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Guides to Pasadena Areas

About Civic Networking

The Community Network Movement
Realizing that communication and information are increasingly dependent on networked digital information, community activists all over the world ­ often in collaboration with government agencies, non-profits, or businesses ­ are developing community computer network systems.

State and Local Government on the Net
This is a directory of official state, county and city government websites.

San Gabriel Valley

San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments
Founded in 1994, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) of 31 incorporated cities in the San Gabriel Valley, the three Supervisory District representing the unincorporated areas in the San Gabriel Valley, and the Valley’s three water agencies. Collectively, these agencies represent the Valley's 2 million residents living in 31 incorporate cities and numerous unincorporated communities.

San Gabriel Valley Cities

Alhambra
This is the city government website for Alhambra, the gateway to the San Gabriel Valley.

Altadena

Altadena Now
Altadenablog/Altadena Online started in Oct. 2007, and has steadily grown to become Altadena's main source of local news. Timothy Rutt regularly covers key events in Altadena, including: Local government, local business, crime and public safety issues, arts and entertainment events.  Timothy Rutt stopped running site on April 10th, 2015.  James Mcpherson has taken over the reportingat Altadena Now.

Altadena Weather Cam
The camera is located near the top of Lake Avenue at 1680' Above Sea Level. The view is to the Northeast with Echo Mountain (elev 3500 ft) in the background. Courtesy of Bill Westphal.

Altadena Patch
More information about current events in Altadena.

The Meadows Blog
Greg Stanton is a realtor who blogs about what is happening in Altadena.

Altadena Sheriff Crime Blotter
This site lists the most recent crime in Altadena.

Department of Public Works ( County of Los Angeles)
Since Altadena is unincorporated city, services are managed by the County of Los Angeles.  This site contains the most common contacts for public works problems.  Please call 800-675-HELP (4357) for urgent requests such as traffic signal outages and hazards in roadway.

Arcadia
City government website for Arcadia.

Azusa
Official municipal site for Azusa.

Baldwin Park
Official municipal site includes information about city services, departments, meetings, events, and the community.

Bradbury
Official city site with government information and brief history.

Claremont
Official city site with government information and brief history. Claremont is best known for its tree-lined streets, historic buildings, and college campuses

Covina
Official city site with government information and brief history. Covina is a General Law City located in Los Angeles County, California, approximately 20 miles east of the City of Los Angeles.

Diamond Bar
Official city web site; searchable school, business and community information.

Duarte
Official site includes information on city government, schools, commerce, tourist information, recreation.

El Monte
Welcome to the City of El Monte's website. All of the City departments are here to serve the residents of the City of El Monte.

Glendora
The pride of the foothills. Official city site with government information and brief history.

Hacienda Heights
Hacienda Heights is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County which gained its current name in 1962 due to the community being centered around Hacienda Boulevard, prior to this the area was known as North Whittier Heights (after its southern neighbor) with the area south of Clark Ave. known as Hillgrove (the elementary School; Hillgrove Elementary is named after this community).

Industry
The Official website of the City of Industry.

Irwindale
Welcome to the City of Irwindale, also known as "Jardin de Roca," Spanish for "Garden of Rocks." The city was founded in 1860 and incorporated in 1957.

La Puente
The City was incorporated on August 1, 1956; however, the history of the community extends back much further. The City’s name "La Puente" means the bridge in old Spanish and refers to an early bridge built across the San Jose Creek by members of the Portola-Serra expedition in 1769, as they surveyed the region for Spain.

La Verne
Founded in 1887 and incorporated in 1906, La Verne is nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel - Pomona Valleys. La Verne has a significant senior citizen population. In addition, due to an influx of new upscale housing during the past two decades. Also home of the University of La Verne. The University of La Verne was founded in 1891 as Lordsburg College by members of the Church of the Brethren who had moved west. Both the college and the agricultural community were renamed La Verne in 1917, and the 1920s and 1930s found three-quarters of the student body in teacher education.

Monrovia
Founded in 1884 by William N. Monroe who invested in railroads. W.N had a deep desire for a permanent home and with the help of E.J. "Lucky" Baldwin who had subdivided the eastern portion of his vast Rancho Santa Anita into thirty acre parcels, decided to do the explore the area. The Monroe's were deeply impressed by the locale and the native oak trees. Baldwin undoubtedly pointed out the water and natural protection from frost offered by the Santa Anita and Sawpit Canyons to the north. The Monroes were satisfied; this was the place. Lots were first offered for sale on May 17, 1886. Monrovia, Gem City of the Foothills, was born.

Monterey Park
Founded in 1920 by Peter N. Snyder who developed the Midwick View Estates. A proposed garden community that was designed to rival Bel-Air and Beverly Hills. Known as the “Father of the East Side,” Mr. Snyder was a key player in the vast undertaking in the 1920’s of developing the East Side as part of the industrial base of Los Angeles.

Pasadena

Pasadena
Government website for city of Pasadena.

Pasadena Snob
"Snob is good. The PasadenaSnob cuts through the fat to get at the best part of that fine steak which we call Pasadena. To be a snob means that you have standards, judgement, taste and discernment. And when you have something as beautiful and important as Pasadena, all these virtues must be employed to keep a good thing going."

Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau
This site is sponsored by the convention and visitors bureau. It does not get updated very often.

Pomona
Named in honor of the Roman goddess of fruit, the City of Pomona has a history as rich as its fertile soil. The Pomona area was situated along a trade route used by Native Americans. The first recorded inhabitants were the Gabrieleno Native Americans. The valley became known in the 1700's as Rancho San Jose. A year later it became part of the Mission San Gabriel Grazing lands. Over fifty years later, two soldiers, Don Ingacio Palomares and Don Ricardo Vejar petitioned the governor and on April, 1837 were granted rights to the land. Home of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, better known as Cal Poly Pomona.

Rosemead
John Guess and his wife, Harriet, arrived in the San Gabriel Valley in 1852 in an ox-drawn wagon from Arkansas. They settled in 1855 on a 100-acre ranch called Savannah on the site of what is now Savannah School. Others followed, including Frank Frost and Leonard Rose. Rose purchased 500 to 700 acres to breed and train horses and called his place Rose’s Meadow, which was shortened to Rosemead and gave the city it’s name.

Rowland Heights
Rowland Heights is named after its first American settler named John Rowland. The Mexican land grant Rancho La Puente was granted to John Rowland and William Workman in 1842. In 1868, John Rowland and William Workman divided Rancho La Puente, leaving Rowland the eastern half and Workman the western half. This unincorporated San Gabriel Valley city is under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County.

San Dimas
Rowland Heights is named after its first American settler named John Rowland. The Mexican land grant Rancho La Puente was granted to John Rowland and William Workman in 1842. In 1868, John Rowland and William Workman divided Rancho La Puente, leaving Rowland the eastern half and Workman the western half. This unincorporated San Gabriel Valley city is under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County.

San Gabriel
Home of Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, "Pride of the California Missions," founded by Father Junipero Serra in 1771, is the fourth of twenty-one California Missions. As the original and oldest settlement north of San Diego and south of San Luis Obispo, it is from San Gabriel that the City of Los Angeles and the greater metropolitan area were established. The community was created when Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish priest, and the Tongva (Gabrielino) Indians came together to build a magnificent Mission in 1771.

San Marino

San Marino
The principal portions of San Marino were included in a Mexican Land Grant in 1830 to an Indian lady named Senora Victoria Reid, the widow of an Englishman. She named her Rancho, Huerta de Cuati. Prior to this grant , the area was part of the San Gabriel Mission (the "Old Mill" was the grist mill for the Mission), and before that was occupied by the Gabrielino Indians with their village located at what is now Huntington School. In 1852, Mrs. Reid deeded her Rancho to Don Benito Wilson. Later, Wilson deeded the main portion to J. de Barth Shorb, who named his Rancho after his grandfather's plantation in Maryland, which in turn had received its name from the Republic of San Marino, in Italy.

San Marino Tribune
The local newspaper for San Marino.

Sierra Madre

Sierra Madre
It is also called the "Village of the Foothills". 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. The municipality also operated and maintained the landmark "Lizzie's Trail" inn at the head of Old Mount Wilson Trail.

Sierra Madre Patch
Sierra Madre news based in New York with local correspondents.

The Sierra Madre Tattler
A fantastic blog of the controversial happenings within Sierra Madre.

South El Monte
South El Monte once served as a watering hole and campsite for Shoshone Indians and explorers to the area. Modern history began with the arrival of the first settlers, the Thompson Party, during the California Gold Rush. The Thompson family founded the El Monte Township in the late 1860s. The area went through its agricultural period and began its suburban growth early in the 20th century. The city was incorporated in 1958. At the time of the split with El Monte, South El Monte contained most of the area's industrial businesses. Today, light manufacturing remains the City's economic base.

South Pasadena
In early 1874, the area that is now South Pasadena was a part of the San Gabriel-Orange Grove Association. In 1875, the stockholders of the association voted to name their town Pasadena and just three years later, residents living in the southern portion of Pasadena considered themselves South Pasadenans.

Temple City
In 1903 Walter P. Temple purchased 400 acres from Lucky Baldwin's vast Rancho Santa Anita. Mr. Temple then divided the area in to medium income lots. He named many of the streets after his family. Knowing the importance of the railroad at the time, he petitioned the Pacific Electric Railway Company to extend it's Los Angeles to Alhambra line to a depot adjacent to Temple City Park. Residents and merchants attributed the steady growth of Temple City to the extensions of the railway to the community. In 1936, the town officially was designated Temple City, but remained a City in name only until after the post-World War II population explosion and incorporation of the community on May 25, 1960.

Walnut
Iin 1840, Mexican Governor Juan Alvardo awarded a man named Jose De La Cruz Linares a land grant of 4,340 acres, land which included a portion of Walnut. This land was known as Rancho De Nogales, or Ranch of the Walnut Trees. In 1847, seven years after the unfortunate death of Linares, the rancho was acquired Ricardo Vejar. This land included the eastern portion of Walnut and became part of Rancho San Jose. The city of Walnut obtained its name from the Rancho Los Nogales Mexican land grant, nogales being the Spanish word for "walnut".

West Covina
The City of West Covina was incorporated in 1923 to prevent the City of Covina from establishing a sewage farm within the current city boundaries. The 507 residents of the area were mostly citizens who banded together to maintain local control of their land and were more interested in preventing the establishment of a sewage facility than in creating a city.