Important Dates in Monrovia's Historical Timeline

Jan. 1, 1980     Rose Parade Pioneer Trophy goes to Monrovia’s World Vision Float
Jan. 6, 1957     1950s Library dedicated (3rd library in Monrovia after the Granite Bank Building room and the   Carnegie Library)

Jan. 24, 1910   City’s Fire Department established

Jan. 27, 1908   Carnegie Library opened

Feb. 6, 1888    Granite Bank of Monrovia opened for business

Feb. 22, 1888  Monrovia Water Department established

Mar. 1, 1903    Red Cars of the Pacific Electric Railway come to Monrovia                                             
Mar 14, 1978   Pat Ostrye sworn in as 1^st woman Mayor

Apr. 10, 1954  City Hall on Ivy dedicated        

Apr. 29, 1954  Monrovia Quota Club received charter

May 2, 1891    Masonic Lodge #308 established

May 14, 2001  Samson the Hot Tub Bear dies in Orange County Zoo

May 16, 2009  Grand Opening of the fourth library in Monrovia

May 17, 1886  Monrovia Founded and first lots go on sale

May 17, 1895  Monrovia Electric Power Co. begins service

May 25, 1938  Monrovia Lions Club organized

May 26, 1911  Live Oak Memorial park (cemetery) incorporated (had been in business before incorporation)

May 27, 1918  First woman police officer, Zella Vining, is hired

May 29, 1926  Citizens Bank of Monrovia opened for business

June 2, 1887    Bank of Monrovia opens

June 4, 1841    William N. Monroe is born (d. Dec. 26, 1935)

June 24, 1954  Optimist Club of Monrovia gains formal recognition from National

June 24, 1995  Monrovia awarded All-America City award

June 29, 2002  Skate Park dedicated

July 7, 1888     Official School District established

July 2, 1926     Exchange Club chartered

July 28, 1911   Trail built to Emerson Flats in Canyon Park  

July 22, 1893   Monrovia City High School District created

Aug. 11, 1961  Santa Anita Family Services opens doors

Aug. 26, 1925  Aztec Hotel opened with a premiere dinner

Aug. 31, 1924  Great forest fire of ’24 started (finally put out September 18)

Sept. 2007       Re-Dedication of renovated Public Works Building

Sept 1915        Monrovia Feature Film Company formed

Sept. 1, 1911   Free mail delivery system began in the City

Sept. 14, 1903 Monrovia Telephone & Telgraph Co. incorporated

Sept. 20, 1878 Upton Sinclair is born  (d. Nov. 25, 1968)

Sept. 20, 2003 Dedication of Mary Wilcox Center (formerly the Armory)

Sept. 30, 1951 Last Red Car of the Pacific Electric Railway arrived in Monrovia

Early Fall 1942 – 1966  Upton Sinclair moves to Monrovia

Oct. 22, 1922 Monrovia Kiwanis Club chartered

Oct. 24, 1922  Rotary Club of Monrovia chartered

Oct. 24, 1947 First performance of the Monrovia Community Concert Association

Nov. 1, 1915   Monrovia Mausoleum construction begun

Nov. 11, 1996 Information Services Dept.  (IT) established for the City

Nov. 20, 1886 First issue of the Monrovia Mountain Planet newspaper

Dec. 5, 1903    Pottenger Sanatorium opens doors

Dec. 8, 1887    Monrovia Incorporated

Dec. 13, 1997  Opening of new Nature Center in Canyon Park

Dec. 16, 1887  William N. Monroe is selected as first mayor (Note: selected, not elected)

Dec. 20, 1939  Chamber of Commerce incorporated

Dec. 21, 1887  Only saloon in Monrovia is padlocked

Can you help us? Anyone know anything more specific than the year of the following 3 entries? If know, please post a comment and give us the source of your knowledge. Thanks.

1903    Police Department established

1919    Monrovia Post #44, American Legion

1912    YMCA opens

Mark Twain in Library Park

Mark Twain, aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), is alive and well in Library Park. You can sit with him any day, even have your picture taken with the famous author, at the corner of Myrtle and Lime.

OK, so it's really a cast bronze Art in Public Places installation, dedicated on March 29, 2003. The artist is Gary Price.

The plaque to the left of the statue starts with a Mark Twain quote:

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can read them.

The plaque further gives the names of the generous donors to the project:
Kenter Family
Cognoro and Biasotti Families
Norman Haley
Peter Jacksen and Vicki Novell

For 10 extra points, what book is in Twain's hand? If you guessed Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you are correct.

The Big Tree in Library Park

 Facing Palm, the Card Shack behind it

At the entrance to the 1957 Library

Facing the Library opened in 2009

One of the most notable features in Library Park is the enormous tree on the North side. There is a post supporting a large overhanging branch. Squirrels love to play up and down the trunk and in the overhead branches. Many people mistake it for a Banyan tree because of the large canopy.

The tree, planted in 1913, is a Moreton Bay Fig. Moreton Bay - as in Australia. Figs, well as in figs. These particular figs are inedible. The squirrels love using them as projectiles though, so watch out.

Seeds of Big Business to Come

Monrovia is now home to many businesses, many of which are part of huge chain stores or are internationally known because of their unique product. But perhaps the most obscure bit of history is the Airdrome, named for its proximity north of the Monrovia Airport. Built by two brothers, it was an octagonal juice stand they cobbled together from scrap lumber and dreams. In addition to all the orange juice you could drink, they also served hot dogs, burgers, coffee and beer.

In 1940, with business booming and expansion on their minds, Richard and Maurice had the Airdrome dismantled and moved to San Bernardino, where they re-opened under the now ubiquitous name McDonald’s. If you go to the company’s website today, you won’t find any mention of Monrovia or the Airdrome, but Monrovia obviously gave the brothers their start to fame and fortune.

All the News That’s Fit to Print

Like many enterprising small towns, Monrovia wanted to have its own newspaper. On November 20, 1886, Monrovians enjoyed the first issue of the Monrovia Planet, which continued until 1889. The Planet ran simultaneously with The Leader until they merged to become the Monrovia Messenger (1889 – 1915).  The Messenger overlapped with the Monrovia News (1907 – 1910). Monrovia News morphed into the Monrovia Daily News (1910 – 1929) and then into the Monrovia News-Post (1929 – 1968). As if that wasn’t dizzying enough, the last stab at a local newspaper was the Monrovia Journal (1968 – 1975). Today the Monrovia Weekly lends local flavor to the news, but it is not owned by a local company. An interesting side note: the News-Post building now houses Community Services.

Magnificent Fliers and their Flying Machines

Foot-Hill Flying Field, later referred to as the Monrovia Airport, operated from 1928 – 1953. Leroy Criss (1925 – 2008) learned to fly at the Foothill Flying Field. This training inspired him to become one of the crack pilots of the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII. After the war, Criss returned to the Los Angeles area to teach flying and later became a schoolteacher. Ellenor and Frank Bell were siblings who lived near the airport and couldn’t get enough of flying. Ellenor first soloed on March 6, 1940 and later took the Civil Pilot Training course which allowed her to join the Woman Air Force Service Pilots in 1943. Her brother Frank enlisted in the Army Air Corps and piloted bombing missions until 1945, when his plane was shot down over Germany. He became a prisoner of war. Fortunately he was released after only 17 days.

A Big Brass Band

Albert E. Cronenwett, a jeweler by trade, formed the first city brass band in the late 1880’s. His love of his silver coronet prompted him to persuade like-minded gentlemen in town to play up and down the streets of Monrovia, to “boost the morale” of working people along the street. Nicknamed Cronnie’s Band, it holds the distinction of being the first musical organization to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena.

Hiking in Canyon Park to Emerson Flats

What a difference a day (or two) makes. The scenic mesa at the divergence of two canyons had no road leading to it. After spirited discussion, the town decided to call for a volunteer army for hard labor on the road. This grass-roots call to labor, rather than asking the City to take on the project, had startling results. On July 28, 1911, citizens who normally would not swing a pick or wield a shovel willingly worked with picks and shovels to build a road to Canyon Park. Doctors, lawyers, clerks, ministers and businessmen finished the road (granite blasted out and prepared for work the day before) in one very full day and a clear way to Emerson Flats became a reality.

Rancho Land Grants Create Monrovia

Monrovia occupies portions of two Mexican land grants called Rancho Santa Anita and Rancho Azusa de Duarte. The boundary between the two ranchos is

Norumbega Drive

. However, Monroe and his partners E.F. Spence, J.D. Bicknell and J.F. Crank purchased the land not directly from the Rancho owners, but from E.J. “Lucky” Baldwin and L.L. Bradbury. The only one of the original four partners who never made his home in Monrovia was James Crank.

The Proud Tradition of the Monrovia Day Parade

Monrovia was officially founded on May 17, 1886, with the sale of the first town lots by the four founders of Monrovia. For a 10% down payment buyers were promised free water, electric street lamps and pepper trees to line the streets. Starting in 1892, Monrovians chose to celebrate the founding of their town with a grand parade down

Myrtle Avenue

. Horse-drawn wagons decorated as floats, private buggies carrying prominent citizens, and a small brass band marked the early parades. A Queen and her court graced one of the floats. Zella Vining, first female police officer, was a Princess for the Monrovia Day Queen’s Court in 1912. This proud yearly tradition continues with a full day of events and fun for all ages.

To firsts in Monrovia: Julian Fisher and Zella Vining

Monrovia starting keeping the peace with the election of a Town Marshall, but by 1903 established the seeds for the Police Department we have today. The jail was built sometime in 1904, and operated out of the Granite Bank Building until 1925, when a dedicated station house was built for the force. Julian Fisher and Zella L. Vining represented firsts. Julian Fisher, after whom the park is named, was the first                            African American police officer. Son of Lucky Baldwin’s blacksmith, Fisher was seen as an effective mediator between the black and white communities.

Little is known about Vining, other than she was hired as the first female police officer on May 27, 1918 and left the force a few months later.

Books and Afternoon Tea

The leading ladies of Monrovia wanted a library. With patience, determination and hard work, the Saturday Afternoon Club (later the Woman’s Club) held teas. The price of admission was a book. Lobbying the City Council to create a Library Board, they were able to encourage the City to budget for the rental of the Southeast room in the Granite Bank Building for $2.50 per month in 1895. Their initial collection of 150 books formed the nucleus for what is now the fourth public library. The Carnegie Library replaced the room in the Granite Bank and opened January 27, 1908. It was torn down and a new library opened January 6, 1957, serving Monrovia for 50 years. The soaring new library dominating Library Park today opened on May 16, 2009, housing approximately 125,000 volumes and adding up-to-date technology available for the public.

To see the library in its many incarnations and other historical pictures of Monrovia, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/monroviapubliclibrary/

Gem of the Foothills

Gem of the Foothills, also known as Gem City of the Foothills, is the present slogan for Monrovia, but not its first. It replaced The Tropical Paradise of Los Angeles County, which was a bit of a mouthful. In 1905, when the Board of Trade realized Whittier was also using Gem of the Foothills, they staked prior claim and force Whittier to cease and desist. Monrovians liked the current slogan so much they have a song about it, written in 1950 by Elizabeth Graeme.