Claremont Heritage

Thank you to Claremont Toyota for supporting Our Town: The Gift of Traditions - A Claremont Heritage Carol as a Bronze Sponsor! Visit www.claremontheritage.org for event information.

Thank you to Mondie Pic'l with Fairway Independent Mortgage for supporting Our Town: The Gift of Traditions - A Claremont Heritage Carol as a Silver Sponsor! Visit www.claremontheritage.org for event information.

Thank you to Karen & Michael Rosenthal for supporting Our Town: The Gift of Traditions - A Claremont Heritage Carol as a Silver Sponsor! Visit www.claremontheritage.org for event information.

Our Winter Art Auction is Happening Online Now! Join us in celebrating our local art history and own a piece by a Claremont Artist - Artists include Millard Sheets, Howard Pierce, Milford Zornes, Eric Darrow, Rupert Deese, Harrison McIntosh, Phil Dike, Phil Paradise, Betty Davenport Ford etc. - new items will be added daily! The Auction will end Sunday, December 20th at 7:00 pm. https://www.charityauctionstoday.com//winter-2020-auction- MORE AUCTION ITEMS COMING SOON! *Regi...ster for auction updates Thanks for supporting #ClaremontHeritage and helping to "Keep Claremont's History Alive."

Thank you to Bernadette Kendall with Wheeler Steffen Sotheby's International Realty for supporting Our Town: The Gift of Traditions - A Claremont Heritage Carol as a Gold Sponsor! Visit www.claremontheritage.org for event information.

Welcome to Throwback Thursday. Today we will look back at how the Rotary Club of Claremont has reimaged their traditions and events this year. The Rotary Club of Claremont was established in 1929 and for 91 years Claremont Rotarians have had the tradition of weekly meetings. During the pandemic, Claremont Rotarians continued to meet on ZOOM every Friday. The meetings have had over 50 members and featured guests in attendance for fellowship and a weekly schedule program. Pre...sident Buff Wright even invited guest from Ireland and South Africa as guests. The Rotary Club and the Interact Club at Claremont High School have reimaged many of their events this year. Rotarians continued their tradition of supporting local restaurants, wineries, breweries and local businesses by reimaging their Taste of Claremont into Out On The Town, by encouraging carry out as well as dining al fresco. In addition, the Interact Club reimaged their Scare Away Hunger event into Drive Away Hunger, where people could donation food and groceries from the safety of their cars. Claremont Heritage wants to know how your organization reimaged community events and traditions this year? Your stories maybe featured in our virtual event this December entitled The Gift of Traditions: A Claremont Heritage Carol. Image Source: Bernadette Kendall. Drive Away Hunger. #claremonttraditions #claremontheritage #throwbackthursday #rotaryclubofclaremont #interactclub

This #GivingTuesday Facebook is matching donations! Please consider making a donation to help Keep Claremont's History Alive!

It’s Treasury of Claremont Music Monday! Today we honor musician and Claremont Heritage supporter, Chris Darrow (1944 2020). Proficient on guitar, bass, fiddle, violin, banjo, Dobro, lap steel, and mandolin, Chris Darrow never actively sought employment as a musician, but the work always managed to find him. Darrow spent his early career playing in bluegrass combo, The Dry City Scat Band, with David Lindley and fronting rock 'n' roll group, The Floggs. Together with David L...indley, Darrow would go on to found revered psychedelic outfit Kaleidoscope, hailed by Jimmy Page as his "favorite band of all time." The group pioneered a blend of Middle Eastern, country, folk, blues, and psychedelic musical styles that introduced Western ears to intriguing instrumentation like the Turkish oud and balama (saz). The genre-defying sound of Kaleidoscope's 1967 debut, Side Trips, with its musical content anticipating the Worldbeat movement by decades. The diverse nature of Kaleidoscope's music allowed them the opportunity to perform with a broad spectrum of artists, including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Taj Mahal, The Byrds, Ike and Tina Turner, Bo Diddley, Steppenwolf, The Grateful Dead, Mississippi John Hurt, Lightnin' Hopkins, The Impressions, and Procul Harum. After seeing them perform in New York City, Chris Darrow next joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and returned to Los Angeles as an official member. Chris recorded two albums with the Dirt Band, including 1968's Rare Junk. The stint with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band led to The Corvettes' formation, which later resulted in long-term touring relationships with Linda Ronstadt and John Stewart. Photography by Althea Sachs To click here https://soundcloud.com//chris-darrow-time-will-tell-from-f to listen to Chris Darrow’s Time Will Tell from the Album Fretless. Visit the Treasury of Claremont Music at https://treasuryofclaremontmusic.com/ to learn more about Chris Darrow’s musical career. #TreasuryClaremontMusic #ClaremontCA #ClaremontHeritage #Music

It’s Architecture Friday! Today we continue our look at some of Claremont Village’s most famous buildings. Among those which we receive the most inquiries about is the stately Verbal Building at Second and Yale. Built in 1912, the Verbal Building is among the finest commercial buildings in the Village. The building, completed in the Classical Revival style, housed the Claremont National Bank and then served as a Bank of America. Later, the first floor became the Claremont Pha...rmacy and the second floor served as the Masonic Lodge. Today the first floor of the Verbal Building is partly occupied by the popular restaurant Pizza N Such. #architecture #ClaremontCA #ClaremontVillage #ClaremontHeritage

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Claremont Heritage.

During the month of October, Claremont Heritage is looking into many prominent residents of the Claremont community who have chosen Oak Park Cemetery as their final resting place. Today we will look at Frances Eleanor Mother Smith, the founder of Casa Colina. Frances was born in 1882 in Warrenton, Virginia and moved with her family to Santa Cruz, California. At the age of 10, Frances was stricken with polio and was told she would never walk again. Her aunt worked with Fran...ces for six years and helped Frances walk again. In 1901, Frances came to Claremont with her husband, James Richard Smith. Frances focused on raising her six children and helping people in need. During the Great Depression, refugees from the Dust Bowl came through the Cajon pass and arrived in Claremont, where they camped along the railroad tracks. Frances would collect leftover food from the colleges and restaurants and take it to the refugees. Because of her work helping people in need, Rev. A.D. Stauffacher of the Claremont Community Church entered Frances into a national contest to determine the 1936 American Mother of the Year; she was one of ten selected. Frances went on a two-month speaking tour that included visits to children’s hospitals. Upon her return, Frances met with important locals and developed plans to build a hospital for children with polio and other diseases. Frances, along with friends, and important locals collected nearly $30,000 and acquired an empty mansion, called Casa Colina. On Oct. 1, 1938, Stanley Root, Jr. became the first patient to arrive at Casa Colina. Frances worked tirelessly raising funds as the director of Casa Colina. In 1952, Frances passed away and was laid to rest in Oak Park Cemetery with Mother Smith written on her gravestone. Image Source: Champion Newspapers and Claremont Heritage #claremontheritage #oakparkcemetery #claremontca #cityofclaremont #casacolina -NR

During the month of October, Claremont Heritage will be looking into many prominent residents of the Claremont community who have chosen Oak Park Cemetery as their final resting place. Today we will look at the life and work of George Griswold. George Carter Griswold was born in 1869. Griswold received his PhD in European history from the University of Halle and taught English and Latin at the University of Washington. In 1909, Griswold started spending winters in Claremont ...for health reasons. He chose Claremont because of the educational facilities at the colleges. During his time in Claremont, he served as the first president of the Claremont Chamber of Commerce and was active in the Rotary Club. In addition to his academic career, Griswold had the idea of selling his family’s marmalade and started the Griswold’s business from his own kitchen. Sales came from the Griswold’s roadside stand on Route 66 in Claremont and from mail orders during the holidays. The roadside stand slowly grew until it became Griswold’s Stone Cellars. In 1926, a second Griswold’s store opened in Pasadena. By this time, the Claremont factory consisted of 14 rooms and had the production capacity of 100 jars of jam a day. Since Griswold did not use preserved fruits or juices in his business, the availability of seasonal fruit was important to him. His production schedule was based on the citrus growing seasons and had him using oranges in March, grapefruit in April, apricots in July, and pineapples in June. In 1950, Griswold’s business was sold to Betty and Alton Sanford. George Carter Griswold passed away in 1961 and was laid to rest in Oak Park Cemetery. Image Source: Claremont Heritage #claremontheritage #oakparkcemetery #claremontca #cityofclaremont -NR

Village Venture, Pilgrim Place Festival, Village Holiday Promenade. What are some of your favorite Claremont Fall & Winter traditions? Claremont Heritage is working on a special project and we want to know your favorites from years past.

In Case You Missed It! VIRTUAL HOME TOUR - On-Demand NOW!

During the month of October Claremont Heritage will be looking into many prominent residents of the Claremont community who have chosen Oak Park Cemetery as their resting place. This week we will take a look at notable people who helped form the Claremont Colleges. Today, we will look at William L. and Caroline Honnold a couple who contributed to construction of the Honnold Library. By the time William L. and Caroline Honnold moved to Bel Air, California in 1922, Mr. Honnold ...already had a distinguished career in mining and exploration. Mr. Honnold’s career had garnered the couple a fortune, which granted them a secondary career in philanthropy. Mrs. Honnold did relief work after the Boer Wars, and Mr. Honnold was decorated by both Belgium and France for his relief work after the First World War. Mr. Honnold maintained offices in Los Angeles with the Mudds and became connected to the Claremont Colleges. In 1946, Willis Kerr, a librarian at Pomona College, presented a plan and laid out the advantages for a single central library between the colleges, an idea first envisioned by Dr. Blaisdell twenty years earlier. Later that spring, Mr. and Mrs. Honnold announced their intention to give a library to the colleges. Mr. Honnold, a former Pomona College trustee and founding trustee of Claremont Colleges, had championed the central library plan for many years. The Honnold Library was dedicated on October 23, 1952. The Seeley W. Mudd Library, joined to Honnold by a pedestrian bridge, was dedicated in September 1970. Unfortunately, Mr. Honnold passed away on May 6, 1950, and never saw the library that bears his name. The dedication took place in the presence of Mrs. Honnold who provided the promised $1,000,000 for the library. William L. and Caroline Honnold were both laid to rest in the Oak Park Cemetery in the Honnold Garden. Image Source: Claremont Heritage #claremontheritage #oakparkcemetery #claremontca #cityofclaremont #honnoldmuddlibrary #claremontcolleges -NR

The #LAArchivesBazaar is here! Claremont Heritage is very pleased to participate in this annual event, which has gone virtual this year. We will be answering questions about our archives as part of the Reference Room from 1-2 TODAY. Stop by and say hello! https://usc.zoom.us/j/94977205568

The Wright Pierce Studio is located in Oak Park Cemetery. It was moved from 333 W. Bonita Avenue to Oak Park Cemetery where it began its second life as the cemetery office. Wright McEwen Pierce, a member of a pioneer Claremont family, built the studio on Bonita Avenue around 1915. From his studio, Pierce photographed many Claremont residents, buildings, and landscapes. The studio was built to resemble a small cottage home to blend into the surrounding residential neighborhood.... As a graduate of Pomona College, Wright was the official photographer for the yearbook and continued in that capacity for some years after receiving his degree. Pierce was also a professor of ornithology and oology, the study of birds, at Pomona College until the mid 1920s. Pierce continued to use the building as a studio until his death in 1937. After his death, his wife had the building converted into an apartment and later leased out the building as a business space. During the development of the Claremont Village, the Wright Pierce Studio was moved to Oak Park Cemetery with funds raised by the Village Redevelopment Agency and the Friends of Oak Park Cemetery. Image source: Claremont Heritage #claremontheritage #oakparkcemetery #claremontca #cityofclaremont #wrightpiercestudio -NR

As the town grew in population and the number of deaths increased a local cemetery was needed. In 1897, Oak Park Cemetery was established. The first land acquisition for the cemetery was carried out by Thomas Barrows who purchased the land from the Pomona Land and Water Company. Thomas Barrow and his sister, Octavia B. Vaile, were the first to be buried in Oak Park Cemetery. Thomas Barrows was born April 14, 1843, and was a native of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He worke...d in Indianapolis and Chicago before retiring in 1874. The Barrows family lived in Ojai and then Pomona before moving to Claremont, around 1890. Thomas and Ella Cole Barrows' children, David Prescott Barrows and Charlotte Barrows were in Pomona College’s first graduating class in 1894. Thomas Barrows purchased the land for Oak Park Cemetery so his sister, Octavia B. Vaile, could have a proper burial. Octavia B. Vaile was the first wife of Charles Seldon Vaile, an early Claremont real estate agent. The couple was married on October 18, 1883, and had three children. She passed away in 1897. Thomas Barrows died January 12, 1898, six weeks after his sister’s death and become the second person to be buried at Oak Park Cemetery. Image source: Claremont Heritage #claremontheritage #oakparkcemetery #claremontca #cityofclaremont

During the month of October Claremont Heritage will offer insight into the history of Oak Park Cemetery. The first burials in Claremont did not occur at Oak Park Cemetery. The first known burials in Claremont took place under an oak tree on Edwin Norton’s property, located at 740 Harvard Ave. Francis and Edwin Norton had three children Katherine, Philip, and Dorothy. Philip died in 1893 at the age of two and Dorothy died in 1894 before the age of one. The two children were b...uried under a big oak tree on the Norton’s property. However, once Oak Park Cemetery was established, in 1897, by Thomas Barrows, the two graves were moved to the cemetery. Image source: Claremont Heritage and Honnold Library Special Collections, Boynton Collection of Early Claremont. #claremontheritage #oakparkcemetery #claremontca #cityofclaremont -NR