Mystery History -- Solved

It has been several weeks since I've stumped you, and now I've done it again. Some of you came close but didn't quite get there. You can't win 'em all!

In the photo above, two Red Cross nurses and a child in an Uncle Sam costume prepare to march in the Patriotism Day Parade on March 28, 1917, in support of the United States entering World War I.

Following are excerpts from three articles in the Pasadena Star-News on March 26, 1917:

PATRIOTISM TO BE SHOWN ON WEDNESDAY
Loyal Spirit of Pasadena Will Be in Evidence On That Day

Indications are that Pasadena's "Patriotism Day" observance Wednesday evening will be one of the greatest patriotic celebrations ever held on the Pacific coast...

...Patriotic organizations, civil war veterans, business men's groups and others will participate in the great parade which will precede the patriotic mass meeting in Library park Wednesday night. The parade will mobilize on Madison avenue, on both sides of Colorado street, and will start promptly at 7 o'clock to march to Library Park, where the mass meeting is scheduled to open at 7:30 o'clock.

Among the organizations and groups which is now known will be in the parade are members of the Grand Army of the Republic and G.A.R. fife and drum corps. Pasadena company No. 1 of the American Red Cross Ambulance corps, the Loyal Legion, members of the Monterey training camp, Spanish-American war veterans, Sons of Veterans, Throop college students, Pasadena Military academy students and division of business men, including merchants, bankers, automobile dealers and other business groups...

...One feature of "patriotism day" is displaying of the Stars and Stripes everywhere. It was noted by the committee today that this custom is already prevalent, Old glory being seen on every hand.

Here's a 1922 photo of the Pasadena chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic mentioned in the article above -- veterans of the U.S. Civil War who fought for the North.

Display of Flags Now patriotic Duty Says City Official

That the present crisis in international affairs constitutes a "special occasion" warranting the display of the United States flag in Pasadena to the fullest extent possible, was the statement today of Chairman A.L. Hamilton of the City Commission.

Recently the city distributed 150 large American flags, a gift from Mrs. E.W. Brooks. The number had been increased from 100, the amount originally provided, because of the great demand. Everyone receiving one of these flags agreed to display it on all holidays and special occasions.

Chairman Hamilton remarked today upon the fact that few of the flags seemed to be in evidence, and he said the present situation was one calling for the showing of the flag as a mark of patriotic spirit.

"The American flag," said Chairman Hamilton, "stands for right and freedom and justice. Those are the principles that should be called to mind when one sees the American flag flying.

Here's a photo of Chairman Hamilton from the Hall of Mayors.

NEW INTEREST IN RESERVE CORPS
Prospective Officers Are Signing Up Rapidly at Throop College

As a result of the announcement that applications for commissions as first and second lieutenants in the officers' reserve corps may be made locally to Captain Louis R. Ball, military commandant of Throop college, increased interest has resulted and many calls for information received...

...City officials continue to take the lead in steps to prepare themselves or offer themselves for United States service. City Attorney James Howard is among those signed up for the officers' reserve corps and City Prosecutor L.L. Riccardi has followed in his footsteps. Both are studying for the examinations and will be members of the instruction class when it is started.

Today J.E. Carpenter, superintendent of the municipal water plant, consulted with City Engineer R.V. Orbison relative to finding a place in the service in the event of war where his experience would be of value. Even if the city had not declared it would keep open the position of any employe that enlisted, Mr. Carpenter asserted he felt it his duty to offer his services.

Congress approved President Woodrow Wilson's request for a war resolution on April 6, 1917.

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce had a float in the 1918 Rose Parade -- a flower-laden tank with doughboys on it.


Pasadena's World War I Memorial is at the northeast corner of Colorado and Orange Grove boulevards.


Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library, Tournament of Roses Association, George Eastman House Photography Collection and Michael Beck.

Mystery History -- Solved

Nobody got it right on the money but Ben came closest with his answer "first bridge over the Arroyo Seco." He wins a fabulous prize! (Ben, I don't have an email address for you, so please email me at aerdman@cityofpasadena.net and I'll let you know what you've won.)

From the late 1880s to 1913 the Scoville Bridge served as the first and only reliable link between the west and east sides of the Arroyo Seco. It stood within a few yards from where the Colorado Street Bridge is today.

The bridge connected Arroyo Drive (now Arroyo Boulevard) on the east side to a country road that ran along what is now Colorado Boulevard on the west side.

The opening of the bridge represented a whole new world to people who wanted to get from Pasadena to Glendale and vice versa.

The privately owned trestle bridge was part of the Scoville Dam, Bridge and Water Works (you can see the bridge at center left below, peeking out from the trees).


James W. Scoville was a real estate developer, businessman and philanthropist in Oak Park, Ill. (near Chicago), who came to Pasadena along with many other captains of industry in the late 1800s. In suburban Chicago he had been vice president of the Elgin Watch Company and president of the Prairie State Bank. After moving to Pasadena, he was an early trustee of Throop University, which would later become Caltech.


Before the existence of the Scoville Bridge, the only way to get from one side of the arroyo to the other was by riding a horse or walking along trails down the steep embankments, crossing the stream and climbing up the other side. The area was prone to landslides and floods, so it was often a precarious proposition.

The Arroyo Seco was not public land at the time. A land boom in Pasadena in 1886 -- the year the city was incorporated -- was followed by a depression during which James W. Scoville and his son, Charles Burton Scoville, hired workers to construct the dam, bridge and pump house. This project kept otherwise unemployed workers busy for some time.

The pump house sent water from the pond behind the dam up the banks of the Arroyo Seco to irrigate the Scoville family's orange and avocado groves.

The bridge was washed away by storm waters in 1914. The good news was that the mighty Colorado Street Bridge had opened for traffic in 1913.

For the sake of perspective, here's the mighty Colorado Street Bridge under construction near the Scoville Bridge.


The Scoville bridge, dam and pump house are included in an application submitted two years ago by Pasadena Heritage in hopes of having the Pasadena Arroyo Parks and Recreation District included on the National Register of Historic Places. It became official in November 2008.

Remnants of the Scoville project can be seen to this day under the Colorado Street Bridge.

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library and Pasadena Museum of History for use of the photos.

Mystery History -- Solved

"JM in Pasadena" wins with his 7:48 a.m. Tuesday guess "It appears to be the Arroyo and the Rose Bowl is under construction." JM, you didn't include contact info, so please e-mail me at www.aerdman@cityofpasadena.net or call me at 744-4755 and I'll tell you about the fabulous prize!

In the photo above, workers (human and equine) are doing grading in 1920 in the Arroyo Seco in preparation for construction of the Rose Bowl Stadium.

The City of Pasadena had purchased the 10-acre piece of land in 1897.

Meanwhile, the first post-parade football game was played in 1902 in Tournament Park, pitting Stanford against Michigan. Michigan won 49-0.

With such a bitter loss for the west coast, football in Pasadena was replaced by chariot races for several years as the main post-parade sporting event.

(That's Throop University on the right, which would later become Caltech.)

Football returned as the main post-parade attraction in 1916. Every New Year's Day there was a football game in Tournament Park, but the crowds soon outgrew the park's capacity.

Meanwhile, the Tournament of Roses Association got busy raising the $272,000 needed to build the stadium, including the sale of 10-year subscription tickets for $100 each.

The name "Rose Bowl" was conceived for the stadium by Harlan W. Hall, a local reporter who was also the press agent for the Tournament of Roses Association.

Here's construction in progress in April 1922.


The first Rose Bowl Game -- UCLA vs. USC -- was played on Oct. 28, 1922.

Here's Jim Crowley, one of the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, carrying the ball against Stanford in 1925. Notre Dame won 27-10.


The stadium originally was a horseshoe shape. This aerial shot was taken in 1926.


The stadium was designed by Myron Hunt, who also designed Pasadena Central Library, Huntington Library and Occidental College.

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library and the Rose Bowl Stadium for the photographs.

Please note that Mystery History will be on hiatus for the next two Tuesdays because I'll be out of town (but I'll keep blogging to let you know my whereabouts!).