Editing Arcadia, California (section)

==History==

===Native American===
For over 8,000 years, the site of Arcadia was part of the homeland of the [[Tongva people]] ("Gabrieliño" tribe), a [[Indigenous peoples of California|Californian Native American tribe]] whose territory spanned the greater [[Los Angeles Basin]], and the San Gabriel and [[San Fernando Valley]]s. Their fluid borders stretched between the [[Santa Susana Mountains]], [[San Bernardino Mountains]], and [[San Gabriel Mountains]] in the north; the [[Santa Monica Mountains]] and [[Simi Hills]] in the west; the [[San Jacinto Mountains]] and [[Santa Ana Mountains]] in the east; and the coast and [[Catalina Island, California|Catalina Island]] (''Pimu'') in the south. A [[:Category:Tongva populated places|Tongva settlement]] site within present-day Arcadia was known as [[Alyeupkigna, California|Alyeupkigna]] (or Aluupkenga).<ref>McCawley, William. ''The First Angelinos:  The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles''.  Malki Museum/Ballena Press, 1996</ref><ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/home/index.asp?page=1102 |title=City of Arcadia, CA – History Of Arcadia |publisher=Ci.arcadia.ca.us |access-date=January 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021055846/http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/home/index.asp?page=1102 |archive-date=October 21, 2010 }}</ref>

===Rancho period===
The town's site became part of the Spanish [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel]] lands in 1771. After [[Indian Reductions]] to become [[Mission Indians]], the Tongva were known as the ''Gabrieliños'' after the Mission's name. and under whose control these people worked during the mission period in California. Currently there are 1,700 people self-identifying as members of the Tongva or Gabrieliño tribe.<ref name="BillNo.1134">{{cite web |url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1101-1150/sb_1134_bill_20080131_introduced.html |title=Senate Bill No. 1134 |last1=Oropeza |first1=J. |author-link1=Jenny Oropeza |last2=Scott |first2=J. |author-link2=Jack Scott (California politician) |last3=Yee |first3=L. |author-link3=Leland Yee |last4=Davis |first4=M. |author-link4=Mike Davis (politician) |last5=Karnette |first5=B. |author-link5=Betty Karnette |date=January 31, 2008 |website=California Legislative Information |publisher=Legislative Counsel of California |access-date=August 19, 2013}}</ref>

The [[Ranchos of California|Mexican land grant]] for [[Rancho Santa Anita]] was issued to [[Hugo Reid|Perfecto Hugo Reid]] and his Tongva wife, Victoria Bartolomea Comicrabit, in 1845. It was named after a family relation, Anita Cota, on his wife's side. Reid documented the Gabrieliño Native Americans in a series of letters written in 1852,<ref>Reid, Hugo.  ''The Indians of Los Angeles County: Hugo Reid's Letters of 1853''. Southwest Museum, 1968</ref> and served as a delegate to the [[1849 California Constitutional Convention]]. In 1847, Reid sold Rancho Santa Anita to his [[Rancho Azusa de Dalton|Rancho Azusa]] neighbor, Henry Dalton.

===Lucky Baldwin===
The rancho changed owners several times before being acquired by Gold Rush immigrant, businessman, and major regional land owner [[Lucky Baldwin|Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin]] in 1875. Baldwin purchased {{convert|8000|acre|km2}} of Rancho Santa Anita for $200,000. Upon seeing the area, he gasped "By Gads! This is paradise!" Upon buying the land, Baldwin chose to make the area his home and immediately started erecting buildings and cultivating the land for farming, orchards, and ranches.<ref name="history"/> Baldwin built the [[Queen Anne Cottage and Coach Barn|Queen Anne Cottage]] for his fourth wife and himself in 1885–1886, now preserved within the Arboretum. In 1885, the main line of the [[Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad]], in which Baldwin was a stockholder, was opened through the ranch, making subdivision of part of the land into a town site practical. Later, this rail line became a [[Santa Fe Railroad]] line. In 1889, on a site just north of the corner of First Avenue and St. Joseph Street, adjacent to the Santa Fe tracks, Baldwin opened the 35-room Hotel Oakwood to be the centerpiece of his new town. In 1890, the extant [[Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden#Santa Anita Depot|Rancho Santa Anita Depot]] was built.

===20th century until World War II===
By the turn of the 20th century, Arcadia had a population nearing 500 and an economy that was coming to be based on entertainment, sporting, hospitality, and gambling opportunities, the latter including an early version of the Santa Anita race track.<ref name="history"/> Baldwin oversaw the incorporation of Arcadia into a city in 1903, and was its first mayor.

====Anoakia====
[[Image:BaldwinMansion-Arcadia-1915.jpg|thumb|Anita Baldwin's "Anoakia" mansion and gardens in 1915]]

In 1913 Anita Baldwin, Lucky's daughter, built a 50-room mansion on {{convert|19|acre|m2}} of the Baldwin Ranch she inherited from him, and named it "Anoakia" (a [[portmanteau]] of Anita and oak).<ref name=arcadian>Rochlin, Michael Jacob; "Arcadian L.A."; {{ISBN|0-9648304-8-5}}; published by Unreinforced Masonry Studio; 2003. pp.38–111; photographs, house and estate plans, history.</ref> The {{convert|17,000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} residence was in the Italian [[Renaissance Revival architecture|Renaissance Revival style]], with murals by [[Maynard Dixon]].<ref name=arcadian/><ref name=latimes>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-21-me-46205-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|title=Arcadia Council to Decide Future of Founding Family's Historic Mansion|date=December 21, 1999|author-last1=Winton|author-first1=Richard}}</ref><ref name=timesplans>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-28-ga-953-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|title=Plans for Development Force School From Idyllic Campus|date=June 28, 1990|author-first1=Siok-Hian|author-last1=Tay Kelley}}</ref> The estate had a significant [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival-style]] [[colonnade]]d "Parthenon" bathhouse/gymnasium beside a large pool, an apiary and aviaries, kennels and stables, tennis courts and pergolas, and preserved the native [[California oak woodland|oak woodland]]s.<ref name=arcadian/>

After her death in 1939 the estate became the Anoakia School for Girls, which became the coeducational Anoakia School in 1967, then moved to Duarte in 1990 as the Anita Oaks School.<ref name=timesplans/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/california/duarte/anita-oaks-school/|title=Anita Oaks School|work=education.com|access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref> The school owner's efforts to develop the property into a village of homes with the old mansion as its centerpiece were rejected by the city.<ref name=latimes/> After an extended debate, with local citizens and regional [[Historic preservation|preservationist]]s efforts to preserve the historic main house, the city council voted to approve demolition for a real estate development by new owners in 1999.<ref name=latimes/> The "Anoakia" mansion, all other significant estate structures and outbuildings, garden features, and numerous [[Platanus racemosa|California sycamore]] and [[Quercus agrifolia|Coast live oak tree]]s were demolished for 31 luxury home sites in 2000.<ref name=arcadian/> Some of the mansion's architectural elements were salvaged and removed. The gatehouse, on the estate's former southeast corner at Foothill and Baldwin, and the perimeter walls remain after the "Anoakia Estates" development was built.<ref name=arcadian/> The bas-relief fountain was moved to just inside the new gated entrance.

====Inter-war decades====
[[Image:ArcadiaBalloonhangers-1922.jpg|thumb|U.S. Army's [[Ross Field (airfield)|Ross Field]] Balloon School hangars]]

During [[World War I]], Arcadia was home to the U.S. Army's [[Ross Field (airfield)|Ross Field]] Balloon School, at the present-day Santa Anita Park site. Army observers were trained here in techniques to observe enemy activity from [[hot air balloon]]s.

After World War I, Arcadia's population grew and local businesses included many chicken ranches and other agricultural activities. During the 1920s and 1930s, Arcadia began its transition to the residential city that it is today, as small farms and chicken ranches gave way to homes and numerous civic improvements, including a city library and a city hall. Scenes of many of Arcadia's interesting older sites can be viewed in a series of historic watercolors painted by local artists Edna Lenz and Justine Wishek.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.ci.arcadia.ca.us/dbtw-wpd/queries/arcPAINTquery.htm |title=Edna Lenz and Justine Wishek Paintings |publisher=Library.ci.arcadia.ca.us |access-date=January 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729234233/http://library.ci.arcadia.ca.us/dbtw-wpd/queries/arcPAINTquery.htm |archive-date=July 29, 2013 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> The city was on historic [[U.S. Route 66 in California|U.S. Route 66]], present-day [[Colorado Boulevard]], with businesses serving travelers on it.

[[Thoroughbred horse racing]] had flourished briefly under Lucky Baldwin, who founded a racetrack adjacent to the present site, until it was outlawed by the state of California in 1909. It returned to Arcadia when racing was legalized again, with the opening of [[Santa Anita Park]] in December 1934. Architect [[Gordon Kaufmann]] designed its various buildings in a combination of [[Colonial Revival architecture|Colonial Revival]] and [[Streamline Moderne]] styles.

[[File:Arcadia, California. Persons of Japanese ancestry arrive at the Santa Anita Assembly center from Sa . . . - NARA - 537040.tif|left|thumb|[[Japanese American]] citizens arrive in Arcadia, relocated to the Santa Anita Assembly Center.]]
[[File:Santa Anita Assembly Center, Arcadia, California. A panoramic view of the Santa Anita assembly cent . . . - NARA - 536812.jpg|thumb|left|Santa Anita Assembly Center tarpaper barracks, at the [[Santa Anita Park]] racetrack]]

===Santa Anita Assembly Center===
{{further|Internment of Japanese Americans}}
The Santa Anita Assembly Center site is [[California Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles County, California|California Historical Landmark #934]]. In 1942 during [[World War II]], the racetrack grounds were used as a processing and holding site for [[Japanese Americans]] who had been removed from their homes and communities for forced relocation and [[Internment of Japanese Americans|internment]] under President Franklin Roosevelt's [[Executive Order 9066]]. The Civilian Assembly Center at the racetrack became the largest and longest operating one of the eighteen, holding citizens until the [[Internment of Japanese Americans#List of camps|Relocation Center camp]]s were completed in interior areas of California and other states.<ref name=militarymuseum>{{cite web|url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/CpSantaAnita.html|title=Santa Anita Ordnance Training Center|work=California Military Department|department=Military History and Museums Program|access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref> More than 18,000 persons resided at the racetrack in primitive conditions.<ref name=militarymuseum/><ref>[http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/home/index.asp?page=1565 Arcadia City Library: "Santa Anita PACEMAKER"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203209/http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/home/index.asp?page=1565 |date=September 23, 2015 }}; Homepage for 32 digitalized editions of the Santa Anita Assembly Center newspaper. (accessed November 7, 2014).</ref> Four hundred temporary tarpaper barracks were constructed on the racetrack grounds to house many of the detainees, where they lived three families per unit. 8,500 detainees lived in converted horse stalls.<ref name=militarymuseum/> Bachelors were housed in the grandstand building.<ref name=militarymuseum/> They had group showers, non-private bathrooms, and 24-hour armed surveillance. Each resident was given an "Army manufacture bed, one blanket and one straw tick."<ref>McAdam, Pat and Snider, Sandy.  ''Arcadia: Where Ranch and City Meet'', p.&nbsp;147</ref> The Assembly Center held people from late March through the end of October 1942, when the internees were relocated inland to [[Internment of Japanese Americans#Relocation Centers|permanent internment camps]] at [[Manzanar]] and [[Tule Lake Unit, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument|Tule Lake]] in California, and eight others in Western states and Arkansas.

In November 1942 the center was turned over to the [[United States Army Ordnance Corps]] for training purposes and was officially renamed [[Camp Santa Anita]].<ref name=militarymuseum/> Later in the war it served as a [[prisoner of war|prisoner of war—POW]] camp, holding several thousand of Rommel's German [[Afrika Korps]] soldiers.<ref name=militarymuseum/>

===Postwar period===
Arcadia largely grew up as the well-to-do suburb of neighboring [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]], with many early residents being the sons and daughters of long-established Southern California families. A large tract of estate homes was developed by Harry Chandler, the scion of the ''Los Angeles Times'', who lived in adjacent [[Sierra Madre, California]]. The city became the residence of choice for many corporate chief executives, including those in the aerospace, horse-racing, and finance industries.

The postwar boom saw Arcadia grow rapidly into a suburban residential community, with many of the chicken ranches being subdivided into home lots. Between 1940 and 1950, the population grew by more than two and a half times. The housing boom continued through the 1950s and 1960s and along with that growth came the necessary infrastructure of schools, commercial buildings, and expanded city services.

During the postwar boom, a modern commercial district developed along Baldwin Avenue south of Huntington Drive in west Arcadia. In 1951 this strip, called the West Arcadia Hub, was anchored by a new, locally owned [[Hinshaw's Department Stores|Hinshaw's]] department store. This was the first large department store to be built in Arcadia, and the largest in the western [[San Gabriel Valley]] outside the city of [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]]. This development marked the beginning of Arcadia's gradual transformation into one of the leading shopping districts of the San Gabriel Valley.

In 1947, {{convert|111|acre|km2}} that comprised the heart of the Baldwin Ranch were deeded to the State of California and the County of Los Angeles, and developed into [[Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden]].

In October 1975, the Santa Anita Fashion Park was opened to the public on the corner of Baldwin Avenue and Huntington Drive, on part of the former Santa Anita Assembly Center site. The center court featured a very large "Blue head" by artist [[Roy Lichtenstein]], which was later removed. The mall expanded in 2004 and was renamed [[Westfield Santa Anita]]. It was affected by the [[Great Recession in the United States|Great Recession]] of the late 2000s.

[[James Dobson]], a former Arcadia resident, founded the nonprofit Christian ministry [[Focus on the Family]] in the city in 1977. Focus on the Family is now based in [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]], but still has thousands of members in Arcadia.

In the 1980s, the Asian population in Arcadia began to grow. The city had remained 99% white until the late 1970s, but in 1985, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that the Asian population had grown from 4% in 1980 to an estimated 9%, overtaking Latinos, who accounted for roughly 7% of the population.<ref>Arax, Mark. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-09-19-ga-2113-story.html Asian Newcomers Create Consternation in Arcadia]". ''Los Angeles Times''. September 19, 1985.</ref> By the 2020 census, Asians consisted of 64.56% of the population.<ref name=2020CensusP2/>

[[File:Arcadia High School (8310811059).jpg|thumb|[[Arcadia High School (Arcadia, California)|Arcadia High School]] Performing Arts Center]]