 Interactive map of Fair Oaks Avenue | |
| Namesake | Fair Oaks Ranch |
|---|---|
| Length | 7.9 mi (12.7 km)[citation needed] |
| Location | Los Angeles County, California, U.S. |
| North end | Huntington Drive inSouth Pasadena |
| Major junctions | |
| South end | North of Loma Alta Avenue inAltadena |
| Construction | |
| Construction start | c. 1870s |
Fair Oaks Avenue inPasadena, California, is a major north–south road connecting the communities ofAltadena, Pasadena, andSouth Pasadena, running 7.9 miles (12.7 km) in length. It starts at its southernmost end in South Pasadena at Huntington Drive. It travels due north to a terminus above Loma Alta Avenue in Altadena and the gates of Angelus County Park. Beyond this, the road becomes a private easement.
At its meeting ofColorado Boulevard in Pasadena the two roads become the zero-zero, east–west, north–south postal division of Pasadena which carries on into Altadena. In South Pasadena, the street numbering varies with its own postal zip code.
Fair Oaks is one of the major roads developed by the Indiana Colony dating back to 1874. It was apparently named for one of Pasadena's earlier ranches, theFair Oaks Ranch, named by the widow ofGeneral Albert Sidney Johnston for her Virginia home. The road led up from Raymond Hill and north to Washington Boulevard where it met the Painter Hotel. There being little reason to travel more northward, the road dwindled to a watery footpath and meandered through about three miles (5 km) of scrub growth until a similar road picked up in the Altadena Community. At that time, the road was the divider between theIndiana Colony andBenjamin D. Wilson'sLake Vineyard settlement. As the original Indiana Colony and the Vineyard colony became friendly economic rivals on each side of the avenue, it became known as theMason and Dixon line.[1]
The intersection of Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Boulevard became known as "The Corners."[2] The avenue, along withColorado Boulevard became the main streets in the early development of Pasadena with Fair Oaks Avenue being the main route betweenLos Angeles and Pasadena.[2]
In 1895, the Pasadena and Los Angeles Railway built what became thePacific Electric Railway'sSouth Pasadena Local Red Car line on the entire length of Fair Oaks Avenue to Pasadena from its6th & Main terminal in Downtown Los Angeles.[3] Also serving the avenue was the North Fair Oaks Avenue Line and theMount Lowe Railway. The lines were mostly abandoned in the 1920s.
At a point of today's210 Freeway, there was a fork in the road that veered obliquely to the northwest. This was an access to the greatest local water source in Millard Canyon, and was named New Fair Oaks Road. Eventually this road was renamed Lincoln Avenue and Old Fair Oaks Road just became Fair Oaks Avenue.
Long considered the center of town, the corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks lost its centrality by the ever eastwardly expansion of the city. But now it has regained its central position as one of the most attractive corners in the upscaledOld Town Pasadena sector.
Amongst many landmarks on Fair Oaks Avenue is theFair Oaks Pharmacy which opened in 1915 and the historic modernist1414 Fair Oaks Building which is listed by theLos Angeles Conservancy.[4][5]
Also on the avenue is theLos Angeles College of Music, theHuntington Hospital in Pasadena and the Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena.
Fair Oaks Avenue is served mainly byMetro Local line 260 south of Walnut Street, Line 660 between Del Mar Boulevard and Loma Alta Drive, Pasadena Transit Line 20 between Woodbury Road and Glenarm Street (except between Orange Grove and Del Mar boulevards) and Line 51/52 between Mountain and Walnut streets.
