Orange Grove Boulevard (Pasadena)
Encyclopedia
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
and South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,619, up from 24,292 at the 2000 census. It is located in in the West San Gabriel Valley...
. Each New Year's Day, the Rose Parade participants and floats line up before dawn on Orange Grove Boulevard, facing north, for the beginning of the parade. South Orange Grove has been the address of the affluent, both the famous and the infamous since the early 1900s. The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said: "When a stranger comes to Pasadena now, the real-estate agent shows him Orange Grove Avenue.
History
Who's Who
Who's Who is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people...
of American consumer products. The maker of Wrigley's chewing gum
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
The William Wrigley Jr. Company is a company headquartered in the Wrigley Building in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded on April 1, 1891, originally selling products such as soap and baking powder. In 1892, William Wrigley, Jr., the company's founder, began packaging...
, William Wrigley Jr.
William Wrigley Jr.
William Wrigley Jr. was a U.S. chewing gum industrialist. He was founder and eponym of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
's, significant home was proffered to the city of Pasadena after Mrs. Wrigley's death in 1958, under the condition that their home would be the Rose Parade's permanent headquarters. The stately Tournament House stands on Orange Grove Blvd. today, and serves as the headquarters for the Tournament of Roses Parade
Tournament of Roses Parade
The Tournament of Roses Parade, better known as the Rose Parade, is "America's New Year Celebration", a festival of flower-covered floats, marching bands, equestrians and a college football game on New Year's Day , produced by the non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.The annual...
. In wartime 1942,
Orange Grove Boulevard was used as an alternate route for the Rose Parade to avoid an enemy attack.
North Orange Grove Boulevard
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
is at the intersection of Orange Grove and Colorado Boulevards. This corner is the official start of the Rose Parade route and the museum can be quite clearly seen every year during the parade television broadcast.
Formerly referred to as Mountain Avenue, North Orange Grove Boulevard is home to the exquisite Gamble House. North of Holly Street
Holly Street (Pasadena, California)
Holly Street is a street in Pasadena, California, notable for leading straight to Pasadena's City Hall and for the many forms the road takes along its length.-History:In the early 20th century, Holly Street was a short, narrow street only 3 blocks long...
, the road bends northeast, ending at North Fair Oaks Avenue. The home of David Gamble, son of consumer product maker James Gamble of Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, is located on the north end of Orange Grove Blvd. The Gamble House an American Craftsman
American Craftsman
The American Craftsman Style, or the American Arts and Crafts Movement, is an American domestic architectural, interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts style and lifestyle philosophy that began in the last years of the 19th century. As a comprehensive design and art...
masterpiece, was built in 1908, by architects Charles and Henry Greene
Greene and Greene
Greene and Greene was an architectural firm established by brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene , influential early 20th Century American architects...
, as an exemplification of their Ultimate bungalow
Ultimate bungalow
Ultimate bungalow is a term most commonly used to describe very large and detailed Craftsman style homes, taking the bungalow style and interpreting it on a large scale. The style is associated with such California architects as Greene and Greene, Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan...
. It is open to the public as both an architectural
conservancy and museum. The Gamble House is a California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
and a National Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. In 1966 it was deeded to the city of Pasadena in a mutual agreement with the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
School of Architecture. Every year, two carefully selected fifth year USC architecture students live in the house full-time.
East Orange Grove Boulevard
Formerly referred to as Illinois Street, this section of Orange Grove Boulevard runs through the more economically diverse northern part of the city. Though there is a small commercial district between Lincoln and Los Robles Avenues, this section of the street is overwhelmingly residential. The street ends at California State Route 19 (North Rosemead Boulevard) and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue in Hastings Ranch.South Orange Grove Boulevard
South Orange Grove Boulevard becomes South Orange Grove Avenue at Columbia Street and its southern terminus is a cul-de-sacCul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
in western South Pasadena, passing by Orange Grove Park. Between Columbia and Colorado streets, the road is the center of an exclusive neighborhood. In 1876, unimproved land with water could be purchased for about $100 an acre. Currently, a small empty lot is likely to go for as much as $200,000. Most of the mansions in this area are gone; multiple residential courts and condominiums line the street. Valley Hunt Club
Valley Hunt Club
The Valley Hunt Club is a private social club located in Pasadena, California, that is most noted for starting the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1890....
, Maranatha High School
Maranatha High School
Maranatha High School is a college preparatory Christian private school in Pasadena, California. The mission of Maranatha High School is to prepare students for living lives of purpose and distinction, as reflected by character, competency and community...
, and Westridge School are located on South Orange Grove Boulevard.
"Mobilizing Mobility"
The city of South PasadenaSouth Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,619, up from 24,292 at the 2000 census. It is located in in the West San Gabriel Valley...
has embarked on an ambitious project to improve both the safety and the ambience of South Orange Grove. The sidewalks along the street have been landscaped and refurbished. The addition of vintage street lights both improves the safety of pedestrians and contributes to the desired ambiance.