Man is riding bicycle on a path inside Rancho Santa Anita Park and Lake (later, the Arboretum), with many palm trees. Sign reads "Open to the Public Daily until 7PM, private property" and "Curves, drive slowly through park." The following information is from Sandy Snider: This is indeed, today’s Arboretum, but at the time the property was owned by a real estate syndicate named Rancho Santa Anita Inc. The enterprise was headed by the Chandler family (Harry until he died), and they bought the land from Anita Baldwin in 1936 for purposes of residential development. About 1939 they opened “the park” to visitors in hopes of encouraging land sales. About 30 acres surrounding the lake was sort of set aside as Santa Anita Park and Lake, that was roughly the area made available for movie location rentals and clearly for bicyclists, etc. 1939 is the circa date for this photograph, but it could have been anytime between 1936 and 1947 (when the land was sold to State and County for use as an Arboretum). The granite boulders lining roadways were typical Baldwin Ranch landscape features, and the pillars seen in the photo are also from Baldwin times. In the background you can see more boulders in a circular sort of shape – likely the old Baldwin Lily Pond.
Iron gate and concrete posts of one entrance to Santa Anita Rancho with sign above showing only part of letters which read "Santa Anita Rancho." Entrance was on Huntington Drive.
Child seen standing in driveway entrance with man on extreme right watching. Caption beneath reads: Driveway, "Lucky" Baldwin's Home. It is not known which entrance to ranch this was.
These Baldwin Ranch gates marked the entrance to the homesite. Today the iron gates stand at the south entrance to the restored Santa Anita Depot on Arboretum grounds. The man and woman standing in front of the gates are unidentified.
Photo of Rancho Santa Anita with one man standing near an oak tree on left and another man standing to the right. Houses are visible in the background. The men appear to be the same as in photos #1541 and 1542. Handwritten note on back reads, "Showing where proposed road turns from so. slope knoll towards south."
Looking east toward boat house. Two men can be seen standing at either side of entrance to boat house and a man and a lady can be seen in a row boat on lake. Boat house was reportedly built c. 1891 by E.H. Gorrill of Sierra Madre. It was destroyed on December 26, 1969 in a fire spawned by a smoldering cigarette and fanned by Santa Anita winds.
1. "Mrs. Reeves: Arcadia's own 'Lucky' Lady." Arcadia Tribune, August 4, 1977. 2. Copy of map showing part of Rancho Santa Anita, 1968. 3. "Raymond Lewis Knisley." Chapter from A Dozen Sierra Success Stories by W.K. Bixler 4. Personnel as remembered by A.D. Minium. Handwritten list from memoir…
Sheep grazing beneath trees and apparently alongside a body of water (note extreme lower right section of photo). Believed to be on Rancho Santa Anita. Caption beneath one copy reads: "A pastoral scene on Santa Anita Rancho in 1890, just north of present Colorado Place."
Tallac Knoll road at Rancho Santa Anita with two men standing on either side. Men appear to be the same as in photo #1540 and 1541 and was most likely taken on the same date. Handwritten note on back reads, "View of proposed road to magazine on south slope of knoll." note: "magazine" was probably for a movie scene (ammunition)
Photo of log cabin bearing a sign which reads:"Old Log Cabin. In the early 1880's E.J. Baldwin had this log cabin transported from his father's farm in Hamilton, Indiana, where he spent his early boyhood, to Rancho Santa Anita." We have been told signs like this identifying the various places of interest on the Baldwin Ranch were prevalent.
Aerial view east on Huntington Drive toward Arcadia from a position just west of Rosemead Boulevard. El Rancho Shopping Center and May Company Department Store can be seen as the business complex on the north side of Huntington Drive one block east of Rosemead Boulevard. Santa Anita Park Race Track can be seen on the left in upper portion of photo.
Small wooden buildings with thatched-appearing roofs standing beneath large oak tree. There are three wagon wheels seen at left. Caption beneath reads: Mexican Quarter of Santa Anita Ranch.
Man with a beard and carrying a staff is seen with three dogs near him. They are watching a flock of sheep in a field near a large clump of trees. Caption reads: Mexican sheep herder and his flock.
Flood damage on N. Santa Anita Avenue. The front end of a car is just visible in the left foreground. A sign nailed to a tree reads "STRAWBERRIES FOR SALE." The San Gabriel mountains are seen in the background.
Six men are seen standing in a group. L-R:Los Angeles County Supervisor John Anson Ford, Superintendent William A. Smith, Superintendent Raymond V. Darby (Chairman), F. Wesley Davies (Manager Rancho Santa Anita, Inc.), and Superintendent Leonard J. Roach. Davies is seen handing deed to 111-acre tract of historic Rancho Santa Anita to Superintendent Darby. This was to be developed into the Arboretum.