PASADENA
-- A pair of amateur historians knee-deep in the mysteries of
Pasadena's once-famed Busch Gardens is asking for help digging
up memories in preparation for the 100th anniversary of its
opening on the banks of the Arroyo Seco.
Gary Cowles and Michael
Logan want to develop an exhibition on the gardens for the
Pasadena Museum of History, create a map of its original
features and put together a walking tour to the various
artifacts still on the private properties that replaced the
Busch Gardens.
Cowles, 58, said his
fascination with the gardens began in 1998, soon after he
moved into a house down the street from a gate that used to
lead to the lower gardens.
"The more I found
out about it, the more I wanted to learn,' he said. "It
became a passion.'
About the same time,
Michael Logan moved into town. Since he has always been a bit
of an amateur historian, Logan said he immediately took
interest in the lost gardens.
'Knowing the immense
size of the gardens, it amazes me that now they are almost
completely forgotten,' said Logan, 52.
When the two found out
about a year ago that they were investigating the same
mysteries, they decided to pool their resources.
According to the
Anheuser- Busch archives, beer mogul Adolphus Busch
commissioned well-known landscape architect Robert Fraser in
1903 to create what would become one of Pasadena's biggest
attractions in the early 1900s the original Busch Gardens.
But Cowles said from his
research it appears more likely that Busch didn't even make
his first visit to the 30-acre property until 1904 at the
earliest, and probably didn't purchase it until 1905.
"It's been a very
elusive thing to nail down because they didn't keep records
very well back then and there's a lot of conflicting data,'
Cowles said.
Fraser covered its
terraced knolls in manicured lawns, planted the gardens with
palm, eucalyptus and pepper trees, roses, violets and lilies.
Fountains, statues and ponds were placed along gravel walking
paths, many of which are rumored to still stand on private
property in the area bounded by Arroyo and Orange Grove
boulevards, south of Bellefontaine Street and north of
Madeline Drive.
Even after Busch's death
in 1913, the public was allowed to visit the gardens for free
until 1921, when his widow, Lilly Busch decided to charge 25
cents for adult admission 10 cents for children and donate the
money to the expanding Pasadena Hospital, renamed Huntington
Hospital, and then to a fund for needy and disabled World War
I veterans.
Scenes from several
well-known movies, including "Gone With the Wind,'
"Adventures of Robin Hood'' and "It Happened One
Night' were filmed at the estate in the 1930s.
Though it was divided
and sold to developers by 1941, after being offered to the
city as a park in 1938, traces of the gardens remain,
including the Rustic Bridge, exotic foliage and various
stairways.
Cowles and Logan want to
reintroduce this facet of Pasadena's history to the community.
"We are eagerly
hoping for input from anyone in the community that has any
sort of old memorabilia or family photographs or personal
recollections,' said Logan.
"We want people to
appreciate what was here,' said Cowles. We don't want it to be
forgotten and pushed back onto some dusty shelf.'
For more information,
call Cowles at (626) 441-6737.
-- Kevin Felt can be
reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4482, or by e-mail at
kevin.felt@sgvn.com.
