A Brief History
The barn and two-room bunkhouse/store that were still being utilized at Adams’ Pack Station in 2011 were built 75 years earlier by the original owner of what has become the last remaining pack station in southern California. . . . — — Map (db m122240) HM
Discovered in the foothills of
Southern California
in 1905 by William Warren Orcutt,
petroleum geologist.
Artifact reputed to have
served as a baptismal font at
the nearby La Purisima Mission
destroyed by earthquake in 1821. — — Map (db m193775) HM
Anita May Baldwin
was the only daughter born to Arcadia's founder and owner of
Rancho Santa Anita, Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin and his third wife,
Jane Virginia (Jennie) Dexter. Known for her generosity and
compassion, Anita Baldwin was a . . . — — Map (db m198153) HM
The City of Arcadia was founded by Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin from part of his large landholdings (Santa Anita Rancho) in the San Gabriel Valley. Baldwin was responsible for incorporating Arcadia as a City and became Arcadia’s first . . . — — Map (db m140512) HM
A Short History
In 1912 the first promotional organization to appear in Arcadia was a woman’s club called the Cooperative Arcadians. This group of 15 women began by sponsoring programs that increased interest in matters of social . . . — — Map (db m200010) HM
Baldwin Lake casts a long shadow of history at the core of the Arboretum, its four acres bearing witness to a who's who of settlers and owners of note over the years. Before recorded history, Gabrielino villagers called this home place . . . — — Map (db m177669) HM
With the demise of the famous Red Line electric railway, land in the median of Huntington Drive directly across from the famous Santa Anita Park horse track became available on which to build a headquarters for the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce in . . . — — Map (db m145281) HM
Once common across the globe, cycads are now
threatened or endangered in the wild. Explore our
diverse collection and learn about these impressive plants.
Age of Cycads
The Jurassic Period is famous for its fantastically large . . . — — Map (db m198164) HM
Trains were a prominent part of Arcadia for several generations from the late 19th century to the mid-1900s. With the tracks and depots of three of the most prominent and popular lines converging here, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, . . . — — Map (db m207736) HM
Downtown Arcadia was born in 1887 with founder Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin's Oakwood Hotel complimenting a new Santa Fe train station at First Avenue and Santa Clara Street. Expansion came with City incorporation in 1903 and again with the opening . . . — — Map (db m200045) HM
Elias Jackson Baldwin, founder and first Mayor of the City of Arcadia, was born into an Ohio farming family on April 3, 1828, but spent his formative years growing up in nearby Indiana where a year at Wabash College in Crawfordsville completed . . . — — Map (db m135467) HM
In 1907, this yellow clapboard schoolhouse was built on the southwest corner of First Avenue and California Street, and it was named the Arcadia Grammar School. It replaced the temporary buildings, a packing shed, and a vacant remodeled saloon, . . . — — Map (db m200007) HM
Lights, Camera, Action!
Hollywood has long used the Forest and Baldwin Lake as a stand-in for exotic locations from around the world.
Filming began in the early 1930s before the Arboretum was founded, when shooting across the . . . — — Map (db m186380) HM
Today’s Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden blends history and horticulture in a landscape ripe with cultural nuance, allowing history to be sampled in its native setting and savored as an integral link between humans and the land they . . . — — Map (db m143271) HM
Constructed by Elias Jackson ('Lucky') Baldwin in 1881. Designed by A.A. Bennett, and intended for entertaining. There being no kitchen, meals were served from the nearby adobe (built by Hugo Reid in 1839) where Baldwin actually lived. Restored and . . . — — Map (db m153410) HM
The home place of Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin, founder and first Mayor of the City of Arcadia, was this relatively simple adobe house, though during Baldwin's occupation (1875-1909) it was the larger and more inviting structure seen . . . — — Map (db m153423) HM
Constructed about 1890 in Rancho Santa Anita by Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad on its transcontinental main line. Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin donated right-of-way and bricks in exchange for agreement to stop trains, maintain a depot . . . — — Map (db m120309) HM
Early in 1942 the US government designated Santa Anita Park for special usage during the war years.
Pursuant to Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, from March 30, 1942 until October 27, 1942 the facility was used as . . . — — Map (db m165491) HM
Oldest operating racetrack in California - opened Christmas Day 1934.
Founded by Dr. Charles H. Strub & Associates.
Designed in Art Deco style by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann.
Introduced Santa Anita Handicap in 1935 - oldest . . . — — Map (db m201111) HM
Set against the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains in an area of near year-round ideal weather, Santa Anita Park has been considered one of the most beautiful and finest horse race tracks in the world since its opening on Christmas Day 1934. . . . — — Map (db m198317) HM
Record — 89 starts: 33-15-13.
Won inaugural Hollywood Gold Cup 1938.
Defeated War Admiral in 1938 match race.
Lost Santa Anita Handicap by a nose 1937, 1938.
Won handily in third attempt 1940.
Champion older male 1937, 1938. . . . — — Map (db m201113) HM
The W. Parker Lyon Pony Express Museum was founded in
San Marino by William Parker Lyon, former Mayor of Fresno.
Lyon purchased 6 acres from Anita M. Baldwin in 1934 and
moved his museum to Arcadia. In 1935, it was opened on this site -
of . . . — — Map (db m210902) HM
The Derby has a storied past in the City of Arcadia and, for many years, thoroughbred horse racing has shared a large part of that story. Arcadia’s founder and first Mayor, Elias J. ‘Lucky’ Baldwin presided over the first Santa Anita Racetrack in . . . — — Map (db m207738) HM
Located along Arcadia’s Huntington Drive, just east of Santa Anita Avenue, the Thoroughbred Racing Walk of Champions is a tribute to the horse racing community that has been an integral part of Arcadia history for more than 100 years.
The . . . — — Map (db m145251) HM
Record — 20 starts: 19-1-0.
Owned by Jerry & Ann Moss, trained by John Shirreffs.
Purchased as a yearling for $60,000; Earned $7.3 million in 4-year racing career.
Won 17 graded stakes races, including 13 Grade 1 events.
Won Lady's . . . — — Map (db m201116) HM
