USA > California > Los Angeles County > Pasadena > History of Pasadena, comprising an account of the native Indian, the early Spanish, the Mexican, the American, the colony, and the incorporated city, occupancies of the Rancho San Pasqual, and its adjacent mountains, canyons, waterfalls and other objects of interest: being a complete and comprehensive histo-cyclopedia of all matters pertaining to this region > Part 44
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OLD SPANISH LAND GRANTS CONFIRMED.
The Spanish and Mexican method of describing boundaries of the large land estates was, by so many leagues along some stream, or some range of hills, or to some rock, tree, canyon, spring, or other object, without any idea at all of the definite number of acres included. But when after 1849, the American method of measuring lands by townships, sections, quarters, and definite acreage, began to come into use, there was a flood of confusion about the old land grants, and the later titles acquired under them. To remedy this, Congress in 1852, passed an act creating a commis- sion to settle private land claims in California. This commission sat in Los Angeles part of the time, and adjusted seventy-three individual claims in this county alone-these ranging from 191/2 acres up to 116,85812 acres to one person. From the official reports on these decisions I have culled the following cases within or near Pasadenaland :
NAME OF GRANT.
NAME OF PERSON WHOSE
NO. OF ACRES.
PATENT.
Mission San Gabriel.
Bishop J. S. Alemany
190.69 Nov. 19, 1859.
Huerta de Cuati.
Victoria Reid
128.26
June 30, 1859.
San Pascual Manuel Garfias 13,693 93. April 3, 1863.
La Canyada.
J. R. Scott et al.
5.832.10. Aug. 1, 1866. Aug. 9, 1866.
Santa Anita Henry Dalton.
Mission San Gabriel, out lot .. Bishop J. S. Alemany
13,319.06 55.23. Dec. 4, 1875.
San Pascual
B. D. Wilson
708.57 Feb. 12, 1881.
San Rafael.
.Julio Verdugo et al
36,403.32 Jan, 28, 1882.
San Pascual.
.Juan Gallardo
700.00. (No date.)
Mission San Gabriel
Daniel Sexton
227.75. May 16, 1871.
DATE OF
TITLE WAS CONFIRMED.
*Painter & Ball had bought from a man named Taylor, his unperfected homestead claim here. in order to hold their own right of way from their water rights farther up the Arroyo, down to their great Tract about Monks hill.
350
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
FLOWING SPRINGS BY NAME.
THE GARFIAS OR "OLD ADOBE" SPRING .- This was a fine outgush of water at the top of the Arroyo bank, a few rods below the foot of Her- mosa street, and near where the original Garfias adobe ranch house stood,* the walls of which were finally destroyed by Geo. W. Glover, Sr., in No- vember, 1886. The spring pool was in the shade of a great spreading live- oak tree, and is now all boxed up, the water being piped down to Lincoln Park for its domestic water supply. The Indians had a village near this spring before the Spaniards came.
BAKER'S SPRING .- At Edwin Baker's place, on Grand avenue above West Columbia street, he has a natural flowing spring, with a stone milk- house built over it.
SAN RAFAEL SPRINGS, or Johnson's spring .- In the west bank of the Arroyo, nearly opposite the foot of California street, there is a bog or cienega which yields a continuous supply of water, and from a well here the water is pumped up into cisterns at the Johnson ranch house on top of the arroyo hill.
SHEEP CORRAL SPRINGS .- During the old Mission occupancy of these lands a sheep corral was maintained on Reservoir Hill, because of its good outlook against approach of coyotes, foxes, bears, etc .; and at the foot of its north slope was the great bog of water-bearing land for their drink supply. Hon. Stephen C. Foster tells me that the padres kept all their black sheep in flocks by themselves on rancho San Pasqual, and their white sheep on rancho San Antonio, along the San Gabriel river above Downey. To save expense of dying, the wools were cleaned and spun separately, then mixed in the weaving, making salt-and-pepper cloth, and sometimes black and white barred or striped goods, etc. This sheep corral was kept up in the earlier years of the Garfias occupancy ; but was improved and better utilized while Griffin and Wilson owned the ranch and were getting in some Yankee push and enterprise to make the thing "pay." So when our Pasadena colonists took the land they found remnants of sheep-corral fences, and bottom timbers of the rude huts of the herders and booths of the shearers ; and they hauled away tons of sheep manure to fertilize their young orange trees. The name "sheep corral," therefore, applied to a thirty- or forty-acre body of hill-top and slope and bottom land all around and above the springs where the pumping works are now located. I have noticed that some eastern people, not understanding our western word "corral," have written this spring up gushingly as the "coral springs." That would do very well for Florida, but not for California.+
*Mrs. G. W. Robinson, whose husband was jailor at Los Angeles in the early 50s, tells me that they lived in a part of the Garfias house in Los Angeles, corner of Main and First streets, and she and Mrs. Garfias used to take their family washings out to this spring and have the work done there. The major douto of Mrs. Garfias's mother lived there then, in charge of the ranch.
tThe blunder of a misprint of this name occurred in the Farnsworth pamphlet of 1883, on page 49- "coral." It was printed at Oakland.
351
DIVISION FIVE -NAMES.
THE BEN WILSON SPRING .- In 1874, J. Benjamin Wilson, son of John W. Wilson, secured a tract of land which extended down over the Arroyo bluff near the west end of Logan street ; and toward the bottom of . the high bank or bluff there was an issue of water which he developed somewhat himself. Then in October and November, 1884, W. F. Gowie, run a tunnel in 200 feet for him and claimed a flowage of 7 inches of water. The same property in 1894, is owned by P. W. Lloyd.
THE RICHARDSON SPRING .- In 1877, Geo. A. Richardson bought 37 acres of land next north of Wilson's, and opened a spring in the bluff por- tion of it. This spring was a few years ago purchased by the Painter Brothers, and the water was pumped up to irrigate lands which they owned on the arable flat above. In 1894 the spring was bought by the Pasadena Land and Water Co., and also the Wilson spring and tunnel.
FLUTTERWHEEL SPRINGS .- Just below the rocky point on east side of Devil's Gate there was formerly a great body of bog soil reaching perhaps twelve feet above the Arroyo bed ; but it is all tapped or underdrained, and entirely changed in appearance and character now, by the water company's tunnels. At an early day, about 1872, a man named Chesley Cawthon im- proved the water flowage on top of this bog-bank so as to gather its many ripples into one stream and guide it by a plunge flume upon a wooden water wheel which he had constructed. To this wheel he attached some light machinery for boring, sawing, etc., and manufactured rustic chairs from alder, sycamore, willow, and other light woods of the Arroyo. One day B. D. Wilson was up there looking at it and playfully called it the " flutterwheel mill." The name stuck, and that place is called "flutter- wheel springs " to this day. Some fragments of Cawthon's old wheel were there yet when our colonists took possession. Mr. Cawthon also built an adobe house nearly where Yolo Avenue and Mountain street now join, at Reservoir No. I. About 1880-81 L. H. Michener lived in this Cawthon adobe house, the land on which it stood having been bought by his father- in-law, John H. Painter.
THIBBETS SPRINGS .- A Mr. Thibbets held a squatter's right on the land next north of Devil's Gate on the east side, where there is perhaps an acre of boggy or waterbearing soil, and lived there some years as its first white-man occupant. Hence Judge Eaton called it by Thibbets's name, and it so remains.
IVY SPRINGS .- A man named Silas Ivy first claimed a body of land on the west side above Devil's Gate, where the La Canyada creek enters the Arroyo. Here were numerous trickles of water coming out of an ex- tensive sandbed, and on being led into a common channel they formned a nice little stream, the entire sandbed being called "Ivy Springs," from Mr. Ivy, and not from the poison oak or "ivy" growing there, as many have supposed.
352
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
THE BACON SPRING .- As late as 1884 there was a spring with a large barrel set down into it for a curb, under a sycamore tree at the head of the Raymond brook, a few rods southeast from Raymond station. But its water supply was tapped first by the building of the city sewer down across its head source ; then by the digging and walling up of a large spring or well at the foot of the north driveway up Raymond hill, where a steam pump stood for a year or two ; then by the grading or deep cut of the Los An- geles, Ramona and Pasadena R. R., now the Southern Pacific, a little way east and south from the old spring place. This spring was also called the " sycamore spring," and the " Marengo spring."
There are also some developed springs in Los Robles canyon which rises at the foot of Los Robles avenue. Also water trenches and tunnels in the springs at head of Oak Knoll canyon-foot of Moline avenue.
WHO NAMED THE STREETS, AND WHY.
Names that are given to streets from some well-known historic person- age, or some state, or some favorite tree, etc., are obvious enough as to their intent and meaning ; and I have not included such in this record. But those which were named for some special personal or private reason, or had some special historic association in their naming, are here recorded in alpha- betical order, with such explanations as I have been able to gather in each case. There are undoubtedly others that should be included in this list, but in regard to which I did not get hold of the necessary data. The reader who wishes to find the particular location of any of these streets is referred to the city directory or city map ; to give local details of that sort is the business of a directory, and not of a liistory volume.
Adella Avenue .- Opened first by A. Ninde, in 1886, through his land, and named after his daughter, Mrs. A. V. Dunsmore.
Adena Street .- Opened by Dr. R. K. Janes (dentist), and named after his wife.
Allen Avenue .- Opened when the Grogan tract was subdivided ; and it was named in honor of Wm. Allen, who owned a ranch of 474 acres called "The Sphinx," up near the mountains, and this avenue formed the west line of his land. Mr. Allen had come from England and settled here in 1869.
Arbor Street .- Opened by I. M. Hill, and named from the cypress arbor leading from the front of his house to Orange Grove Avenue. This house was the third one built in the original colony settlement - built by Col. J. Banbury, who also planted and trained the arbor in front, and it was a notable thing in the early colony days, as a cool and shady place for the family meals in warm weather, and the scene of many delightful social gatherings. [The arbor was cut away in 1895.]
Arcadia Street .- Opened in October, 1886, by Revs. A. W. Bunker and
.
353
DIVISION FIVE -NAMES.
I. G. Sigler, two Methodist preachers. Named from Washington Irving's "Arcadia."
Arlington Drive .- Opened and named by C. H. Richardson of Pasa- dena and Dr. W. G. Cochran of Los Angeles, in November, 1885. But just why this name was given I failed to learn.
Ashtabula Street .- Mr. Elon Hart first opened this street and was going to name it in honor of Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio. Then I sug- gested that as there were so many people named Giddings residing here, the name would miss of its historic intent. But if he would name it Ashtabula, after the county and district in northeastern Ohio [the historic "Western Re- serve"] which sent Giddings to congress continuously for seventeen years as an anti-slavery champion, between 1840 and 1860, I thought this special historic association would cling to it for all time. So he named it Ashtabula street. This was, I think, in 1887.
Arroyo Drive .- This street or roadway was laid out by the original colonists, and so named because it followed the meander line of the Ar- royo's east bank ; and also because it was the road they must follow to get down to their wood lots - these being narrow strips or allotments of tim- bered land which stretched from this Arroyo Drive on the east down the steep, high bank, thence across the wash, thence up the wooded hill-slopes west of the Arroyo.
Bandini Avenue .- Opened first by D. W. Shelhamer, and named in honor of the historic family represented by Arturo Bandini, a native Spaniard, whose land it passed through, and whose father was a historic personage. [See pages 80, 87, etc.]* (Arturo Bandini married the daughter of Dr. T. B. Elliott, president of the original "Indiana Colony," and has taken a leading part in the hunting and field sports of Pasadena from its foundation.) Bayard T. Smith, J. A. Wood and others opened it as Ban- dini Avenue south of California street. Other parties opened a northward extension of this avenue, but ignored the local historic fitness of the name with which Mr. Shelhamer, Bayard Smith, Mr. Wood and Mr. Bandini had started it, and dubbed their portion "Michigan Avenue," in direct violation of the uniform custom in Pasadena, by which any extension of a street al- ways carried the name applied at its first opening - probably through ig- norance of the relations of Mr. Bandini's father and mother to the Amer- ican acquisition and occupancy of this country. And if that perversion of
* Col. R. S. Baker, of Baker block fame in Los Angeles, came to California in 1849, and died May 26, 1894. And in a brief sketch of his life the Los Angeles Herald gave this bit of history : "In 1874 lie married the widow of Don Abel Stearns, daughter of Don Juan Bandini, who was half owner [with Stearns] at one time of nearly the whole of Southern California " Don Juan Bandini's father is buried under the flag stones at San Gabriel : and his grandfather was captain of the Spanish war ship Reina in the great historic battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805. He was at work writing a history of Southern California when he died in Los Angeles, November 2, 1859. The "Centennial History of Los Angeles County " p. 32, says : " He was a profound thinker and a clear, forcible writer." After his death the family loaned his manuscripts to the Bancroft History Company at San Francisco, trusting its agent's word of honor to return them; but they have never been able to get back a sheet of it since.
23
354
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
street name continues, it will be a lasting shame and disgrace to Pasadena. It ought to be Bandini Avenue clear through.
Benefit Court .- Opened in 1887 by A. F. Keyes, and named from Benefit street in Worcester, Mass., his former home.
Bellevue Drive .- Opened by James Smith in 1885. Bellevue is French for beautiful or lovely view, and is a smooth, easy, pleasant-sounding word ; and for these reasons it was applied as a name for this street.
Bradford Street .- Opened by H. J. Holmes. He had a favorite son who graduated in the Naval Academy at Anapolis, Maryland, and held an official position in the U. S. navy. This son married a Miss Bradford ; they had a boy baby named Bradford Holmes, and Mr. Holmes named his new street after this little grandson.
Buckeye Street .- Opened by Elon Hart, and named from Ohio, the Buckeye state, from whence he came.
Burton Street .- Opened by Mrs. Mary A. Burton, and named for her husband. (1887.)
Camden Street. - Opened by Hon. Delos Arnold and Dr. O. H. Conger, and named that way by Mr. Arnold just because he fancied the name.
Carlton Street. - Opened by F. B. Wetherby, in 1886, and named from the Carlton hotel, which was just at that time the most notable project under way at Pasadena's business center.
Center Street .- Opened and named by M. H. Weight, in August, 1885, through the "center" of his land.
Champlain Street .- Opened by, W. S. Holland, in 1886. His birth- place was Penton, Vermont, on Lake Champlain, and this was why he so named his new street.
Chestnut Street .- Opened by H. F. Goodwin, 1886; named from Chestnut street, Philadelphia. ·
Concord Street (Court) .-- In 1886-87 some New England people opened this small extension opposite the east end of Kansas street ; and in February, 1887, they started a movement to have the name of Kansas street changed to Concord street, notwithstanding that for a length of six squares (from Marengo to Vernon avenue) it had been duly entered on the county records as Kansas street. Against this presumptuous move a storm of indignation and vehement protest was raised by the settlers and lot-owners 011 Kansas street ; and the project failed. [In 1894 the City Council changed the name to Green street, in deference to Hotel Green and its owner.]
Congress Street .- Tlie H. H. Markham tract was platted and put upon the market by a real estate firm while Mr. Markham was in congress from this district, and the street was named by them in honor of the public place which he then held-1885. This was five years before he reached the higher distinction of Governor of California.
355
DIVISION FIVE - NAMES.
Craig Avenue .- This was laid out when the Grogan tract was sur- veyed for subdivision, in 1876, and named for James Craig, an Englishman who came here in 1869 as agent for Mr. Grogan of San Francisco, and bought from Griffin and Wilson 5,000 acres of land without any water right attached. This land became historic as the "Grogan Tract," and Mr. Craig acquired 150 acres of it himself, building a home there which he called "The Hermitage." This Mr. Craig made the first brave, strong effort to secure artesian water in Pasadena, sinking a well with that object 490 feet deep, on East Villa street, but which never outflowed a drop.
Dayton Street .- Opened by J. H. Baker, in 1884, and named in commeration of his wife's birthplace, Dayton, Ohio.
Delmar Street .- Opened in 1885, by Will Defriez and his mother Mrs. Susan A. Defriez. It was named from Delmar Avenue, St. Louis, their former home; and in St. Louis it was an old French family name.
DeLacy Street .- First opened by Alex. F. Mills, in 1884, and named after his father-in-law, R. W. Lacy. Mr. Lacy's original family name had the French form, DeLacy, but his father had dropped the De, and in naming his street Mr. Mills used the old original family name.
Douglas Street .- Opened by a land syndicate under the manage- ment of Dr. Lyman Allen, in 1887. A Mrs. Flynn and her sister were large shareholders, and the street was named after Mrs. Flynn's son, Douglas.
Eldorado Street .- Opened by Justus Brockway, in 1886, and named from Eldorado county, Cal., where he had formerly resided.
Elevado Drive .- This street was first opened by Charles R. Foote, in October, 1886, and named Berkshire street, in memory of his old home, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. The real estate firm of D. Galbraith and G. Roscoe Thomas then bought Mr. Foote's land, divided it up into smaller lots and pushed their sale. But they said, "In all the country west of New York the name Berkshire is so thoroughly identified with a certain favorite breed of hogs that everybody who sees the name of this street will at once think ' hog !' and we don't want people to think hog on our street." So they changed the name to "Elevado," which is Spanish for elevated, or "'way up"-but whether this applied most to the upness of the lots or the upness of the prices, history fails to tell.
Esther Street .- Opened by L. H. Michener, in 1886, and named after his wife, Esther Painter, daughter of John H. Painter.
Euclid Avenue .- First opened by C. M. Skillen, who came here from Ohio in 1880, and named his new street after the famous Euclid Avenue of Cleveland, Ohio. This was in September, 1885.
Fair Oaks Avenue .-- When the original San Gabriel Orange Grove Association's colony lands were platted, this street formed their east bound- ary, and was named after the "Fair Oaks" farm (then owned by Judge
356
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
Eaton, who was also president of the Association) -the only spot on the whole San Pasqual ranch which had been put under proper cultivation to show what the land would produce. The Fair Oaks farm is now owned by Hon. J. F. Crank. What is now called Lincoln Avenue, running diagon- ally northwest, was at first a part of Fair Oaks Avenue and was the bound- ary line of the colony lands. The Valley Union of June 4, 1886, gives an account of the straightening of this avenue, which is a good illustration of how things went in the boom time, and I quote :
"The awkward bend in Fair Oaks Avenue where it bore off north- westward from the foot of the Dunton place has been an eyesore to good Pasadenians for many years. But now a syndicate, headed by the brothers M. D. and A. J. Painter, has bought or negotiated for all of the lands necessary to open a street through on a straight line from the Raymond hotel to Mountain View cemetery and the mountains The first acquisition necessary was a small triangle on the old Dunton home-place now belonging to Mrs. Dr. Thomas, and for this triangle the syndicate paid $1,200. Next north is the Dr. Sheldon property, now owned by the Hon. Delos Arnold of Marshalltown, Iowa, who is all right on streets. Next are the twenty acres owned by the three Misses Stowell and their companion, for which $25,500 was paid. Next, the Carey place of five acres, owned by Dr. J. S. Baker, the health officer of Los Angeles, and $5,000 was paid for this tract. Next is the Miller place of about four acres- price not given. Next, J. S. Hearn's place, four and one-half acres, $5,000. Then a small triangle be- longing to Carter & Miller, which was bought for $500. This lets them through to Mountain Avenue at its junction with north Fair Oaks, at what is known as the John Allin place, and from there Fair Oaks runs straight by an easy grade to the cemetery, and beyond."
After the job was done, the same paper on July 9, 1886, said : "The straightened part of Fair Oaks Avenue is about half a mile long and seventy feet wide, and has cost for property to cut it through about $38,000."
First Street .- A short street opened by the real estate firm of Wallace Bros., and so named because it was at that point the first street south of Colorado.
Florence Street .- Opened by Milford Fish, in the autumn of 1887, and named after his daughter, Florence.
Galena Avenue .- First part opened and named by James Hewitt from Chicago, when he laid out Hewitt's subdivision. Street named after Galena, Illinois.
Garfias Avenue .- Opened by Wotkyns Bros. and Scharff Bros. through . their respective subdivisions. Other parties had agreed to continue it on down to the old Garfias adobe ranch house, the ruins of which were then still remaining, 1887, and this gave the name ; but that extension, and another one promised northward, were not made. [For Garfias occupancy, see page 63, and following.]
Gertrude Court .- Opened by Dr. L. A. Wright, and named after his little daughter, in 1886.
357
DIVISION FIVE -NAMES.
Glenarm Street .- Named by Thomas Banbury, from his wife's child- hood home place in Ontario, Canada.
Glendale Street .- In 1885 M. W. McGee from Kansas City, Mo., bought the well-improved colony home of W. O. Swan, Sr. The orchard extended through from Fair Oaks to Marengo Avenue, with the family mansion about midway, and a private drive passing through from one avenue to another in front of the vine-trellised house and amply shaded front yard, where flowers, shrubbery, and a fountain added to the rural beauty of the place. Mr. McGee named it Glendale, and placed a sign bearing this name over the driveway entrance on each avenue. In 1887 he sold to a real estate syndicate that portion of his land lying between Fair Oaks Avenue and the railroad track, and they made his private driveway into a street, naming it Glendale. Then he extended it on up to Marengo Avenue.
Glorieta Street .- This name used to be laughed at as rather fantastical, for it was supposed to be a bit of superlative boom gush, meaning only "glorious," or something of that sort. But there is a Glorieta postoffice in Santa Fe county, New Mexico ; and there is a large tract called Glorieta · Heights away up northwest above La Canyada ; and the Santa Fe railroad crosses the Glorieta mountains in New Mexico at an altitude of 7,453 feet.
Gordon Terrace .- Opened by James Smith, in 1885. He had a son named James Gordon Smith; and about this time the English army in India, under Gen. Gordon, was cooped up in Khartoum by the rebellious natives, and the General was killed before re-inforcements could reach him. This was an event of world-wide celebrity at the time, and really decided the naming of this street.
Grand Avenue .- One day some time in 1885, Thomas Nelmes and Mrs. R. E. Burnham chanced to make a social call at I. M. Hill's residence on the same evening. The great real estate boom was then rising to its flush- tide, and, of course, became the topic of conversation. They all owned land reaching from Orange Grove Avenue to the bluff declivity. The idea was broached that a wide street with trees on both sides and in the middle might be opened, following the meander line of the bluff, with one tier of lots having the Arroyo view. Mrs. Hill exclaimed, "O, wouldn't that be grand !" Mr. Nelmes responded, " And that shall be its name- Grand Avenne !" Thus the project was started ; however, some owners would not give land enough for the wideness desired ; and so the grandness was some- what deplumed ; but the name stuck.
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