[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#d9ae52″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_stops=”rgba(224,153,0,0.73) 0%|rgba(224,153,0,0.91) 100%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”rgba(224,153,0,0.73)” background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(224,153,0,0.91)” background_image=”https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/altatena-woods-bgrnd.jpg” background_position=”top_center” custom_padding=”39px||41px|||” transparent_background=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title Header” _builder_version=”4.23.2″ text_font=”Crimson Text||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”30″ header_font_size=”63px” background_layout=”dark” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
The Giddings Family and Mountain View<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”4.23.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.2″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_text_color=”#6B6B6B” custom_margin=”||21px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
By Mark Goldschmidt<\/p>\n
In 1874 Levi W. Giddings and his family of 12, including married sons and daughters, set out from Marshalltown, Iowa to Omaha some two hundred miles away in four covered wagons. There they loaded horses and wagons onto a boxcar on a train bound for California, disembarked in Sacramento, then drove south to the Indiana Colony (which would soon become Pasadena), arriving in the summer of 1874.
Sarah Noble Ives wrote in her 1938 history Altadena (published by the Altadena Historical and Beautification Society):<\/p>\n
\u201cThey purchased\u2026the old Millard claim, about one hundred acres in all, and settled there in 1878. This location was at the mouth of Millard Ca\u00f1on, at the head of Lincoln Avenue, a rough wagon road in that day. \u2026 The Giddings had water from Millard Ca\u00f1on, and the lived at first in small cottages. They set out citrus fruit, shade trees, cherries, and a strawberry patch. They planted two chestnuts brought out in their pockets, which grew to be lofty trees. They did in these early days, a great deal of the first breaking of the land, or ploughing, for the Orange Grove Association and others. They lived on the bench of land that came to be called \u201cGidding\u2019s Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/E-Giddings-Home.jpg” title_text=”E-Giddings-Home” _builder_version=”4.23.2″ _module_preset=”default” width=”92%” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” show_in_lightbox=”on” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
The first Giddings house, built in 1874 by Levi and Luna Giddings. The approximate location is the current intersection of Lincoln and Loma Alta. Note the tent-house on the left. Photo: Altadena Heritage Society.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Gidding-House.jpg” title_text=”Gidding-House” _builder_version=”4.23.2″ _module_preset=”default” width=”99%” hover_enabled=”0″ module_alignment_tablet=”” module_alignment_phone=”” module_alignment_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” show_in_lightbox=”on” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Eugene Giddings built this much fancier home in 1886; probable location was the current Loma Alta Park. Photo: Altadena Heritage Society.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.2″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_text_color=”#6B6B6B” custom_margin=”||21px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Beginning in the 1880s, Pasadena was at the center of a land boom driven by westward expansion and a rail connection to the Trans Continental Railroad in Sacramento. Many came for the climate, which was not only pleasant but also healthful for consumptives; tuberculosis was widespread in the 19th century. Many new arrivals were quite well off, and land that was formerly considered worthless was selling for high prices. The Giddings extensive clan, having arrived a few year earlier, bought land, worked hard, and prospered mightily.<\/p>\n Levi\u2019s son, Eugene, purchased 100 acres just uphill from the family\u2019s land and planted grapes. He named his place \u201cLa Vi\u00f1a\u201d, and the name endures. Eugene, an avid hunter, cut a trail up a branch of Millard Ca\u00f1on to the top of a mountain just west and named it Giddings Peak honoring his illustrious grand-uncle, Joshua Reed Giddings, a pre-Civil War anti-slavery congressman.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" They purchased\u2026the old Millard claim, about one hundred acres in all, and settled there in 1878. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter-2023-fall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8302"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8344,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8302\/revisions\/8344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}