by Paul R. Spitzzeri
Named for Benjamin D. Wilson (1811-1878), a Los Angeles mayor and California state senator whose Lake Vineyard was a well-known San Gabriel Valley ranch in what is now San Marino and who came to this area with the Rowland and Workman Expedition of 1841, Mount Wilson is best known for the famous observatory, which has been discussed in a couple of posts here from 1909 and the 1920s.
It has also, however, long been a popular destination for hikers and others enjoying the outdoors, the great views of the valleys and plains to the Pacific and, for about six decades, stays at the Mount Wilson Hotel and Cottages. Another pair of posts on this blog have discussed some of the early history of the facility, which was built by the Mount Wilson Toll Road Company, operator of the famous route up from Altadena (a previous Mt. Wilson road, built by Benjamin D. Wilson in 1864, ascended from Sierra Madre up Little Santa Anita Canyon), leased the ground for the observatory and evolved into the Mount Wilson Hotel Company.
The single-story hotel opened in 1905 and was surrounded by cottages, but the main building was destroyed by a fire after eight years. In 1915, a larger hostelry was constructed and this survived until the mid-1960s, a few years after Metromedia, which owned many radio and television stations from 1956 to 1986, acquired the 720 acres owned by the hotel firm. After the buildings were razed, Metromedia created Skyline Park, an amusement park of sorts, that only existed for 8 1/2 years and which was dismantled early in 1976.
The highlighted object from the Homestead’s holdings for this post is a real photo postcard, with a postmarked date of 4 March 1928, of a gorgeous wintry scene with snow-dusted pines, roofs of the hotel and cottages covered in powder and abundant snowpack on the ground. If the photo was taken in the winter of 1927-1928, it should be noted that, through 6 March, the area recorded 17.24 inches of precipitation during the season, compared to 29.31 the prior year, when there was significant flooding.
We can add that so far this year, there has been some heavy snowfall, with six inches early in February, up to 40 inches in the storm of the 23rd to the 26th and another 10 to 12 inches from 28 February through the first of March. There is a possibility of some light snow this coming Wednesday, so we’ll see if there is any addition to the total so far. For some great photos of conditions on Mt. Wilson this winter, check out the link for Georgia State University’s Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy, which has operated there for nearly a quarter century.
At the time this photo postcard was mailed, the manager was Frank B. Schroeder (1893-1961), whose tenure appears to have been short, with documentation of his operation of the hotel only from late January to September 1928. He, however, did have the ability to periodically report on happenings at the facility, including events, notable guests and other information. A native of Portland, Oregon, Schroeder moved about 1896 with his family to Los Angeles, where his German-born father was a butcher.
When the 1910 census was taken, Schroeder worked in a machine shop setting type, but as the Hollywood film industry burgeoned, he had a short-lived career in movies, including at least one documented movie role in the 1916 Al Christie comedy “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp.” When he registered for the draft in early June 1917, he was working in a studio at Washington and Main streets south of downtown Los Angeles operated by David Horsley, who formed Centaur in New Jersey and its local subsidiary Nestor, among whose stars was Princess Mona Darkfeather (Josephine Workman, granddaughter of Homestead founders William Workman and Nicolasa Urioste.)
Horsley’s enterprise soon went belly up, however, and, when enumerated in the 1920 census, Schroeder’s occupation was listed as “writer, children’s stories.” Nothing could be found about him until 1927, with the Internet Movie Database listing him as a production manager for a western called “The Outlaw Breaker,” starring Yakima Canutt, a rodeo cowboy and legendary film stuntman given an honorary Oscar in 1967 for that work.
How Schroeder wound up running the Mount Wilson Hotel is not known, but his Hollywood past may have allowed him to publicize the hostelry in the pages of the Los Angeles Times during most of 1928. The first located example of a report was from the 29 January edition in which it was noted that more than 100 people attended a presentation by the Observatory’s telescope assistant Wendell P. Hoge, who conducted these each Friday evening. Moreover, north of 200 cars and above 500 visitors were at the resort the prior Sunday to enjoy unspecified winter sports.
A couple of weeks later, an update was provided in which the manager commented,
There is no finer vista in the world than that which is viewed from the veranda of the Mt. Wilson Hotel, 6000 feet high. Besides the sixty-four cities of the valley, the shore line for miles, Catalina Island, the Coronado Islands and Point Loma, 115 miles away are clearly visible . . . It is interesting to know that within a comfortable two-hour motor ride from Los Angeles lovers of nature can see such a wide variety of wild life . . .
The prior week, he reported, more than 400 cars and 800 persons visited, with half staying as overnight guests “enjoying the hospitality of the hotel and the cuisine of its dining room which, by the way, is commented on from all sides for the excellence of its food and service.” Schroeder asserted that in two decades there was not one reported mishap on the toll road leading to the resort from the valley below. Lastly, it was noted that a half-foot of snow fell the previous week, as noted above, “which makes it very conducive to the enjoyment of winter sports.”
The update of 26 February was mainly devoted to listing the many out-of-town guests at the hotel, including folks from all over the United States and a professor, a minister and a doctor from Japan, as well as a British astronomer. Notable locals included Los Angeles County Administrator Frank Bryson and his wife, a University of Southern California professor and his family, and a pair of Angel City bankers. Students from middle school, high school, and junior college campuses as well as administrators attended one of Hoge’s Friday night lectures at the Casino Room.
The Times of 4 March issued Schroeder’s statement that February was the busiest of any previous second month of a year in the hotel’s history, with about 1,800 guests staying in accommodations and around 3,000 persons enjoying the fare in the dining room. Moreover, it was added, “these figures do not include the many hundreds of tourists who journeyed to the mountain top for just a day of sightseeing.” Harry Lord, a car company owner, threw a dinner for thirty-five employees, while groups from the county library, a fraternity and a club, comprising some 275 persons, booked upcoming reservations and intended to hear the Hoge lectures.
The 11 March report noted the visits of other foreign academics along a Massachusetts state senator, and pianist Olga Steeb, a prominent figure in the Los Angeles music scene for many years. There was also mention of F.C. Bradley, 83 years of age, who’d just completed his 109th jaunt to the peak from the valley and made his ten-mile hike on the toll road in just a little over 3 1/2 hours. The account concluded “this is a record for a lot of the young ones to shoot at.” At the end of month, actor Ruth Chatterton, who went on to be an early woman aviator, visited and Alfred Cookman, president of the Nature Club of Southern California, gave a talk on “The Romance of Bird Life.”
The Pasadena Post of 8 March published a statement from the touring department of the Automobile Club of Southern California that “an exceptionally scenic one-day trip for motorists is the one to Mount Wilson” with the comment that “the [toll] road is now in splendid condition” and buckthorn bushes blooming to add to the attractiveness. For a quarter a car and the same for each passenger, visitors could enjoy the beauty of the “Sierra Madre mountains,” as the San Gabriel range was then commonly known and the spectacular views. Moreover, “a sunset viewed from Mount Wilson is a marvelous thing” along with the colors of the forest and peaks and the blue of the ocean, while each afternoon for 45 minutes visitors could look through the Observatory’s larger telescope and Friday evenings, accompanying Hoge’s talks, the smaller one could be utilized.
There were a couple of other articles of note. It was not uncommon for some visitors to the area to get lost while hiking and the Times of the 13th recorded that two adults, four children, ages 10-13, and a German Shepherd from the El Sereno neighborhood of northeast Los Angeles, climbed to the summit, but, on their descent, fog set in and the group got lost. Fortunately, a pair of experienced mountaineers with rescue experience was able to locate the party during the ensuing evening and bring them back before they were subjected to too much of the frigid overnight temperatures.
Sadly, there was a tragedy that occurred near the hotel, as reported by the Post of 14 March. Sidney Zabaro, a 23-year old chemistry graduate of Cal Tech, who earned scholarships after a stellar academic career at Santa Monica High School and published articles based on his research at the institute, but who despaired of finding a job after he matriculated two years prior, took poison and was found dead under an oak tree.
As noted earlier, the hotel remained in operation until well after World War II (check out this great brochure) while Mount Wilson became a desirable location for transmission towers for radio and television stations from 1946 onward. For some interesting history of that aspect of the site’s history, check out a three-part article from former KFI Chief Engineer Marvin Collins. As for Schroeder,
The Museum’s collection has more Mt. Wilson-related artifacts, including photos dating as far back as the 1880s, so we’ll be sure to highlight some of these in future “At Our Leisure” posts on this blog. Keep an eye out for those if you have an interest on the topic!