Lucretia Garfield: South Pasadena’s Lady in Perpetual Mourning

By the time she settled into her South Pasadena dream house, Lucretia Garfield was a longtime member of an exclusive, bloodstained club uniquely American.


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Ghosts of the Colorado Street Bridge: real or really ludicrous?

Since it's Halloween, and the witching hour is nearly upon us, it's time to address the elephant over the Arroyo Seco.


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The Colorado Street Bridge speaks, or rather initial critical reaction to my novel about her

"A riveting and enjoyable look at how local myths are constructed, and a vivid depiction of a time and a place that felt full of possibilities"—Booklist


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Incredible home movie by the grandfather of Thaddeus Lowe

Lowe conducted military reconnaissance from a balloon for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. He perfected techniques to improve turn-of-the-century refrigeration. He helped…


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South Pasadena Cawston Ostrich Farm, where strange birds made sawbucks

Watch this slick, little documentary about the ostrich farm that helped put South Pasadena on the map. Located near railroad tracks for tourists, and close to the rebuilt Raymond…


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Tribute to a boyhood beagle with uncanny radar. How-rooooo!

People always ask me: why did you need to stick a dog into your historical novel about the Colorado Street Bridge?


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Where have you gone, J.A.L. Waddell, the genius behind the Colorado Street Bridge?

Before Pasadena City Hall contracted him to design the Colorado Street Bridge, John Alexander Low Waddell had already earned his stripes as one of the foremost engineering minds…


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The bridge that rocked Pasadena

The colossus spanning the Arroyo Seco was mind-boggling in scale, let alone ambition.


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