Three Milestones, One Party: Pasadena Turns 140 on Colorado Boulevard’s 150th Birthday

The road that gave Pasadena its commercial heartbeat turns 150 this year. The highway that made it a stop on the most famous drive in America turns 100. And the city itself turns 140.

On June 14, those three milestones will converge in one afternoon at the Pasadena Museum of History, where the city and the museum will host “Happy Birthday Pasadena: Highway to Adventure!” — a free, all-ages community celebration that trades on the road-trip theme linking all three anniversaries.

The event, which runs from noon to 4:00 p.m. at the museum’s Fényes Estate campus at 470 West Walnut Street will feature a three-tiered birthday cake ceremony led by Mayor Victor M. Gordo and other city officials at 2:00 p.m. Complimentary cake, popcorn, and lemonade will be served throughout the afternoon at “Eva’s Roadside Diner,” according to the museum.

The triple-milestone framing is not a stretch.

Colorado Boulevard — originally named Colorado Street in 1876, when merchant L.D. Hollingsworth opened a general store and post office at its intersection with Fair Oaks Avenue — became Pasadena’s main commercial corridor and eventually the route of the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Route 66, established on November 11, 1926, ran through Pasadena along that same boulevard on its path from Chicago to Santa Monica.

Pasadena itself was incorporated in 1886, partly as a measure to ban saloons and the sale of alcohol, according to the city’s official history.

The Museum describes the celebration as “a road trip through time,” with a centerpiece exhibition, “Where History Meets the Road: Celebrating Route 66 & Colorado Blvd.,” that explores the city’s connection to the iconic highway and its historic main thoroughfare.

Outside the galleries, vintage automobiles and motorcycles from the Jewel City Model A Club, the Pasadena Motorcycle Club — founded in 1907 and one of the oldest such clubs in the country — and private collectors will line the grounds.

Art 2 Go will run a craft workshop where children and adults can build custom cardboard tube race cars. Live music from the band 4 on the Floor will supply a soundtrack for the afternoon.

The Pasadena Society of Artists will offer hands-on watercolor painting. Artist Alex J. will create interactive 3-D chalk art. The Greetings Tour station will let visitors make postcard-style mini-murals. Blue Sky Face Painting will be on hand for children and adults. Younger visitors can cool off with Pump & Splash interactive water toys, while trivia contests and scavenger hunts offer competition for all ages. Self-guided tours of the museum’s landmark 1906 Fényes Mansion and Finnish Folk Art Museum are also available.

The annual Happy Birthday Pasadena event is a long-running tradition co-presented by the museum and the city. Last year’s 139th birthday celebration, themed “Cake, Paint, & Party,” was held June 29 at the same location.

The museum, founded in 1924 as the Pasadena Historical Society, has been headquartered on the two-acre Fényes Estate — a Pasadena Cultural Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places — since 1970.

The event is free. Information is available at pasadenahistory.org or by calling (626) 577-1660.