Montrose History

Montrose has retained its charming “Main Street, USA” character while at the same time serving as the center of local commerce for more than 75,000 residents who call the Crescenta-Canada Valley their home.

The subdivision of present day Montrose took place when developers Holmes and Walton auctioned off 300 acres of land at a catered barbecue at the approximate corner of what is today Verdugo Blvd. and Clifton Place near the site of the local Mobil Station.

The original intention was that Montrose Ave. would be the main business district. In fact, Montrose Ave. was constructed as the widest road in Los Angeles County and retained that distinction for many decades.

This plan did not materialize however, and by the 1920’s, a two-block business district had grown up along Honolulu Ave., boasting a bank, hardware store, café, men’s clothier, drug store and a local newspaper, foreshadowing the opening of the Montrose Shopping Park in 1967.

Today, along shady, tree-lined streets, nearly 200 independently owned businesses satisfy busy shoppers with high quality gifts, retail merchandise, men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, an art gallery, antiques, dance and fitness studios and service businesses of every imaginable type. Montrose’s many restaurants, cafes and bakeries offer outside dining, serving up everything from beignets to barbecue and sashimi to spaghetti.