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| Pasadena, California got its start
in the Midwest during a cold 1873 winter. An Indiana resident Dr. Thomas
Balch Elliott assembled together a group of more than 100 families that
had grown tired of the hard Indiana winters and desired more moderate weather
throughout the year. They called themselves the California Colony of Indiana.
That summer, Elliott's brother-in-law Daniel M. Berry scouted Southern California
50,000 acres or so, for the families back in Indiana. What he fell in love
with was in the San Gabriel Valley. European settlers already in the area
like Scotsman Hugo Reid and German Leonard Rose grew oranges and made wine
on their vast ranches while Benjamin D. Wilson and his partner, John S.
Griffin owned and worked other large tracts of land. Berry viewed these
residents as intelligent, educated and industrious people much like the
members of the California Colony of Indiana, leading idyllic, healthful
lives. After about three months of negotation the Indiana group purchased almost 4,000 acres of the San Pascual Ranch from both Griffin and Wilson. The deal went through just before Christmas in 1873, for $25,000 or $6.31 an acre! Next came Calvin Fletcher, an Indianapolis surveyor, whose original city plan, around what is now Orange Grove Boulevard, gave the city its reputation for beauty which it retains today. This plan, however, did not include a business district as the intentions were to become an agricultural and ranching settlement. Nonetheless, lots were defined and members of the Indiana colony chose theirs on January 27, 1874. |
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 The corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado Boulevard looking north toward the mountains, circa 1928. |
The first house was a cottage
at Orange Grove and Lincoln Avenue where Albert O. Bristol had his home
finished within two weeks of the land division. The settlement grew successfully
as an agricultural community, known primary for its citrus groves, until
the early 1880's. In 1882, the Pasadena Library was founded and the first
library was completed in 1884. Starting in 1883, the commercial district near Fair Oaks and Colorado expanded to include banks and hotels. The railway connecting Pasadena to Los Angeles was completed in 1886 which helped to grow Pasadena's reputation as a winter resort with visitors trained in from as far away as Boston. In 1886, Pasadena was finally incorporated as a city. The next 10 years brought advances such as electric street lighting, paved streets, and a sewer system. |
| January 1, 1890, was the day that the first
flower-bedecked horses and carriages paraded down the streets of Pasadena.
The event was hosted by the Valley Hunt Club. This became a yearly tradition
that became known as the Tournemant of Roses Parade and continues on to
this day. With house size floats covered in live and dried flowers, plants and seeds.Starting in 1902, the Tournament of Roses decided to extend the festivities to include a game. They chose football. The first game was a competition between Stanford University and the University of Michigan. This game was an overwhelming success...for the University of Michigan, but not for the Tournament of Roses, so they changed the event to Roman-style chariot races until 1916 when Football returned. |
 1908 Rose Float |
With the return of football came
the need for a stadium to hold the increasing crowds. William L. Leishman,
the Tournament's 1920 President, envisioned a stadium similar to the Yale
Bowl, the first great modern football stadium. He enlisted the help of architect
Myron Hunt and builder William A Taylor, and together they made plans for
a stadium in Pasadena's Arroyo Seco area. The original stadium, a 57,000-seat
horseshoe open on the south end, cost $272,198.26. The Tournament financed
the project by offering ten-year box seats for $100 each. Once it was completed,
it was deeded to the city of Pasadena . As
the Rose Bowl Game's popularity grew, so did the Bowl itself. In 1928, the
south end was filled in, increasing the seating capacity to 76,000. More
increases in size occured throughout the years. Currently the seating capacity
is about 100,000. Today , the Rose Bowl is one of Pasadena's most recognizable
sights as today, the Rose Parade and the following Rose Bowl game usually
draws more than a million spectators each year from all over the world and
an additional 100 million Americans watch the parade on television. It is
also broadcast internationally with an audience in 90 countries.The teams that currently call the Rosebowl their home are the new Los Angeles Soccer team the Galaxy and UCLA's Bruin football team. In 1994, Pasadena, hosted Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) at the Rose Bowl Stadium. 56 soccer games were played throughout the United States with the World Cup Semi-Finals and Finals held between June 17, and July 18, 1994. It was estimated that, collectively, more than 131 billion people viewed the games on international television with about 100,000 in attendance at each game at the Rosebowl. As more and more settlers moved into the area, other parts of the San Gabriel Valley were built up and eventually orange groves gave way to residential, suburban neighborhoods. Just east of the historical Old Pasadena area, Pasadena Plaza was erected in the 1980's. North and slightly west of the Old Pasadena area is the sprawling Parsons Corporation complex. Recent renovations in both the buildings and businesses along the old commercial district area of Colorado Boulevard between Orange Grove and Arroyo Parkway have rejuvenated the economy, history and nightlife of Old Pasadena. Along with the well known shopping and restaurant row on South Lake Avenue, Old Pasadena is growing in popularity each day as one of California's premiere travel destinations. |
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