The Spanish originally planned to turn the missions over to Indian leaders and non-missionary clergy after 10 years. That didn't exactly happen. Mexico's fight for independence from Spain affected California's missions very little. But after the war, ownership of the missions transferred from Spain to Mexico, and California became a Mexican province. In a document titled "Provisional Regulations for the Emancipation of the Mission Indians," issued on July 15, 1833, then-California governor José Figueroa proclaimed that the missions would become parish churches, and half their lands would go …

When prominent South Pasadena citizens Ezra and Ida (Moon) Thompson built their elegant home in 1910, it cost $6,000 – expensive at the time. Mr. Thompson could afford it. He had trained as a lawyer but made big money in real estate. The Thompsons farmed the land around their house, enjoying the magnificent views across the San Gabriel Valley to the mountains. The Thompsons liked to entertain and the third floor of their home was the place to do it: in one, large room they held dances, salons and other gatherings. Mrs. Moon and her reading group even discussed Charles Dickens there. The house…

Historian Jane Apostol says the Tongva, also known as the Gabrielinos, were "displaced from their native villages and gathered into the mission community." The Gabrielino-Tongva say, "the Tongva were enslaved." Though both statements are accurate, neither gives a clear picture of what happened when the Franciscan priests established Mission San Gabriel. Upon their arrival in 1771, the priests were met by a large band of Tongva who didn't seem thrilled to see them. Told in several histories, the story stems from this account by church historian Zephyrin Englehardt: "Fearing that a battle might…

In South Pasadena 1888-1988: A Centennial History, historian Jane Apostol refers to Gabrielino Indians who lived "alongside a brook just east of Raymond Hill." I mentioned this brook to local scholar Barbara Ellis, and before you could say "Dora the Explorer," she'd found it. From under the Blair High School baseball field, water trickles gently southward behind private homes, disappearing underground before reaching Mission Street. The stream is docile in its cement channel and despite graffiti and bits of trash, at places one can envision a village of round huts in peaceful riparian …

There's no specific record of when the Moreton Bay Fig tree was planted outside the west wing of the South Pasadena Public Library, but extensive research by Local History Reference Librarian Chelsea Nassif points to the summer of 1911. Since then, the tree has grown enough to extend its roots across the lawn like it owns the place. The library itself had its beginnings in 1886, when South Pasadena's first Social and Literary Society was formed, two years before the city incorporated in 1888. From the beginning the library's story, like that of the fig tree, has been about growth. A free …

Before Walt Disney was born, South Pasadena boasted a world famous amusement park called the Cawston Ostrich Farm. Like Disneyland today, visitors came to admire the grounds, enjoy the rides and buy souvenirs. The grounds included paddocks and the rides were in ostrich carts, but the souvenirs were just as cheesy then as they are now. Edwin Cawston was a marketing genius, able to persuade money out of the pockets of investors and customers alike. Born in England, Cawston chartered a ship to South Africa in July of 1886 intending to buy ostriches to import to America. Ladies of all backgrounds…

In 1984, when Charles Stanislawski bought Baranger Studios, the building had already been dedicated a historical landmark by South Pasadena's Cultural Heritage Commission. But that's not what sold Stanislawski. Back then he wasn't much interested in history. He bought the building for his accounting practice because, as he says, "It was absolutely lovely." Baranger Studios, at 729 Mission Street, is a South Pasadena landmark. Designed by G. A. Howard Jr. and built in 1925, it looks like a charming transplant from an English village. But real magic took place inside: Between 1925 and 1959, …