Throwback Thursday | Murals Celebrate South Pasadena’s Rich Heritage

Several murals, some more hidden than others, can be discovered all over town, illustrating the history of South Pasadena

By
Rick Thomas
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PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | First Raymond Hotel and schoolhouse, Bristol Farms Cafe
 

South Pasadena is a small city with a storied past. Several owners of commercial property – rental housing and retail establishments – have commissioned artists to paint murals that celebrate its rich cultural heritage.

These historic places no longer exist. Still, they remain in our hearts through our institutions, buildings, stories, photographs, books, and art.

First Raymond Hotel (1886-1895)

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PHOTO: Rick Thomas Collection | SouthPasadenan.com News | The Royal Raymond, South Pasadena (1891)
PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | Painted mural at the Bristol Farms Café
PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | South Pasadena late 1800s (Raymond Hotel in the background)

Second Raymond Hotel (1901-1934)

PHOTO: Pasadena Museum of History | SouthPasadenan.com News | Raymond Hotel, South Pasadena (1928)
PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | Amberwood Apartments on Raymond Hill
PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | Painted mural of the second Raymond Hotel in the 1920s

Cawston Ostrich Farm (1896-1935)

PHOTO: Rick Thomas Collection | SouthPasadenan.com News | Cawston Ostrich Farm, South Pasadena (1922)
PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | Painted mural on Oxley Street (near Rialto Theater)
PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | Cawston Ostrich Farm

Orange Grove Heritage (late 1800s through early 1900s)

PHOTO: Rick Thomas Photography | SouthPasadenan.com News | Painted mural at Rite Aid parking lot entrance

Throwback Thursday is written and produced by Rick Thomas

 


Rick Thomas
Rick Thomas
https://SouthPasadenan.com
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.
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