U.S. Forest Service Ranger Station

On the northeast corner of Foothill Blvd and Wabash Ave, you will find what some consider the “most beautiful ranger station in the entire National Forest system.” - Glendora's U.S. Forest Service Station. The land for the new headquarters in Glendora was purchased for $3,500 through the fundraising efforts of the Chamber of Commerce, an early example of the community participation for which Glendora is well known. One of the headquarters units for the operation of Angeles National Forest (Mt. Baldy District) and the San Dimas Experimental Forest, this building was constructed in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). During World War II, it was also the facility for the Office of Price Administration.

In the 1920's, there were two ranger stations, in both Big Dalton and San Dimas Canyons. Arthur Shay was the District Ranger in Glendora and he was responsible for overseeing all of the Angeles National Forest south of Mt. Baldy and east of the San Gabriel Canyon. The most important of the rangers job was ensuring fire prevention and fighting fires, should they arise. After a devastating fire in 1919, plans were made to reforest the devastated area. Coulter pines, locust, osage trees, and chaparral seeds were planted (over 100,000 pine seedlings in total). In 1925, Spence D. Turner became County Forester and Fire Warden and was distressed to find most of the seedlings had died. To find out the source of their failure, he pushed to establish an experimental tree nursery. 13,000 acres was set aside for the San Dimas Experimental Tree Forest. It was the first ever, permanent center for research on wildfires, and prevention of deposition and stream erosion. Many of the testing instruments and techniques were originally established here.

The First 100 Years: 1887 - 1987. Glendora, CA. Liberty Enterprises , 1986.

Pflueger, Donald. Glendora: The Annals of a Southern Community. Claremont, CA. Saunder Press, 1951.