The Old Mill

The Old Mill. . , Look down El Molino ('the mill') Avenue in front of you. Five miles south is the first mill built for the San Gabriel Mission. The "Old Mill" (circa 1810) is among the San Gabriel Valley's earliest infrastructure , and now houses an art gallery. Local canyon water turned its wheel and flowed into Mission Lake. Altadena's Lake Avenue was named after this lake, which is today the site of Lacy Park in San Marino. , The San Gabriel Mission (built by Spain in 1771) was fueled by Indian labor and became the most powerful of all California's 21 missions. It covered a half a million acres from the Pacific coast up to the San Gabriel mountains and included the future Altadena, where horses and livestock were pastured. Its easternmost holding was a rancho of several thousand acres in the San Gorgonio Pass. , Before the Mission Era, canyons near the mountains were key acorn gathering sites for native people. Altadena's Millard Canyon led to their main trade route through the mountains and beyond. By land and by sea, native people traded food, baskets, jewelry, and tar , this last item has been found as far east as the Mississippi River. , Spanish, Mexican, and American rule changed Gabrielino life forever. Native trade routes and economy were degraded and destroyed, and native people lost much of their culture, along with their lives, through subjugation and exposure to foreign germs. , Lake Avenue was named for Mission Lake, pictured above. The Old Mill was on the hillside above it, and canyon waters flowed through it and into the lake. This mill was used for only a few years, and replaced by Chapman's Mill which had a superior design. Mission Lake was the San Gabriel Mission's main source of power and water.