The Arcadia History Room Collection supports the Library's mission to collect and preserve materials relating to the cultural and intellectual heritage of the City of Arcadia.
COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS
Significant holdings include photographs from the Arcadia Tournament of Roses and Santa Anita Assembly Center for the Japanese, U.S. Army Balloon School papers, and a collection of books written by Arcadia authors. Other items focus on Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin, Los Angeles County Arboretum, and Santa Anita Park Racetrack. The history of the City of Arcadia is documented from its incorporation in 1903 and includes information on local government, businesses, and maps.
See also Arcadia History eBooks and digitized content for electronic versions of Arcadia: where ranch and city meet, Visions of Arcadia, Santa Anita Pacemaker (newspaper of the Santa Anita Assembly Center for the Japanese), and more.
COLLECTION SIZE AND SCOPE
Holdings currently comprise some 2000 photographs, three file cabinets of newspaper clippings, Arcadia City Directories from 1923 to the present, Arcadia school yearbooks, scrapbooks, Arcadia newspapers on microfilm from 1931 and Arcadia census on microfilm. Most of the collection ranges in date from the 1870's to the present.
ACCESS THE COLLECTION
The physical collection is housed in the Arcadia History Room and is available for viewing by appointment only. The online collection provides access to documents, newspaper clippings, citations, and obituaries, as well as photos and paintings relating to Arcadia. (This collection is hosted by AndOrNot)
PHOTO SELECTIONS
ONLINE NEWSPAPERS
Arcadia Weekly (news and obituaries-full-text access from 2005-current)
Pasadena Star News (news and obituaries-full-text access from 2001-current)
REQUESTING AND USING PHOTOS
The Arcadia Public Library must be given credit as the source of the image when it is used in any publication, media, electronic media, web site, or public display. The credit line should read: Courtesy, Arcadia Public Library, Arcadia, California
The lower quality images available on our website may be used without payment of a fee.
The following applicable use fees are payable to the Arcadia Public Library for high quality or commercial use prints:
Commercial use: A fee of $50.00 per image will be charged for use in publications, media, electronic media or public display, or any other for profit use.
Private or non-profit use: A fee of $20.00 per image will be charged for use in any format which will not be sold or used for commercial gain.
Requests must be made to the Local History Librarian, see contact information.
MAKING AN APPOINTMENT
The collection is housed in the Arcadia History Room and is available for research and viewing by appointment only. Please call or email to schedule an appointment:
Phone: (626) 821-5569
Email: ref247@arcadiaca.gov
If you are interested in exploring Arcadia’s rich history, make an appointment to see the Arcadia History Room located at the Arcadia Public Library or visit the Gilb Museum of Arcadia Heritage. The Arcadia History Room is shown by appointment only. Call 626-821-5569 for more information on the Library’s collection or 626-574-5440 for more information about the Museum’s collection.
