The Friends of the Pacific Electric
Trail recently committed to launching our YouTube Channel and visited some of
the historic landmarks that grace our city.
Our Media Team visited several locations, including:
• The
Sycamore Inn – 1889
• The
Thomas Winery – the oldest winery in California
• The
Alta Loma Packing House
• Marks
Bicycle
• REI
• Etiwanda
Pacific Electric Depot
• Chaffey
Garcia House
• Day
Creek Trailhead
• China
House
Just to name a few
In the coming weeks we will be adding
additional videos of trail safety, bike repair and of course the 21-mile
Regional Pacific Electric Trail. If you enjoy
the PE Trail and have a suggestion for a future episode, please comment below.
We seem to always be passing by the
Sycamore Inn. Driving by, or riding bikes past it, or even walking by it. But
when you stop there, you cannot help to be struck by its early California charm
and its’ important place in Cucamonga’s development.
Early in California history, the wide
boulevard that calls home to the Sycamore Inn was just a dirt path called the
Santa Fe Trail. In March 1774, it was this trail that brought Spanish explorer
Captain Juan Batista de Anza to this lush oasis of giant Sycamore trees,
situated next to a natural creek from the majestic mountains above.
The local Kukamonga Indians invited the
Spanish soldiers to remain in the oasis for a while, and the Spaniards were
taken with the way that the local natives seemed to share the site that was
teaming with wildlife. This grove of Cottonwoods, Willows, Sycamores, and
trickling creeks, joined by relatively friendly California bears was named by
the Spaniards "Arroyo Los Osos", later translated to Bear Gulch, a
name that remains to this day.
The Spaniards enjoyed this lush region
of California and some, decided to remain.
Felipe Santiago Tapia, one of Anza’s original soldiers, was one.
In 1839, the Spanish Governor of
California, Juan Alvarado granted Felipe’s grandson, Tiburcio Tapia, a land
grant of over 13,000 acres, named Rancho Cucamonga, which lay between Rancho
Santa Ana del Chino in the south to San Bernardino in the East. Don Tapia immediately began construction on
an adobe ranch home on the crest of Red Hill, overlooking the oasis at Arroyo
de Los Osos where his grandfather once camped with the Anza expedition.
By the mid-1800's, the dirt road that
ran past the lush sycamore grove had become a main thoroughfare from San Bernardino
to the growing communities of Los Angeles to the West. Horses, wagons, carriages, and stagecoaches
dug deep ruts into the well-traveled road. Eventually William Rubottom,
affectionately to be known as "Uncle Billy" recognized opportunity
and saw value in a strategically placed inn and tavern that could provide warm
hospitality to weary wayfarers and locals settlers, anxious to share an evening
of relaxation with each other.
That old dirt road that fronted the Inn
became the fabled Route 66, the primary route from points east in Chicago to
the Pacific Ocean. During those colorful years of the 30's, 40's, 50's and
60's, before freeways, the Inn hosted the rich and famous...movie stars and
notables, both the famous and the infamous, en route to Las Vegas and Palm
Springs. The Inn is rich with folklore. Legend has it that both Marilyn Monroe
and Elizabeth Short (the "Black Dahlia") dined at the Sycamore in the
weeks before their untimely demise. Other notables claiming to have eaten at
the Inn include Al Capone, and Bugsy Segel....We all know what happened to
them.
A new generation of hospitality began in
2002. Proprietors, Linda and Chuck Keagle, Brady Main, and Executive Chef Louis
Alvarez, long-time restaurateurs, became enthusiastic owners of the historic
old Inn. With a renewed vitality, and an affectionate recognition for the rich
tradition of the Inn, the new owners have continued the long tradition of
hospitality and good food, excellent service, and a welcoming ambiance, the new
Sycamore Inn honors its roots and welcomes new traditions. Do you have a favorite story to share about
the Sycamore Inn, please comment below.
Dennis Jones Friend of the Pacific Electric TrailLike us on Facebook
