Sierra Madre’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Sierra Madre. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In approximately 500 CE, Tongva Indians, the native people migrated from the Mojave area to what would become Los Angeles County (including the San Gabriel Valley). Their name means "People of the Earth". Their primary language was Uto-Aztecan Shoshonean. In the 16th century, there were about 25 Tongva villages, with a population of approximately 400 people. By 1769, the first Spanish settlers arrived in the region, finding an estimated 5,000 Tongva living in 31 villages. Sierra Madre was the site of a settlement named Sonayna. Two years later, Mission San Gabriel Arcangel was founded in present-day Montebello. The mission was later moved to San Gabriel because of severe flooding from the Rio Hondo River, which ruined their crops. The original mission site is now marked by a California Historical Landmark. Tongvas were integrated into the culture of the mission, and the tribe were renam…
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Sierra Madre’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sierra Madre’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo2 archive items have no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewMen with cows on a Sierra Madre c…, c. 1900: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Sierra Madre
See all 10 →
Sierra Madre, decade by decade
1990s
unknown2 items
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Men with cows on a Sierra Madre cattle ranch, ca.1900 (CHS-2004) (c. 1900) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (2) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.