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MONROVIAWEEKLY
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Volume 22, NO. 20
THE FOUNDING OF MONROVIA
Monrovia was the fourth incorporated town in Los Angeles County.
Susan MOTANDER motander@yahoo.com
I
n 1883 five men purchased land from Lucky Baldwin’s Rancho Santa Anita. William Newton Monroe, one of those five, purchased 240 acres for $30,000. Monroe was the son of a successful Midwestern farmer but made his own money in railroad engineering (the sort that plans, not those that drive the engines). Ultimately, he settled in Los Angeles even serving a term on the city council from 1880-1881.
Monrovia Days Festival Begins Friday Staff WRITER editorial@beaconmedianews.com
Monrovia Days is the annual community birthday party where all Monrovians gather together to celebrate talented youth, and the Scholars and Champions from the Monrovia Unified
School District. This year, Monrovia Days will be a three-day event starting Friday, May 18, 2018 and ending Sunday, May 20, 2018. The City of Monrovia, Monrovia Unified School SEE MONROVIA DAYS PAGE 10
It was doubtless through this position that he came into contact with Edward F. Spence, who was the mayor of Los Angeles at that time, John D. Bicknell, a lawyer and ultimately a judge, and James F. Crank, a businessman and financier. These men, along with J. F. Falvey, would become the founders of Monrovia. Falvey worked for Baldwin at that time, and as it was well known that Lucky Baldwin often paid his employees with land rather than cash, many assume that the land he contributed to the consortium came from that source. In 1886, the five formed the Monrovia Land and Water Company and began selling lots on May 17, 1886. The town
MONROVIA FIREFIGHTERS’ ASSOCIATION ANNUAL PANCAKE BREAKFAST DRAWS HUNDREDS Story & Photos Terry MILLER tmiller@beaconmedianews.com
The annual shindig that is Monrovia Firefighters’ Association Pancake Breakfast drew hundreds of friends of firefighter as well as community
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
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at Craft Sierra Madre
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members on Saturday. Kids and adults alike feasted on possibly the best flapjacks cooked up by those famous culinary kings, The Knights of Columbus, Monrovia – not to mention you could eat as much as SEE BREAKFAST PAGE 11
– Courtesy photo / Monrovia Historical Museum
was centered at the corner of Myrtle Avenue (named for one of Monroe’s daughters) and what was then Orange Avenue (now Colorado Boulevard). The first lot sold went to a widow from Duarte and was located at the corner of Lemon and Myrtle Avenues. The first tract consisted of 600 lots (500 feet by 160 feet). All these were located in the area now bounded by Lime on the north, what is now Canyon on the east, half a block below Walnut on the south and Magnolia on the west. In laying out the town, the founders named the east/west SEE FOUNDING OF MONROVIA PAGE 10
Foothill Unity Center Invites Community to New Monrovia Home Staff WRITER editorial@beaconmedianews.com
Founded in 1980, Foothill Unity Center is the primary provider of food, case management/crisis help, and access to health care resources across eleven San Gabriel Valley cities in Los Angeles County.
As the federally designated Community Action Agency for the Foothill Area they operate two locations, in Monrovia and Pasadena, serving clients in Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Arcadia, Monrovia, Bradbury, SEE MONROVIA HOME PAGE 11
SPORTS
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Streaking Mustangs End Sizable Playoff Drought
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