Neighbors to your South

You good friend and immediate southern neighbor is J. F. Crank, a railroad builder and developer in Monrovia. Crank will move the small and historic Fair Oaks house a couple blocks west and north and build one of the oldest and elegant homes still standing in Altadena.

Farther south still and even earlier, In 1869, James Craig, an Irish immigrant, purchased 5,000 acres within the former Rancho San Pasqual and established a 150-acre rancho he named “The Hermitage.”

That same year, he built a house on the property, likely incorporating an existing adobe structure that dates to c. 1840.

Craig became a notable producer of citrus and olives as well as a water system developer. In 1886, The Los Angeles Herald reported that Craig presented half a dozen bottles of olive oil, described as “the first ever made in Pasadena,” at the town’s citrus fruit and floral fair.

His residence, the Craig Adobe "The Hermitage" not visible from the street today, is considered one of the oldest buildings—if not the oldest—in Pasadena.

The Brigden Ranch has roots in the late 19th century agricultural history of the area and is just to your southwest. Albert Brigden purchased 135 acres of land from the old Fair Oaks Ranch in 1876. A New York native and Civil War veteran, Albert developed the land, establishing a vineyard, orange and lemon groves, and other fruit trees. His ranch was located at the head of Craig Avenue, near the current Brigden neighborhood, bounded by Galbreth Road, Casa Grande Street, North Allen Avenue, and Martelo Avenue today...