Fun article, Petrea. When we moved here years ago from New York I thought this was one of the most fascinating stories a town could have. With all the plans for the Arroyo, how about if we really think big and make it a historical site to attract visitors? Get Heritage Square to move the Victorian village over to the Arroyo; tear out or refashion the concrete and build a Chumash village along it to show how people lived. Make it a unique destination for education. Anything's possible. Who knows, maybe one day Vons would even let us park for the Rialto.

That is big! There's an available vacant lot, for starters. When you think about it, 9 acres is small and in those days, you didn't need a parking lot. But we've got train tracks that go right to the spot...hmmm...

There's a lot of empty business office space in that area. In addition to the vacant lot, there's at least three large properties that have had for sale/for lease signs on them for a long time. It would be a great idea to relocate Heritage Square there!

Fellow comment-ees; I wasn't aware that Heritage Square was in need of relocating. We of the Highlands are rather proud to have the square located in our community. After all, wasn't it "we" who gave these aging damsels in distress a second chance?

and I very much enjoyed this article. I've always been aware of the story of the ostrich farm, but not the full story. Well done Ms Burchard! In fact I expected the public art component of South Pasadena's Metro Link station to reflect the rich history of the Cawston farm; as does the El Monte station concerning it's past with "Gay's Lion Farm". So many farms and closet zoos were once a part of the southern California landscape.

btw: does river rock from the site count as a "trace"?

Yeah, we'd have to tear down some homes to put Heritage Square where the Ostrich Farm was. I imagine you'd hear objections from the Highlands as well as from South Pas residents! If you haven't been lately, check it out, it's looking lovely.

Elizabeth, I think river rock from the site counts as a trace. Do you have some? Can you prove its provenance? Let's hear it.

Darn, we've been found out. There goes our plan of stealing Heritage Square in the middle of the night! How about we fix up the Rialto then?

Elizabeth, if you really took a stone from the site, you need to donate it to the Museum. I went past there the other day hoping to see some ostrich droppings or feathers, but there were only pebbles (someone had, I suppose, taken all the river rock). I never knew Cawston was British - crazy, the lot of them.

Jones, I love your evil plan. It sounds devious, but it just might work.

Barbara, good point. There is so little left of the Cawston Ostrich Farm that anything once belonging to it belongs at the South Pasadena Heritage Museum at the Iron Works. (Yeah, those crazy Brits. :))

I need to take a whole day off just to keep up with the productivity of my writer friends. Such a wonderfully quirky thing -- totally Dena. I've seen postcards of the ostrich-driven sulkies. (Wonder what happened to the remaining ostriches when the park shut down. Or dare I ask.)

This is wonderful, Petrea. And I realize I never got you my Ostrich Farm postcard. I must put my hands on it!!!

Great column!

I like you better now Jones. Tell you what, you can visit the Highland Park Police museum while I go watch the Rocky Horror picture show at the Rialto.

Yes! I have visited the Heritage museum. I donated pictures to Brian Sheridan that my father took of those homes (and others) before the wrecking ball and the transfer to their Highland Park location.

Rocks: I asked because Studio 99, next to the Ostrich Lofts, did a great deal of expansion; including the demolition of a few area homes, taking over part of a meridian etc. They kept the river rock acquired during the excavation in Gino's parking lot until they were ready to reclaim the rocks for re-use in their landscaping.

Karin, the remaining ostriches were relocated. Whew!

Post it if you can, Laurie, that would be great!

Great job, Elizabeth. Brian Sheridan and his crew at Heritage Square are local heroes. I didn't come across the story about the Gino's river rocks in my research so thanks for adding that.

Thank heavens the remaining ostriches were relocated. Imagine if their fate had been the same as our legendary escaped parrots of Simpson's Garden Town lore.

Terrific article, Petrea. I never thought about how the Ostrich Farm came about. Now I can't believe I never wondered. Cawston is my new hero. Sneaking 50 ostriches — what a guy.

Oh, Terry, you made me laugh! We've got parrots overhead all up and down the Dena, not to mention peacocks in the medians along certain city streets. Imagine if we had ostriches running free along the boulevards! I love it.

Another fun and quirky slice of Dena history I knew absolutely nothing about. Great writing, Petrea. I need to carve out some time to visit these local museums and historic locales. So, what is the story behind the peacocks around town? I bet you could unearth another colorful tale.

I'm not sure where the peacocks come from. The ones I've seen running wild are on the east side of Pasadena near the northern border of San Marino and over near Chapman Woods. Maybe offshoots from the Arboretum? Does anyone know?

I think they were brought in by Lucky Baldwin, Petrea. He had a menagerie at his home in what is now the Arboretum.

You are so right, Lance:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/08/local/la-me-then-20100505

Cool! Thanks, Lance and Susan. This explains why they hang out on the east side.

The peafowl do not just hang out on the east side. About 4 or 5 years ago they were all over my neighborhood in South Pasadena. They can be very annoying because they honk at 4:00 am. Don't know why they left my neighborhood, glad they did. But I saw one up by Trader Joe's at Adeline and Mission just a few days ago. They have also been a problem in the Palos Verdes area.

Do you know which house Cawston lived in? Is it still standing?

I believe Cawston had a 20 something room house at Sycamore and Arroyo that was eventually rented to lodgers until rent control made it unprofitable and the new owners -- Nathan R. Smith Company -- tore it down and used the lumber to build a veteran's home. The Smith Company had occupied the old Ostrich farm property during WW2 turning out torpedo equipment, solenoids and ignition coils. In 49 the federal housing expediter lifted rent controls, but it was too late to save the Cawston house.

Make that Sycamore and Arroyo Verde Road.

And they're delicious, you know.

Ooh, excellent, Laurie.

Lance, are we talking torpedoes, lodgers or peacocks?

For those still subscribed to this thread, I just added a video of rare Cawston Ostrich Farm footage, with Rick Thomas commentary. Thanks to Rick Thomas for sending it to me!

Thanks for adding the video, Petrea. I added one photo that shows where the entrance was compared to a more recent shot of the area. The telephone lines are in the same location. Unfortunately, the street view is not up to date, as the lofts are now finished! The street view grab is on Pasadena Avenue looking down Sycamore. Note the shadows too.

Oh, interesting! It helps me to picture the place. It's been so obliterated that it's hard to imagine how it was laid out. Thanks!

My mom just sent me some old family photos that she came across and in one photo there is, I am guessing a family member who was sitting on one of he ostriches. Unfortunately there is no name or date on the photo. How can I find out if there were postcards made maybe with Cawston on an ostrich, or if this is actually a family member on one of the ostriches? My email is momofgjc59@hotmail.com

Hi Julie,
I will email you, but in case other people have similar questions I'll mention two excellent sources here: first, Rick Thomas's book, (Images of America: South Pasadena's Ostrich Farm). There's a link in the article for an online purchase and/or you can usually find it at Vroman's. Rick has an extensive collection of Cawston memorabilia and is probably the world's foremost authority on the Ostrich Farm. Another great source is the South Pasadena Historical Museum, housed at Meridian Iron Works. Their display of photos might help, and their docents are knowledgeable.