Old Pasadena HIstory

Old Pasadena History

An Overview | 1870s | 1880s | 1890s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1970s | 1990s | Today | Tournament of Roses

Late 1940s: A Change in Fortune...

By the end of WWII, business in Pasadena had started moving eastward on Colorado, and by the late 1940’s, a new shopping district was developing on South Lake Avenue West. Colorado Boulevard began to decline, like many downtowns across the country, as suburban sprawl and decentralization in development became the norm. Old Pasadena was slowly forgotten over the next three decades, when viable businesses located elsewhere and investors saw little value in the old original business district. Many buildings were vacated and the area became known as the local Skid Row. However bleak, this shift in fortunes actually worked to preserve the architectural heritage of the district—there was little interest in modernizing the abandoned buildings.


Old Pasadena 1940