Editing Sierra Madre, California (section)

==History==

===Early history===
In approximately 500 [[Common Era|CE]], [[Tongva people|Tongva Indians]],<ref>[http://tongva.com/ Gabrieleno/Tongva of San Gabriel<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010923234724/http://tongva.com/ |date=September 23, 2001 }}</ref> the native people migrated from the [[Mojave, California|Mojave]] area to what would become [[Los Angeles County]] (including the [[San Gabriel Valley]]). Their name means "People of the Earth". Their primary language was Uto-Aztecan Shoshonean. In the 16th century, there were about 25 Tongva villages, with a population of approximately 400 people.<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://cityofsierramadre.com/departments/library/106-headline-history-of-sierra-madre|title=City of Sierra Madre: Headline History}}</ref> By 1769, the first Spanish settlers arrived in the region, finding an estimated 5,000 Tongva living in 31 villages. Sierra Madre was the site of a settlement named ''Sonayna''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/visual-collections/kirkman-harriman-pictorial-and-historical-map-los-angeles|title=Kirkman-Harriman Pictorial and Historical Map {{!}} Los Angeles Public Library|website=www.lapl.org|language=en|access-date=November 24, 2017}}</ref> Two years later, [[Mission San Gabriel Arcangel]] was founded in present-day [[Montebello, California|Montebello]]. The mission was later moved to [[San Gabriel, California|San Gabriel]] because of severe flooding from the [[Rio Hondo (California)|Rio Hondo]] River, which ruined their crops. The original mission site is now marked by a [[California Historical Landmark]].<ref>{{cite web | title =Los Angeles | work =California Historical Landmarks  | publisher =California Department of Parks & Recreation Office of Historic Preservation | year =2004 | url =http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21427 | access-date =July 30, 2007}}</ref> Tongvas were integrated into the culture of the mission, and the tribe were renamed [[Gabrielino Indians]] by the Spaniards.<ref name="history"/> The first Mount Wilson trail was carved by the Gabrielino Indians, who used it when they carried timber down from the mountains for the construction of the San Gabriel Mission in 1771.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.sierramadrenews.net/?page_id=331|title=Trail Race – Sierra Madre News Net}}</ref>

Using Mexican and Chinese laborers, [[Benjamin Davis Wilson|Benjamin "Don Benito" Wilson]] expanded the [[Mount Wilson (California)|Mount Wilson]] Trail in 1864.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Nathaniel Carter purchased the original {{convert|1103|acre|km2}} that comprise Sierra Madre in 1881: {{convert|845|acre|km2}} from "[[Lucky Baldwin]]", {{convert|108|acre|km2}} from the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] Company, and {{convert|150|acre|km2}} from John Richardson (1811–August 9, 1884).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smhps.org/archivedpdfs/2016_summer.pdf|title=Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society, September 2016 Newsletter}}</ref> In 1888, the [[Santa Anita, California|Santa Anita]] railroad station was built.<ref name="history"/> The first of the year brought [[Pacific Electric Railway]] Red Car passenger service to Sierra Madre. Later that year the first electric lights were installed by the Edison Electric Company. In December 1906, the first telephones were installed (250 of them) by the Home Telephone Company of Monrovia.<ref name="history"/>

On February 2, 1907, the first citywide election was held and 96 citizens voted 71–25 to officially incorporate Sierra Madre; the population was about 500. In February 1907, eighteen days after the election, Sierra Madre became incorporated as a California city. Charles Worthington Jones was the first mayor.<ref name="history"/>
[[File:Sierra Madre Villa Hotel-1884.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Sierra Madre Villa Hotel, 1884]]

===The new century===
Sierra Madre is historically linked to the old mountain resorts of the San Gabriel Mountains and Valley. The Sierra Madre Villa Hotel was a pioneer of summer resorts that populated the [[San Gabriel Valley]] in the late 19th century.<ref name = "headline_history">[http://cityofsierramadre.com/index.php?mod=headline_history The Official Site of the City of Sierra Madre: Headline History of Sierra Madre<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The municipality also operated and maintained the landmark "Lizzie's Trail" inn at the head of Old Mount Wilson Trail.<ref name = "headline_history"/>

[[Harvard College]] established the first [[Mount Wilson Observatory]] in 1889.<ref name="history"/> The installation of the Harvard telescope in 1889, which brought its own problems of transporting the instrument up the old Wilson trail, caused an interest in a Mt. Wilson roadway, something more than a trail. The Harvard telescope was removed and in July the new toll road was officially opened to the public. The toll was set by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors at 25 cents for hikers and 50 cents for horseback. The new road was called the "New Mt. Wilson Trail" and it was more popular at the time than the old Sierra Madre trail. Foot and pack animal traffic became so heavy that in June 1893 the trail was widened to {{convert|6|ft|m|spell=in}}. The [[Pacific Electric]] "Red Cars" established their [[Sierra Madre Line|route to Sierra Madre]] from 1906 until 1950. Thousands of people rode the cars to Sierra Madre to hike the original Mt. Wilson Trail.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

[[File:Old Mount Wilson Toll Road.jpg|thumb|right|Horse and buggy passage on the Mount Wilson Trail]]
[[File:Ruins of Orchard Camp on Mount Wilson Trail.jpg|left|thumb|The ruins of Orchard Camp can still be visited on the Mt. Wilson Trail.]]
In 1908, the first Mt. Wilson Trail Race was run. This annual race was discontinued during WWII and reestablished in 1966.<ref name="history"/> The 102nd anniversary of the first running of the Mount Wilson Trail Race and the 44th annual race was run in May 2010. Because of rain, mudslides, falling trees, soil erosion and rockslides, the regularly monitored trail course changes almost every year, and no official records of running times are kept.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> The {{convert|8.6|mi|km|adj=on}} course starts and ends on pavement, but most of the race is run on a dirt path about {{convert|3|ft|m|spell=in}} wide, and the Mt. Wilson Trail has occasional steep vertical drops of hundreds of feet. Due to the trail's narrowness and steepness, the race is limited to 300 male and 300 female runners.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> The path gains elevation to more than {{convert|2100|ft|m}}; at {{convert|4.3|mi|km}} from the start of the race is Orchard Camp, the turnaround point. Scout troops hike up to provide water at two locations, at the {{convert|2.3|mi|km|adj=on}} point and at the Orchard Camp turnaround. The Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team provides emergency support on race day. The Mt. Wilson Trail Race has traditional and historical value to the community.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

A year after the city's incorporation, Catholic families contacted a priest from Chicago, Father M. W. Barth, who had moved west for his health, to ask if he could celebrate Mass for them.<ref name="Rita">{{cite web|url=http://st-rita.org/parish-history/|title=Parish History - Saint Rita Catholic Church}}</ref> The construction of the first, very small, church of St. Rita's parish, founded by Barth in 1908, was completed in 1910.<ref name="history"/> In 1922, St. Rita's Catholic Church parochial school opened. During the first 100 years of St. Rita's Parish, it has on record 4,075 baptisms, 3,590 confirmations, 1,334 marriages and 1,469 funerals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://st-rita.org/about-st-rita/parish-history |title=Parish History &#124; Saint Rita Catholic Church |publisher=St-rita.org |access-date=December 22, 2018}}</ref> The scattering of families that began with Barth in 1908 has grown to more than 1,200 Catholic parish homes today,<ref name="Rita"/> in a city whose population is now approximately 10,917.

In 1914, after a long legal battle, the city acquired title to all water rights, lands, and distribution systems of the Baldwin Estate and the Sierra Madre Water Company.<ref name="history"/>

[[File:Car 401 at Sierra Madre.jpg|thumb|right|Sierra Madre {{circa|1908}} with PE line Depot and the Hotel Shirley in background]]

====1920s and 1930s====
In 1921, a disastrous bakery fire at Windsor Lane and Montecito Court prompted the official organization of the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Department. Sierra Madre had the last remaining [[volunteer fire department]] in [[Greater Los Angeles area|greater Los Angeles]] before transitioning to a paid department in 2017.

On January 1, 1922, Bethany Temple was dedicated. The now historic domed cobblestone church was designed and built by the nearly blind Louis D. Corneulle. The new [[Old North Church (Sierra Madre, California)|Congregational Church structure]] was completed on Sierra Madre Ave; the Romanesque Revival building was designed by Marsh, Smith, & Powell. In July 1927, the Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club was formed. On April 21, 1931, the first meeting of the Sierra Madre Historical Society took place, in conjunction with the city's 50th anniversary celebration.<ref name="history"/> In 1936, a city ordinance officially changed the name of Central Avenue to Sierra Madre Blvd.<ref name="history"/>  In March 1938, a disastrous storm and the resulting flood destroyed many resorts in the local mountains, and also ravaged the (John) Muir Lodge in Big [[Santa Anita Canyon]] above Sierra Madre. No trace remains of it today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://angeles.sierraclub.org/about/MuirLodge.asp |title=About Us: Muir Lodge &#91;Angeles Chapter Sierra Club&#93; |access-date=October 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515153942/http://angeles.sierraclub.org/about/MuirLodge.asp |archive-date=May 15, 2008 }}</ref> In 1940, the city purchased {{convert|760|acre|km2}} of land in the San Gabriel Mountains near Orchard Camp to avoid contamination of the water supply.<ref name="history"/>

A six-week Wisteria event took place in the 1930s. The crowds that traveled to see the giant Wisteria vine were estimated at over 100,000. With so many visitors, extra "Red Cars" were put on the Pacific Electric route to Sierra Madre.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://www.sierramadrenews.net/?page_id=259|title=Wistaria Festival – Sierra Madre News Net}}</ref>

====1940s====
[[File:School house SM Ca 1881.jpg|thumb|right|Sierra Madre one-room school house in 1881, at the corner of Hermosa and Grove Grove. Grove Grove was called Live Oak in 1881]] 
On May 14, 1942, Sierra Madre's Japanese population was required to depart for the detention facility in [[Tulare, California]]. During this decade, Sierra Madre Civic Club and the Sierra Madre Lions Club were organized. The Sierra Madre Community Nursery School also opened. In May 1947, the first Pioneer Days Parade was held. The heaviest recorded snow in Sierra Madre occurred in 1949, blanketing the town with {{convert|3|to|4|in|cm}} of snow overnight.<ref name="history"/>

In 1948, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], in the case of ''[[Shelley v. Kraemer]]'', ended racially restrictive covenants that had prevented black people from owning homes in Sierra Madre and some neighboring cities. However, residential segregation patterns had already become established and persisted up until 1968 when realtors began to routinely show homes to black people.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XqgYRg8DMaIC&pg=RA7-PA110|title=Records and Briefs of the United States Supreme Court|date=October 1975|chapter=Pasadena School Board of Education v. Spangler|language=en}}</ref>

====Mid-century====
On October 6, 1950, the last Pacific Electric train left from Sierra Madre.<ref name="history"/> In 1951, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team was established by Larry Shepherd and Fred LaLone.<ref name="history"/> Sierra Madre joined the [[Pasadena Unified School District]] in 1961.<ref name="history"/> In 1967, [[Princess Margaret]] visited the British Home in Sierra Madre.<ref name="history"/> The Cultural Heritage Committee was established in 1969 by the Sierra Madre City Council with the intent of "defining cultural and aesthetic landmarks throughout the City of Sierra Madre and to recommend how such landmarks be preserved." In 1969, the city purchased the Women's Clubhouse, to be demolished and become the site of a new City Hall building.<ref name="history"/>

The Sierra Madre Historical Wilderness Area was established by declaration of the City Council on January 24, 1967. When it was dedicated on January 27, 1968, Sierra Madre was the first city in [[Southern California]] to own a wilderness preserve.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> The Sierra Madre City Council added the Mt. Wilson Trail to the Sierra Madre Register of Historic Cultural Landmarks on October 12, 1993.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

====1970s====
In January 1971, the Sierra Madre Environmental Action Council was formed. In 1974, the Bell Tower in Kersting Court was dedicated; it houses the original school bell from the 1885 schoolhouse. In 1976, ''Sierra Madre Vistas'' was published by the Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society.<ref>{{Cite web|title=SMHPS History|url=http://www.smhps.org/home/our-history.html|access-date=August 13, 2021|website=Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society}}</ref> On March 19, 1976, the Bicentennial time capsule was buried beneath the flagpole at the new Fire and Police Department Facility, then dedicated in May. The New City Hall building was dedicated on Sierra Madre Boulevard in 1977.<ref name="history"/>

====1980s and 1990s====
In 1981, Sierra Madre celebrated the centennial of its founding, complete with a Centennial Royal Court and dance, a special Historical Society dinner, and rides on a Pacific Electric red car brought back to town on Independence Day weekend.<ref name="history"/>

====Recent history====
In 2003, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Senior Housing Project on Esperanza Avenue was held. The affordable housing project includes 46 units designed by PBWS Architects and developed by the Foundation for Quality Housing. Later that year, the Veterans' Photo Wall, spearheaded by John Grijalva, was dedicated in Memorial Park. In 2007, Sierra Madre celebrated the centennial of its incorporation as a California city. Sierra Madre also won the [[All-America City Award]] given by the [[National Civic League]]. That same year, the refurbished World War I cannon in Memorial Park was dedicated.<ref name="history"/>

In March 2008, the Milton & Harriet Goldberg Recreation Area was dedicated, as the city's first such pocket park in over 30 years. In 2009, the Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society published ''Southern California Story: Seeking the Better Life in Sierra Madre'' by Michele Zack.<ref name="history"/>

In 2023, the city asked the [[California Department of Fish and Wildlife]] to change its approach to dealing with bears in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solis |first=Nathan |date=April 13, 2023 |title='I've had bears eat my chickens': Bear sightings on the rise in Sierra Madre |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-12/bears-sierra-madre-california-department-of-fish-and-wildlife |access-date=April 13, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>