It’s images like this that make me thankful someone thought to take a photo of what for them would have been a regular street scene, but for us is a snapshot into a place that no longer exists. We’re looking west along Colorado Blvd from Raymond Ave in Pasadena. The year was 1887, so horses and carriages filled the street. I can’t tell if the it was paved yet, but either way, it looks like it would have been a bumpy ride. The ornate building on the right is the Hotel Carlton, which seems like it was quite the fancy establishment.

Advertisement for Hotel Carlton, Pasadena, circa 1888.

This is how that same view looked in June 2022.