Hastings Ranch, Pasadena, California
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Hastings Ranch is a neighborhood of
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...
which lies in
northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...
. It is principally accessed by
Sierra Madre Boulevard Sierra Madre Boulevard is a long road connecting five suburbs of Pasadena, California; Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Hastings Ranch, East Pasadena, and San Marino. For the most part, it is a winding road divided by a grassy median, but the part be ...
, Michillinda Avenue, Hastings Ranch Blvd., and Riviera Drive. Hastings Ranch is also identified by large shopping areas at its southernmost end and by a shopping center at the corner of Sierra Madre and Michillinda. Hastings Ranch is divided by Sierra Madre Blvd, north of the blvd is Upper Hastings Ranch and south is Lower Hastings Ranch. To the north of the Ranch is the
San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...
and Mount Wilson.


History

In 1882, Charles Cook Hastings purchased of land between Pasadena and
Sierra Madre Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to: Places and mountains Mexico *Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona *Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico *S ...
for
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
7 per acre. He named his ranch "Mesa Alta Rancho" and began planting with grape vines and constructed a mansion. Soon after he died, his son, Charles Houston Hastings, assumed responsibility for the land. He imported unusual specimens of plants and trees and populated the ranch with peacocks, pheasants, cats, dogs (32 collies) and champion horses. In 1928, the Hastings mansion caught fire and burned to the ground. The ranch fell into a state of disrepair and its operation was left to managers. Hastings Ranch was one of several competing sites for the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
's southern campus, but lost to
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
in 1919. The Sierra Airdrome was an air strip at Sierra Madre Villa Avenue and Foothill Boulevard built in 1920 by the Sierra Aircraft Company of Pasadena. Currently, its location is occupied by a shopping center featuring
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,
Bed, Bath and Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune ...
and
Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of 2018, Ross operates 1,483 stor ...
. The airport was also known as Sierra Flying Field, Eliel Field and Hastings Airport. The Sierra Aircraft Company of Pasadena was owned by Leon T. Eliel, a former Air Force lieutenant and World War I aviator, and Walter Wright Alley, an airplane technician. Along with air and mail travel, there was aerial surveys, an Eliel patented an aerial photography camera. Small planes were built at the airport also. The airport was triangular shape, with the side dimensions of 1,800 x 2,000 x 2,700 feet.
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
flew from the airport in an air rodeo in 1924.
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
, Bogart Rogers, also flew from the airport. The Sierra Airdrome closed in 1929. Following the death of Charles Houston Hastings in 1942, the ranch was sold by the Hastings Foundation to a syndicate for over $1 million. The land was subdivided into luxury housing tracts. Hired by Coronet Construction Co. / Coronet Homes, Inc. in the late 1940s,
Edward H. Fickett Edward Hale Fickett, FAIA, (May 19, 1916 – May 21, 1999 in Los Angeles) was an American architect who was a consultant to federal and local governments in the United States and to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. __TOC__ Biography A fourth gene ...
, FAIA was brought in to design the three subdivided tracts. The construction was completed in three phases, including 600 homes in the Lower Hastings tract completed in 1950, 480 homes in the Middle Hastings tract completed in 1950, along with 800 homes Fickett built in 1951 in the Upper Hastings Ranch area. Hastings Ranch Shopping Center, located on the north side of Foothill Boulevard Between Rosemead Boulevard and Michillinda Avenue, opened in 1960 with an expansion in 1984. It is home to
Marshalls Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. Mar ...
,
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,
CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...
, Rite Aid Pharmacy (formerly Thrifty Drugs),
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(closed in 2021), and Vromans Bookstore. With the post war growth of the 1950s, a drive-in theater was established at the lowest point of the neighborhood between Rosemead and Foothill Boulevards by the name of Hastings Drive-In Theater. It fell to heavy commercial development in the 1960s. The drive-in was replaced by the "Hastings Theater," which opened in 1968. The theater was a part of the
Pacific Theatres Pacific Theatres was an American chain of movie theaters in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of California. Pacific Theatres was owned by The Decurion Corporation which also owned and operated ArcLight Cinemas. In 2008, it sold its store loca ...
chain, until it closed in 2008, and was replaced by
LA Fitness LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California. History LA Fitness was founde ...
. Mann Theaters opened a competing three-screen movie theater in Hastings Ranch in March, 1975 (premiering with
The Towering Inferno ''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The Towe ...
), which closed in 2002 to be replaced by
Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California ...
. Today Hastings Ranch is defined locally as two independent neighborhoods: "Upper Hastings" and "Lower Hastings," with Sierra Madre Boulevard dividing the two. The Lariat is the bimonthly newsletter published for the residents of Upper Hastings Ranch. The newsletter contains information about the neighborhood, as well as publicizing essays by young residents. Films made in the Hastings Ranch area include 1978's
The Jerk ''The Jerk'' is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, and Michael Elias (from a story by Steve Martin and Carl Gottlieb). This was Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The fil ...
with
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated ...
(the gas station scene was filmed on the southwest corner of Greenhill Avenue and Rosemead Boulevard, now a
Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., with franchisees in North & South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa. In 2016, ''Entrepreneur'' listed Carl's Jr. as No. 54 ...
fast food restaurant). A once-popular BMX track in a vacant lot next to Field Elementary School, frequented by neighborhood children (including the
Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
brothers), was leveled in 1976 to make room for the "Sunrise Campus" of "First
Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa within Johnson County, Kansas. With its members co ...
." The complex was completed in 1985.


Education

Hastings Ranch is home to Don Benito Elementary School and Field Elementary School. The neighborhood is also served by Sierra Madre Middle School and Pasadena High School. La Salle High School is a private school in the area. Nearby in Sierra Madre is Alverno Heights Academy and Bethany Christian School and Preschool.


Government

Hastings Ranch is part of the Pasadena City Council's Fourth District, represented by Gene Masuda.


Significant Christmas display

Upper Hastings Ranch, run by the Upper Hastings Ranch Association (UHRA) a volunteer, nonprofit HOA, has become one of the most popular areas for neighborhood outdoor Christmas displays. The practice began in 1957 whereby each block in the neighborhood would decorate their homes with some type of theme icon placed in the parkway, e.g., snowmen, Christmas trees, Santas and reindeer, Peanuts cartoon characters, etc. The tour which was taken by automobile would consist of miles of lighting and other entertaining Christmas scenarios displayed about the labyrinth of homes.Upper Hastings Ranch Association
/ref> Carl Hays was also a contributor. The Hastings Ranch Christmas display took its place among the popular local venues of
Christmas Tree Lane Christmas Tree Lane (Italian: ''Via dell'Albero di Natale'') is a boulevard of deodar cedar trees in Altadena, California. The trees on the Lane, Santa Rosa Avenue, have been lighted annually as a Christmas Holiday display since 1920. The associ ...
and the Balian Mansion, both in Altadena. The original concept of the Upper Hastings Ranch Christmas Light Parade ('Parading' up and down the streets of Upper Hastings as a real estate gimmick was the basis for the idea) was the brainchild of William M. Lawson, (not to be confused with the "Bill Lawson" associated with The Pasadena Rose Parade) a well-loved and colorful local Realtor and long time resident of both Upper Hastings (1220 Rexford Avenue) and Lower Hastings (3750 Shadow Grove Road) until his death on January 3, 2004. Lawson's idea was to attract attention to Coronet Homes where he made his real estate career thrive through the Christmas Light Parade and through his ingenious use of aerial photography to promote the area. The aerial photographs were transferred onto Postcards and mailed throughout the Southern California area, and as far away as New York State and there was even a Christmas issue letting people know of the annual upcoming Christmas Light Parade. As a result of "Captain Billy('s)" efforts [a moniker later attributed to him as a result of his turning his Lower Hastings Ranch home on Shadow Grove Road into the somewhat infamous "Pasadena Maritime Museum" [infamous because of his legendary almost nightly partying during the 27 years between his second and third marriages] and for his service as a Naval Bombardier during World War II Lawson sold over 800 homes in Upper and Lower Hastings Ranch, setting records as one of the highest producing Realtors' of the era. Originally, when the Christmas Light Display was conceived, Lawson assembled 'Block Captains" who would oversee the decorating of each home on their respective streets. So popular was Lawson's idea that even the Jewish population of Upper Hastings joined in the decorating frenzy as they quickly realized that the celebration was not necessarily of the Christmas holiday, but of the time of year which also included Chanukah. Lawson's magic was evidenced by his ability to: "make Coronet Homes truly special regardless of race, creed or color, religious persuasion or profession". Of course, to the chagrin of many a covering reporter it was hard to miss the "FOR SALE" signs, while touring Coronet homes during the parade! Homes for sale was a common situation as Upper Hastings Ranch during that period (the late 1950s through the 1969 Moon Landing was the pinnacle of the Space Race) and Upper Hastings boasted more nearby Jet Propulsion Laboratory Engineers and Caltech Professors as residents than any other neighborhood in Southern California. In fact, the average tenure of a JPL engineer was 8 months which accounted for the high turnover in Coronet Homes a fact not lost on Lawson. The idea garnered widespread attention by just about every local and regional newspaper, radio and television station - traditions which continue to this day. Many believe that this was one of, if not Southern California's, first organized Christmas Light displays of scale and shortly thereafter, another local Realtor named Howard B. Lawson illiam's Uncle and long time member of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club in Newport Beachwas partially credited with revitalizing another famous Christmas Light Display, which has evolved in the Newport Harbor Festival of Lights Boat Parade. Ask a local and they will likely tell you how growing up in Pasadena required the annual piling in the family station wagon to trek up and down the streets of the Coronet Tract in Upper Hastings to see the lights and the unique, theme-oriented decorations. Posted by Thomas C. Lawson, #3 Son of William M. Lawson


See also

*
Benjamin Davis Wilson Benjamin Davis Wilson (December 1, 1811 – March 11, 1878), commonly known as Don Benito Wilson,Excerpt: ''"Wilson, now known as Don Benito, became a Californio – that group of Mexicans and Angols who thought of themselves as Californians rathe ...


Transportation

The neighborhood overall is served by
Metro Local Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . , there are ...
line 256;
Pasadena Transit Pasadena Transit, formerly known as Pasadena Area Rapid Transit System (Pasadena ARTS), is the transit bus service in the city of Pasadena, California, Pasadena, California. The system was launched as a single shuttle route ahead of the 1994 FIFA ...
routes 60 with connection to the
Metro A Line The Metro A Line is a bus rapid transit line in the Twin Cities, Minnesota operated by Metro Transit. The A Line operates primarily along the Snelling Avenue corridor and travels through the cities of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Falcon Heights, a ...
terminal complex on Sierra Madre Villa Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. The nearby city of Sierra Madre offers transportation on a Gateway bus. Metro Local line 268 runs from
Sierra Madre Villa Station Sierra Madre Villa station is a light rail station on the L Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located in the median of Interstate 210 (Foothill Freeway), at Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, after which the station is named, in Pasad ...
to the
El Monte Station El Monte Station is a large regional bus station in the city of El Monte, California, United States, adjacent to Interstate 10, serving the Metro J Line, Foothill Transit, Greyhound Lines, and El Monte Transit. It is the Metro J Line's easter ...
br>
Metro Express Line 487 runs from downtown Los Angeles Union Station (Los Angeles), Union Station to the Sierra Madre Villa Station via San Gabriel Boulevar


Notes


Pasadena Heritage Org Running with History - Mile 23: Sierra Madre LineUSC Digital Library, View of Pacific Electric car 401 at the intersection of Baldwin Avenue and Sierra Madre Boulevard in Sierra Madre, 1908


References


External links


Pasadena city council - district 4

Upper Hastings Ranch AssociationUpper Hastings Ranch Facebook pageHastings Branch Library
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