Self-Guided Tour


INDIAN HILL BLVD. and nearby

The Garner House (1926)
840 North Indian Hill Blvd.


Built for Bess and Herman Garner and their three sons, this 15-room house was the center of a six-acre citrus grove. Mr. Garner owned Vortox, one of Claremont’s few industrial plants. The Garners were also the owners of the Padua Hills Theatre. Bess Garner was an author, a newspaper columnist, a member of the Claremont School Board, and a moving force in the restoration of the Palomares Adobe in Pomona. In 1946, the Garner house and grove were purchased to become the city’s central park and a community house. Note the plaque in the central lawn commemorating the history of this site. Learn more...

Arbol Verde Intercultural Council Housing (1947-1955)
First Street and Brooks Avenue

This neighborhood housed a unique experiment in “intercultural living.” In the late 1940s, a group of Claremonters bought the vacant block of land bordered by Brooks Avenue, First Street, Claremont Boulevard, and Harwood Place. They developed 12 lots to be sold to six Anglo and six Mexican families. Plans for flat-roofed, International style houses were provided to the new owners. The experiment worked and the area still has a mix of Mexican American and Anglo families.

Russian Village (1923-1939)
300 Block of South Mills Avenue

This group of 15 homes lining Mills Avenue was built of recycled materials during the Depression. The land was owned by Polish immigrant Konstanty Stys, who sold lots to friends or needy families and helped them find building materials from wrecking yards and earthquake-damaged buildings. They are unified by their use of rock and street rubble as exterior materials, red-tile roofs, and the informal arrangement of each property. This neighborhood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as a prime example of folk architecture.

Oak Park Cemetery (1897)
410 Sycamore Avenue

Thomas Barrows purchased this land in 1897 to provide a proper resting place for his sister Octavia. He himself was the second burial here. This 20-acre site is covered with oaks, sycamores, and palms and is now managed by the City of Claremont with enough open space for another 100 years of Claremonters. Many founders of the town and of The Claremont Colleges, as well as citrus workers and grove owners, are buried here.

We hope you've enjoyed your brief historic tour along Indian Hill Blvd. and nearby in Claremont CA.