Mystery History -- Solved!

I stumped everybody this week.

In this 1884 photo, workers begin construction of the Hotel Raymond on Bacon Hill (later renamed Raymond Hill), the top of which had been leveled for the massive project.

Thomas Banbury won the contract for blasting through what to the naked eye looked like a big mound of dirt. But underneath were sedimentary rocks and granite.

On Monday at high noon Mrs. Banbury lighted the three fuses that exploded 2,500 pounds of powder, the consequence of which was the complete disorganization of the last point of rock on the summit of the hill. -- The Pasadena Union, March 1, 1884

The hotel under construction:

This was before a railroad had come to Pasadena. More than 900,000 feet of lumber and 500,000 shingles were sent by ship to San Pedro and the materials were hauled by wagons to the construction site. It took about four months for the land to be graded and the lumber to be hauled up the hill.

One million bricks were made at the construction site for many uses, including fireplaces in each of the 200 rooms.

The onsite brickyard:

After some financial entanglements that led to work stoppages, construction was finally completed and the Raymond Hotel opened on Nov. 17, 1886. 

(South Pasadena incorporated as a municipality two years later after borders were redrawn. The Hotel Raymond became part of that city in 1888.) 

Walter Raymond:

Walter's father Emmons Raymond, a retired railroad tycoon, provided substantial funding for the venture. 

On Easter Sunday 1895, the luxurious Raymond Hotel was reduced to smoldering rubble after a burning ember from one of the chimneys landed on the roof.

This was during the day, so most guests were out on excursions. The few who were at the hotel, along with staff, grabbed what they could and rushed outside. Miraculously there were no casualties.

Thaddeus Lowe saw the fire from his Echo Mountain hotel and sent a telegram to Walter Raymond expressing "profound regret." 

Walter Raymond decided to rebuild. A second hotel with the same name, this time made with stucco, opened in 1901, continuing the tradition of luxurious hospitality.

 

Here's a circa 1910 postcard showing some detail:

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The Great Depression that began in 1929 caused tourism to dwindle, and five years later the second Raymond Hotel had a date with destiny in the form of a wrecking ball. 

The historic Raymond Restaurant on South Fair Oaks Avenue is one of only two structures that remains of the Hotel Raymond property. The building was the hotel caretaker's cottage.

Raymond Hill now consists of residential neighborhoods. A little stretch of stone on Raymond Hill survives from the hotel property. Thankfully it is hiding in plain sight and has remained untouched.

Some of these photos are included in the Hotel Raymond portion of my Mystery History exhibition. Each of the 14 featured topics in the exhibition includes a related artifact. You'll have to stop by to see the Hotel Raymond artifact. It's a huge one (literally)!



Many thanks to the Pasadena Museum of History, California Historical Society, Bring Fido and Laurie Allee.

Mystery History -- Solved!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Daniel wins with his 10:38 a.m. guess "I am thinking it is the original All Saints Church on Euclid Avenue during the Christmas season."

In the 1886 photo above, All Saints Church is decorated for Christmas services.

Here's a more modern look at All Saints at Christmas:

All Saints was founded in 1883, the first Episcopal parish in Pasadena. Members who had begun meeting in a private home three years earlier purchased a site among orange groves at Garfield Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in 1885 and built a small wooden church there. 

In 1889 a newer, temporary church opened at 123 N. Euclid Avenue. As the congregation grew, additional space became a priority. In 1923 the architectural firm Johnson, Kaufman and Coate was commissioned to design a new building. 

The beautiful new church, designed in a Gothic Revival style, was dedicated in 1924, three years before Pasadena City Hall was built.

Here's a photo of City Hall under construction with All Saints in the background.

Constructed of stone quarried from Bouquet Canyon in the Santa Clarita Valley and roofed with Vermont slate, the church houses a large display of decorative arts in the style popular in the early years of the 20th century, from the Ernest Batchelder floor tiles to windows created by Tiffany and Judson Studios.

All Saints Church is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Civic Center Historic District.

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library, All Saints Church, Walk N Ride LA and Michael Locke.

Mystery History -- Solved!

 

Bellis wins with her noon Tuesday guess "Starting to build the Church of the Angels?"

 

In the April 20, 1889, photo above, the cornerstone of the Mission of the Church of the Angels on what is now the Pasadena side of Avenue 64 is placed by Frances Campbell-Johnston as the vicar and parishioners look on. Construction was completed on Sept. 29, 1889. 

 

The site was once part of the Rancho San Rafael acreage. The mission became a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 1901 and has been called Church of the Angels ever since.

 

 

Design and construction were funded by Frances Campbell-Johnston as a memorial to her husband, Alexander Robert Campbell-Johnston, and a place of worship for the people of Garvanza, now known as Highland Park. She and her husband were the last owners of Rancho San Rafael.

 

 

 Here's an 1893 photo showing landscaping, pathways, a stone wall and a horse-drawn carriage:

 

 

A major restoration and retrofit was completed in 1990.

 

 

Church of the Angels today:

 

 The sandstone on the exterior was quarried in the San Fernando Valley and the clock on the 44-foot tower was produced by the Seth Thomas Clock Company.

 

The architect, Arthur Edmund Street, was inspired by the church at Holmbury St. Mary, a village near Surrey, England.

 

I'll leave you with some photos of the spectacular interior with its redwood and stained glass:

  

 

 



 

There is so much more information I could impart, but I'll leave it here for now.

 

Petrea has a couple of related posts on her blog.

 

 

Many thanks to Pasadena Museum of History, Church of the Angels and iamnotastalker.



Mystery History -- Solved!

Well, I stumped everybody this week.

 

In the 1883 photo above, four women wait their turn in front of the Ferndale Gallery, Pasadena's first photo studio (note the photographs on display).

 

The business had been established the year before by George Weingarth, Pasadena's first professional photographer. He was among the settlers who founded the Indiana Colony.

 

In addition to portraits, Pasadena landscapes and buildings were photographed by Weingarth and they have become iconic, including these*:

 

 

 

 

 While doing my research for this post, I learned there are no documented photographs of Weingarth. He preferred to stay behind the camera.

 

According to my favorite reference book about local history, "Pasadena: Historical and Personal" by John Windell Wood, Weingarth was among an impressive list of firsts:

 

The first drug store was the Pasadena Pharmacy, conducted by this writer.

The first postmaster was Henry T. Hollingsworth, appointed September 21st, 1876.

The first bank was the Pasadena Bank, organized November 21st, 1884. It began business January 12, 1885. P.M. Green, president.

The first "practicing" barber was A.S. Hollingsworth, who had a chair in the corner of his father's store. The first shop was opened on North Fair Oaks Avenue in 1883 by a man named Rossi, and afterwards moved to West Colorado Street; later purchased by Joe Laspada, who still owns it.

The first harness shop was owned by Harry C. Price, who opened up in 1883.

The first photographer was George Weingarth, who opened the "Ferndale Gallery" in 1882. Some of the old pictures in this book were from his photographs.

The first real estate dealer was T.P. Lukens.

The first bicycle shop was owned by Ed Braley just where his fine four-story building now stands.

The first lumber yard was started by J. Banbury. The office stood where the Metcalf Building now is -- on Colorado Street, by the Santa Fe tracks -- 1883.

 

* Fair Oaks looking north from Colorado, 1884; Arroyo Vista Guest House (c 1883); Orange Grove at California looking south (1883)

 

 

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library and Pasadena Museum of History.