San Gabriel Valley Archives

#257: San Dimas Hotel / Walker House (San Dimas)

May 20, 2025

In its original incarnation as a hotel, this exuberant 30-room Queen Anne mansion never had a paying guest. But it would house six generations of the Walker family, pioneers of the San Dimas citrus industry. Its upper floor is now occupied by the San Dimas Historical Society, which helps to preserve all the history that happened here.

#250: Queen Anne Cottage & Coach Barn (Arcadia)

March 4, 2025

Architecture

While these two whimsical Victorian confections don't quite "fit in" with the organic beauty of the LA County Arboretum, they're vital to the history of the San Gabriel Valley. Built around 1885, they were once the center of a vast ranch owned by Elias "Lucky" Baldwin, a landowner whose influence is still felt today.

#248: Episcopal Church of the Ascension (Monrovia)

February 1, 2025

Architecture

The Episcopal Church of the Ascension is Sierra Madre's oldest religious building. Its bells have welcomed the locals to prayer since 1888.

#221: Michael White Adobe (San Marino)

July 11, 2024

Pioneers & Settlers

Constructed ~1845, the Michael White Adobe is one of just 39 historic adobes left in LA County, and the second oldest building in San Marino. Its first owner was a sailor, shipbuilder and rancher who unwittingly took part in some of the most significant events in 19th century Los Angeles history.

#213: Glendora Bougainvillea

June 15, 2024

Commerce

The Glendora Bougainvillea is the largest planting of the vine in the US, and a living connection to the story of the citrus industry that helped to build LA around the turn of the 20th century.

#193: Azusa Civic Center (Azusa)

March 18, 2024

Government & Politics

The Azusa Civic Center is a trio of Spanish colonial buildings, built in 1928 with an update in 1975. As it’s grown and evolved, the Civic Center has stayed at the center of the city’s civic life, but also helped Azusa remember its past.

#124: Aztec Hotel (Monrovia)

October 30, 2022

Architecture

Ghosts! Hookers! Cultural appropriation! They're all part of the fascinating history of the Aztec Hotel, an eye-popping 1925 Mayan revival hotel in Monrovia (now closed) designed by the idiosyncratic architect Robert Stacy-Judd.