“City of La Crescenta” Voted Down in 1964
La Crescenta had talked about becoming its own city from its very inception in the late 1800s, but had never seriously given it a shot. In 1951 that issue was clouded when half the valley, including the business district of Montrose, annexed itself to Glendale to take advantage [...]
Development History in the Western Verdugo Mountains
As I’ve written about many times in past columns, we are privileged to have the mountains on both sides of our valley largely undeveloped. In contrast, two mountain ranges nearby, the San Rafaels above La Cañada and the Hollywood Hills, have seen significant development. They are both transected by [...]
Two New Hiking Trails in our Local Hills
In the Crescenta Valley, we’re blessed with unparalleled access to hiking and biking trails into the beautiful mountains that surround us. The San Gabriels, the Verdugos, and the San Rafael mountains provide scores of trails. Thanks to the City of Glendale, we can add two more to the [...]
The Nudist Camp in La Tuna Canyon
One of the first nudist camps in the U.S., dating back into the 1930s, had its home close to CV, just over the Verdugos in La Tuna Canyon. In 1934, pioneers in the phenomenon of social nudism, Hobart and Lura Glassey, established one of the first nudist camps in [...]
La Tuna Canyon Road’s 40-Year Construction Nightmare
Trouble in many forms plagued the construction of La Tuna Canyon Road connecting CV and the San Fernando Valley. Man, money and nature all played a hand in delaying the building of this road, which today leads from CV through the Verdugo Mountains, crossing semi-rural horse property, finally terminating [...]
The ’71 Quake – Through The Eyes of Children
Recently a former teacher at St. James Catholic School gave the Historical Society a stack of essays written by her third grade class immediately after the Sylmar Quake in February of 1971. Those writings are priceless! Here are some samples.
One boy reported an example of animal premonition: [...]
A Wild American Graffiti on Foothill Boulevard
I’ve written a lot about 1975’s short-lived Foothill Cruise Night. It was an amazing social anomaly for our normally quiet and conservative valley. In one last memory from Craig Baker, we get a glimpse of how out of control things got, and why Cruise Night just couldn’t last.
“In the [...]
“Cruise Foothill – It’s A Riot!”
I received some emails from people that had some vivid memories of the so-called Foothill Riots. This is from Craig Baker, who now lives in Paradise, California:
“For better or worse, I was one of the people rocking the RTD bus. As I recall, the intent was only that, and people [...]
Foothill Riot: A Parent’s Story
On June 12, 1975, the Crescenta Valley Ledger printed an interesting story written by one of the “participants” in the Foothill Riots. The anonymous writer was actually the father of a teenager. He was 44 years old, a college professor, and a self-described “law abiding citizen, a champion of our legal [...]
The Foothill Boulevard Riot, Part 2
Last week I covered the first of three confrontations in 1975 between police and teens attempting to establish a weekly Monday cruise night on Foothill Boulevard. The cruise night went peacefully for the first two events in May, but on the first of June trouble flashed between police and the [...]
/