By Oliver Beckwith

In concert with the grand opening celebration of our new Route 66 exhibit, "Engines of Change: How Transportation Moved Monrovia," I was inspired to take a journey into some of the many historical connections Monrovia has with the Mother Road. This month, my focus is on one of the key parts of our new exhibit involving "The Good Roads Movement," one of many reforms that came out of the Progressive Era.

By Susie Ling

​Rosalie Cardiel Garcia lived on Monrovia’s Route 66 in the 1930s, "We used to live on Huntington Drive... When I drive down Huntington [today], I would remember when my brother and I would lie down on that street. There wasn't that much traffic [then]. We would be lying there, and my brother would say, 'Oh, there's the light of a car way down there...' So we would then get up to let the car pass. Then we would lie on the street again. We played hopscotch on Route 66. There was an airport next to us. When it was really foggy, they would blow a horn. Then the men would all go to the airport with their cars and turn their headlights on for the incoming plane." Rosalie married Louis Garcia, grandson of Lucinda Garcia. This Garcia family traces their legacy on this land to before the Spaniards built the San Gabriel Mission in 1771.

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​By Oliver Beckwith

At the Monrovia Historical Museum, I enjoy telling our guests the story of our city’s beginnings. I often share that the city’s 1887 incorporation story has something to do with saloons and the founders’ desire to get rid of them. The community began in May of 1886, and by the fall of 1887 Monrovia was growing quickly.​

​By Oliver Beckwith, MHM Board Member

By ​Félix Gutiérrez, Guest Author

By ​Félix Gutiérrez, Guest Author

By Mark Harvis, MHM Vice President