Local Altadena/Pasadena History

Owen Brown's grave

(N 34 12.966 W 118 09.676)

In the Altadena foothills, not too far from where we lived, we once accidentally came upon the site of Owen Brown's grave. It had a marker when we first found it, but that disappeared and the place was left unmarked for over a decade. The gravestone may have been refound.

HaHaMongna

The pronunciation is hah - hah - mow - gnaw. The indigenous inhabitants of Altadena and Pasadena were a Native American tribe who lived in the Arroyo Seco at the time General Portola of the Mexican Army made an exploratory expediton of Alta California in 1770. With the establishment of the San Gabriel Mission (1773) and the City of Los Angeles (1781), the south lands of California were properties claimed in the name of the King of Spain.

Altadena is the northernmost portion of Rancho San Pascual as established by the Mexican Government in 1826 after they had claimed independence from Spain. California was annexed in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and became a state in 1850. The Mexican Ranchos were then open to settlement from other parts of the Country. Rancho San Pascual was settled by the Indiana Colony in 1874 and incorporated as Pasadena, a Chippewa name derived from a translation for "Crown of the Valley", in 1886. The highland areas, such as Altadena, remained undeveloped areas of the Los Angeles County.

El Molino Viejo

(N 34 7.153 W 118 7.657)

This is a lovely little spot that has ties to many of the prominent historical figures from the area. The original millstones disappeared for nearly a century and were found by General George S. Patton who remembered seeing them as a boy.

A brief history of El Molino Viejo:

1816 -- Most likely date of construction for El Molino Viejo. The structure was built by converted Gabrielino Indians under the supervision of Father Jose Maria Zalvidea, the padre in charge of Mission San Gabriel.
1822 -- Mexican independence and the end of Spanish rule in California.
1823 -- A new grist mill was built next to the mission, such that this mill became known as El Molino Viejo, the old mill.
1846 -- Pio Pico (the last Mexican governor of California) sold the lands of Mission San Gabriel, including the old mill, to William Workman and Hugo Reid.
1846-48 -- The Mexican War. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo officially made California an American possession.
1850 -- California statehood. The validity of the Mexican title to the land was contested enabling James Waite, editor of the first newspaper in LA ("The Star") to establish squatter's rights to 160 acres including El Molino Viejo.
1858-79 -- The Kewen period. Waite sold the mill to Dr. Thomas White for $500, White in turn deeded the property to his daughter, Fannie Kewen who with her husband, converted the adobe structure into a residence and garden.
1879-81 -- Col. Kewen defaulted on a $20,000 debt and lost the property to John Hollenbeck, a wealthy Los Angeles financier. Hollenbeck sold the property to former Maine ship-builder Edward Mayberry.
1903 -- El Molino Ranch was purchased by the Huntington Land Improvement Company and gradually fell into disrepair as it passed through various members of the Huntington family.
1927 -- The property was restored while owned by Mrs. James Brehm, a daughter-in-law of Henry Huntington.
1939 -- Designated a historic landmark by the state of California.
1962 -- Bequeathed to the City of San Marino who owns it today.

Robert R. Blacker House

(N 34 07.651 W 118 07.897)

This is one of the Greene & Greene Craftsman bungalows built in Pasadena at the turn of the century. Today it is still a private residence, and our main interest in it is that it shares the same name as the undergraduate residence we lived in at Caltech. The interiors of Doc's house in the movie Back to the Future were filmed inside the Blacker House. The exterior shots of Doc's house were filmed at another National Historic Landmark, The Gamble House.

Other stuff:

Lynn Salmon <>{

Last updated: February 24, 2021