L.A. Walks: Old Town Pasadena's Lesser-known Side, 2.5 miles

Charles Fleming's hike from the 8/16/2013 L.A. Times: You know how the whole nation views Pasadena's sunny/warm January weather via the Rose Parade every year? Back in the 1800s weather was why and how Pasadena came to be. The frigid midwest winter of 1872-1873 motivated a group of Indiana folks to relocate to a warm climate. A scout, a land deal, and a move west resulted in the Indiana Colony, an 1887 farm community with a general store, hotel, and post office at ground zero: the corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado (today's Cheesecake Factory!) Barbara and I began our hike at Castle Green, the 1898 hotel (now condos) and National Historic Monument at E. Green Street & S. Raymond Ave. Up Raymond past Colorado Ave., we stopped briefly at Jensen's Raymond Theatre, a vaudeville house built in 1921, then crossed into Memorial Park for a look at the 1906 Civil War monument and the arched entrance of the 1887 Pasadena Public Library, the only fragment of the old library structure after a 1933 earthquake. Going east on Holly St. we passed—wait, this isn't historic, it's just funny—The Big Bang Theory Way, an alley dedicated to the TV series because, according to a councilman, "Thanks to the Big Bang Theory, being smart in Pasadena is now fun, too." Next stop, Pasadena's stunning City Hall listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1927, according to Fleming it was "meant to replicate the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice." I've driven past City Hall many times, but viewing it on foot is breathtaking. (Also visible through Sheldon & Leonard's apartment window in TBBT.) A stop at the Robinson Memorial—both baseball legend Jackie and his Olympic-great brother Mack graduated Pasadena John Muir High. A photo doesn't do the memorial justice. You need to see both heads up close and read the imbedded text and bas relief imagery of their accomplishments. Last stop, Ford Place at Oakland Avenue where Pasadena's first "exclusive" subdivision was created in 1902 (now part of the Fuller Theological Seminary campus founded in 1947.) A few square miles in all, but so much fun to wander in the "footprints" of the Midwest settlers who left the cold to found this wonderful city. And, oh, by the way—the post master of "Indiana Colony" eventually made the settlers give their town a real name. They chose the Chippewa word for "crown of the valley": Pasadena.