Bolton Hall

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Bolton Hall
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= 10116 Commerce Ave., Tujunga, California
locmapin = California
area =
built =1913
architect= George Harris
architecture= No Style Listed
added = November 23 1971cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
designated_other2_name = L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument
designated_other2_date = August 6, 1962Citation | last = Los Angeles Department of City Planning | date = 2007-09-07 | title = Historic - Cultural Monuments (HCM) Listing: City Declared Monuments | place = | publisher = City of Los Angeles | edition = | url =http://www.cityprojectca.org/ourwork/documents/HCMDatabase090707.pdf | accessdate = 2008-05-28 ]
designated_other2_abbr = LAHCM
designated_other2_color = #ffc94b
designated_other2_number = 2
governing_body = Local
refnum=71000159

Bolton Hall is a historic stone building in Tujunga, Los Angeles, California. Built in 1913, Bolton Hall was originally used as a community center for the Utopian community of Los Terrenitos. From 1920 until 1957, it was used as an American Legion hall, the San Fernando Valley's second public library, Tujunga City Hall, and a jail. In 1957, the building was closed. For more than 20 years, Bolton Hall remained vacant and was the subject of debates over demolition and restoration. Since 1980, the building has been operated by the Little Landers Historical Society as a local history museum.

Los Terrenitos

In the early 1900s, the area now known as Tujunga was undeveloped land owned by Marshall Hartranft. In 1913, William Ellsworth Smythe purchased the land to form a new Utopian community called Los Terrenitos (Spanish for little landers). Smythe was the leader of the Utopian Little Landers movement and had already established colonies in Idaho and San Ysidro, California. Smythe advocated the principle that families settling on an acre or two of land could support themselves and create a flourishing community. The town of Tujunga was sold to settlers at $800 for an acre of land and a life of independence.cite news|author=Patricia Ward Biederman|title=Valley Life; Tujunga's Pioneer Women Lived on the Rocks|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1999-04-09]

Bolton Hall was built in 1913 by George Harris, a self-described "nature builder,"cite news|author=R. Daniel Foster|title=Back to the Stone Age: Bolton Hall tells Tujunga's history|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1994-05-13] rock mason and stone sculptor. Harris urged that the 35,000 square foot hall be built solely of native materials, and selected a design that he said borrowed nothing from European architecture. Harris and the Terrenitos community built the hall using granite chunks and stones from nearby fields and hillsides and from the Tujunga Wash. Stones were placed in position in the structure based on the positions in which they settled after falling from a cliff.cite news|author=Irene Garcia|title=JAUNTS: In and around the Valley; Preserving Local History; Bolton Hall Museum recalls the lazy days of Sunland-Tujunga's past|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1998=-3-26]

The spacious main room has shiny hardwood floors and a massive rock fireplace in the center. The fireplace is spanned by a 14-foot mantel fashioned from a single oak tree. Beneath the mantel, Harris inscribed the words "To the Spiritual Life of Soil." The structure was built at a cost of $6,480.

When Bolton Hall opened in August 1913, the "Los Angeles Times" reported that it marked that awakening of the Vale of Monte Vista (known now as Crescenta Valley).

"First settled nearly thirty years ago, the valley has shown more life in the past six months than in all its previous history. Los Terrenitos, the settlement of 'little-landers,' has made wonderful progress since its inception, five months ago, about 200 families having purchased land, not all of whom are yet on the ground. But enough are here to make it a beehive of industry. The dedication of 'Bolton Hall' las Saturday aroused much enthusiasm among the 'little-landers.'" [cite news|title=Monte Vista Awakens|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1913-08-24]

The "Times" also reported that Bolton Hall was "built to stand for ages," and it has survived the 1971 Sylmar and 1994 Northridge earthquakes without a scratch.

During the hall's early years, it hosted community meetings patterned after those held in old New England town halls. Over the next decade, it was used for church services, musical performances, lectures, motion picture shows, the Women's Club, dances and pot-luck suppers. It also was the site of the San Fernando Valley's second public library.

Tujunga City Hall

After World War I, the hall was used as an American Legion hall for several years. In 1925, Tujunga incorporated as a city, and Bolton Hall became Tujunga City Hall. In 1932, Tujunga was annexed into the City of Los Angeles, and Bolton Hall was used for the next 25 years for a variety of municipal services, including the San Fernando Valley's second public library and a jail. [cite web|title=Bolton Hall: Then and Now|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~casfvgs/bolton.html] [cite news|author=Susan Abram|title=SUNLAND, TUJUNGA PLAN HISTORICAL HOMES TOUR|publisher=Daily News|date=2003|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/SUNLAND,+TUJUNGA+PLAN+HISTORICAL+HOMES+TOUR.-a099776313] However, it remained known as Tujunga City Hall until its closure in 1957.cite news|author=Phyllis Jackson|title=Tujunga to Get New City Hall: Area Growth Will Be Matched by Service Expansion|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1956-03-18]

Vacancy and preservation efforts

With its closure in 1957, Bolton Hall was put up for sale. However, the city estimated it would take more than $42,000 to bring the building up to code, and two attempts to auction the site failed to draw any bids.cite news|title=Fight for Landmark: Society to Battle for Old City Hall|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1959-07-12] When the city announced in 1959 that it intended to tear down the old building and convert the property into a neighborhood park, the Little Landers Historical Society of Sunland and Tujunga was formed to fight for the preservation of Bolton Hall. The group watered the trees during the summer and collected more than 400 signatures on petitions seeking to preserve the structure. The group brought in a representative of the National Trust, and the building was found to have historical value. However, the group had difficulty coming up with funding to maintain the structure and bring it up to current safety standards.cite news|title=Tujunga's Old City Hall May Be Wrecked if Preservation Bid Fails|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1959-10-18] Bolton Hall's future remained uncertain, and the property vacant, for more than twenty years, as the "Save Bolton Hall" movement continued to have difficulty raising funds. [cite news|title=Future of Tujunga's Bolton Hall at Stake at Culture Board Hearing|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1963-04-21]

Historical museum

In 1976, an agreement was reached to have the City of Los Angeles renovate the building's exterior with the Little Landers Historical Society committing to renovate the interior for operation as a historical museum.cite news|title=Love for the Past Rescues Tujunga's Old City Hall|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1976-12-12] At the time, the building had been kept "tightly sealed" since 1957. However, by 1979, funding still was lacking, and the "Times" reported that "the vacant old building houses only cobwebs and dust."cite news|author=Jan Klunder|title=Historic Bolton Hall Promised New Life as Community Center|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1979-11-18]

In late 1979, Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Ronka secured $169,000 in federal funds to augment $23,800 raised by the Little Landers Historical Society. With nearly $200,000 in public and private funds, the building was finally restored after it had sat vacant for more than 20 years.

The Bolton Hall Museum opened in 1980. The artifacts displayed at the museum include the gavel used by the presiding officer during early town meetings, building tools used in the construction of Bolton Hall, old photographs and the old clock from the fist Tujunga Post Office. The museum also has a congratulatory letter from Bolton Hall, the New York lawyer and writer for whom the building was named. Near the front entrance of the museum, there is a tobacco-stained stone that juts out from the wall; it was used by early colonists to clean out their pipes when the building was used as a church.

ee also

* List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
* List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the San Fernando Valley

References

External Links

* [http://www.laparks.org/dos/historic/bolton.htm Bolton Hall Historical Museum] , at City of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation
* [http://www.verdugo-online.com/clubs/boltonhall.htm Bolton Hall Museum] - Little Landers Historical Society