Architecture fans! Mark your calendars for a virtual tour of the Gov. Markham Landmark District conducted by Pasadena Heritage on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
This is one of Pasadena’s oldest neighborhoods, roughly stretching from California Street to Bellefontaine Street and from Orange Grove Boulevard to Pasadena Avenue. It was named for Henry Harrison Markham (1840-1923), California’s governor from 1891 to 1895, who was known as “the dashing colonel from Pasadena.”
Born in Wilmington, New York, Markham served in the Civil War, participating in Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea. After being wounded in 1865, Markham was discharged; he practiced law in Wisconsin before moving with his family to Pasadena in 1879. He’s buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena.
The Governor Markham Landmark District, a small part of the Bellefontaine neighborhood, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Most of the structures were erected between 1887 and 1918, and they’re considered important examples of a range of styles: Queen Anne Victorian, Shingle, Neoclassical, Foursquare, Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival and English vernacular.
The architects behind these buildings include some of Southern California’s most prominent designers of the period: Myron Hunt, Harry Ridgeway, Charles and Henry Greene, Harry Ridgeway, Frederick Roehrig, Charles W. Buchanan, J. J. Blick, Leonard A. Cooke, G. Lawrence Stimson, Frank M. Tyler and Sylvanus Marston.
Alas, the actual home of California’s 18th governor which gave the neighborhood its name can’t be visited; the 703 S. Pasadena Ave. residence was demolished in 1939.
Pasadena Heritage is a nonprofit historic preservation organization, best known for the preservation of the Colorado Street Bridge and the revitalization of Old Pasadena. Profits from the virtual tour benefit Pasadena Heritage’s ongoing efforts to preserve Pasadena’s rich history.
Tickets cost $15 ($10 for members) and are available on Eventbrite. After ticket purchase, the Zoom link will be sent with reminders before the event begins.
