| The first issue of the Pasadena Chronicle on August 16, 1883 noted that improvements in recent months had given Pasadena “the appearance of a town”. There were two general stores, two hardware stores, the Pasadena Restaurant, two harness shops, a cigar and newsstand, two blacksmiths, a meat market, a laundry, a shoemaker, and a drug store. Two hotels, The Los Angeles House and The Pasadena House (each constructed at a cost of $15,000), opened in 1883. The intersection of Fair Oaks and Colorado was now completely occupied, and in years to come the business district would expand from there. |
Amidst the orange groves and orchards a cluster of frame buildings emerged at the corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado. This view, reveals the what would later develop into Pasadena’s original business center.
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