Pacific Electric Railway

Pacific Electric Railway. City of Monrovia. , Established by railroad and real estate tycoon Henry Huntington, the Pacific Electric Railway was the largest interurban electric railway service in the world. At its peak, the system connected Los Angeles with Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties with over 1,000 miles of track. , On March 1, 1903, Pacific Electric began providing passenger service to Monrovia. The 17.5 mile trip from Los Angeles took 53 minutes and cost 50 cents for a round trip. Soon after service began, a depot was built on this spot as one of three station buildings on this line, along with Azusa and Glendora. All three were the standard P.E. buildings containing a passenger ticket office, waiting room, agent’s office and a freight room. There was also a small freight yard that occupied the rest of this site. , The Monrovia Line (later called the Monrovia-Glendora Line) began its route in Los Angeles and traveled through South Pasadena, San Marino, and Arcadia via Huntington Drive. In Monrovia, it ran primarily down Olive Avenue. Olive Avenue Park was once part of Pacific Electric’s right-of-way. , The trains ran for almost half a century and contributed to Monrovia’s growth during the first part of the 20th Century. The last day of passenger service for this line was September 30, 1951. The tracks continued to be used for freight service for several more years. Monrovia’s depot was demolished in May 1967.