements:
• Has a proven association with the productive period of a person important to local, state, or national history; and
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style from the period of significance (i.e., the period when it was associated with the important person); and
• Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association. o General rule: property must be recognizable to contemporaries of the person with which it is associated.
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Map of the freeway system, then under construction, Los Angeles Times , June 22, 1958.
CAHighways.com.
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XI. POSTWAR DECLINE AND REDEVELOPMENT (1968-1980)
The conclusion of World War II and the return home of hundreds of thousands of soldiers prompted widespread shifts in demographics and marked a turning point in the political and economic development of Southern California. It also sparked a critical housing shortage in Southern California, which resulted in overcrowding and overtaxed housing stock. By the 1960s, ‘blight” had become a major issue for city officials across the region, who struggled to combat the physical and economic effects of the mass residential – and commercial – exodus inspired by postwar suburbanization.
By the mid-1960s, several neighboring cities in the San Gabriel Valley – many of whom shared similar concerns regarding blight – had moved to establish redevelopment agencies in order to combat the effects of economic decline on the built environment. They were equipped with two laws to aid them in their efforts: the California Community Redevelopment Act of 1945 and the Federal Housing Acts of 1946 and 1949, which gave cities the legal authority to implement plans for redevelopment. 422 The California
Community Redevelopment Act allowed local governments throughout California to establish agencies to oversee the process of redevelopment in blighted areas. At the same time, Title I of the Housing Act allocated federal funds to municipal housing authorities for the purpose of planning and executing redevelopment projects. 423 In concert, the laws
enacted in the 1940s created the necessary provisions for redevelopment efforts in Alhambra in the late 1960s.
POPULATION, IMMIGRATION, AND CIVIL RIGHTS POLICIES OF THE LATE 20 TH
CENTURY
The late 1960s saw the passage of several landmark pieces of civil rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The Civil Rights Act comprised multiple pieces of legislation, including the Indian Civil Rights Act, which made many of the guarantees found in the Bill of Rights applicable to Native American Tribes; and the Fair Housing Act, which expanded upon the protections set forth in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and prohibited most forms of housing discrimination, including the refusal to rent or sell a home because of race, color, religion, or national origin.
Redlining was eventually outlawed with the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968; the subsequent Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 further outlawed discriminatory lending criteria for lower-income communities.424 However, the damage was done, and
422 Nathan Masters, “Rediscovering Downtown L.A.’s Lost Neighborhood of Bunker Hill,” KCET Lost L A, July 11, 2012, https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/rediscovering-downtown-las-lost-neighborhood-of- bunker-hill (accessed December 2018); and Stephen Jones, “The Bunker Hill Story: Welfare, Redevelopment, and Housing Crisis in Postwar Los Angeles,” master’s thesis, City University of New York, 2017, CUNY Academic Works, https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2344/ (accessed December 2018), 14-15. 423 Jones, 14-15.
424 “Redlining in Los Angeles County.”
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contemporary scholars have consistently point to HOLC redlining as a key factor in racial disparities in wealth and opportunity that continue to the present day.425 “Federal housing policy simply blocked African Americans from accessing real estate capital, leading to the creation of segregated mass suburbia and, neighborhood by neighborhood, opened residents to opportunity and wealth accumulation or closed citizens off from the American dream.” 426
The 1970s were a significant era in the changing demographics of Alhambra and its development as an ethnoburb. By the 1970s, many Chinese residents moved out of Chinatown and into suburban regions of the San Gabriel Valley, namely Alhambra and Monterey Park. Monterey Park was actively promoted as the “Chinese Beverly Hills,” by real estate developer Frederick Hsieh, prompting many American-born Asians and immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong to resettle in Monterey Park.427 Furthermore, Hsieh predicted that the growing population trends would make Monterey Park comparable to downtown Los Angeles’s Chinatown, and eventually surpass it.428 Monterey Park was home to 2,200 Chinese Americans in 1970, compared to 327 Chinese-American residents in Alhambra.429 Alhambra’s changing architectural landscape played a role in its development as an ethnoburb as well. When Alhambra’s country club and airport shut down in the postwar period, realtors promoted the new homes and promise of business opportunities on the newly subdivided land to overseas immigrants, citing the proximity to the freeway as a primary selling point.
430 In 1973, the Los Angeles Times reported that 52% of the 8,790 student body in Alhambra’s elementary school district were ethnic minorities, with 36.6% Latino and
14.7% Asian students. Similarly, the minority enrollment of Alhambra’s high school district increased from 40.3% to 43.6%.431 Superintendent Elmer Ensz called for a reevaluation of the school’s curriculum to accommodate the shifting enrollment in Alhambra’s schools, where the new student population expressed a greater demand for inclusion of courses that focused on basic skills and career education.
432
425 “Introduction,” Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America. 426 “Introduction,” Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America. 427 “Spatial Disparities in the Expansion of the Chinese Ethnoburb,” 53. 428 Haiming Lu, “Chapter 7: The San Gabriel Valley as a Capital of Chinese Food,” in From Canton Restaurant to Panda Express: A History of Chinese Food in the United States (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2015), https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt16nzfbd.12 (accessed November 2021). 429 Chen, “Chinese Immigration and its Implications on Urban Management in Los Angeles,” 51. 430 “Asian Americans Have a Lot History in Alhambra, Surrounding Areas,” Pasadena Star News , 2011, updated 2017. https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2011/02/07/asian-americans-have-a-long-history-in-alhambra- surrounding-areas/ (accessed December 2021).
431 Craig Turner, “Student Body at Alhambra 52% Minority,” The Los Angeles Times, 1973. 432 Craig Turner, “Student Body at Alhambra 52% Minority,” The Los Angeles Times, 1973. 209
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Table 13: Population in Alhambra by Decade, 1968-1980433 Year White
Native and
Foreign-Born
Native
American
Black Chinese Filipino Japanese Other
Races
Overall
Pop.
1970 60,278 129 197 327 143 484 567 62,125
1980 46,197 343 674 4,043 837 1,375 11,146 64,615
Table 14: Rate of Population Growth in Alhambra by Decade, 1968-1980 Year White
Native and
Foreign-Born
Native
American
Black Chinese Filipino Japanese Other
Races
Overall
Pop.
1970 10.63% 316.13% 121.35% 483.99% 450.00% 352.34% 3680.00% 13.35% 1980 -23.36% 165.89% 242.13% 1136.39% 485.31% 184.09% 1865.78% 4.00%
LATE POSTWAR GROWTH IN ALHAMBRA, 1968-1980
The Alhambra Redevelopment Project
Of all the forces that drove the development of real estate in Alhambra during the second half of the 20th century, the implementation of the Alhambra Redevelopment Project has undoubtedly been one of the most influential in shaping the character of the built environment in the City. In March 1967, the Community Redevelopment Agency was established under state law by the Alhambra City Council, and the first board was seated in January 1968.
434
The Redevelopment Project area originally consisted of approximately 370 acres and was bounded by Mission Road on the south, the City limits and Fremont Avenue on the west, Poplar Boulevard, Main Street and Commonwealth Avenue on the north, and Marengo Avenue and Electric Avenue on the east.
435 The first project undertaken by the
Redevelopment Agency was the purchase of fourteen acres in an industrial tract that was then sold to the Seeley Company, who brokered the deal to develop the corporate offices of the Ralph M. Parsons Engineering Co. on the site.436 Other planned projects that followed
433 Numbers in parentheses represent breakdowns of some races included in the “O ther Races” category. A complete breakdown of population over time is included in Appendix B. 434 “Alhambra to Develop Plan for West Side,” Los Angeles Times, August 28, 1967; “Alhambra Weighs 2 Redevelopment Studies at Once,” Los Angeles Times, April 21, 1968. 435 Alhambra Redevelopment Agency, “Alhambra Redevelopment Agency Industrial Redevelopment Project Subordinate Tax Allocation Bonds, Series 2005 B,” July 28, 2005, http://cdiacdocs.sto.ca.gov/2005 -0928.pdf (accessed March 2021), 28.
436 “Industrial Tract Purchase Approved,” Los Angeles Times, September 21, 1971. 210
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included the construction of a new community hospital, as well as a shopping center in the Central Business District.437
Annexations
In 1978, the City expanded its boundaries again through the Garvey Annexation, which added 3.03 acres to the City’s southern boundary along Garvey Avenue at El Paso.
Table 15: Annexations, 1968-1980438
Effective Date Annexation Name
10/30/1978 Garvey Annexation 76-1
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN ALHAMBRA, 1968-1980 Extant resources dating to this period are located throughout the City, and were largely constructed as infill or redevelopment projects in previously developed areas. Buildings from this period represent modest vernacular structures as well as examples of prominent architectural styles of the period, including Late Modern. Commercial activity during the period continued to expand along Main Street, Mission Road, and Valley Boulevard.
Infrastructural Improvements
Freeways
Interstate 10 (San Bernardino Freeway)
In 1970, most of the 1935 and 1944 improvements to Interstate 10 (San Bernardino Freeway) were demolished to make way for the San Bernardino Freeway and Express Busway.439
Interstate 710 (Long Beach Freeway)
The battle between the California Highway Commission (and, later, Caltrans) and the Cities of Alhambra, Pasadena, and South Pasadena over the extension of the Long Beach Freeway that had begun in the early 1960s endured for several decades, continuing even through the turn of the 21st century. A Record of Decision published by the Federal Highway Administration in 1998, more than thirty years later, summed the fight up in the most succinct fashion, saying simply, “The California Route 710 Freeway project is not a typical highway project. It provides a vital link in the nation’s most severely congested freeway system. It also causes
437 “Hospital Gets OK,” Monrovia Daily News-Post, February 1, 1972; “Fund Drive Started for Hospital,” Los Angeles Times, March 7, 1974; and “Firm Gets ARA Okay to develop Alhambra Center,” Monrovia Daily News- Post, May 21, 1974.
438 For a complete list of annexations and links to accompanying annexation records, refer to Appendix C. 439 “Interstate 10.”
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impacts of a magnitude that is unusual in today’s highway program. Both proponents and opponents of the project have pursued their respective interests very forcefully, with lawsuits on each side.”440 The ongoing legal wrangling effectively halted construction of the extension to the Long Beach Freeway, leaving the freeway with an abrupt termination at Valley Boulevard.
Improvements were also made to railway infrastructure during this period. In January 1977, construction commenced on “the largest single public improvement”441 project in Alhambra, which consisted of lowering the Southern Pacific railroad tracks along Mission Road. The project excavated enough dirt to lower the tracks to 35 feet below street level, making the at- grade separation crossings safer to navigate for both automobiles and pedestrians.
440 “Interstate 710.”
441 “History of Alhambra (1771-Present).”
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Theme: Civic and Institutional Development, 1968-1980
One of the earliest construction projects to be undertaken as part of the Redevelopment Project was the construction of the new Alhambra Community Hospital at 100 South Raymond Avenue, which was completed in 1974. A number of new facilities were also constructed for municipal services during this period; a new headquarters for the fire department was dedicated in 1968 at 301 North First Street, and a new courthouse on Commonwealth Avenue was also completed in 1974. Perhaps most notably, after suffering substantial structural damage during an earthquake, the Alhambra Public Library was condemned and library facilities were relocated to temporary quarters in a Quonset Hut until 1975, when a new 37,000-square-foot library was opened on the same site at 410 West Main Street. The City’s parks also received improvements; the Joslyn Senior Center at Story Park was completed in 1973, and in 1977 the Almansor Golf Course was expanded from nine holes to eighteen using dirt left over from the 1977 Southern Pacific track-lowering project.
442
Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Civic Buildings
• Post Offices, Fire and Police Stations
• Schools
• Libraries
• Religious Buildings
• Hospitals and Medical Facilities
• Social Clubs and Cultural Institutions
• Parks
• Infrastructure Improvements and other Civic Amenities, including roadways and bridges
• Public Art
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1968-1980
Significance Civic and institutional properties are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Institutional development during this period was largely completed under the auspices of the Alhambra Redevelopment Project.
442 “History of Alhambra (1771-Present).”
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Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an example of civic or institutional development
representing the redevelopment of the City.
Civic and institutional properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents important civic or institutional development from the period; and • Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern443 • May be associated with the Alhambra Redevelopment Project • May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Materials, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Signage may have changed
443 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 214
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Theme: Commercial Development, 1968-1980
In Alhambra, the postwar migration
was most keenly felt along Main
Street. Although Main Street had
risen to prominence as one of the
earliest and most profitable retail
centers in the San Gabriel Valley, its
fortunes declined as postwar
commercial development evolved
away from the downtown shopping
corridor toward the suburban
shopping mall model. Much like
residential development, commercial
development also began increasing
in density during this period, leading
to the development of office towers
like the Sears, Roebuck and
Company Pacific Coast Territory
Headquarters, which was designed
by A.C. Martin and completed in
1971 at the intersection of Fremont
and Commonwealth Avenues.
Location Filming in Alhambra
By the late 1960s, television had firmly eclipsed the cinema as the most popular form of entertainment, and location filming on the whole began to decrease. At the same time, following the demolition of the Alhambra Airport and the Midwick Country Club – the City’s most popular sides for location filming – filing activity all but disappeared in Alhambra after World War II. Only a handful of films were staged in the area throughout the 1950s and 1960s. By the late 1970s, however, as modes of filmmaking began to evolve and the role of location filming within the industry began to change, filming activity began to return to Alhambra. Two of the most notable examples of location filming in the City from this later period – and also two of the most recognizable – are Halloween (1978), directed by John Carpenter, and Phantasm (1979), directed by Don Coscarelli. Halloween, which is widely believed to be one of the most terrifying films of all time, tells the story of serial killer Michael Myers, who in one scene memorably stalks the hallways of Garfield School (110 West McLean Street). The cult-favorite Phantasm, which sees the teenage Tommy face off against a mysterious mortician with the help of a friendly ice cream man, included scenes staged at Fosselman’s Ice Cream Company on Main Street (1824 West Main Street).
The Sears Tower, 1971. USC Digital Library .
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Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Mixed Use Commercial Building
• Commercial Office
• Retail Store
• Bank
• Restaurant
• Theater
• Hotel/Motel
• Recreational Facility
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1968-1980
Geographic Location Commercial activity from the period was predominately located along Main Street, Mission Road, and Valley Boulevard.
Significance Commercial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Commercial development patterns reflect the City’s response to the evolution of postwar commercial development away from the downtown shopping corridor toward the suburban shopping mall.
Typically, properties eligible for representing a pattern of development would be contributors to a district. If there is no district, individual properties should reflect an early example of commercial expansion during a particular period or represent a known catalyst for development. Merely dating from a particular period is not enough to be eligible under this criterion.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an excellent example of commercial development,
representing a specific association with the Alhambra
Redevelopment Project.
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A collection of commercial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development, and must be distinct from the surrounding areas.
Historic districts may also include multiple property types; for example a historic district may include both commercial and institutional properties that date from the period of significance and reflect the character and reason for the district.
Commercial properties that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in commercial development from the period, or a facet of Alhambra’s commercial development; and o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and o Retain the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors from the period of significance; and
o Displays original planning features of the commercial enclave or corridor; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 444
• May be associated with the Alhambra Redevelopment Project • May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context
444 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 217
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Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Materials, Feeling, and Association • Should retain the majority of features that illustrate its style or type • Replacement of storefronts is a common and acceptable alteration • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • Original use may have changed
• Storefront signage may have changed
• For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole. o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as the replacement of original storefronts, are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Industrial Development, 1968-1980
Industrial development continued to function as a central component of Alhambra’s economic activities during the later postwar period, but development activities slowed as the Alhambra Redevelopment Agency prioritized the redevelopment of existing industrial sites for other uses.
Eligibility Standards
Property Types
• Infrastructure Improvements, including Water-related
resources, Transportation and Shipping-related Facilities; Railroad Facilities or Features
• Manufacturing Facilities; including Daylight or Controlled- Conditions Factories and Warehouses
• Quonset Hut
• Historic District
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1968-1980
Significance Industrial properties and historic districts are evaluated for potential historic designation based on the patterns of development identified in this context. Industrial development patterns during this period largely reflect the Alhambra Redevelopment Project’s redevelopment of existing industrial sites for other uses.
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this context may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• As a good example of industrial development, representing a specific association with the Alhambra Redevelopment
Project; or
• For an important association with significant infrastructure improvements.
A collection of industrial buildings that are linked geographically may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may represent multiple related industrial properties, or they may span several periods of development and may be significant under additional criteria. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan and physical development.
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Registration Requirements:
• Individual resource:
o Dates from the period of significance; and
o Has a proven association with an event important in history; or o Represents important patterns and trends in industrial development from this period or facet of Alhambra’s industrial history; or
o Is associated with a significant industrial corporation with a headquarters in Alhambra; and
o Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern 445
• May be associated with the Alhambra Redevelopment Project • May also be significant under the Architecture and Design context Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Feeling, and Association • Some historic materials or details may have been altered or removed • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses) • For historic districts, the majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole.
445 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 220
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o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings are acceptable, as long as the district as a whole continues to convey its significance.
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Theme: Residential Development, 1968-1980
Residential development undertaken during the later postwar period exhibited different patterns than those efforts dating from the years immediately following the war. Home ownership remained an important milestone, but the demand for higher-density housing prevailed. In fact, by 1970, more than half of the population in Alhambra was living in multi- family structures.
446
The construction of multi-family residential properties in Alhambra during this period was advanced largely by the advent of the condominium. Although the concept of condominium ownership had existed as early as 1881, the development of condominium properties exploded in the 1960s and 1970s thanks to the adoption of legislation in 1961 that authorized the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages on condominiums for up to 85% of the appraised value. Previously, the best loan available “up to then had been [for] around 60% of the appraised value.”
447 “The difference was galvanizing,” noted the Los
Angeles Times, as up until that point “the major bottleneck to development of condominiums had been the lack of financing.” 448 The expanded loan parameters allowed condominium development to flourish.
The introduction of the condominium to Southern California was delayed by several years, however, due to uncertainty over how condominium properties should be appraised for tax purposes. The issue was finally settled in September 1963, and condominium construction began in earnest. By the end of the 1960s, the condo had arrived in Alhambra, facilitated by the establishment of the Alhambra Redevelopment Agency in 1968. Indeed, nearly all of the nineteen tracts recorded between 1968 and 1978 were related to the construction of new condominiums. This trend continued into the next decade, with every tract recorded in 1980 and 1981 dedicated to condominium development as well.
449 The trend toward increasing
multi-family development in these later years is illustrated in the following Figure 3.
446 Orozco, 101.
447 “Condominiums: the most exciting housing development in 15 years,” Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1964. 448 “Condominiums: the most exciting housing development in 15 years,” Los Angeles Times , July 26, 1964. 449 For a complete list of tracts recorded by development period, refer to Appendix D. 222
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Figure 3: Multi-Family Residential Development by Decade
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Eligibility Standards
Property Types • Single-Family Residence
• Multi-Family Residence
o Courtyard Apartment
o Garden Apartment
o Condominium
Criteria National Register: A California Register: 1 Period of Significance 1968-1980
Significance Individual residential properties that are eligible under this criterion may be significant for one of the reasons listed below. Note that in order to be individually eligible for designation for representing a pattern of development, the property must be the first of its type, a rare remnant example of a very early period of development, or a catalyst for development in the city or neighborhood. Merely dating from a specific period is typically not enough to qualify for designation.
Individual properties that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
• As the site of an important event in history; or
• For a specific association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group; or
• As an excellent example of residential development,
representing a specific association with the Alhambra
Redevelopment Agency.
Residences that are significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under a separate theme.
Registration Requirements:
• Dates from the period of significance; and
• Has a proven association with an event important in history; or • Represents a significant example of a type, or a catalyst for development; or • Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style; and • Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
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Character-Defining Features:
• Retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event or historical pattern450 Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Materials, Workmanship, Feeling, and Association
• Some historic materials or details may be altered or removed if the property retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation • Landscape and hardscape features may also be contributing features to eligible multi-family residential properties.
Criteria National Register: B California Register: 2 Period of Significance 1968-1980
Significance Individual properties may be significant for an association with a significant person. Properties eligible under this criterion are typically those associated with a person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he or she achieved significance. According to National Park Service guidance, a property is not eligible if its only justification is that it was owned or used by a person who is a member of an identifiable profession, class, or social or ethnic group. It must be shown that the person gained importance within a profession or group.
Properties eligible under this criterion may be associated with:
• People who played a significant role in the mid-20
th century
development of the area; or
• People who made significant contributions to a demonstrably important profession; or
• Members of a particular social, cultural, or ethnic group who made a demonstrably significant contribution to local, state, or national history.
450 National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 225
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Registration Requirements:
• Has a proven association with the productive period of a person important to local, state, or national history; and
• Displays most of the character-defining features of the property type or style from the period of significance (i.e., the period when it was associated with the important person); and
• Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Integrity Considerations:
• At a minimum, should retain integrity of Location, Design, Materials, Feeling, and Association.
o General rule: property must be recognizable to contemporaries of the person with which it is associated.
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Alhambra City Hall, 2021. Molly Iker -Johnson.
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XII. ALHAMBRA TODAY (1981-PRESENT)
As the 20th century drew to a close, the City of Alhambra was also moving toward a period of transformation. In July 1981, the Alhambra City Council adopted an ordinance which amended the City’s Industrial Redevelopment Plan to expand the current boundaries of the redevelopment project to include an additional 210 acres in order to facilitate rehabilitation of the downtown area. Located immediately to the northeast of the original project site, this additional land – known as “Added Area A” – comprised the area surrounding the Main Street commercial corridor extending eastward from Fremont Avenue to the City limits.
The physical impact of the Agency’s expansion of the Redevelopment Area was immediately apparent. Between 1981 and 1989, 148 tracts were recorded in the City of Alhambra – more than any other decade in the City’s history. Fifty-three tracts were recorded in 1981 alone, a record that surpassed even the peak of the City’s housing boom in the 1920s. In addition, all of the tracts recorded in 1981 were for condominium purposes, further evidence of the evolving trend toward higher-density residential development. Redevelopment projects completed included the Alhambra Hospital Medical Center, the Alhambra Ramada Inn, the Plaza de Alhambra, and Alhambra Place. Redevelopment also had a marked impact on residential properties, which prompted the commission of Alhambra’s first citywide historic resources statement in 1984.
The City annexed its last parcel of land in December 1989; the Alhamar Street Annexation expanded the City boundary east of Vega Street, to the east of the intersection of Hoeffer Drive and Alhamar Street and brought the City to its present-day boundaries.
Additional amendments to the Redevelopment Plan were adopted in 1993 to, in part, “extend the Agency’s authority to acquire property by eminent domain.” 451 Redevelopment
continued with projects such as Fremont Plaza, completed in 1996, and the Plaza on Main, completed in 1998.
The dawn of the millennium brought further changes to the City of Alhambra. The City began to look toward its past, and the establishment of the Alhambra Preservation Group in 2003 launched a modern-day advocacy effort that continues to this day. The City also commissioned several pieces of public art, including the Alhambra Gateway, which as designed by architect Lawrence Moss in 2010, and the Alhambra Archway Mural, which was designed by artist Art Mortimer and installed in 2011.
The Redevelopment Plan was further amended in 2002 to “re-establish the Agency’s eminent domain authority within the Original Area and extend the Agency’s eminent domain authority in Added Area A for twelve years.”
452 Projects completed as part of
451 Alhambra Redevelopment Agency, 25.
452 Alhambra Redevelopment Agency, 25.
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redevelopments during this period included the Alhambra Renaissance Plaza, the Alhambra Regency Plaza, and the development of Auto Row.
After adopting the Valley Boulevard Specific Plan in 1990, in the early 2000s, the City of Alhambra began implementing additional specific plans to address planning needs and govern development in defined areas throughout the City. Current specific plans include Alhambra Walk (2003), Alhambra Place (2006), Alhambra 5th and Main (2006), Casita de Zen (2010), 2300 Poplar (2011), Alhambra Pacific Plaza (2011), 2500 West Hellman avenue (2012), Marengo and Acacia (2012), and 2400 South Fremont Avenue (2015).
In 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown proposed a statewide elimination of redevelopment agencies beginning in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The Governor’s proposal was incorporated into Assembly Bill 26, which was passed by the California State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor on June 28, 2011. Consequently, the Alhambra Redevelopment Agency was dissolved the following year.
Another enduring effort in Alhambra also drew to a close in 2017, when the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Agency (Metro) approved a motion that would focus on smaller infrastructure improvements in the area, effectively canceling the proposed extension of the Long Beach Freeway after over half a century of legal debate.
RECENT POPULATION AND MIGRATION IN ALHAMBRA
By the 1980s, the Asian American community in San Gabriel Valley spread from Monterey Park into adjacent communities, including Alhambra, Arcadia, El Monte, Pasadena, among other regions, where the Chinese community purchased real estate properties. In 1980 the Chinese population of Alhambra grew to 4,043 residents. 453 The overall population of
Alhambra also increased by 4% since 1970, as reported by the Alhambra Department of Housing and Community Development.454 Furthermore, figures provided by the State Department of Education exhibited that Alhambra had the highest percentage of Asian students of any district in the state by 1980. Three-quarters of Alhambra’s Asian students were not born in the United States and 43% of students claiming Vietnamese origin.455 Frederick Hsieh’s prediction had come true; a 1987 Los Angeles Times article estimated that 100,000 Chinese and other Asian immigrants had moved to western San Gabriel Valley communities.
456 The Chinese community that settled in Alhambra played a prominent role in shifting the commercial corridor along Main Street and Valley Boulevard, a main arterial that spans Alhambra, San Gabriel and Rosemead. Many businesses, including restaurants, supermarkets, and small shops developed in close clusters along these two streets, making Alhambra and surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities shopping and dining
453 Chen, “Chinese Immigration and its Implications on Urban Management in Los Angeles,” 51. 454 “Asian Population in Alhambra Up 600%,” The Los Angeles Times, 1983. 455 Elaine Woo, “Ethnic Diversity Puts School Districts to Test,” The Los Angeles Times, 1987. 456 “San Gabriel Valley as a Capital of Chinese Food,” 117. 229
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destinations for Southern Californians.457 Other major Chinese-American businesses in that developed in Alhambra include finance, insurance, real estate, and various professional services.458 The development of Alhambra’s Asian supermarkets and restaurants were an important anchor for the growing Chinese-American community in Alhambra; food helped connect Chinese immigrants to their homeland and preserve identities. In addition, immigrants were arriving from different provinces and bringing with them their own regional cuisines, which helped Alhambra and the greater San Gabriel Valley develop as a destination for various regional specialties, such as hand-pulled Xian noodles, Schuan boil fish, boba tea, and more.
459
By 1990, Southern California was home to the largest Chinese community in the nation, with 50% of the population concentrated in the San Gabriel Valley. Alhambra’s Chinese population had more than quadrupled, with 21,436 Chinese-identifying residents in Alhambra.
460 In the 2000 census, Alhambra’s population was made up of 47.2% Asian Americans. In 2010, that number grew to 50.4%.
RECENT RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD NOMENCLATURE AND DESIGN GUIDANCE In 2005, the City of Alhambra installed signs throughout Alhambra identifying historic residential tracts, including the Alhambra, Ramona Park, Midwick, Emery Park, Mayfair, Story, Marguerita–Souders, and Bean tracts.
461 In 2009, the City adopted the Single Family
Residential Design Guidelines for R-1 (Single-Family Residential) zoned neighborhoods, which included the properties within the previously-identified residential neighborhoods.
The design guidelines consider the historic context of Alhambra’s neighborhoods by providing guidance for renovation and development appropriate for Alhambra’s predominant architectural styles.
462 As part of the framework for implementation of the
guidelines, the City identified twenty-six single-family residential neighborhoods based on the historical development trends and architectural styles that define their overall character.
463 This list was subsequently updated in time for the publication of the City’s general plan in 2019. At that time, a revised map was published in the general plan that included revised boundaries for several previously-identified neighborhoods, as well as the
457 “San Gabriel Valley as a Capital of Chinese Food,” 119-120. 458 Lawrence-Zuniga, “Bungalows and Mansions,” 831.
459 Anh Do, “Valley Boulevard, LA’s Chinese Main Street, Was a Ghost Town in 2020. Can it Bounce Back?,” Los Angeles Times, 2021.
460 Chen, “Chinese Immigration and its Implications on Urban Management in Los Angeles,” 51. 461 City of Alhambra, “Alhambra General Plan: Vision 2040 – A Community Mosaic,” August 2019, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jm9ViLaiVBoHVqEBgiUvlllhEsq4hN17/view?usp=sharing (accessed October 2020), 73.
462 City of Alhambra, “Alhambra General Plan: Vision 2040 – A Community Mosaic,” 71. 463 City of Alhambra, “City of Alhambra Single Family Residential Design Guidelines,” prepared for the City of Alhambra by Downtown Solutions, Ordinance No. 02M9-4531, approved April 27, 2009, https://www.cityofalhambra.org/resources/single-family-residential-design-guidelines (accessed January 2021), 2-7.
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addition of a new neighborhood, Ramona Park.464 These neighborhood boundaries are reflected in the following Figure 4. 465 Information regarding the historical origins of each neighborhood is included in Appendix E.
464 City of Alhambra, “Alhambra General Plan: Vision 2040 – A Community Mosaic,” 23. Note that when comparing the 2009 design guidelines map and the 2021 general plan map, the neighborhood form erly noted as #26, Alhambra Hills, is noted as #27 on the 2019 general plan map. The new neighborhood, Ramona Park, replaces Alhambra Hills as #26 on the 2019 general plan map. 465 Boundaries depicted in Figure 4 have been replicated from those boundaries shown in Figure 6 of the 2019 general plan map.
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Figure 4: R-1 Residential Neighborhood Development by Decade
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XIII. ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
INTRODUCTION
When Alhambra was first developed by Benjamin Wilson and James De Barth Shorb, it was called the “City of Homes.”466 The city’s proximity to Pasadena, downtown Los Angeles, and Monterey Park was ideal for residents who worked in Los Angeles but wanted to live in a noise and smoke-free city. Alhambra offered lush vegetation, pure mountain water, churches, educational facilities, and plenty of opportunity to establish small businesses. 467
Alhambra is home to a variety of commercial and institutional buildings, as well as residences ranging from modest bungalows to large palatial properties, representing architectural styles from Queen Anne to Mid-Century Modern and beyond. Buildings with little or no distinguishing decorative features may be described as “vernacular” in style. The term “Residential Vernacular,” for example, is used to describe simple houses or cottages.
These buildings are characterized by their simplicity and lack of any characteristics of recognizable styles.
Buildings that are significant for the embodiment of the distinguishing features of an architectural style and/or as a significant work of a master architect or designer will be evaluated under this context. Designed landscapes or landscape features may also be significant under this context.
For each significant architectural style there is a discussion of the origins and a list of character-defining features intrinsic to each. A property that is eligible for designation as an excellent example of its architectural style retains most - though not necessarily all - of the character-defining features of the style, and continues to exhibit its historic appearance. A property that has lost some historic materials or details can be eligible if it retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of the massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation. The property is not eligible, however, if it retains some basic features conveying massing but has lost the majority of the features that once characterized its style. 468 A property important for
illustrating a particular architectural style or construction technique must retain most of the physical features that constitute that style or technique.469 For guidance on the proper treatment of historic resources and appropriate alterations to specific architectural styles, refer to The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings. In general, acceptable alterations to historic resources of all architectural styles may include:
466 Alhambra, California: The City of Homes (Alhambra, CA: Arrowhead Press, 1913), 4. 467 Alhambra, California: The City of Homes, 4-6.
468National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation . 469National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation . 233
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• Replacement roofing, when necessary, that matches the original as closely as possible in material, profile, color, and pattern.
• Structural reinforcement or infrastructure upgrades that are compatible and do not result in the loss of distinctive materials or features that characterize the property. • Repair, rather than replacement, of deteriorated historic features. • Replacement of severely deteriorated or missing features with new that match the old in design, color, texture, and where possible, material. • New additions that are compatible with, differentiated from, and subordinate to the original and do not damage or destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property.
The architectural character of Alhambra reflects changes in popular tastes over time. The oldest residences, dating from the 19
th century, were built in the Queen Anne style. Other
early residences in Alhambra were one- and two-story Craftsman houses.470 As Alhambra’s population grew in the 1920s, many new neighborhoods were developed, which included houses designed in a variety of Period Revival styles, including Spanish Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Neoclassical Cottages, and Tudor Revival. Many of these neighborhoods, such as Emery Park, Mayfair, and the Orange Blossom Manor Tract, are home to examples of modest and high style examples of a variety of architectural styles.
Commercial and institutional architecture in Alhambra varies in style from vernacular to Art Deco to Mid-Century Modern.
Properties significant as an excellent or rare example of an architectural style are eligible under the following criteria:
• National/California Register Criterion C/3 (embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values)
There may be properties that are eligible under this context that have not reached 50 years of age, which is the generally accepted threshold for assessing historic significance. A property that is less than 50 years old can be listed in the National Register of Historic Places if it meets Criteria Consideration G which states that “a property which has achieved significance within the past 50 years is eligible if it is of exceptional importance.” The California Register does not have a specific criteria consideration, but the guidelines state that significant time must have passed for the development of a scholarly perspective on the potential resource.
470 “Alhambra Historic and Cultural Resources Survey, Inventoried Properties Listed by National Register of Historic Places Eligibility Status, Survey Area I,” prepared as part of the 1984-1985 Final Report by Johnson Heumann Research Associates, Consultants to the City of Alhambra, for the Office of Historic Preservation, State of California, 23.
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THEME: 19TH CENTURY METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURAL STYLES Sub-Theme: Queen Anne
The eclectic and elaborate Queen Anne style was one of the most popular styles for domestic architecture in the United States from the 1880s until about 1900, although it continued in California until about 1910. Misnamed after the early 19th century British sovereign, the style actually originated in 19th-century Britain and combines freely adapted elements of English Gothic, Elizabethan, and classical architecture. Like the Stick style that it quickly replaced, Queen Anne uses exterior wall surfaces as a primary decorative element and was popularized throughout the United States by the rapidly-expanding railroad network that made pre-cut architectural features easily available. The style is characterized by irregular compositions with complex multi-gabled and hipped roofs, intricately patterned shingles and masonry, turned spindle work, and classical elements executed in wood. There are relatively few extant examples of Queen Anne architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Asymmetrical façade
• Steeply-pitched roof of irregular shape, usually with a dominate front-facing gable • Wooden exterior wall cladding with decorative patterned shingles or patterned masonry
• Projecting partial-, full-width or wrap-around front porch, usually one story in height • Cut-away bay windows
• Wood double-hung sash windows
• Towers topped by turrets, domes or cupolas
• Tall decorative brick chimneys
• Ornamentation may include decorative brackets, bargeboards and pendants, as well as Eastlake details, such as spindle work
Queen Anne: Extant Example
208 E. Beacon Street (1902)
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Sub-Theme: Shingle Style
The Shingle style was a uniquely American adaptation combining the wide porches, shingled surfaces, and asymmetrical forms of the Queen Anne style; the gambrel roofs, rambling lean- to additions, classical columns, and Palladian windows of the Colonial Revival; and the irregular sculpted shapes, Romanesque arches, and rusticated stonework of the contemporaneous Richardsonian Romanesque. The style first appeared in the 1870s and reached its highest expression in the fashionable seaside resorts of the northeast. Although the style spread throughout the United States it never achieved the widespread popularity of the Queen Anne, and therefore Shingle style houses are relatively rare in California. 471 There
are few known examples of the style in Alhambra; notably, the George B. Adams Residence at 200 E. Beacon Street.
Character-defining features include:
• Irregular plan and asymmetrical composition
• Steeply-pitched cross gable, hipped, and gambrel roofs • Shingle wall and roof cladding
• Towers or turrets
• Broad porches, sometimes wrapping two or more sides
• Wood double-hung windows, typically with divided lights in the upper sash and a single light below, frequently grouped in horizontal bands • Rusticated stone foundations, first stories, porch piers, and towers • Classical elements including columns and Palladian windows
Shingle Style: Extant Example
471 Virginia and Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), 290.
George B. Adams Residence, 200 E. Beacon Street (c.1880) 236
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Sub-Theme: American Foursquare
The American foursquare was one of the most popular house types in the United States from about 1890 well into the 20th century. The compact, sparsely ornamented foursquare was an antidote to the ornate Queen Anne and, because of its simplicity, affordability, and ease of construction, was a popular mail-order “kit home.” It is thus found on small urban and suburban lots throughout the country. There are few extant examples of American Foursquare residences in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Square or rectangular plan and compact, two-story massing • Symmetrical or asymmetrical composition
• Hipped or pyramidal roof, sometimes with wide boxed eaves and eave brackets or dentil molding
• Central hipped dormer
• Exterior walls finished in horizontal wood siding
• Projecting one-story porch across front, sometimes extending over driveway as a porte-cochère
• Wood double-hung windows
American Foursquare: Extant Example
1510 S. Campbell Street (1906)
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Sub-Theme: Neoclassical Cottage
The term “Neoclassical Cottage” is used to describe simple house forms or cottages with fewer decorative features than other styles from the period. While vernacular residences may display certain characteristics of recognizable styles, especially Queen Anne, decorative detailing is typically confined to the porch or cornice line. There are few extant examples of Neoclassical Cottages in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Symmetrical façade
• Simple square or rectangular form
• Gabled or hipped roof with boxed or open eaves
• Wood exterior cladding
• Simple window and door surrounds
• Bay windows
• Details may include cornice line brackets
• Porch support with turned spindles or square posts
Neoclassical Cottage at 712 Mound Avenue in nearby
South Pasadena. Extant examples of the style are rare
in Alhambra.
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Sub-Theme: Commercial Vernacular
Although not an officially recognized style, “commercial vernacular” describes simple commercial structures with little decorative ornamentation, common in American cities and towns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are typically brick in construction, with minimal decorative detailing. There are numerous examples of Commercial Vernacular buildings in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Simple square or rectangular form
• Flat roof with a flat or stepped parapet
• Brick exterior wall surfaces, with face brick on the primary facade • First-story storefronts, typically with a continuous transom window above • Wood double-hung sash upper-story windows, often in pairs • Segmental arch window and door openings on side and rear elevations • Decorative detailing, if any, may include cornices, friezes, quoins, or stringcourses
Commercial Vernacular: Extant Examples
3078-3080 W. Valley Boulevard (1926)
1156 W. Valley Boulevard (1931)
200 W. Main Street (1924)
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Sub-Theme: Mission Revival
The Mission Revival style is indigenous to California, which drew upon its own colonial past as a counterpart to the Colonial Revival of the Northeastern states. The style grew out of the romanticized image of old California fostered by Helen Hunt Jackson’s popular 1884 novel Ramona, and through the efforts of writer Charles Fletcher Lummis, who promoted California tourism with his magazine Land of Sunshine and founded the Landmarks Club in 1895 to restore the crumbling Spanish missions. Beginning in about 1890 California architects borrowed and freely adapted features of the California missions, including bare plaster walls, curvilinear bell parapets or espadañas, arcades, and tile roofs, often in combination with elements of other styles. Never common beyond the Southwest, its regional popularity was spurred by its adoption by the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads as the preferred style for train stations and resort hotels, where the original scale of the missions could be more successfully replicated. The style was less successful and therefore rarer in residential applications, but continued in decreasing use until at least 1920.
There are numerous examples of Mission Revival style residences in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Red clay tile roofs with overhanging eaves and open rafters • Shaped parapets
• Cement plaster exterior wall finish
• Arched window and door openings
• Details may include bell towers, arcades, quatrefoil openings or patterned tiles
Mission Revival: Extant Example
1417-1419 S. Curtis Avenue (1924)
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THEME: CRAFTSMAN
Craftsman architecture grew out of the late 19th century English Arts and Crafts movement.
A reaction against industrialization and the excesses of the Victorian era, the movement stressed simplicity of design, hand-craftsmanship, and the relationship of the building to the climate and landscape. Craftsman architecture developed in the first decade of the 20th century as an indigenous California version of the American Arts and Crafts movement, incorporating Southern California’s unique qualities. Constructed primarily of stained wood, with wide overhanging eaves, balconies, and terraces extending the living space outdoors, the style embodied the goals of the Arts and Crafts movement.
The Craftsman bungalow dates from the early 1900s through the 1920s. The bungalow’s simplicity of form, informal character, direct response to site, and extensive use of natural materials, particularly wood and stone, was a regional interpretation of the reforms espoused by the Arts and Crafts movement’s founder, William Morris. Craftsman bungalows generally have rectangular or irregular plans, and are one to one-and-a-half stories tall. They have wood clapboard or shingle exteriors and a pronounced horizontal emphasis, with broad front porches, often composed with stone, clinker brick, or plastered porch piers. Other character-defining features include low-pitched front-facing gable roofs, and overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails.
As opposed to smaller developer-built or prefabricated bungalows, two-story Craftsman houses were often commissioned for wealthy residents and designed specifically with the homeowner’s needs and the physical site in mind. They generally feature a low-pitched gable roof, wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, and windows grouped in horizontal bands. A high-style Craftsman house is distinguished by the quality of the materials and complexity of design and may feature elaborate, custom-designed woodwork, stained glass, and other fixtures.
By W orld War I, the Craftsman style declined in popularity and was replaced by Period Revival styles. The Craftsman bungalow continued to be built into the 1920s, but was often painted in lighter colors, stripped of its dark wood interiors, or blended with characteristics of various Revival styles. There are numerous examples of Craftsman residences in Alhambra’s neighborhoods.
Character-defining features include:
• Horizontal massing
• Low-pitched gable roof with rolled or composition shingle roofing • Wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, outriggers, or knee braces • Exterior walls clad in wood shingle, shake, or clapboard siding • Projecting partial- or full-width, or wrap-around front porch • Heavy porch piers, often of river stone or masonry
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• Wood sash casement or double-hung windows, often grouped in multiples • Wide front doors, often with a beveled light
• Wide, plain window and door surrounds, often with extended lintels • Extensive use of natural materials (wood, brick or river stone)
Craftsman: Extant Examples
824 N. Marguerita Avenue (1909)
1025 S. 4th Street (1914)
1708 S. 2nd Street (1912)
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Sub-Theme: Airplane Bungalow
Airplane Bungalows date from the early 1900s and reached their peak of popularity in the late 1910s. The Airplane Bungalow is a variation of the one-story Craftsman bungalow and shares many of its character-defining features, including a usually asymmetrical composition, low-pitched gable roof, wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, wood shingles or horizontal wood siding, and a wide porch. The distinguishing feature of the Airplane Bungalow is a small second story in the middle of the house, usually of only one or two rooms, that rises above the surrounding roof. The influence of Japanese architecture is common in Airplane bungalows, exhibited in torii-inspired post-and-beam joinery, flaring eaves and ridges, and corresponding curved bargeboards.
Character-defining features include:
• Small, one- or two-room second story in the middle of the roof • Japanese influences including Asian-inspired post-and-beam joinery, flared eaves and ridges, and curved bargeboards.
Airplane Bungalow: Extant Examples
1609 S. 2nd Street (1913)
1616 S. 2nd Street (1912)
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Sub-Theme: Swiss Chalet Style
The Swiss Chalet style - constructed primarily of stained wood, in which wide overhanging eaves and balconies helped integrate the outdoors as part of the living space - was compatible with the goals of the Arts and Crafts movement. The Chalet style Craftsman house usually consists of a single, rectangular two-story volume covered by a front-facing gable roof. The primary façade is typically symmetrical and frequently features a wide porch topped by a second-story balcony. Porches and balconies usually have plank railings with decorative cutouts. Brackets and bargeboards are usually more decorative than those found in other variations of Craftsman architecture.
Character-defining features include:
• Rectangular plan and compact, 2-story massing
• Flat, usually symmetrical primary façade
• Moderately pitched front gable roof with wide, overhanging eaves and rake, and exposed rafter tails
• Wood shingle, horizontal wood siding, or cement plaster exterior wall finish, sometimes in combination
• Wide porch, recessed or projecting
• Second-story balcony with plank railing, usually with decorative cut-outs • Divided light casement or double hung wood windows, sometimes with diamond- patterned lights
• Decorative brackets and bargeboards
Swiss Chalet: Extant Examples
639 N. Bushnell Avenue (1906)
1619 S. 2nd Street (1910)
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Sub-Theme: English-Influenced Craftsman
The English-influenced Craftsman style, as its name implies, is a hybrid that exhibits a stronger resemblance to the late 19th century British roots of the Arts and Crafts movement than does the typical California Craftsman. English-influenced Craftsman houses typically have a more compact plan and a more vertical emphasis than their Craftsman counterparts, moderate to steeply pitched gable, hipped, or jerkinhead roofs, dormers, bay windows, and sometimes decorative half-timbering in the gable ends and at second stories with cement plaster or brick veneer at the first story. They also frequently feature exterior walls clad in wood shingles or horizontal siding and wide front porches characteristic of the Craftsman style.
Character-defining features include:
• Irregular or rectangular plan with 1 ½ or 2-story massing • Typically asymmetrical composition
• Moderately- to steeply-pitched gable, hipped, or jerkinhead roof, usually with overhanging eaves and exposed rafter tails
• Usually one or more dominant front-facing cross gables • Dormers and/or bay windows
• Decorative half-timbering at second stories and gable ends • Wood shingle, horizontal wood siding, brick, or cement plaster exterior wall finish, sometimes in combination
• Divided light casement or double hung wood windows in various groupings, sometimes with leaded glass or diamond-patterned lights • Prominent chimney with decorative brickwork
English-Influenced Craftsman: Extant Example
Fred W. Marshall Residence, 1601 S. 4th Street (1907)
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Sub-Theme: Japanese-Influenced Craftsman
The influence of Japanese architecture in the Craftsman style is usually traced to the works of Charles and Henry Greene, who had been deeply impressed by the Japanese pavilion at the 1893 Chicago world’s fair. This influence is evident in the complex roof trusses and brackets, lanterns, and especially the beautifully joined wood interiors for which the Greenes were noted. These subtle Japanese-inspired features became staples of many large and small Craftsman-style houses and were sometimes joined with more overt Japanese references, especially multi-gabled, pagoda-like roofs with flared ridges and eaves, battered stone piers supporting porch roofs, and torii-style gateways.
Character-defining features include:
• Complex, elaborately joined wood trusses and brackets • Multi-gabled roofs with flared ridges and eaves
• Battered stone piers
• Torii-style gateways
• Decorative hanging and standing lanterns
Japanese-Influenced Craftsman: Extant Example
1801 S. 2nd Street (1914)
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Sub-Theme: Industrial Vernacular
The term “Industrial Vernacular” is used to describe simple industrial buildings with little or no distinguishing decorative features. These buildings are characterized by their utilitarian design, prosaic materials, and lack of any characteristics of recognizable styles. This term encompasses buildings constructed as airport structures (i.e. hangars), factories, and packing houses.
Prior to the widespread use of electric lighting, controlling and capitalizing on daylight was a necessary component of the design of manufacturing buildings. Daylight was brought into the building using a variety of methods, including expansive industrial sash windows, orientation of intensive hand work next to the exterior walls of the building, skylights, and specialized roof forms to bring light into the interior. With the development of better illumination from fluorescent bulbs, manufacturers changed their focus in design from capitalizing on available light to controlling lighting and ventilation through closed systems.
Controlled conditions factories are distinguished by their minimal use of windows for light and ventilation. While some windows may be located on the front-facing façade or on an attached office, the building relies on internal systems for circulation and climate control.
There are several examples of Industrial Vernacular buildings in Alhambra, particularly east of Fremont Avenue and north of Mission Road.
Character-defining features include:
• Square or rectangular plan and simple massing
• One- or two-story height
• Flat, truss, or sawtooth roof, usually with parapet
• Roof monitors, skylights or clerestory windows
• Brick masonry construction, expressed or veneered in cement plaster • Divided-light, steel-sash awning, hopper, or double-hung windows • Loading docks and doors
Industrial Vernacular: Extant Example
624 S. Palm Avenue (1955)
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THEME: 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS
Sub-Theme: Tudor Revival
The Tudor Revival style is loosely based on a variety of late medieval English building traditions including Perpendicular Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean. It has its origins in the late 19th-century English Arts and Crafts movement, whose leaders drew inspiration in part from English domestic architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries because of its picturesque qualities and sympathetic relationship to the natural landscape. The earliest examples of the style appeared in the United States in large estates of the 1890s. The Tudor Revival style grew in favor after World War I and reached its peak of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, as architects and developers adapted it to the country’s rapidly growing suburban residential communities and advancements in masonry veneering techniques allowed even the most modest examples to emulate the brick and stone exteriors of English prototypes.
High style Tudor Revival houses are typically two and sometimes three stories in height with steeply-pitched, multi-gable roofs; slate roof shingles are found in the finer examples, but wood shakes and composition shingles are also common. At least one front-facing gable is almost universally present as a dominant façade element. The buildings are usually rambling compositions of multiple volumes in a variety of sizes and shapes. Exterior walls are veneered in brick or stone, or feature decorative half-timbering, sometimes in elaborate patterns, with plaster between, which mimics the appearance of medieval construction techniques. Tall, narrow casement windows, sometimes with leaded diamond-shaped lights, are frequently set in horizontal groupings or projecting bays. Main entrances are frequently set in crenellated turrets or under secondary gables with catslides, and feature paneled wood doors framed by four-centered pointed arches. Projecting exterior chimneys with multiple flues and elaborate brickwork are sometimes located on the primary façade.
Sub-types of the Tudor Revival style include the Storybook cottage. The Storybook cottage is a more whimsical version of the Tudor Revival style, derived from the quaint medieval cottages of the Cotswold region of southwestern England. Storybook cottages typically feature very steeply-pitched roofs with composition shingles laid in irregular patterns and rolled eaves to suggest thatching, eyebrow dormers, and exterior walls veneered in a rough, irregular plaster finish. The Storybook style was particularly popular in Hollywood where motion picture set designers sometimes moonlighted as architects.
There are numerous examples of Tudor Revival style residences in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Asymmetrical façade and irregular massing
• Steeply-pitched multi-gabled roof with a prominent front-facing gable and slate, wood shake, or composition roofing
• Brick or plaster exterior wall cladding, typically with half-timbering and decorative details in stone or brick
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• Tall, narrow divided-light windows, usually casement, often grouped horizontally or in bays; may have leaded diamond-shaped lights
• Entrance with pointed arch, set in turret or under secondary gable • Prominent chimney with elaborate brickwork
Tudor Revival: Extant Examples
1841 S. Chapel Avenue (1930)
1903 Parkview Drive (1940)
401 N. Story Place (1930)
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Sub-Theme: English Revival
The English Revival style is a sub-type of the Tudor Revival style, which is loosely based on a variety of late medieval English building traditions including Perpendicular Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean. It has its origins in the late 19th-century English Arts and Crafts movement, whose leaders drew inspiration in part from English domestic architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries because of its picturesque qualities and sympathetic relationship to the natural landscape. The earliest examples of the style appeared in the United States in large estates of the 1890s. The Tudor Revival style grew in favor after World War I and reached its peak of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, as architects and developers adapted it to the country’s rapidly growing suburban residential communities and advancements in masonry veneering techniques allowed even the most modest examples to emulate the brick and stone exteriors of English prototypes.
English Revival houses are simpler than their high-style Tudor Revival counterparts. They are typically two stories in height with steeply-pitched, multi-gable roofs usually clad in wood shakes or composition shingles. The buildings are usually rambling compositions of multiple volumes in a variety of sizes and shapes. Exterior walls are usually veneered in plaster, with brick or stone used only at the chimney or around the primary entrance. Half-timbering, if used at all, is usually limited to a primary front-facing gable if featured. Tall, narrow casement windows, sometimes with leaded diamond-shaped lights, are frequently set in horizontal groupings or projecting bays. Projecting exterior chimneys, usually brick or stone, are frequently used as prominent design features.
Character-defining features include:
• Asymmetrical façade and irregular massing
• Steeply-pitched gable roof with wood shake or composition roofing • Plaster exterior wall cladding; decorative half-timbering or brick details are usually limited or omitted
• Tall, narrow divided-light windows, usually casement, often grouped horizontally or in bays; may have leaded diamond-shaped lights
• Prominent chimney
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English Revival: Extant Examples
1125 S. 4th Street (1935)
2845 Midwick Drive (1935)
423 N. Almansor Street (1925)
306 E. Adams Avenue (1927)
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Sub-Theme: Spanish Colonial Revival
The Spanish Colonial Revival style attained widespread popularity throughout Southern California following the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, which was housed in a series of buildings designed by chief architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in the late Baroque Churrigueresque style of Spain and Mexico. The Churrigueresque style, with intricate ornamentation juxtaposed against plain stucco wall surfaces and accented with towers and domes, lent itself to monumental public edifices, churches, and exuberant commercial buildings and theaters, but was less suited to residential or smaller scale commercial architecture. For those, architects drew inspiration from provincial Spain, particularly the arid southern region of Andalusia, where many young American architects were diverted while World War I prevented their traditional post-graduate “grand tour” of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. The resulting style was based on infinitely creative combinations of plaster, tile, wood, and iron, featuring plaster-clad volumes arranged around patios, low-pitched tile roofs, and a sprawling, horizontal orientation. It was a deliberate attempt to develop a “native” California architectural style and romanticize the area’s colonial past, though it drew directly from Spanish and other Mediterranean precedents and bore little resemblance to the missions and rustic adobe ranch houses that comprised the state’s actual colonial-era buildings.
The popularity of the Spanish Colonial Revival style extended across nearly all property types, and coincided with Southern California’s population boom of the 1920s. It shaped the region’s expansion for nearly two decades, reaching a high point in 1929 and tapering off through the 1930s as the Great Depression gradually took hold. Like other revival styles, the Spanish Colonial Revival style was often simplified, reduced to its signature elements, or creatively combined with design features of other Mediterranean regions such as Italy, southern France, and North Africa, resulting in a pan-Mediterranean mélange of eclectic variations (see Mediterranean Revival Style). It was sometimes combined, although much less frequently, with the emerging Art Deco and Moderne styles.
Spanish Colonial Revival style residences are among the most prevalent in Alhambra’s built env
ironment. A majority of examples are modest residences and commercial buildings, but there are several high-style residential examples in the City.
Character-defining features include:
• Asymmetrical façade
• Irregular plan and horizontal massing
• Varied gable or hipped roofs with clay barrel tiles
• Plaster veneered exterior walls forming wide, uninterrupted expanses • Wood-sash casement or double-hung windows, typically with divided lights • Round, pointed, or parabolic arched openings
• Arcades or colonnades
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• Decorative grilles of wood, wrought iron, or plaster
• Balconies, patios or towers
• Decorative terra cotta or glazed ceramic tile work
Spanish Colonial Revival: Extant Examples
1200 W. Main Street (c. 1930)
10 Halstead Circle (1924)
1136 S. 3rd Street (1931)
1812 S. 6th Street (1931)
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Sub-Theme: Mediterranean Revival
The Mediterranean Revival style is distinguished by its eclectic mix of architectural elements from several regions around the Mediterranean Sea, including Spain, Italy, southern France, and North Africa. Much of the American architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be broadly classified as ultimately Mediterranean in origin, including the Beaux Arts, Mission Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Italian Renaissance Revival styles. By the 1920s, the lines between these individual styles were frequently blurred and their distinguishing characteristics blended by architects who drew inspiration from throughout the Mediterranean region. These imaginative combinations of details from varied architectural traditions resulted in the emergence of a distinct Mediterranean Revival style.
In contrast to the more academic and more literal interpretations such as the Andalusian- influenced Spanish Colonial Revival style or the restrained, dignified Italian Renaissance Revival style, the broader Mediterranean Revival frequently incorporated elements of Italian and Spanish Renaissance, Provençal, Venetian Gothic, and Moorish architecture into otherwise Spanish Colonial Revival designs. The Mediterranean Revival style is sometimes more formal and usually more elaborately composed and ornamented than the simpler, more rustic Spanish Colonial Revival style, and often more flamboyant than the sober Italian Renaissance Revival style. Typical features of the Mediterranean Revival style include arched entrance doorways with richly detailed surrounds; arcades and loggias; stairways and terraces with cast stone balustrades; and Classical decorative elements in cast stone or plaster, including architraves, stringcourses, cornices, pilasters, columns, and quoins.
There are several examples of Mediterranean Revival style residences in Alhambra.
C
haracter-defining features include:
• Frequently symmetrical façade
• Rectangular plan and two-story height
• Hipped roof with clay barrel tiles and wide boxed or bracketed eaves, or eave cornice • Exterior walls veneered in smooth plaster
• Wood-sash casement windows, typically with divided lights; sometimes double-hung windows; Palladian windows or other accent windows
• Arched door or window openings
• Elaborate door surrounds
• Arcades, colonnades, or loggias
• Terraces and stairs with cast stone balustrades
• Cast stone or plaster decorative elements including architraves, stringcourses, cornices, pilasters, columns, and quoins
• Decorative grilles of wood, wrought iron, or plaster
• Balconies, patios or towers
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• Decorative terra cotta or glazed ceramic tile work
Mediterranean Revival: Extant Example
Eli Harvey Residence, 130 Champion Place (1929)
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Sub-Theme: Monterey Colonial Revival
The Monterey Colonial Revival style is based upon the distinctive style of residential architecture that developed in California beginning in the 1830s, as more and more Yankee merchants and settlers arrived in Alta California and adapted the Anglo building traditions of the East Coast to local Hispanic customs. As its name implies, the style developed in and around Monterey and combined vernacular adobe construction with elements of American Federal and Greek Revival architecture, including multi-light sliding sash windows, louvered shutters, paneled doors, and Classical details executed in wood. The style’s most distinguishing characteristic is a second-floor covered wood balcony, often cantilevered, extending the length of the primary façade and sometimes wrapping one or two sides. The best-known example of the style, and one of the earliest, is the Thomas Larkin adobe, constructed beginning in 1834 and one of the first two-story dwellings in Monterey. 472
The style was revived beginning in the mid- to late 1920s and was favored by architects and homeowners who perhaps found the fantastical Spanish and Mediterranean revivals too exotic and too different from the building traditions familiar to most Americans. It reached the height of its popularity in Southern California in the 1930s, with some examples constructed in the early 1940s. The Monterey Colonial Revival style replaced adobe construction with wood framed walls veneered in smooth plaster and devoid of surface ornament, and featured second-story balconies, low-pitched gable or hipped roofs, and double-hung wood windows.
There are several examples of Monterey Colonial Revival style residences in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Usually asymmetrical façade
• Two-story height
• Rectangular or L-shaped plan
• Low-pitched hipped or side gable roofs with wood shakes or clay tiles • Plaster-veneered exterior walls devoid of surface ornament • Second-floor covered wood balcony, sometimes cantilevered, across primary façade and occasionally wrapping one or more sides, with simple wood posts and wood or metal railing
• Wood-sash double-hung windows, typically with divided lights • Louvered or paneled wood shutters
• Recessed entrances with paneled wood doors
472 Monterey County Historical Society, “Monterey’s Larkin House Adobe and Garden,” http://www.mchsmuseum.com/larkinhouse.html (accessed September 2013). 256
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Monterey Colonial Revival: Extant Example
1132 S. 3rd Street (1931)
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Sub-Theme: French Revival
French Revival style architecture in Southern California often consists of two sub-types, Chateauesque and French Provincial. The Chateauesque style is loosely modeled on the 16th century chateaux of France’s Loire Valley and combines features of French Gothic and Renaissance architecture. The style gained popularity in the United States in the late 19th century and is most closely associated with Richard Morris Hunt, the first American architect to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The style did not gain popularity in Southern California until the 1920s; it was most frequently used there for luxury apartment buildings and only occasionally for large single-family residences. Chateauesque style buildings are typically two or more stories in height and feature multiple, steeply-pitched hipped roofs with towers, turrets, spires, tall chimneys, and highly ornamented dormers. Exterior walls are usually veneered in stone, brick, or scored plaster, and are ornamented with classical pilasters, stringcourses, and cornices. Windows are typically divided light wood casements and are frequently paired or grouped with prominent mullions.
The more modest French Provincial style was popularized after World War I and is based upon country houses of the French provinces, including Normandy. Although it shares several basic features with the more elaborate Chateauesque style, the French Provincial style is much simpler in its composition and detailing. It is characterized by a prominent, steeply pitched hipped roof with flared eaves and a classical eave cornice; simple rectangular plan and massing; exterior walls veneered in smooth plaster; and divided light, wood sash casement or double-hung windows, usually with louvered wood shutters. Second floor windows sometimes break the cornice line with shallow dormers. The Norman variation usually features decorative half-timbering and a circular entrance tower with a conical roof.
There are relatively few examples of French Revival architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features of the Chateauesque style include:
• Multiple, steeply pitched hipped roofs
• Complex massing
• Stone, brick, or scored plaster veneer at exterior walls • Towers, turrets, and spires
• Highly ornamented dormers
• Tall chimneys
• Divided light wood casement windows, paired or grouped, with prominent mullions • Classical pilasters, stringcourses, and cornices
• Detached garage at rear of property
• Character-defining features of the French Provincial style include:
• Steeply pitched hipped roofs with flared eaves and eave cornice • Rectangular plan and simple massing
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• Smooth plaster veneer at exterior walls
• Divided light, wood sash casement or double hung windows that sometimes break the cornice line
• Louvered wood shutters
• Decorative half-timbering and circular entrance tower with conical roof (Norman variation)
French Revival: Extant Example
3201 W. Commonwealth Ave (1930)
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Sub-Theme: American Colonial Revival
American Colonial Revival describes a varied style that combines a number of architectural features found throughout the American Colonies, particularly in New England. The style has neither the strict formality of the Georgian Revival nor the decorative embellishments of the Neoclassical, although it sometimes incorporates elements of both. It also adapts elements of Dutch colonial architecture, such as the gambrel roof. American Colonial Revival buildings are typically one or two stories in height, and are sometimes symmetrical but frequently asymmetrical, with rectangular, L-shaped, or irregular plans. They typically feature side gable or cross gable roofs, sometimes with gabled dormers; exterior walls clad in horizontal wood siding and occasionally brick; prominent brick chimneys; double hung, divided light wood sash windows, usually with louvered wood shutters; paneled wood doors, sometimes with sidelights, transom lights, or fanlights; and restrained use of Classical details.
Some American Colonial Revival houses have small, pedimented porches, while others have shed-roofed porches supported on wood posts extending the length of the primary façade.
The U.S. Centennial Exposition of 1876 inspired a sense of patriotism in Americans and fostered an interest in the styles of the Colonial era. Early examples of a revival style in the late 19
th century were rarely accurate reproductions, but were instead free interpretations with details inspired by colonial precedents, while later examples shifted to more historically correct proportions and details. The American Colonial Revival style was popular for grand homes in the early 20th century, and by the 1920s was being applied to more modest homes.
The restoration of Colonial Williamsburg in the 1930s refueled interest in the style, and it remained popular into the post-World War II era. Local examples primarily date from the 1930s and early 1940s, and often are a simplified version of the style.
There are several examples of American Colonial Revival style architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Side gable or cross gable roof, sometimes with dormers • Asymmetrical composition (occasionally symmetrical)
• Horizontal wood siding at exterior walls
• Paneled wood entry door, sometimes with sidelights, transom light, or fanlight • Double hung, divided light wood sash windows, usually with louvered wood shutters • Projecting front porch
• Prominent brick chimney
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American Colonial Revival: Extant Example
301 N. Story Place (1935)
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Sub-Theme: Georgian Revival
The Georgian style was the predominant architectural style in Great Britain and her North American colonies throughout the 18th century. It takes its name from the three kings – George I, George II, and George III - whose successive reigns (1714-1820) encompassed the period, but its stylistic elements were probably fixed by the end of the 17th century. The Georgian style combined traditional elements of late medieval English architecture, such as steeply-pitched roofs, towering chimneys, and dormers, with the strict proportions, symmetrical composition and Classical detailing of the Italian Renaissance as well as a recent invention, the vertical sliding sash (double hung) window. Inspired by pattern books and constructed by prosperous merchants and planters, the Georgian houses of the American Colonies were smaller and less ornate, but no less stately, than their British counterparts and projected the same aura of dignity and gentility. In the late 18 th century the sober, restrained
Georgian style gave way to the lighter, more ornate Adam style.
The U.S. Centennial Exposition of 1876 inspired a sense of patriotism in Americans and fostered an interest in the styles of the Colonial era. Early examples of a revival style in the late 19
th century were rarely accurate reproductions, but rather took elements of Georgian architecture and applied them to Victorian buildings. In the early 20th century architects began to produce more accurate interpretations that featured historically correct proportions and details. The Georgian Revival style is characterized by a rectangular plan and a formal, symmetrical, 5-bay composition; restrained use of Classical ornament; hipped or side gable roof with eave cornice, sometimes with dormers; tall chimneys; and double hung, divided light wood sash windows. Georgian Revival buildings of the 1920s and 1930s sometimes also feature Adam (Federal), Palladian, or other Neo-Classical elements such as columned, pedimented porticos or Venetian (Palladian) windows.
There are few examples of Georgian Revival style residences in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Hipped or side gable roofs with eave cornice; sometimes dormers • Rectangular plan and regular massing
• Symmetrical façade, typically 5 bays wide
• Exterior walls veneered in brick; occasionally wood siding • Main entrance centered on front façade, with paneled wood door flanked by Classical pilasters or columns supporting a pediment
• Double hung, divided light wood sash windows, sometimes with louvered or paneled shutters
• Prominent brick chimney(s)
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Georgian Revival: Extant Example
927 N. Bushnell Avenue (1924)
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Sub-Theme: Neoclassical
Neoclassical styles include elements of the late 18th century Classical Revival and Adam (Federal) styles as well as the early 19th century Greek Revival style, sometimes combining them in the same building. The Classical Revival style was influenced by the work of the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, who adapted Roman temple forms to residential design. The style is characterized by a dominant entrance portico, usually full height, with classical columns supporting a pediment, and the frequent use of the tripartite Venetian (Palladian) window as a focal point. The Classical Revival style was championed in the United States by Thomas Jefferson, whose designs for the Virginia state capitol, the University of Virginia, and his own home, Monticello, are among the finest American examples of the style.
The related Adam style, a contemporary of the Classical Revival, is based on the work of the Scottish architects and designers Robert, John, and James Adam, who lightened the sober, rectilinear Georgian style by adding round arches, semicircular niches, domes, semicircular or elliptical fanlights, and delicate classical Roman decorative details such as swags, garlands, urns, and grotesques in cast plaster or brightly-colored paint. Both the Classical Revival and the Adam styles were popular in the post-Revolutionary War United States (where the Adam style is known as the Federal style on patriotic principle) from the 1780s until the 1830s, by which time both were supplanted by the Greek Revival style.
The Greek Revival was based on classical Greek, rather than Roman, precedents and was popular in the United States from about 1830 until the outbreak of the Civil War. It is usually characterized by simple forms and bold classical details, including Etruscan or Greek Doric columns and heavy entablatures at the eave and porch.
The Neoclassical styles did not achieve the broader popularity of their related American Colonial Revival contemporary in the 1920s and 1930s. The style is best identified by its symmetrical façade typically dominated by a full-height porch with the roof supported by classical columns. Like the Renaissance Revival, this style was widely used for imposing civic buildings, institutional buildings, and banks.
There are few examples of Neoclassical buildings in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Symmetrical façade
• Rectangular plan, sometimes with side wings
• Low-pitched hipped or side gable roof
• Exterior walls clad in masonry veneer or horizontal wood siding • Paneled wood entrance door with sidelights, transom light, and classical surround • Double-hung, divided light wood sash windows, sometimes with louvered wood shutters
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• Venetian (Palladian) window or round or elliptical accent windows (Classical Revival and Adam/Federal)
• Semicircular or elliptical fanlights over entrance doors (Classical Revival and Adam/Federal)
• Pedimented entrance portico, usually full height, supported on classical columns (Classical Revival and Greek Revival)
• Wide classical entablatures (Greek Revival)
• Roof balustrade (Classical Revival and Adam/Federal)
• Decorative details including swags, garlands, urns, and grotesques (Adam/Federal)
Neoclassical: Extant Example
Christian Science Church, 200 W. Commonwealth Avenue (1922) 265
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THEME: EARLY MODERNISM
Sub-Theme: International Style
The International Style − an architectural aesthetic that stressed rationality, logic, and a break with the past − emerged in Europe in the 1920s with the work of Le Corbusier in France, and Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Germany. The United States became a stronghold of Modern architecture after the emigration of Gropius, Mies, and Marcel Breuer. Two Austrian emigrants, Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, helped introduce modern architecture to Southern California in the 1920s. Their buildings were minimalist in concept, stressed functionalism, and were devoid of regional characteristics and nonessential decorative elements. In 1932, the Museum of Modern Art hosted an exhibition, titled simply "Modern Architecture," that featured the work of fifteen architects from around the world whose buildings shared a stark simplicity and vigorous functionalism. The term International Style was coined by Henry Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson in the accompanying catalog.
The early impact of the International Style in the United States was primarily in the fields of residential and small-scale commercial design. The economic downturn of the Depression, followed by World War II, resulted in little architectural development during this period. It was not until the postwar period that Americans embraced Modernism, and its full impact on the architectural landscape is observed. Within the International Style, two trends emerged after World War II. The first emphasized the expression of the building’s function, following the early work of Walter Gropius, who created innovative designs that borrowed materials and methods of construction from modern technology. He advocated for industrialized building and an acceptance of standardization and prefabrication. Gropius introduced a screen wall system that utilized a structural steel frame to support the floors and which allowed the external glass walls to continue without interruption.
The second postwar trend in the International Style is represented by Mies van der Rohe and his followers. Within the Miesian tradition there are three subtypes: the glass and steel pavilion, modeled on Mies’ design for the Barcelona Pavilion (1929); the skyscraper with an all-glass curtain wall like his Seagram Building (1954) in New York; and the modular office building like his design for Crown Hall (1955) at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).
While “form follows function” was the mantra of Gropius, “less is more” was the aphorism of Mies. He focused his efforts on the idea of enclosing open and adaptable “universal” spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring pre-manufactured steel frames spanned with large sheets of glass.
Pure examples of the International Style are rare. There is one known example of the style in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Rectangular massing
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• Balance and regularity, but not symmetry
• Clear expression of form and function
• Steel frame structure used as an organizing device
• Elevation of buildings on tall piers (piloti)
• Flat roofs
• Frequent use of glass, steel, concrete, and smooth plaster • Horizontal bands of flush windows, often meeting at corners • Absence of ornamentation
• Column-free interior spaces
International Style: Extant Example
2221 S. Westboro Avenue (1930)
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Sub-Theme: Art Deco
Art Deco originated in France in the 1910s as an experimental movement in architecture and the decorative arts. It developed into a major style when it was first exhibited in Paris at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, from which it takes its name. The Exposition’s organizers had insisted on the creation of a new, modern aesthetic.
The architecture of the Art Deco movement rejected the rigid organizational methods and classical ornamentation of the Beaux Arts style. It emphasized a soaring verticality through the use of stepped towers, spires, and fluted or reeded piers, and embraced highly stylized geometric, floral and figurative motifs as decorative elements on both the exterior and interior. Ornate metalwork, especially aluminum, glazed terra cotta tiles, and bright colors were hallmarks of the style.
Art Deco was the first popular style in the United States that consciously rejected historical precedents. It was instead a product of the Machine Age and took its inspiration from industry and transportation. Art Deco was employed primarily in commercial and institutional buildings, and occasionally in multi-family residential buildings. It was rarely used for single-family residences. By the mid-1930s, in the depths of the Great Depression, the highly decorated style was already viewed as garish and overwrought, and it was soon abandoned in favor of the cleaner, simpler Streamline Moderne style.
There are few examples of Art Deco architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Vertical emphasis
• Smooth wall surfaces, usually of plaster
• Flat roofs with decorative parapets or towers
• Stylized decorative floral and figurative elements in cast stone, glazed terra cotta tiles, or aluminum
• Geometric decorative motifs such as zigzags and chevrons • Stepped towers, piers, and other vertical elements
• Metal windows, usually fixed or casement
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Art Deco: Extant Example
Ramona Elementary School, 509 W. Norwood Place (1936)
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Sub-Theme: Streamline Moderne
The constraints of the Great Depression cut short the development of Art Deco architecture, but replaced it with a purer expression of modernity, the Streamline Moderne.
Characterized by smooth surfaces, curved corners, and sweeping horizontal lines, Streamline Moderne is considered to be the first thoroughly Modern architectural style to achieve wide acceptance among the American public. Inspired by the industrial designs of the period, the style was popular throughout the United States in the late 1930s, particularly with the Federally-funded projects of the Works Progress Administration; buildings executed under those programs are often referred to as PWA Moderne. Unlike the equally modern but highly-ornamental Art Deco style of the late 1920s, Streamline Moderne was perceived as expressing an austerity more appropriate for Depression-era architecture, although Art Deco and Streamline Moderne were not necessarily opposites. A Streamline Moderne building with a few Deco elements was not uncommon, but the prime movers behind the Streamline Moderne style such as Raymond Loewy, Walter Dorwin Teague, Gilbert Rohde, and Norman Bel Geddes all disliked Art Deco, seeing it as falsely modern.
The origins of the Streamline Moderne are rooted in transportation design, which took the curved form of the teardrop, because it was the most efficient shape in lowering the wind resistance of an object. Product designers and architects who wanted to express efficiency borrowed the streamlined shape of cars, planes, trains, and ocean liners. Streamline Moderne architecture looked efficient in its clean lines. It was in fact relatively inexpensive to build because there was little labor-intensive ornament like terra cotta; exteriors tended to be concrete or plaster. The Streamline Moderne’s finest hour was the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40. Here, the “World of Tomorrow” showcased the cars and cities of the future, a robot, a microwave oven, and a television, all in streamlined pavilions. While the style was popular throughout Southern California during the 1930s, there are relatively few examples simply because there was so little construction activity during the Depression.
There are few examples of Streamline Moderne architecture in Alhambra.
Ch
aracter-defining features include:
• Horizontal emphasis
• Asymmetrical façade
• Flat roof with coping
• Smooth plaster wall surfaces
• Curved end walls and corners
• Glass block and porthole windows
• Flat canopy over entrances
• Fluted or reeded moldings or stringcourses
• Pipe railings along exterior staircases and balconies • Steel sash windows
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Streamline Moderne: Extant Example
Mark Keppel High School, 501 E. Hellman Avenue (1940)
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Theme: Minimal Traditional
The Minimal Traditional style is defined by a single-story configuration, simple exterior forms, and a restrained use of traditional architectural detailing. The Minimal Traditional house was immensely popular in large suburban residential developments throughout the United States during the 1940s and early 1950s. The style had its origins in the principles of the Modern movement and the requirements of the FHA and other Federal programs of the 1930s. Its open plan reflected the developer’s desire for greater efficiency. Modern construction methods addressed the builder’s need to reduce costs and keep homes affordable to the middle class. Conventional detailing appealed to conservative home buyers and mortgage companies. In Southern California, the style is closely associated with large- scale residential developments of the World War II and postwar periods. Primarily associated with the detached single-family house, Minimal Traditional detailing may also be applied to apartment buildings of the same period.
There are numerous examples of Minimal Traditional residences throughout Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• One-story configuration
• Rectangular plan
• Medium or low-pitched hip or side-gable roof with shallow eaves • Smooth stucco wall cladding, often with wood lap or stone veneer accents • Wood multi-lig ht windows (picture, double-hung sash, casement) • Projecting three-sided oriel
• Shallow entry porch with slender wood supports
• Wood shutters
• Lack of decorative exterior detailing
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Minimal Traditional: Extant Examples
1017 Azalea Drive (1948)
1701 Edgewood Drive (1939)
1600 S. El Molino St (1947)
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THEME: POST-WORLD WAR II MODERNISM/REGIONAL MODERNISM
Sub-Theme: Mid-Century Modern
Mid-Century Modern is a term used to describe the post-World War II iteration of the International Style in both residential and commercial design. The International Style was characterized by geometric forms, smooth wall surfaces, and an absence of exterior decoration. Mid-Century Modern represents the adaptation of these elements to the local climate and topography, as well as to the postwar need for efficiently-built, moderately- priced homes. In Southern California, this often meant the use of wood post-and-beam construction. Mid-Century Modernism is often characterized by a clear expression of structure and materials, large expanses of glass, and open interior plans.
The roots of the style can be traced to early Modernists like Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, whose local work inspired “second generation” Modern architects like Gregory Ain, Craig Ellwood, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Pierre Koenig, Raphael Soriano, and many more. These postwar architects developed an indigenous Modernism that was born from the International Style but matured into a fundamentally regional style, fostered in part by Art and Architecture magazine’s pivotal Case Study Program (1945-1966). The style gained popularity because its use of standardized, prefabricated materials permitted quick and economical construction. It became the predominant architectural style in the postwar years and is represented in almost every property type, from single-family residences to commercial buildings to gas stations.
There are several examples of Mid-ce ntury Modern residential and commercial architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• One or two-story configuration
• Horizontal massing (for small-scale buildings)
• Simple geometric forms
• Expressed post-and-beam construction, in wood or steel • Flat roof or low-pitched gable roof with wide overhanging eaves and cantilevered canopies
• Unadorned wall surfaces
• Wood, plaster, brick or stone used as exterior wall panels or accent materials • Flush-mounted metal frame fixed windows and sliding doors, and clerestory windows
• Exterior staircases, decks, patios and balconies
• Little or no exterior decorative detailing
• Attached carport or garage
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• Expressionistic/Organic subtype: sculptural forms and geometric shapes, including butterfly, A-frame, folded plate or barrel vault roofs
Mid-Century Modern: Extant Examples
1901 S. Garvey Avenue (1947)
2741 S. Fremont Avenue (1963)
2316 S. Electric Avenue (1952)
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Sub-Theme: Ranch
The Ranch style emerged from the 1930s designs of Southern California architect Cliff May, who merged modernist ideas with traditional notions of the working ranches of the American West and in particular, the rustic adobe houses of California’s Spanish- and Mexican-era ranchos. The resulting architectural style – characterized by its low horizontal massing, sprawling interior plan, and wood exterior detailing – embodied the mid-20th century ideal of “California living.” The Ranch style enjoyed enormous popularity throughout the United States from the 1940s to 1970s. It epitomized unpretentious architecture and dominated the suburbs of the post-World War II period. It was more conservative than other modern residential architecture of the period, often using decorative elements based on historical forms and capitalizing on the national fascination with the “Old West.” The underlying philosophy of the Ranch house was informality, outdoor living, gracious entertaining, and natural materials.
The most common style of Ranch house is the California Ranch. It is characterized by its one-story height; asymmetrical massing in L- or U-shaped plans; low-pitched hipped or gabled roofs with wide overhanging eaves; a variety of materials for exterior cladding, including plaster and board-and-batten; divided light wood sash windows, sometimes with diamond-shaped panes; and large picture windows. Decorative details commonly seen in California Ranch houses include scalloped bargeboards, false cupolas and dovecotes, shutters, and iron or wood porch supports. The California Ranch house accommodated America’s adoption of the automobile as the primary means of transportation with a two-car garage that was a prominent architectural feature on the front of the house, and a sprawling layout on a large lot. Floor plans for the tracts of Ranch houses were usually designed to meet the FHA standards so that the developer could receive guaranteed loans.
Another va riation on the Ranch house is the Modern Ranch, which was influenced by Mid- Century Modernism. Modern Ranches emphasized horizontal planes more than the California Ranch, and included modern instead of traditional stylistic details. Character- defining features included low-pitched hipped or flat roofs, prominent rectangular chimneys, recessed entryways, and wood or concrete block privacy screens. Other stylistic elements resulted in Asian variations.
There are numerous examples of Ranch style residences in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• One-story
• Sprawling plan
• L- or U-shaped plan, often with radiating wings
• Low, horizontal massing with wide street façade
• Low-pitched hipped or gable roof with open overhanging eaves and wood shakes • Plaster, wood lap, or board-and-batten siding, often with brick or stone accents 276
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• Divided light wood sash windows (picture, double-hung sash, diamond-pane) • Wide, covered front porch with wood posts
• Attached garage, sometimes linked with open-sided breezeway • Details such as wood shutters, attic vents in gable ends, dovecotes, extended gables, or scalloped barge boards
• Modern Ranch sub-type may feature flat or low-pitched hipped roof with composition shingle or gravel roofing; metal framed windows; wood or concrete block privacy screens
Ranch House: Extant Examples
3309 Viscount Street (1954)
2325 Roark Drive (1951)
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Sub-Theme: Googie
Googie has been described as Modernism for the masses. With its swooping lines and organic shapes, the style attempted to capture the playful exuberance of postwar America.
Named for the John Lautner-designed Googie’s Restaurant in Los Angeles, the style was widely employed in roadside commercial architecture of the 1950s, including coffee shops, bowling alleys, and car washes.
There are few examples of the Googie style in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Expressive rooflines, including butterfly, folded-plate, and cantilevers • Organic, abstract, and parabolic shapes
• Clear expression of materials, including concrete, steel, asbestos, cement, glass block, plastic, and plywood
• Large expanses of plate glass
• Thematic ornamentation, including tiki and space age motifs • Primacy of signage, including the pervasive use of neon
Googie: Extant Examples
850 W. Valley Boulevard (1967)
Prebles Restaurant, 201 W. Main Street (1964)
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Sub-Theme: Programmatic/Mimetic473
Programmatic/Mimetic buildings are a specific commercial architectural type common along the roadside during the 1920s and 1930s. Programmatic/Mimetic buildings are, above all, objects that need to be viewed in three dimensions and the sprawl allowed by the passenger car. Larger lots surrounded by parking made this possible. At the same time, the speed of passing vehicles gave the large-scale advertising innate in the Programmatic/Mimetic form an advantage over the more discreet signs of the earlier pre-automobile commercial outlets.
Programmatic/Mimetic architecture evolved between 1918 and 1950, but was most prevalent between 1928 and 1934. The property type represents a unique expression of American roadside design which conveys an advertising message through adaptations in the building form itself. The term “programmatic” refers to structures whose form is directly related to the products sold within, such as a hot dog stand in the form of a hot dog. “Mimetic” refers to buildings which mimic forms which are not related to the building’s use but may be related to the name of the original business, such as a restaurant in the form of a derby hat, or the spirit of the activity housed within, such as a bar in the form of a giant beer barrel. In both cases, these structures take the form of objects not normally associated with architecture, including food, animals, or household items. Extant examples are rare.
Programmatic/Mimetic roadside buildings could be found throughout the country, but were particularly well-suited to Southern California. The mild climate and the resulting local tradition of inexpensive stucco-on-wood-frame construction made them easy and cheap to build. The stucco-on-wood-frame construction also allowed for a greater freedom of form than could be achieved with the masonry or clapboard exteriors typical elsewhere.
Programmatic/mimetic architecture is typically applied to low-scale commercial buildings, particularly those along well-trafficked automobile corridors. This architecture was primarily applied to restaurants, food stands, and retail stores. The term “Programmatic/Mimetic” should not be applied to thematic signage applied to an otherwise ordinary building form, or to buildings that adopt a fantasy architectural theme.
There are few extant examples of programmatic/mimetic architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features include:
• Typically a low-scale commercial building
• Primarily applied historically to restaurants, food stands, and retail stores
473 The following discussion of mimetic architecture has been excerpted and adapted from SurveyLA Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: Commercial Development, 1850-1980; Theme: Commercial Development and the Automobile, 1910 -1970,” prepared for the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning Office of Historic Resources by Daniel Prosser, August 2016, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/3007ea6e-c4dd-42ec-bede- b109293f2873/CommercialDevelopmentandtheAutomobile_1910-1970.pdf (accessed November 2021), 29-31. 279
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• Conveys an advertising message through adaptations in the building form itself • Takes the form of an object not normally associated with architecture, such as food, animals, or household items
• Of the layouts typical of adapting to the needs of the automobile (e.g. free-standing on a roadside setting to allow for viewing from the automobile) • May be linked to particular companies and/or designers Programmatic/Mimetic: Extant Examples
Crawford’s Corner, 1485 E. Valley Boulevard
(1964)
Chili Bowl, 501 W. Valley Boulevard (1941)
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Sub-Theme: New Formalism
New Formalism is a sub-type of Late Modern architecture that developed in the mid-1950s as a reaction to the International Style’s strict vocabulary and total rejection of historical precedent. New Formalist buildings are monumental in appearance, and reference and abstract classical forms such as full-height columns, projecting cornices, and arcades.
Traditional materials such as travertine, marble, or granite were used, but in a panelized, non-traditional form. In Southern California, the style was applied mainly to public and institutional buildings. On a larger urban design scale, grand axes and symmetry were used to achieve a modern monumentality. Primary in developing New Formalism were three architects: Edward Durrell Stone, who melded his Beaux Arts training with the stark Modernism of his early work; Philip Johnson; and Minoru Yamasaki. All three had earlier achieved prominence working within the International Style and other Modernist idioms.
There are few examples of New Formalist architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features of New Formalism include:
• Symmetrical plan
• Flat rooflines with heavy overhanging cornices
• Colonnades, plazas, and elevated podiums used as compositional devices • Repeating arches and rounded openings
• Large screens of perforated concrete block, concrete, or metal
New Formalism: Extant Example
Alhambra Court House, 150 W. Commonwealth Avenue (1971) 281
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Sub-Theme: Late Modernism
Late Modern is a blanket term used to describe the evolution of Modern architecture from the mid-1950s through the 1970s. It is typically applied to commercial and institutional buildings. Unlike the straightforward, functionalist simplicity of International Style and Mid- Century Modernism, Late Modern buildings exhibit a more deliberate sculptural quality with bold geometric volumes, uniform surfaces such as glass skin or concrete, and a sometimes exaggerated expression of structure and systems. Significant architects who produced works in the style include Marcel Breuer, Philip Johnson, Cesar Pelli, Piano and Rogers, and John Portman.
There are few examples of Late Modern architecture in Alhambra.
Character-defining features of Late Modern style include:
• Bold geometric volumes
• Large expanses of unrelieved wall surfaces
• Uniform use of cladding materials including glass, concrete, or masonry veneer • Exaggerated expression of structure and systems
• Hooded or deeply set windows
• Little or no applied ornament
Late Modern: Extant Example
Sears, Roebuck & Co. Pacific Coast Territory Administrative Offices Tower, 900 S. Fremont Avenue (A.C. Martin &
Associates; 1971)
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Eligibility Standards
Property Types Properties eligible under this context may be any property type:
Residential, Commercial, Institutional, or Industrial.
Criteria National Register: C California Register: 3 Period of Significance 1875-1980
Significance Properties significant for their architectural merit are evaluated under this context, which includes separate themes for the predominant architectural styles found in the city.
Individual residential properties that are eligible under this criterion may be significant as:
• A good/excellent or rare example of an architectural style, property type, or method of construction. Eligible examples typically exhibit high quality of design and distinctive features. • A distinctive work by a noted architect, landscape architect, builder, or designer.
A collection of residences that are linked geographically and are unified by a single architectural style or multiple styles that collectively convey similar characteristics (e.g. examples of multiple Period Revival styles from the 1920s and 1930s), may be eligible as a historic district. Eligible districts may span several periods of development and may also be significant for representing a pattern of development under Criterion A/1. District boundaries may represent original tract boundaries, or they may comprise several adjacent tracts, or a portion of a tract or neighborhood. The district must be unified aesthetically by plan, physical development, and architectural quality. Tract features, including street lights, landscaping, parkland, and other amenities may contribute to the significance of the district.
Many resources that are eligible under this context may also be significant under other contexts as well.
Registration Requirements:
• Individual Resource:
o Dates from the period of significance of the applicable theme; and 283
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o Represents a rare or good/excellent example of the style or type with high quality of design and distinctive details; and
o Displays most of the character-defining features of the style or type; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity
• Historic district:
o Retains a significant concentration of contributors dating from the period of significance; and
o Represents a collection of buildings designed in a singular architectural style or multiple styles that convey similar architectural quality and cohesive physical characteristics; and
o If residential: displays most of the character-defining features of a residential subdivision, including the original layout, street plan, and other planning features; and
o Reflects planning and design principles from the period; and o Retains the essential aspects of historic integrity.
Integrity Considerations:
• A property that is eligible for designation as a good/excellent or rare example of its style or type should retain most – though not necessarily all – of the character-defining features of the style.
• A property that is significant for its architectural/design merit should retain integrity of Design, Materials, Workmanship, Feeling, and Association, at a minimum. • Eligible bungalow courts and courtyard apartments must retain their original plan and layout. • Landscape and hardscape features may also be contributing features to eligible multi-family residential properties.
• A property important for illustrating a particular architectural style or construction technique must retain most of the physical features that constitute that style or technique. • A property can be eligible if it has lost some historic materials or details but retains the majority of the essential features from the period of significance. These features illustrate the style in terms of the massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation.
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• A property is not eligible if it retains some basic features conveying massing but has lost the majority of features that once characterized its style. • Additions may be acceptable if not within public view, do not alter the original roofline, and are subordinate to the original design intent
• Replacement of some windows may be acceptable if the openings have not been changed or resized
• If it is a rare surviving example of its style or type, a greater degree of alteration may be acceptable
• For historic districts:
o The majority of the components that add to the district’s historic character must possess integrity, as must the district as a whole.
o A contributing property must retain integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association in order to contribute to significance of the historic district. o The district must retain a strong sense of time and place from the period of significance.
o Some alterations to individual buildings, such as replacement roof materials, replacement garage doors, and replacement of windows within original openings may be acceptable. However, major alterations to individual residences, such as substantial additions that are visible from the public right-of-way or alter the original roofline, and loss of significant historic fabric (e.g. replacement of windows, and doors, and wall cladding in a single residence) would not be acceptable and the building would be considered a non-contributor to the district.
o Original tract features may also be contributing features to the historic district.
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SOURCES
Alhambra Public Library, circa 1920. California State Library . 286
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