Sierra Madre (Spanish for "mother range") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, with a population of 11,268 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. The city is in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley below the southern edge of the Angeles National Forest. Pasadena and Altadena are to its west, with Arcadia to its south and east. Sierra Madre is known as "Wisteria City", and its city seal is decorated with a drawing of the now widely known vine. It is also called the "Village of the Foothills" and was an All-America City in 2007.
History
Early history
In approximately 500 CE, Tongva Indians, the native people migrated from the Mojave area to what would become Los Angeles County (including the San Gabriel Valley). Their name means "People of the Earth". Their primary language was Uto-Aztecan Shoshonean. In the 16th century, there were about 25 Tongva villages, with a population of approximately 400 people. By 1769, the first Spanish settlers arrived in the region, finding an estimated 5,000 Tongva living in 31 villages. Sierra Madre was the site of a settlement named Sonayna. Two years later, Mission San Gabriel Arcangel was founded in present-day Montebello. The mission was later moved to San Gabriel because of severe flooding from the Rio Hondo River, which ruined their crops. The original mission site is now marked by a California Historical Landmark. Tongvas were integrated into the culture of the mission, and the tribe were renamed Gabrielino Indians by the Spaniards.
Using Mexican and Chinese laborers, Benjamin "Don Benito" Wilson expanded the Mount Wilson Trail in 1864. In 1888, the Santa Anita railroad station was built. The municipality also operated and maintained the landmark "Lizzie's Trail" inn at the head of Old Mount Wilson Trail. The construction of the first, very small, church of St. Rita's parish, founded by Barth in 1908, was completed in 1910. The scattering of families that began with Barth in 1908 has grown to more than 1,200 Catholic parish homes today,
thumb|right|Sierra Madre with PE line Depot and the Hotel Shirley in background
1920s and 1930s
In 1921, a disastrous bakery fire at Windsor Lane and Montecito Court prompted the official organization of the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Department. Sierra Madre had the last remaining volunteer fire department in greater Los Angeles before transitioning to a paid department in 2017.
On January 1, 1922, Bethany Temple was dedicated. The now historic domed cobblestone church was designed and built by the nearly blind Louis D. Corneulle. The new Congregational Church structure was completed on Sierra Madre Ave; the Romanesque Revival building was designed by Marsh, Smith, & Powell. In July 1927, the Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club was formed. On April 21, 1931, the first meeting of the Sierra Madre Historical Society took place, in conjunction with the city's 50th anniversary celebration. In 1940, the city purchased of land in the San Gabriel Mountains near Orchard Camp to avoid contamination of the water supply.
1940s
thumb|right|Sierra Madre one-room school house in 1881, at the corner of Hermosa and Grove Grove. Grove Grove was called Live Oak in 1881
On May 14, 1942, Sierra Madre's Japanese population was required to depart for the detention facility in Tulare, California. During this decade, Sierra Madre Civic Club and the Sierra Madre Lions Club were organized. The Sierra Madre Community Nursery School also opened. In May 1947, the first Pioneer Days Parade was held. The heaviest recorded snow in Sierra Madre occurred in 1949, blanketing the town with of snow overnight.
Mid-century
On October 6, 1950, the last Pacific Electric train left from Sierra Madre. On March 19, 1976, the Bicentennial time capsule was buried beneath the flagpole at the new Fire and Police Department Facility, then dedicated in May. The New City Hall building was dedicated on Sierra Madre Boulevard in 1977.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.0 square miles ( (7.7 km<sup>2</sup>) of it is land, and 0.15% is water.
Sierra Madre has warm, dry summers, and cool, wet winters (Mediterranean climate type). Annual precipitation is just about 24 inches, mostly falling between November and March. In fall months, a Southern California phenomenon called the Santa Ana winds can bring daytime temperatures into the 80s year round, and keep overnight lows above 60, even in winter. Winter, however, mostly consist of cool, rainy days followed by warm sunny ones. Frosts are not very common, with snow only being recorded 3 times. By May, Pacific storms no longer visit the region. In May and June, hot desert temperatures combined with cool ocean waters bring in low hanging clouds each morning called the Marine Layer. They dissipate by noon. These clouds make June the cloudiest month for Sierra Madre, even though it only receives an average 0.20" of rain in June. From July through October, hot temperatures grip the region, with September being the hottest month, unlike the rest of the nation. During this period, it rarely rains.
The 1991 Sierra Madre earthquake was a M 5.8 tremor that hit at on June 28, 1991. It caused regional damage, such as knocking over chimneys and fragmenting cinder block walls that run along major roads in the area.
Sierra Madre lies between Santa Anita Blvd. to the east and Michillinda Ave. to the west. To the south, it is bordered by Orange Grove Blvd. Its principal road is Sierra Madre Blvd.