Rick Thomas
Author Rick Thomas is the former museum curator and vice-chair of education for the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation. He served on the South Pasadena Natural Resources Commission, helping to maintain a strict policy protecting the city’s great old-growth trees. Using touchstone photographs from his own collection—one of the San Gabriel Valley’s largest accumulations of historical images and artifacts—as well as national, state, and local historical archives, Thomas provides a window to his city’s past and an understanding of why its preservation is so important.
Throwback Thursday | The Royal Raymond
In the 1880s wealthy visitors from the Midwest and East Coast stayed at The Royal Raymond in South Pasadena mostly to escape the harsh winter.
The Boston-based travel agency Raymond and Whitcomb and local area...
Throwback Thursday | What? Real Snow in South Pasadena? The Year was 1949
On January 11, 1949, the palms along Stratford Avenue were flocked with the “real white stuff” (not movie magic). South Pasadena became a winter wonderland when a freak snowfall covered Los Angeles and San...
Throwback Thursday | El Centro School
The historic school site adjacent to the public library on El Centro Street is a vital property for achieving educational excellence in South Pasadena for over 130 years. The original Center Street School that...
Throwback Thursday | BABY!
To help promote South Pasadena’s new start-up business in the late 1800’s Edwin Cawston created a brand logo he named the “Cawston Baby.” In the photo, she is sitting with newly hatched baby ostriches....
Throwback Thursday | Thanksgiving Edition
Probably the first thing that comes to mind on Thanksgiving is the meal. For many families, the turkey is to Thanksgiving as the pine tree is to the winter holidays. A century ago in...
Throwback Thursday | The South Pasadenan
In 1893, George W. Glover founded South Pasadena’s first successful newspaper, South Pasadenan.
He ran the paper for 15 years during the fledgling municipality’s formative years. Glover was a passionate tree lover, and on April...
