Early Monrovia Structures Research

Monrovia is a foothill city in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. Because of its position on the lower slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, on a clear day, Monrovians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries could see across the valley to Catalina. Present day Monrovians who live higher up on the slopes still have that same lovely view. 

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In the 1700's, the land which would become Monrovia was covered by short, clump brush with the occasional cluster of oak trees. According to early settler Hugo Reid who owned Santa Anita Rancho, there were no permanent Native American villages, but with the available water and small game, Indians did move through the region. Occasionally bear and deer would come down from the higher slopes of the mountains to forage, and this, too, would make the area attractive to Native Americans. Bear and deer still do visit the lower slopes, the deer to munch on homeowners roses and tomatoes and the bears to rummage through trash cans or soak in a hot tub. 

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The area remained fairly undisturbed through the late 18th and early 19th centuries when the land came into the hands of the King of Spain, and then was made the property of the Franciscan fathers of the San Gabriel Mission, which still stands today in the City of San Gabriel. In 1822, Baja and Alta California became the property of Mexico, and portions of the San Gabriel Valley passed through several owners until 1875, when Elias J. (Lucky) Baldwin bought eight thousand acres in the valley. By then, California had become the property of the United States, and Americans were beginning to see the possible advantages of moving to California. Baldwin subdivided the eastern part of his property in 1883 and Rancho Santa Anita, a major portion of which would become Monrovia, went up for sale. 

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Because of his knowledge of the planned railway that was to run through the San

Gabriel Valley westwards, William N. Monroe (his biography is located elsewhere at this site) was one of the earliest buyers of property in Rancho Santa Anita.  He was quickly followed by Los Angeles business acquaintences of his:  Judge J.D. Bicknell, former Los Angeles mayor E.F. Spence, and the man who had financed the Los Angeles & San Gabriel Valley Railroad Co., J.F. Crank.  These men and J.F. Falvey, who had been a foreman of Baldwin's ranch, decided in 1886 to combine their holdings and established a sixty-acre town which would only be 18 miles from Los Angeles. Monrovia's official birthday is still celebrated on the day of the first lots sold, May 17, 1886.