George W. Adams -- 1645 Huntington Drive

George Adams (1865-aft 1947) arrived in Los Angeles in 1902 with his family consisting of wife Iva Binford (1871-1948), and daughters Florence E. (1897-1964) and Maude (1900- ).  George and Iva knew about Los Angeles as they were married there in 1896 while they were residents of Estherville, Iowa, where George had his law practice. George had graduated from the University of Iowa Law School in 1891--the 1906 Iowa Alumnus thought George at the time was "a fruit farmer in L.A.".  Turned out there was another George Adams in Massachusetts who was very well known for his beekeeping, but that's another story.

The family settled in South Pasadena at 1645 Huntington Drive. In 1909-1910 the residence looked like the below:

The Adams Family on Huntington Drive

Florence and Maude?

The photo shows two children in the front yard--it's very possible you see a childhood photo of Maude and Florence, who would have been nine and 12 years old at the time.  Directly behind the photographer on Huntington was the Pacific Electric Railway line which went downtown to 6th and Hill, which when followed by a short walk to the Van Nuys building, one could visit George in his office as part of the Adams, Adams, and Binford law firm.  While the "Binford" was George's brother-in-law Lewis, there is no listing for any other law-partner-Adams in L.A.'s directories of the era other than George.

Life was good for the Adams family--the L.A. Herald reported that same August they were "returning home from a month in Venice, and are leaving soon for Tahoe".  No mention of which Venice... By 1915 they had moved to the newly fashionable west side at 663 South Westmoreland Ave. and then in 1920 were residing at the Garden Court Apartments and Hotel on fashionable Hollywood Boulevard.

George's work must have been mostly usual stuff, nothing that would land him in the newspapers of the day. His only easily accessible appellate appearance came in 1920. Evidently Mrs. Minnie Ong had George write up a deed of her house, which Mrs. Ong gave to her housemaid Jennie Cole, with the intention of her taking the house after her death. The house must have been worth something because the Ong descendants descended on the courts to get the deed declared void. George was called to testify. And while the account doesn't mention it, this was probably a family feud, as Mrs. Ong may have been a close relation, since Iva's mother's maiden name was Ong. Jennie got to keep the house.

Still listed as an attorney in 1946 after 44 years in L.A., George and Iva by then were living at 3614 Country Club Drive. Iva was to pass away just two years later.

And what of our house on Huntington Drive? When the Adams' moved out, the Stamps family moved in. Lucius was retiring from his Downey farming business, and Eleanor, along with daughters Addie, Pearl, and Mary, and Eleanor's mother Susan all lived on Huntington from 1916 through the early '20s.  Evidently South Pasadena did not suit them as they had moved back to Downey by 1924, where Lucius had kept a real estate office.

Below is a photo taken of the Huntington neighborhood in 1926. The house at the right behind the palm trees is 1645 Huntington--its outline has changed as after the Stamps family left, it was converted to multi-family, with a noticeable add-on at the right rear. This crossing had both a Pacific Electric line at 90 degrees to the photo, but also there is a Southern Pacific R.R. crossing from right foreground to left background at the same intersection, which continued south to run along the east side of Alhambra Park.

1926 Looking South on Marengo across Huntington (courtesy of USC digital Collections)

The house has remained throughout the years, watching as Huntington Drive became a main auto conduit to San Marino, watching as the P.E. line tracks were pulled, and watching as the S.P. tracks were yanked.  Today, it looks like this:

A recent shot of 1645 Huntington Drive
(courtesy of the author)

The old S.P. right-of-way is still visible out of frame to the left.

The house has seen a lot of change in its 100+ years of life.

Other images:
P.E. Crossing detail at Marengo & Huntington Dr. 1926
The book's photo of G.W. in 1910
A brief write-up in California of the South, 1933

Samuel Allerton--1025 Highland Street, S. Pasadena

It once took up half the block, and it was only the winter home for Samuel (1829-1914) and Agnes Allerton.

Samuel had made his money in Illinois, creating the Union Stockyards, as well as the First National Bank of Chicago. And by 1900, with two grown children, Kate (1864-1937) and Robert (1873-1964), they were searching to avoid the harsh Illinois winters. The children's mother was actually Pamilla W. Thompson, who passed away in 1880, whereupon two years later Samuel married her younger sister Agnes. Their wedding silverware was recently posted for sale. Interestingly, Agnes was living with the family in 1880 in Chicago. The Agnes Allerton wing of the Art Institute of Chicago was funded in her name by stepson Robert. Daughter Kate and her second husband Hugo Johnstone, came to reside in the Pasadena area after Samuel and Agnes settled there. Kate passed away in Pasadena on December 31, 1937. She is buried in the family plot at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.

Sometime around 1904 Samuel had this California style stucco home built. Located on Highland Street, it actually faced south to Buena Vista. A more accurate address would have been 1020 Buena Vista.

The Allerton winter home ca. 1906

The house on the left still exists at the corner of Buena Vista and Meridian. The Allerton house was destroyed and the lot was subdivided and six houses now stand where the Allerton home once did.

It was said, according to one biography in 1903, that Samuel was the third richest man in Chicago. How rich was he? The New York Times reported that his estate was worth $20 million when he passed away in 1914.

Sources:

1. New York Times, March 17, 1914
2. Prominent and Progressive Americans, 1903