Bougainvillea State Monument

On the northeast corners of Minnesota and Bennett you will find Glendora’s own California Registered Historical Landmark #912- Glendora’s Bougainvillea. This is the largest known stand of bougainvillea in the United States. The bright bougainvillea climb the trunks of stately palm trees that stretch along Bennet and Minnesota Ave. Residents say that the bougainvillea and the palm trees were used to promote California as a paradise during the land boom of the 1800’s. 

The landmark was dedicated on January 7, 1978 and was attended by local and state dignitaries. The monument’s plaque sits on native rock and states that the plants were first brought to California in 1870 on a whaling ship. L.J. Pittman was the landowner in which the monument stood and was said to have provided the historical information for the plaque. Some years later an article was written about the historical landmark in Sunset Magazine in the 1970’s and struck up a controversy about the planting of the bougainvillea. Mrs. Ivan Hanley, whose family lived on the land during the thirties wrote a letter debating the facts stated on the plaque. She said that her family had Merrill and Frank West plant the bougainvillea in the early 1930’s. A letter was written to the Glendora Historical Society by the Landmark Society to further research the origins of the bougainvillea and the historical society called in people who had been in Glendora for at least 50 years to stir up more information. Responses were tabulated and there was no majority to substantiate whose claims were most factual, so this topic remains a controversial subject in Glendora’s history.

Historical Archives. Glendora Historical Society. 314 N. Glendora Ave. Glendora, CA. 91741. Apr. 19, 2022.

The First 100 Years: 1887 - 1987 Glendora, CA. "Bougainvillea Monument" by Mildred Kobzeff. Glendora, CA. Liberty Enterprises, 1986.