The City of Alhambra has initiated the development of a Historic Preservation Program to recognize and protect historic resources throughout the City.

In 2022, Phase 1 of this project was completed. Phase 1 consisted of the preparation of a comprehensive Citywide Historic Context Statement, compiled by Historic Resources Group. Please visit the “Documents” page to review the final Historic Context Statement.

The Historic Preservation Program project is currently on Phase 2: Historic Resources Survey. This phase consists of an intensive-level survey of Alhambra’s neighborhoods. The team will be conducting outreach throughout the project, both to keep the community apprised of the project status and to solicit feedback and input.

We welcome your input! At any time during the project, tell us about the stories and places that matter most to you. Help us tell Alhambra’s story!

the historic context statement:

  • Places built resources in the appropriate historic, social, and architectural context so that the relationship between an area’s physical environment and its broader history can be established

  • Highlights trends and patterns critical to the understanding of the built environment

  • Serves as a guide to enable citizens, planners, and decision-makers to understand the built environment

  • Provides a framework for the development of a comprehensive historic preservation program

  • Provides a framework for the continuing process of identifying historic, architectural, and cultural resources in the city

  • Is not intended to be a comprehensive history of the City of Alhambra

  • Identifies the various historical factors that shaped the development of the area, including:

    • Historic activities or events

    • Important people

    • Building types

    • Architectural styles

    • Patterns of physical development

  • Links with tangible built resources through the concept of “property type,” a grouping of individual properties based on shared physical or associative characteristics

Draft contexts and themes:

  • Native American Settlement

  • European Exploration (1542-1768)

  • Spanish Rule: Colonization and Mission Establishment (1769-1820)

  • Mexican Rule: Secularization and Subsequent Land Grants (1820-1849)

  • Early California: American Statehood and Rancho Development (1850-1874)

  • Early Development of Alhambra (1875-1902)

    • Residential Development

    • Properties Associated with Important Persons

  • City Incorporation and Civic Improvement (1903-1919)

    • Civic and Institutional Development

    • Commercial Development

    • Industrial Development

    • Infrastructural Development

    • Residential Development

  • City Expansion and Industrial Growth (1920-1940)

    • Civic and Institutional Development

    • Commercial Development

    • Industrial Development

    • Infrastructural Development

    • Residential Development

    • Properties Associated with Important Persons

  • World War II (1941-1945)

    • Civic and Institutional Development

    • Commercial Development

    • Industrial Development

  • Postwar Growth and Prosperity (1946-1980)

    • Civic and Institutional Development

    • Commercial Development

    • Industrial Development

    • Residential Development

  • Alhambra Today (1981-present)

  • Architecture and Design (1875-1980)

    • Late 19th Century Architectural Styles

    • Craftsman Movement

    • 20th Century Period Revival and Exotic Revival Styles

    • Early Modernist Styles

    • Postwar Modernist Styles

    • Late Modernist Styles

For more information, read the Historic Context Statement Outline.

 

Banner photo: Valley Boulevard at Fremont Avenue, view facing west, no date.
Source: Alhambra History Facebook Group