Postcards of the Month
This colorful postcard shows Ivy Avenue School, built in 1903 on the site of today’s Clifton Middle School.
Originally intended as a grammar school, it soon became home to Monrovia High School as well, which had outgrown its earlier quarters at Orange Avenue School.
By 1907, the high school had taken over the Ivy Avenue campus entirely. As Monrovia continued to grow, this handsome building also became too small. A much larger high school building was added to the campus in 1912, and Monrovia High remained on Ivy Avenue until 1929, when students moved to the present high school campus on West Colorado Boulevard. Ivy Avenue then became a junior high school and was later renamed Clifton School, a name that continues today.
This colorful postcard shows Ivy Avenue School, built in 1903 on the site of today’s Clifton Middle School.
Originally intended as a grammar school, it soon became home to Monrovia High School as well, which had outgrown its earlier quarters at Orange Avenue School.
By 1907, the high school had taken over the Ivy Avenue campus entirely. As Monrovia continued to grow, this handsome building also became too small. A much larger high school building was added to the campus in 1912, and Monrovia High remained on Ivy Avenue until 1929, when students moved to the present high school campus on West Colorado Boulevard. Ivy Avenue then became a junior high school and was later renamed Clifton School, a name that continues today.
This beautifully hand-colored postcard shows the Monrovia High School building at Ivy and Palm avenues, on the site of today’s Clifton Middle School.
The campus had been substantially expanded in 1912, making this postcard a wonderful glimpse of the impressive school building as it appeared more than a century ago.
The reverse gives the card an especially nice connection to its time. It was postmarked in Monrovia on February 28, 1913, and mailed with a one-cent stamp to a Miss Ada Sprague in Des Moines, Iowa.
More than 110 years later, the postcard has found its way back into Monrovia’s history—preserving not only an image of the city’s early high school, but also gives us some flavor of the typical correspondence style of 1913.
The campus had been substantially expanded in 1912, making this postcard a wonderful glimpse of the impressive school building as it appeared more than a century ago.
The reverse gives the card an especially nice connection to its time. It was postmarked in Monrovia on February 28, 1913, and mailed with a one-cent stamp to a Miss Ada Sprague in Des Moines, Iowa.
More than 110 years later, the postcard has found its way back into Monrovia’s history—preserving not only an image of the city’s early high school, but also gives us some flavor of the typical correspondence style of 1913.
This postcard, circa 1926, shows the newly built Mayflower Avenue School, pictured beneath Monrovia’s familiar early slogan, “The Gem of the Foothills.”
Mayflower opened in 1925, at a time when Monrovia was growing rapidly and orange groves in the northern part of the city were giving way to new homes. The school originally served children in grades one through eight.
The postcard captures just how new the campus was—the grounds are still largely bare, with little of the mature landscaping that would come later. By the 1925–26 school year, Minnie E. Schofield was the principal. Mayflower remains part of Monrovia’s educational community today, continuing a school tradition that began more than a century ago.
Mayflower opened in 1925, at a time when Monrovia was growing rapidly and orange groves in the northern part of the city were giving way to new homes. The school originally served children in grades one through eight.
The postcard captures just how new the campus was—the grounds are still largely bare, with little of the mature landscaping that would come later. By the 1925–26 school year, Minnie E. Schofield was the principal. Mayflower remains part of Monrovia’s educational community today, continuing a school tradition that began more than a century ago.
This wonderful postcard takes us back more than a century to Monrovia High School at Ivy Avenue and East Palm Avenue, with “E. PALM” still visible on the curb. A handsome circa-1920 touring automobile, complete with folding top, running boards and wood-spoke wheels, waits at the curb—a wonderful reminder of how different the trip to school looked in those days.
Beginning in 1920, students from Arcadia and Duarte joined Monrovia students at the high school. Several years later, in 1927, the familiar Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School — “M-A-D” — name was formally adopted. The school remained at the Ivy and Palm campus until the present Monrovia High School opened in 1929.
To learn more about the history of Monrovia High School, read this feature article published in June 2026.
Beginning in 1920, students from Arcadia and Duarte joined Monrovia students at the high school. Several years later, in 1927, the familiar Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School — “M-A-D” — name was formally adopted. The school remained at the Ivy and Palm campus until the present Monrovia High School opened in 1929.
To learn more about the history of Monrovia High School, read this feature article published in June 2026.
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