Pasadena is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 133,936. Pasadena is the main population and cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. It is the 8th largest city in Los Angeles County and famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade.
Pasadena is located at 34°9'22" North, 118°7'55" West (34.156098, -118.131808). The elevation is 864 feet (263 meters) above sea level. The greater Pasadena area is bounded by the Raymond Fault line, the San Rafael Hills, and the San Gabriel Mountains.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 60.0 km2 (23.2 mi2). 59.8 km2 (23.1 mi2) of it is land and 0.2 km2 (0.1 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 0.30% water.
Pasadena is located 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is bordered by seven communities--Los Angeles, South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, La Caada Flintridge and unincorporated Altadena. Despite its location well within the Greater Los Angeles metropolis, Pasadena is a largely self-contained city with a broad economic base, noted cultural, scientific, and educational institutions, and shopping and dining establishments that attract customers from the regional area.
As of the census of 2000, there are 133,936 people, 51,844 households, and 29,862 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,238.7/km2 (5,798.7/mi2). There are 54,132 housing units at an average density of 904.8/km2 (2,343.6/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 53.36% White, 14.42% African American, 0.71% Native American, 10.00% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 16.01% from other races, and 5.39% from two or more races. 33.40% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 51,844 households out of which 27.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% are married couples living together, 12.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 42.4% are non-families. 33.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.52 and the average family size is 3.30.
In the city the population is spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 34.9% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $46,012, and the median income for a family is $53,639. Males have a median income of $41,120 versus $36,435 for females. The per capita income for the city is $28,186. 15.9% of the population and 11.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 21.3% of those under the age of 18 and 10.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
The original inhabitants of Pasadena and surrounding areas was the Native American Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva (part of the Shoshone language group). Pasadena is a part of the original Spanish land grant named Rancho San Pascual, so named because it was deeded on Easter Sunday to Eulalia Perez de Guillen, a cook and housekeeper at the San Gabriel Mission. The Rancho comprised the lands of today's communities of Pasadena, Altadena and South Pasadena.
Prior to the annexation of California in 1848, the last of the Spanish owners was Manuel Garfias who was allowed to retain title to the property after statehood in 1850. Garfias sold sections of the property to the first white settlers to come into the area, Dr. Benjamin Eaton, and Dr. S. Griffen. Much of the property was purchased by the honorable Benjamin Wilson who established his Lake Vineyard property near the vicinity. Wilson, known as Don Benito to the local Indians, was also owner of the Rancho Jurupa (Riverside, Ca.) and went on to become the first Anglo mayor of Los Angeles. He is the grandfather of the famous WWII General George S. Patton and would have Mount Wilson, the metro-media transmission center of the greater Los Angeles area, named for him.
In 1873 Wilson was visited by one Dr. Daniel M. Berry of Indiana who was looking for a place in the country that could offer better climate to his patient base, most of whom suffered from severe respiratory ailments. Berry was an asthmatic himself and claimed that he had his best three nights sleep at Rancho San Pascula. To keep the find a secret, Berry code-named the area "Muscat" after the grape that Wilson so popularly grew on the property. In order to raise funds to bring the company of people to San Pascual, Berry formed the Southern California Orange and Citrus Growers Association for which he sold stock. The newcomers were able to purchase a large portion of the property along the Arroyo Seco and on January 31, 1874 they incorporated the Indiana Colony. As a gesture of good will, Wilson threw in the 2,000 aces of thought-to-be-useless highland property part of which would become Altadena.
The mail came to the Indiana Colony via Los Angeles so ear-marked. In an attempt to obtain their own Post Office, the Colony needed to change the name to something that the Postmaster General would consider more fitting. The town fathers put up three names to a vote. The first was Indianola. The second was Granada, to be in keeping with the areas Spanish heritage.
The third was proposed by Dr. Thomas Elliott who had contacted an Indian missionary friend of his in Michigan who had worked with the Minnesota Chippewa Indians. He submitted four names for translation: "Crown of the Valley," "Key of the Valley," "Valley of the Valley," and "Hill of the Valley." The names came back starting with "Weo-quan pa-sa-de-na," "Hat of the Valley" All the names ended in the "pa-sa-de-na (of the valley)" translation. The name was put to the vote, and due to its euphonious nature, it was accepted, thus: Pasadena. Pasadena was incorporated -- the second incorporated municipality of Southern California next to Los Angeles -- in March 1886.
The popularity of the region drew numbers from across country and Pasadena eventually became a key stop along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which led to an explosion in its growth. From the real estate boom of the 1880's until the Great Depression, as great tourists hotels were developed in the city, Pasadena became a winter resort for wealthy easterners. The first of the great hotels to be established in Pasadena was the Raymond (1886) which sat atop Bacon Hill, renamed Raymond Hill after construction. The original Mansard Victorian 200-room facility burned down on Easter Sunday morning of 1895 and was rebuilt until 1903. It was lost during the Great Depression and torn down to make way for residential development. The Maryland Hotel existed from the early 1900's and was also lost during the Depression in 1934.
Two hotel structures have survived to the present day. The Green Hotel and the Vista Del Arroyo.
The Green Hotel started construction on South Raymond at Kansas Street in 1887 by Mr. E.C. Webster who was unable to finish it. Col. G. G. Green, a wealthy pharmaceutics distributor from Chicago, finished the six-story edifice in 1888. In 1898 he finished construction on a second grand edifice on the other side of Raymond and connected the two buildings, the first now called an annex, with a bridge and a tunnel. The magnate patrons and their families would arrive by train at the station adjacent the annex. They would proceed to the second floor where they were trammed across the the newer section and go directly to their suites. The luggage was ferried across through the tunnel.
In 1902 the hotel was extended to the P. G. Wooster building at the corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Green Street. In 1924 the hotel became a private residence. The annex was razed to its first story and sold away as private property, today known as Stat's Floral Supply. In 1970 the two wings of the hotel were closed off to each other creating two separate buildings. The 1898 section remained the private residence now called the Castle Green. The 1902 portion was taken over by the government's HUD program for senior residents and is called the Green Hotel. In 1929 Kansas Street was widened and renamed Green Street.
The Vista Del Arroyo Hotel on Grand Avenue, which the Navy commandeered for use as a hospital during World War II, now houses the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Pasadena's role as a regional hub was cemented by numerous other events, among them the Tournament of Roses Parade which began in 1889, the construction and opening of the Colorado Street Bridge, also know as "Suicide Bridge" from the period of the Great Depression, the Arroyo Parkway, now Pasadena Freeway, opened as the first freeway in Southern California in 1941, and the completion of the Los Angeles Metro Gold Line in 2003.
Source:
PasadenaCalifornia.com
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