Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena has turned its lights back on in the 100-year-old tradition that lights up Santa Rosa Avenue at East Mariposa Street in Altadena, this time with a new app that will enhance your experience.
The lights will be on every night from 6 p.m. to midnight until January 7, 2021, the Christmas Tree Lane Association said.
“We are excited to announce that this year in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first lighting of the Lane, we will be providing a new app,” the CTLA said in a post on Facebook. “The Christmas Tree Lane app offers all the information you will need to connect and enhance your Lane experience.”
The app features an audio guide with the music and different recorded offerings explaining about the Lane, intended to be enjoyed in your car while you drive up the Lane. Some of the audio stories tell about the history of the Christmas Tree Lane, a welcome message from County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, and a 1955 recording of the song “Along Christmas Tree Lane.” The app also includes several recordings of familiar Christmas songs.
Of course, you can listen to the audio at any time and anywhere you want to.
The trees of Christmas Tree Lane arte towering deodars. Altadena founder John P. Woodbury introduced them to Southern California in 1883, after he first saw a stand of deodars in Italy. Proclaiming them the most beautiful trees he had ever seen, he returned with seeds, and had his brother Frederick nurse them at the Altadena ranch.
In two years they were transplanted to Santa Rosa Avenue, which would become a driveway from Pasadena up the near mile stretch to Woodbury’s planned estate. The mansion was never realized, but the deodar legacy was left and it has flourished since then.
In 1920, Altadena resident and department store owner Frederick C. Nash organized the first tree-lighting spectacle, hoping to attract shoppers to his store. Now the Lane is recognized as the oldest large-scale outdoor Christmas display in the world, listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as the California State Landmark No. 990. Every Christmas season since then, the majestic deodars on the “Mile of Christmas Trees” are strung with over 10,000 lights.
Since 1956, the Christmas Tree Lane Association has been keeping the tradition alive. The non-profit, without corporate sponsors or government funding, has relied only on community support.
To download the app, go to www.christmastreelane.
For more information about Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane and the CTLA, visit www.christmastreelane.net.
