April 4, 2020 - Saturday - Today we visited the historic city of Claremont, CA for a walking tour of the downtown area. The city was incorporated on October 3, 1907 and it has a population of about 36,000 residents.
Claremont is the home of the Claremont Colleges and other educational institutions, and the city is known for its tree-lined streets with numerous historic buildings. Due to its large number of trees and residents with doctoral degrees, as well as its proximity to the renowned Claremont Colleges, it is sometimes referred to as "The City of Trees and PhDs."
Our first stop was the Claremont Depot, built in 1927. It is a stunning example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style with its thick stucco walls, wood grille windows, red tile roof, and Moorish arches. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Curtis Real Estate is the longest-established real estate business in Claremont.
The 1936 Post Office is another example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Claremont artist Milford Zornes painted the mural in the lobby depicting Claremont scenes of the 1930s.
The 1925 City Hall is another example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, which was very popular in that era. The current City Council chamber on Second Street occupies what used to be the 1925 fire station. Looking at those tall arched openings, you can picture the fire engines with the volunteer firemen speeding out!
The 1937 Harvard Square is a two-story brick structure that once housed Claremont’s only movie theatre.
This un-historical store is a real eye grabber.
This unique brick building was built to house Claremont Book and Drug by Edwin and Mabel Getzman. The azaleas out front are in their glory right now.
The 1900 Seaver House is a beautiful example of the Greek Revival style with its two-story classical columns. The wooden owl's job was to scare away destructive woodpeckers.
The 1900 Renwick House is a large, two-story, late Victorian that features a two-story turret and geometric multi-light windows.
The 1887 Sumner House is Claremont's only full-scale, classic, Queen Anne Victorian house. It is marked by three gables, bays, sun rooms, excellent wood ornamentation in fish scale and diamond shingle patterns, and horizontal and vertical clapboard siding.
The 1889 Some Crust Bakery is on the site of Claremont’s first general store, Urbanus. There has been a bakery at this location for over 50 years.
The 1920 Village Grill was originally built for a car dealership and the current ’50s-style diner once housed Ford automobiles.
The 1912 Verbal Building is in the Classical Revival style and is one of the finest commercial buildings in the Village. Built first to house the Claremont National Bank, it later served as the Bank of America for many years.
The 1938 Rhino Records building is known to most Claremont old-timers as Bentley’s Market, since it was run until the 1980s by three generations of the Bentley family. Notice the rounded corner and the simple band of concrete encircling the entire building. These are all hallmarks of the Streamline Moderne architectural style of the 1930s.
The 1929 Jacobson building is named for Dr. Arthur L. Jacobson, who had this English Tudor Revival style office built for his dental practice. It has become a corner anchor for Claremont Village, and is unusual in Claremont because of its use of “clinker” brick and steeply pitched roof lines.
Sadly, we walked by our favorite restaurant in Claremont, Aruffo's, now closed due to Covid-19.
It was a wonderful way to spend our morning.
After our tour we stopped for a couple of "Double Double Burgers" at the In-N-Out drive through. I had to use the hood of our car for a picture.
