In June, the Old Pasadena tour tour will include visits to several alleyways. The historic alleyways are nearly unchanged since their Victorian-era beginnings. One of the visits will be to Mercantile Place, the back end of several well-known establishments that fronted Colorado Boulevard, including Hertel’s Dry goods, J.W. Woods druggist, Hotaling & Co. men’s clothing, and the original A. C. Vroman’s bookstore. It also included a grocer, a confectioner, a baker, a jeweler, and The Pasadena and Valley Union newspaper, the only paper in town in the late 1880s-1890s.

Old Pasadena continues to be a shopping and dining destination but without Pasadena Heritage, this National Register Historic District would have been destroyed! Now it is one of the finest examples of downtown revitalizations in the country. These tours will be given over Zoom with trained docents who will lead you on a visual walk through the historic district revealing many hidden and unusual architectural details, old alleyways, and historic signs of Pasadena’s original downtown.