Historical photos of Sunland-Tujunga

[Brian]

I told some of you on the corner about the website hosted by Cal State Northridge with 284 photos of my hometown throughout the decades. Courtesy of our Little Landers Historical Society, this is it:

digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/SFVH&CISOBOX1=Little+Landers+Historical+Society

I only learned to copy and paste this year. Perhaps others can post their favorite pictures. By the way, my mother is in there somewhere.

[Brian]

The Millionaires Club of Contentment and Happiness consisted of a local group of men who...banded together to help the local community and individuals who were in need. Members of the club included Morgan, Lang, Hartranft, Hatch, Livingston, Buck and John Steven Mc Groarty.

I keep coming back to this series of photos on the CSUN website. All of the oldtimers I knew who might have remembered the Millionaires Club died during the Carter Administration. Next time I see Lloyd Hitt, the driving force of the Little Landers Historical Society along with his wife Marlene, I'll ask him about their good deeds.

McGroarty's name and reputation as a Renaissance man lives because of the art center, park and street that bear his name. This photo was taken in his garden:

digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/SFVH&CISOPTR=2059&CISOBOX=1&REC=11

In our 20's, my brother and I hung out at the Bob's Big Boy. Early Tujungans only had the post office:

digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/SFVH&CISOPTR=2644&CISOBOX=1&REC=12

This poem is constrained by starting each line with one of the letters of the group's name but charms nonetheless:

digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/SFVH&CISOPTR=2205&CISOBOX=1&REC=13

Click on the bottom of the little document on the top right to get an enlargement of the bottom of their manifesto.

[Sharon W]

I believe Lloyd and many of the other volunteers at Bolton Hall are 'Millionaires' still. You can ask at the next meeting.


From this month's Little Landers newsletter:

The next meeting of the Little Landers Historical Society is Feb 14th at 1 pm at Bolton Hall. Gary Knowlton, well known local arborist, will discuss the care of native oaks and how trees are such a vital part of our environment and how the health of our environment is linked to the health of the trees. Their programs are free, open to the public and include refreshments after the meeting.

The current exhibit is "Horsin' Around" all about our four-footed friends: the horses, mules, burros, and their two footed friends on the Rancho Tujunga. On display thru March.

[Brian]

Jan 29, 2009 9:45:10 GMT -8 Sharon W said:

I believe Lloyd and many of the other volunteers at Bolton Hall are 'Millionaires' still. You can ask at the next meeting.

I will have to ask Lloyd the next time I see him, which unfortunately won't be on Valentine's Day. I made plans a day before Sharon kindly posted the details of the next meeting of the Little Landers Historical Society. Someday I'll make good on my promise to Lloyd to attend. Meanwhile, I'm almost certain to see him again on election day in four weeks -- Bolton Hall is our polling place.

As long as I'm in this thread, here's another gem from the CSUN Little Landers archives. I grew up hearing about the locals who prevented the expansion of a gravel pit in 1955:

digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/SFVH&CISOPTR=1033&CISOBOX=1&REC=14

Protesters with signs, gotta love 'em.

[Brian]

I had been looking for an excuse to bump up this thread -- one of the first on the Montrose Peace Vigil message board -- when I opened my Sunday Los Angeles Times to page 2. Lloyd Hitt contributes some local color and a quote to Hector Tobar's column about the city's efforts to identify and preserve historic buildings, many of which are right here in Sunland-Tujunga:

www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0424-tobar-20110424,0,6369556,full.column

And here's the link to the Little Landers Historical Society's photo collection at Cal State Northridge:

digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/SFVH&CISOBOX1=Little+Landers+Historical+Society

[Brian]

Looks like a fairly recent photo of Commerce Avenue in Tujunga.

I ran across this blog post on the Amoeblog section of Amoeba Records' website. How cool:

www.amoeba.com/blog/2011/04/eric-s-blog/the-green-glen-of-glenties-a-verdugos-primer.html

Author Eric Brightwell gives fine thumbnails of each community's history and ethnicity as part of his series on the regions of Los Angeles County. I disagree with his inclusion of La Canada Flintridge, Altadena and Pasadena in the Verdugos when they're all in the foothills of the San Rafael Hills. However, his hand-drawn map resembles the new Congressional boundaries just approved by the redistricting commission after many local citizens objected to being lumped with Sylmar and Sun Valley in the first draft.