Frank's Vacuum & Sewing

Outdoor dining is back in Montrose! Cool crisp air and heat lamps make for quite an adventure! Shop & Dine MONTROSE! Your Valentine place! Town Kitchen & Grill #patiodining #shopmontrose

We've done it! Open for outdoor dining once again! 8 AM-8 PM! #DineOutsideAtCindys #AlFrescoDining #Breakfast #Brunch #Lunch #Dinner #EagleRock #SaveRestaurants

Between the storms, we wake up to scenes like this.

This aerial view from 1946 shows an unused tract of land just east of Verdugo Road, where it intersected with Sunview Drive. Just behind the buildings winds the... streambed fed by the spring flowing from Indian Springs Resort. Beyond that are the remains of a vineyard. The buildings seen in the foreground, save for the little gas station, are all still there today. After several years of use as a landfill area, and an abortive effort to build a new junior high there, Montrose Park was built over the top of the former streambed/vineyard. Today the park thrives as a spot for Little League ball games, tennis and basketball, and a large playground. The stream from Indian Springs was channeled into storm drains when Indian Springs Shopping Plaza was built over the resort site. See more

Montrose Elementary School was first built in 1923 during Montrose’s boom years. It was located between Mira Vista and Florencita, west of Ocean View. The orig...inal school structure was replaced with a new facility in the ‘50s. In 1995 the school was sold to the Armenian Sisters Academy, and now operates as a private Catholic school, offering pre-school through 8th grade. See more

Same view again, but maybe 1914 or 1915. A lot to talk about in this view. Starting at the left side and moving right: Where Anawalt Lumber is today, there is a... lumber company. It's not Anawalt yet, and I can't quite read the sign. Behind the lumber building we see 4 freight cars of the Glendale and Montrose Railway sitting on a siding. The maintenance barn for the trolley has not been built yet. That maintenance barn was bought by Anawalt when the trolley folded in 1930, and is still in use as a lumber storage barn. Continuing right, we see the first store on Honolulu, Pott's General Store. That's El Charro and the recently closed Benitoite restaurant today. Kitty-corner across the street is Anderson's Real Estate office. The poles that hold the electric lines for the new Glendale and Montrose Railway trolley can be seen running up the curve of Montrose Avenue. Next to the right is the trolley generator house. It's built to look like a house, but it's actually just a shell enclosing the giant generators. That generator house is still there, converted into an office. Next over is one of the first houses built. It was torn down a couple decades ago. The streets are beginning to take shape, although they are all still dirt. Looking off in the distance at the base of the Verdugos, we can now clearly see Onondarka Ranch. Its orchards are planted, and Col. Baldridge has built his big house overlooking his ranch. That house is still there, at the very back of the Oakmont Woods development. See more

Here's the same view a few months later, again taken from approximately where the Hospital is, with Verdugo Boulevard in the foreground. It's February 22nd 1913.... Land sales for the new town of Montrose have begun with a free BBQ. Prospective buyers have gathered on the left of the photo where the BBQ is taking place. That would have been about where Clifton Place is today. The first block of Honolulu has been laid out, with sidewalks but no street paving. The Glendale and Montrose Railroad has not yet been tracked. The only building is the Anderson Real Estate office, and some outbuildings in Mr. Sparr's orchards. The sagebrush has been completely stripped away leaving bare dirt, and in some spots mud, as seen by the tire tracks in the field across from the BBQ. Look closely and you will see piles of rocks that have been gathered and stacked in various places on the empty land. See more

A new front entry flagstone walkway going in. These will be planted not only around the sides but also in-between each step which will further lock them in and add some color and texture. Spring will look great!

Snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains by Moonlight tonight. It's a delightful and cold view from the observatory.

In the next three posts, we'll have three views of very early Montrose, 1912, 1913, and 1914. First up is the view of Montrose in 1911 or 12, before the town wa...s laid out. The photographer is standing on the San Rafaels, about where the hospital is, looking west. The curving street in the foreground is Verdugo Blvd. Past the oak trees the road hits sagebrush and turns left. That's where Honolulu will be, but hasn't been graded yet. The small road beyond, that is lined with trees is Broadview. Below that is the vast Sparr citrus orchard, and beyond, the Verdugo Mountains. The cluster of oak trees in the bottom right of the photo is where Indian Springs Resort would later be built. Today that is the location of Vons/CVS. See more