San Gabriel Valley

This card is a good example of why people went to Mt. Lowe’s attractions.

Echo Mountain is right in the middle of the card. It is a white blotch on this card but it represents the powerhouse, a Chalet, the Echo Mountain House, casino, the observatory, residential car barn, gardens, gas holder, zoo and water system. This is where the incline railway would take people after travelling to the foot of it in Rubio Canyon. People could go there a couple of thousand feet above sea level to see the beautiful San Gabriel Valley sprawled out before them and to escape the heat of the summer. It was opened all year round, but I am thinking that most people went there in the summer. You can see that the valley was still pretty much agricultural (all the green on the card) with a city here and there. Pasadena could be at the bottom right of the card just over the mountain scene. And, there is city on the right edge of the card halfway up the side. Notice the lack of smog or smoke trapped in the valley. This was taken in the early 1900s and probably in the spring when the air is still clear (I believe that they still have days like that today). You may notice that there are train tracks in the mountains. There are more cards to come to explain this phenomenon.

This card was also published by M. Rieder. However, it says the company is in Los Angeles and the card was made in Germany. The last card had the company in both LA and Dresden. The company was in Los Angeles from 1901 to 1915. This card is from the pre-March 1, 1907 era also. The right 3/4s of the card are for the address and the postmark only. On the left of the card the sender was allowed to write his or her address and as the card says: “(NO OTHER WRITING)”