Monrovia in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Monrovia Savings Bank Building

Photographed by Craig Baker, March 15, 2021

1. Monrovia Savings Bank Building Marker

Inscription. The First Presbyterian Church of Monrovia was organized in May of 1888, just as the land boom of the 1880s in Southern California was about to collapse. The congregation struggled financially for ten years before they were able to build their first church building at this location. The land was a gift from J.M. and Mary J. Studebaker of South Bend, Indiana, who had built a winter home in Monrovia. The new church was dedicated in 1898 and served the congregation for twenty-five years. After the present church on Foothill Boulevard was completed in 1923, the original structure was demolished. In its place was constructed a substantial brick building designed to house the Monrovia Savings Bank, a financial institution founded in 1903 and located two blocks south on Myrtle Avenue. Both the Monrovia Savings Bank and the First National Bank of Monrovia were merged into the Security Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles in 1924. As the second Monrovia branch, the bank continued to operate here for another ten years before being consolidated with the First Monrovia Branch. The former bank building was then divided into

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

two storefronts. For many years, the corner location was a coffee shop, while the second location housed a number of succeeding businesses. The interior of the building was completely renovated in 2000, but all the historic elements on the exterior were retained. The building appears today much as it did in 1923.

Erected by City of Monrovia.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1888.

Location. 34° 8.883′ N, 118° 0.052′ W. Marker is in Monrovia, California, in Los Angeles County. It is at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Lime Avenue, on the right when traveling north on Myrtle Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 402 S Myrtle Ave, Monrovia CA 91016, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Los Angeles

and in the Transverse Ranges.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and

Photographed by Craig Baker, March 15, 2021

2. Monrovia Savings Bank Building Marker

in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Neville Building (within shouting distance of this marker); The Banning Block (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Pacific Electric Railway (approx. ¼ mile away); The Oaks (approx. 0.6 miles away); Hitching Post (approx. 0.7 miles away); The Significance of Coast Live Oaks (approx. one mile away); Upton Sinclair House (approx. one mile away); Transportation Evolution (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Monrovia.

Monrovia Savings Bank Building image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, March 15, 2021

3. Monrovia Savings Bank Building

Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 17, 2021, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 478 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 17, 2021, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.