Protecting Altadena from Wildfireby Mark Goldschmidt Our scenic mountain backdrop is Altadena’s greatest amenity, yet also poses our greatest danger. The precipitous slopes of crumbly rock are covered with shrubs and grasses that have evolved to burn, and in the hot,...

Letter from the ChairWe are dedicated to protecting, preserving, and raising awareness of our foothill community’s rich architectural, environmental, and cultural heritage. How we do that is through public events, advocating for change with the County, gathering and...

A “Collection of Collections”Altadena Heritage is known for its advocacy, preservation, and activism — things like helping to build parks, the Golden Poppy Awards, getting the Farmers Market started, planting trees. But we also maintain important paper and digital...

Streetlight Update & Call to ActionBy Mark Goldschmidt In an article in AH’s Fall/Winter 2019 Newsletter, “Change Coming to Nighttime Streets,” we wondered what night time lighting would be like with the coming inevitable change to LEDs. When I contacted Inez...

A Short History of Fire and Fire Protection in AltadenaBy Mike Manning The following story, somewhat abridged here, appeared in the January 1994 edition of “Peaks at Altadena”, a monthly news magazine put out by the Manning family, Mike, Sean, Julie and Stacy. It had...

Owen Brown Event at Mountain View MausoleumWe held our April Third Thursday event in the beautiful upstairs courtyard terrace at the Mountain View Mausoleum. Three panelists told the incredible story behind the restoration of Owen Brown’s gravesite in Altadena’s...

Theo’s View… Notes From the Wild Side of the Urban InterfaceBy Michele Zack “Almost like clockwork… I can count on it every 10 years,” Theo says, sounding philosophical. He’s referring to the wildfires that have forced him to evacuate his mountain home in Altadena...

Wildfire Insurance Heating UpBy Val Zavala When my husband and I bought a home in Eagle Rock in 2004 we were unpleasantly surprised that our previous fire insurance company would not insure us, they said our home was in a high-risk wildfire area. So, we had to get our...