Old Pasadena Historic District

Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or just Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States that arose from one of the most prosperous areas of the state, and had a latter day revitalization after a period of decay. Old Pasadena began as the center of an industrial hub that gave rise to Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Beckman Instruments, Aerojet and numerous other important companies. The large concentration of such companies in the area gave it the nickname "Athens of the West". The area was also an artistic center, the home to Andy Warhol's west coast debut, the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art (one of the earliest modern art museums in the country, now the Norton Simon Museum), and before that a center of suffragist and pacifist movements, and other liberal causes. By the late 1940s, the downtown area was blighted by flophouses, dive bars and pawn shops. It later became a hippie destination, with head shops, adult bookstores and massage parlors. By the late 1980s, Old Pasadena was undergoing a period of urban renewal and regeneration.