How El Molino Avenue Anchored San Marino’s Heritage

El Molino Avenue derives its name from El Molino Viejo ("The Old Mill"), a historic water-powered gristmill completed in 1816 for Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. Built under the direction of Father José María de Zalvidea using Indigenous Tongva labor, the mill harnessed local springs to process grain for the mission community. The original water runoff flowed through ditches and filled a nearby lake—now the site of San Marino’s Lacy Park.

During the 19th-century transition from Spanish mission lands to Mexican ranchos and eventual American statehood, the area around the gristmill evolved into a private estate. In 1858, Fannie and Edward Kewen acquired the mill site, converting the thick-walled adobe structure into a residential home and establishing the rural road that would become El Molino Avenue.

By the turn of the 20th century, railroad tycoon Henry E. Huntington purchased the surrounding land, including the Old Mill property, in 1903. Huntington utilized the historic gristmill as a golf clubhouse for guests of his nearby Huntington Hotel (now the Langham). When the City of San Marino incorporated in 1913, the surrounding orange groves and ranches were subdivided into exclusive, master-planned residential tracts.

El Molino Avenue was laid out as a primary north-south artery connecting Pasadena to San Marino's core. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, prominent architects designed Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Monterey Colonial estates along the avenue, adhering to strict municipal zoning codes.

Today, El Molino Avenue remains a celebrated residential corridor. It anchors Southern California’s landmark history at El Molino Viejo—now a California Historical Landmark and museum—preserving the architectural legacy of the San Gabriel Valley.