La Cañada Flintridge Turns 50 in the Places Cityhood Was Meant to Keep

In May 1976, residents filled the Los Angeles County Supervisors chamber for a Local Agency Formation Commission hearing on cityhood. The city's own history puts the turnout at 986 La Cañadans. LAFCO's view was that suburban areas belonged with the cities next to them. Resident Warren Hillgren answered that the County "had recently divided our community in two, with a freeway decision in which we had no participation."

That November, voters approved the city. This October, the city is celebrating its 50th, and the celebration lands almost entirely in the places the campaign was fighting over. The free day on Oct. 22 is at the garden Glendale expected to get. The Thanksgiving run closes the stretch of Foothill Boulevard the freeway left behind. Lanterman House sits on Encinas Drive, not far from the hills Pasadena planned to take.

The Map Pasadena and Glendale Had Already Drawn

The 1976 vote was the valley's third try at cityhood. The first, in 1964, failed after the County Board of Supervisors cut the proposed city's boundaries nearly in half at the last minute. The second, in 1969, lasted about six months. It ended because Flintridge, "always wanting separation from La Cañada," pushed back too hard.

What changed by the mid-1970s was that neighboring cities had made plans. According to the city's history, Pasadena and Glendale had already agreed how to split unincorporated La Cañada and Flintridge under a "sphere of influence" plan from the State Legislature. Glendale's "prize" would have been Descanso Gardens. Pasadena would have taken all of Flintridge. Writing in Crescenta Valley Weekly, a local historian also points to state policy in the early 1970s that gave cities more power to annex.

In 1974, the La Cañada Coordinating Council hosted a town meeting, backed by the Chamber of Commerce. A show of hands went 658 to 2 for trying again, and the La Cañada Cityhood Action Committee formed under George Parrish.

Why Flintridge Had to Be Talked In

The 1974 campaign depended on Flintridge, the 1,700 acres south of what was then Michigan Avenue that U.S. Senator Frank Flint had divided into large lots. The city's history says it "took a lot of selling to Flintridge voters, who wanted to protect their high living standards and retain their low density zoning." The selling worked. The election passed 7,355 to 2,849.

That is why the city has a two-part name. The two communities only became one city because each saw it as the better choice than being split up between neighbors.

The vote was Nov. 2, 1976. Incorporation became official on Dec. 8, when Councilman Edmund Krause filed the certificate of completion with the County Recorder. The new city covered 8 1/2 square miles and had a population of 21,000. That evening, about 500 residents gathered at the La Cañada Golf and Tennis Club, later the Country Club, and watched Supervisor Baxter Ward swear in the first five council members.

Oct. 22, at the Garden Glendale Would Have Gotten

Descanso Gardens had already been rescued once before cityhood. During the Depression, Manchester Boddy of the Los Angeles Examiner bought land in the valley and planted a garden. When he retired, he sold it to Los Angeles County at a low price so it wouldn't become a shopping center. Two decades later, it was the piece of La Cañada that Glendale's plan claimed.

For the anniversary celebration, Descanso is opening its gates to the city that kept it. Here is how the day runs, as laid out on the city's Together for 50 page and in the October LCF In The Know bulletin:

1. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive. Free daytime admission for La Cañada Flintridge residents. Bring proof of residency to Guest Services when you arrive.
2. 5 to 7 p.m., Olberz Park, One Civic Center Drive. The city's "Together for 50 Years" celebration, with live music from members of the LCHS Chamber Singers and an inflatable obstacle course.
3. During the evening. A community scavenger hunt, with chances to win a limited-edition LCF50 picnic blanket.

The bulletin pitches the day in that order, from the garden grounds to Olberz Park. Oct. 22 also falls inside the run of Descanso's Carved, which lights the garden every night from Oct. 2 through Nov. 1. This year, Bobolito's "Rhizome" moves to the Oak Grove, and the labyrinth gets new sculptures. Carved is a separate ticketed evening event, and the resident free day covers daytime admission only.

The Freeway Grievance, Still on the Map Every Thanksgiving

Hillgren's freeway complaint referred to something specific. The city's history calls the 1972 construction of the 210 Foothill Freeway "the most serious event" of the era. It split La Cañada in two and took out La Cañada Elementary School, the post office and 550 houses. The Town Center streets and the segment of Foothill Boulevard closest to that cut are the ones the city now shuts down for its biggest yearly civic event.

The 33rd Annual Thanksgiving Day Run and Food Drive is Thursday, Nov. 26. Closures run from 4 a.m. to about noon on these streets:

• Foothill Boulevard, between Loma Vista Drive and Gould Avenue
• Angeles Crest Highway, south of Town Center Drive
• Valley Sun Lane and Civic Center Drive
• Town Center Drive, from the southwest corner of Olberz Park to the roundabout
• Cornishon Drive, from the FIS Lower Field to Foothill Boulevard
• The Town Center parking lot near Panera and HomeGoods, which switches to one-way traffic

In 1976, the city was formed so these kinds of decisions about local streets would be made locally. On Thanksgiving morning, the city closes them for a run and a food drive.

The Lanterman Name, Three Places Deep

Before Flint subdivided, there was the Lanterman family. In 1875, Dr. Jacob Lanterman and Colonel Adolphus Williams paid $10,000 for the 5,830-acre Rancho La Cañada. The price was low because the land had so little water. The family name now shows up in three separate places, and they are easy to mix up.

Homewood, the house Jacob Lanterman built, still stands near the La Cañada Congregational Church.

Lanterman Auditorium, at 4491 Cornishon Avenue, stands where Colonel Williams' house was before it was removed in the 1950s.

Lanterman House, at 4420 Encinas Drive, is the house museum, and it's the one with a fall event. On Sunday, Oct. 18, it hosts a special open house as part of Pasadena Heritage's Craftsman Week. Last year, Craftsman Week drew more than 1,200 visitors across the region. The open house isn't billed as an anniversary event, but it falls in the same week as the city's celebration. Regular docent tours run Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and last about 75 minutes. Reservations are recommended, and there are no self-guided visits. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and students. Sunday tours are available by appointment on the first and third Sundays of the month.

That makes Thursday, Oct. 22 the one day you can fit a 1 p.m. Lanterman House tour, the free afternoon at Descanso and the Olberz Park celebration into a single trip across town.

One more Lanterman connects directly to cityhood. Frank Lanterman, from the founding family, won a seat in the California State Assembly in 1950. In 1955, he succeeded in bringing Colorado River water to La Cañada. That water allowed hundreds of houses to be built, and those homes made up the community that voted for cityhood two decades later.

The Season Around Oct. 22 and Dec. 8

The city's April State of the City presentation described anniversary events running through 2026 and into early 2027. From mid-October through the incorporation date and into the holidays, here is what's on the calendar:

The Halloween-night Carved event includes trick-or-treating, crafts, a mini pumpkin patch and a dance party. For its 10th year, Enchanted Forest of Light adds a new laser show, a snowfall finale and a Giant Koi installation. The Holiday Market's daytime hours are 1 to 4 p.m. and are included with garden admission. Evening hours are 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., during Enchanted, and require an Enchanted ticket.

As of today, the city hasn't announced anything for Dec. 8 itself, and there's no word of a time capsule.

The one anniversary program a resident can sign up for is 50 Trees for 50 Years. It plants 50 trees around the city during the anniversary year, and residents can request one for the public right-of-way in front of their home. The program was set to kick off at the city's Earth & Arbor Day celebration on April 23.

Many La Cañada Flintridge homes sit on streets laid out by Flint and the Lanterman family and kept local by the 1976 vote. If you're thinking about what that history means for your own place in town, or just want to compare notes on the anniversary, Gordon Wang would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.